Sociology Chapter 16

Education

A social institution through which a society's children are taught basic academic knowledge, learning skills, and cultural norms. The major factors that affect education systems are the resources and money that are utilized to support those systems in different nations. International differences in education are attributed to finances, the value placed on education, the amount of time devoted to it, and the didtribution of education within a country.

Cultural Transmission

The way people come to learn the values, beliefs, and social norms of their culture. Included in both formal and informal education.

Tracking

A formalized sorting system that places students on "tracks" (advanced vs low achievers) that perpetuate inequalities

Sorting

Classifying students based on academic merit or potential

Head Start Program

Gives low-income students an opportunity to make up the preschool deficit discussed in the Coleman Report

Latent Functions

Hidden, unstated Functions with sometimes unintended consequences (courtship, social networks, group work, creation of generation gap, political and social integration)

Informal Education

Learning about cultural values, norms, and expected behaviors by participating in a society. Occurs both through the formal education system and at home. Our earliest learning experiences generally happen via parents relatives and others in our community. Through informal education we learn how to dress for different occasions how to perform regular life routines like shopping for and preparing food, and how to keep our bodies clean

Manifest Functions

Openly stated functions with intended goals (socialization, transmission of culture, social control, social placement, cultural innovation)

Universal Access

People's equal ability to participate in an educational system. Access might be harder based on class or gender. In the US one way universal access is supported is the federal and state governments covering the cost of free public education

No Child Left Behind Act

Requires states to test students in designated grades. The results of those tests determine eligibility to receive federal funding. Schools that do not meet the standards set by the act dun the risk of having their funding cut. More negative than positive.

Credentialism

The emphasis on certificates or degrees to show that a person has a certain skill, has attained a certain level of education, or has met certain job qualifications. Serve as a symbol of what a person has achieved, and allows the labeling of that individual.

Grade Inflation

The idea that the achievement level associated with an A today is notably lower than the achievement level associated with A-level work a few decades ago

Formal Education

The learning of academic facts and concepts through formal curriculum. Used to be reserved for the upper classes, but changes brought about during the industrial revolution made it more available to the masses.

Hidden Curriculum

The type of nonacademic knowledge that students learn through informal learning and cultural transmission. Reinforces the positions of those with higher cultural capital and serves to bestow status unequally

Cultural Capital

cultural knowledge that serves (metaphorically) as currency to help one navigate a culture

Social Placement

the use of education to improve one's social standing