The Way Schools Work Case Study

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In the study of The Way Schools Work we learned to question the ideals of meritocracy and the American dream. However, Conflict Theories challenge the system of meritocracy, in which people are sorted and selected on the basis of talent and ability. On the contrary, “Conflict Theories, on the other hand, imply a system of inheritance in which people’s life chances are largely determined by their starting point within an existing structure of inequality” (McNamee and Miller Jr. 2014, 11). According to these theorists mentioned in The Way Schools Work (Boudin 1974; Bowles and Gintis 1976; Carnoy 1972; Carnoy and Levin 1985; Persell 1977), they speak about how schools reproduce status in several ways. First, they use formal language, and hold …show more content…

Since the schools symbolize cultural capital of the middle and upper classes, children from lower social backgrounds, who are not familiar with the hierarchy codes will have more difficulty understanding the schooling process. The influence of cultural capital is especially prominent in the first years of schooling. The lack of cultural capital is especially drawn from the video we have watched in class on “Tammy’s story” which was about Tammy’s cultural capital and how it has a big impact on her aspirations, opportunities, and achievements. Furthermore, from this video we learned unfortunately, much of the competition to get ahead in America is rigged. Wealth in America is highly concentrated on and it defines your place on the social ladder. Likewise, Tammy is very poor and she walks 10 miles a day to go to work and clean bathrooms. Not to mention, she has four kids and one of her kids that stands out the most is her son Matt. Matt on the other hand, thinks he’s going to be much better off than his family, and in the video clip he seems embarrassed by his family. Alternatively, Matt tries to dress well, make good friends and he hopes to get a scholarship to a college that he wants to go to. Also, Matt …show more content…

However, to determine your place on the social ladder one needs economic and cultural reproduction. As DeMarrais and LeCompte state “wealth can be converted into social and cultural capital providing distinct non merit advantages that can be transferred to the children of the rich and powerful” (1999, 14). In other words, social capital and cultural capital are crucial assets. Likewise, as stated in The Meritocracy Myth “rather than viewing schooling as promoting democracy, social mobility, and equality, conflict theorists conceptualize schools as reproducing both the ideologies of the dominant social groups and the hierarchy of the class structure” (McNamee and Miller Jr. 2014,

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