Education and Religion

Education and Religion CHAPTER 12

Education • What is education? • What is done well? • What is not done well? • Does our society value education?

Perspectives Not Done Well? Done Well?

Perspectives • Functionalist • Conflict • Symbolic Interactionism

Education • The social institution responsible for the transmission of knowledge, skills, and cultural values within a formally organized structure. • In all societies, people must acquire certain knowledge and skills in order to survive. • In less-developed societies, this might include hunting, gathering, fishing and farming. • In developed societies, knowledge and skills are related to the requirements of the job market.

Structure of Education • In general, schools continue to follow a bureaucratic system. • Known as formal schooling. • Specialized skills are taught among the masses at various age levels. • Teaching is impersonal…teachers develop one lesson plan. • Tests and materials are standardized. • Schools are part of a larger bureaucratic system. • Federal government dictates much of the education process.

Sociological Perspectives on Education • Structural Functional suggest that education contributes to the maintenance of society and provides opportunity for upward social mobility. • Conflict Theorists argue that education perpetuates social inequality. • Not truly a meritocracy… society based on achievement to determine status • Symbolic Interactionists focus on classroom dynamics and the effect of self-concept on grades and aspirations.

Manifest Functions of Education (Structural Functional) • Socialization • Transmission of knowledge/culture • Social control • Social placement • Change and innovation

Latent Functions of Education (Structural Functional) • Restricting some activities. • Matchmaking and production of social networks. • Creating a generation gap.

Tracking and Social Inequality (Conflict) • Tracking is the practice of assigning students to specific groups based on their test scores, previous grades, or other criteria. • Conflict theorists believe tracking affects educational performance and overall academic accomplishments. • Provides better opportunities and life chances.

Hidden Curriculum (Symbolic) • The hidden curriculum consists of the nonacademic agenda that teaches discipline, order, cooperativeness, and conformity. • Much of the hidden curriculum is fostered with textbooks. • Are they biased? • Do they affect socialization? • The hidden curriculum is important for future success (provides an education in culture).

Examples of Bias? • “When you go to the shopping mall, do you dress nicely so no one will think you are a shoplifter? If you answered no, you probably are white.” • “Sexual harassment exists because women have less power than men.”

Unequal Funding of Public Schools • State and local governments contribute about 47% each toward education and the federal government pays the remaining 6%. • Results in “rich” and “poor” school districts.

Alternatives to Formal Schooling • Classroom reform idealists believe that the classroom should be student centered. • Open classroom…an approach that removes authoritarian, standardized approach and does not promote competition. • Cooperative learning…students work together and control their learning. • Integrative curriculum…students and teachers work together to design the curriculum. The design usually incorporates many different content areas.

Back to the Basics • A movement in education that stresses the return of: • Standardized testing • Standardized curriculum • Strict codes of conduct • Longer school days • Increased homework at the high school level • Concentration on core subjects

Alternatives to Public School • Voucher system…parents receive the amount spent per pupil from the government and they can choose the school their child attends. • Charter schools…public schools operated like private schools. • Teachers and administrators design curriculum • Alternative methods included • For profit schools…privatization of schools.

NCLB • No Child Left Behind Act: • States create their own set of standards. • States will test student's progress towards those standards. • Yearly progress is expected. • Districts must report their results. • Schools will be held accountable and could lose funding.

Race to the Top • National Testing? • States get funding based on: • Their achievement • Common Core Standards • Districts design APPR that aligns with requirements

Dropping Out • Dropout Rates: • Latinos/(Hispanics) - 40% • African Americans – 20% • Whites – 10% • Asian Americans - 1%

Religion

Religion • Religion is a system of beliefs, symbols, and rituals, based on some sacred or supernatural realm that guides human behavior, gives meaning to life, and unites believers into a community. • Religion serves as a major agent of socialization as well as a social institution. • Religion fulfills needs for groups and individuals that all social institutions do not.

Religion and the Meaning of Life • Religion seeks to answer important questions such as why we exist, why people suffer and die, and what happens when we die. • Religion seeks to explain suffering, death, and injustice in the realm of the sacred. • Things that people do not set apart as sacred (religious) are referred to as profane—the everyday, secular or “worldly” aspects of life.

Secularization and Fundamentalism • Secularization…process through which the sacred loses influence over society. • Secular humanism…people achieve perfection and morality through their own efforts and beliefs. • Fundamentalism… the resistance of secularization and the rigid adherence to traditional religious beliefs, rituals, and doctrines.

Functionalist Perspective Religion has 3 functions: • Providing meaning and purpose to life. • Promoting social cohesion and a sense of belonging. • Providing social control and support for the government.

Conflict Perspective • According to Karl Marx, religion is the “opiate of the masses.” • Religion calms the senses. • The poor will be rewarded with an afterlife. • False consciousness of sharing interests with the dominant class • Believed religion slowed social change. • Max Weber argued that religion could be a catalyst to produce social change. • People will work to achieve salvation. • Calvinists and the Protestant Ethic

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective • Religion serves as a reference group to help people define themselves. • Women’s versions of a certain religion usually differ from men’s versions.

Four Categories of Religion • Simple supernaturalism - the belief that supernatural forces affect people's lives positively or negatively. • Is it fate and destiny? • Animism - the belief that plants, animals, and elements of the natural world are endowed with spirits that impact events in society.

Four Categories of Religion • Theism - belief in a God or Gods. • Transcendent idealism - belief in sacred principles of thought and conduct, such as truth, justice, life and tolerance for others. • These drive one’s behavior and ideals

Church • A church is a large, bureaucratically organized religious organization that seeks accommodation with the larger society in order to maintain some degree of control over it. • Keeps organization within the faith. • Provides service to its members. • Unites and promotes membership.

Sects and Cults • Sects are relatively small religious groups that have broken away from another religious organization to reestablish their original view of the faith. • Intolerant of other institutes and religions • Cleansing of their faith • Cults are mostly religious groups with practices and teachings outside the dominant cultural and religious traditions of society. • Somewhat like a counterculture…often viewed as negative • Authoritarian leadership who receives complete devotion from members

Education and Religion