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Class stratification and educational achievement
Social class affects student attainment
Social class affects student attainment
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Investigating What Macro-sociological Approaches and Micro-sociological Approaches Tells Us About Student Under-achievement in School
Macro-sociology approaches offer explanations for social phenomena in
terms of the way in which social systems work as a whole.
Micro-sociology gives explanations in terms of how people make things
happen by interpreting their experience and acting on their
interpretations.
Macro-sociology divides into consensus and conflict approaches. The
former view society as similar to the human body, where everyone
functions together to enable society to work well. Functionalists
believe that society is run in the best interest for everyone.
Conflict theories view society as a constant struggle between classes,
caused by the individuals relationship to the economic system.
Functionalism is the main consensus perspective. As with functionalist
analysis in general the view of education tends to focus on the
positive contributions made by education to the maintenance of the
social system. Functionalists see school as society in miniature where
the individual develops a sense of commitment to the social group; a
place to learn rules and co-operate with people other than kin or
friends, school prepares the individual to learn how to conform in
society.
Durkheim believed that the major function of education was the
transmission of society's norms and values. He claimed that schools
perform two central functions, relating to social cohesion and the
division of labour. In order to exist society members must share
common beliefs and values - these are only partially taught by the
family. The school continues this...
... middle of paper ...
...er expectations from middle-class
pupils.
Macro research reveals the higher the social class the higher the
levels of educational achievement, but this approach does not take
into account such factors as gender, race, religion etc. Similarly,
micro-sociology describes the mechanism of educational failure rather
than explaining it. Therefore it is difficult to reach a reliable
explanation without analysing from both perspectives.
Education is such a vast area; the question of why some pupils
underachieve in school is complex and has many answers. It is
therefore unfair to look at this area from just a micro or macro
perspective. To really understand the reasons behind under-achievement
and give accurate analysis, you need to consider all perspectives, and
take into account factors such as gender, race and class.
Minorities, African American and Latinos, in America are faced with challenges daily in white society. There are many obstacles minorities experience such as: being judged based on race, stereotyped, or worst being discriminated against by peers. Sadly, minorities can’t seem to escape to harsh realities society created. Citizens in the white society categorize humans by their race to socially construct the achievements and legitimate political goals. Minorities struggles with these goals due to the challenges they experience. The location of these challenges can occur in various places including on the job and/or at school. You may be under the impression that such challenges occurs within the adult minority groups. However, this applies to minority children as well. When the children are face with
Therefore if I were to do this study again I would do a pilot study
Sociology is the study of society and the interactions that occur within society itself. There are numerous methods of analyzing societies and the way the function, nonetheless, most methods fall in micro and macro level theories. Micro level theories allow sociologist to study smaller relationships such as individual or compact groups of people. On the other hand, macro level studies permit for larger scale investigations to take place. With both of these theories there are three theoretical perspectives used in sociology. Micro level theories include symbolic interactionism which focuses in interactions done with language and gestures and the means which allow such interactions to take place. Macro level theories include structural functionalism
One of the biggest problems Americans face today is a US student’s underwhelming academic performance. When compared to other countries, the United States comes in 18th place in math literacy and 25th place in reading literacy. The problem is not just a standard problem throughout the country, as there is much variation between graduation and subject literacy rates, with huge differences also between schools alone. These statistics are disappointing because the US is considered one of the largest world powers. The disparities in American students academic achievement is also detrimental because they are less able to compete in the global market place. Many things have been used to explain this disparity but race has often led as the main explanation. The racial disparities in academic achievement have also led to acts of law, such as the Hispanic Education act, which focus on improving test scores in New Mexico’s minority students. While there is a correlation between race and academic performance, I believe there are other factors, like economic class, which also have a profound effect on a students’ academic achievement. If my hypothesis is correct, review of further literature should show discrepancies between students of different socioeconomic status as a major influence on a student’s academic achievement.
Education is the process of skills, the acquisition of knowledge and understanding that all children acquire through learning in an institute of education, every individual has an equal right to an education and as a result, an entitlement is provided to all children. However, there are a proportion of children that are at a disadvantaged due to cultural and social indifferences, consequently, for all pupils, education can be seen as the means of a socialising process, which generates a set of principles that may affect many of its learners, Thus the National Curriculum was initiated as an opportunity of equality in addition to an inclusive education, which would provide all its pupils regardless of socio economic backgrounds. However, for a few of the heterogeneous group, the National Curriculum, on the grounds of fairness and opportunities created a socialisation process, which simultaneously is the possibility of why some children achieve, in addition to those who do not. Thus, the entirety of its pupils has its advantages together with its disadvantages by dividing numerous children into a catalogue of academically able, with the addition of the view being reversed given that this is achieved through the process of social reproduction. Each class has its own cultural background, knowledge, dispositions, and tastes that are transmitted through the family (Bourdieu 1984) which is the predispositions of each student achieving in education. Thus, this essay will consider the ways into which, and how the extent of social justice and education is influenced through cultural capital and the National Curriculum.
room at home to do homework, as they may have to share a room with
school they need to be able to work hard at home as well to enable the
Education provides an individual with the necessary skills to progress in life. But socioeconomic factors such as race, gender and ethnicity can influence the quality and the availability of education as well as the ability of education to improve life. Therefore it is important to have a clear understanding of what affects one’s educational attainment.
Sociologists employ three major theoretical perspectives in sociology today. They are the structural-functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionism. The structural-functionalist perspective is done at a macro level and its focus is on the relationships between the parts of society. The Conflict perspective is done at a macro level and its main focus is on how the wealthy controls the poor and weak. Symbolic Interactionism is done at a micro and it focuses on the use of symbols and face to face interactions.
There are certain complexities within the schooling system which are very prevalent. These include Race, Gender and Social Class. These complexities have affected the educational possibilities of some people. According to Gaine in 1995 the term ‘race’ is often put into quotation marks as it does not mean what people think it means. The key point made by Gaine is that what are often thought of as ‘races’ – Africans, Europeans, Chinese – are only superficially different from each other. Perhaps a useful working definition is ‘a group of people who may share some physical characteristic to which social importance is attached’. Ergo, ‘race’ is not the skin colour, facial features or type of hair people have, but the social significance which is placed upon these. Sex and Gender are often very hard to distinguish. The usual distinction here is that sex encompasses those features which are biologically determined and gender those which are socially determined. The World Health Organisation defines gender as ‘the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women.’ To put it another way, "Male" and "female" are sex categories, while "masculine" and "feminine" are gender categories. Sociologists are interested in the idea that class is about your cultural tastes and activities as well as the type and number of people you know. These factors are important when put alongside people's economic position. Understanding classes as amounts of different types of 'capitals' helps us to see class across a number of dimensions. The French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu first developed this approach in 1984, suggesting there are different types of capitals which give people an...
Many schools in countries across the globe use educational stratification to “track” students into different categories based on their academic performance. This can start as early as kindergarten, and while tracking may provide some benefit for students placed in the higher tracks, it’s possible that it serves as a huge obstacle for students placed on lower tracks as these students tend to consequently label themselves as “stupid” and believe that they do not have the same ability to succeed as other students. Early education in particular plays a large role in determining a child’s future academic performance. Students react to the expectations their teachers have for them so
...s in the classroom for 1) the pupils to get used to me and 2)
The Relationship Between Social Class and Educational Achievement Many sociologists have tried to explore the link between social class and educational achievement, measuring the effects of one element upon the other. In order to maintain a definite correlation between the two, there are a number of views, explanations, social statistics and perspectives which must be taken into account. The initial idea would be to define the key terms which are associated with how "social class" affects "educational achievement." "Social class" is the identity of people, according to the work they do and the community in which they live in. "Educational achievement" is the tendency for some groups to do better or worse in terms of educational success.
The primary role of education and the education system is to contribute not just towards the academic but also the social development of children. Many people are of the view that some educators fail to cater to individual learning needs and or learning styles, thus blame the school system for male underachievement in Caribbean Secondary Schools. According to Bainbridge (2015) underachievement occurs when a child's performance is below what is expected based on the child's ability. Cobbet & Younger (2012) assert that “boys’ underachievement in the Caribbean has been a high profile issue since the 1990s” but point out that the ‘extent of the problem, the extent to which it actually constitutes a problem, and the ways it can best be explained and understood have been deeply contested’ (pp. 611). Given this issue, educational underachievement of boys was the focus of a three year longitudinal study launched in April 2011by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Its mandate was to identify factors contributing to the
In the United States, many lack the skills necessary for college. Unfortunately, the education system fails to prepare some of its students for work or higher learning. Despite these circumstances, teachers and bureaucrats seek improvements to obtain higher success. In spite of the pressure for success, the current situation is not yielding the desired results. Moreover, in the recent State of the Union Address in early 2014, President Barack Obama stated the need for improved education, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM fields. Yet, what should reformers pursue? Researchers have observed recurring problems to direct the improvement of education. The information presented, particularly over the past ten years, has revealed a need to involve the students that lag the most. Education risks excluding k-12 boys and minorities, as well as remedial education collegians, in higher education.