Education and Stratification : “Think Pair Share” Discussion Some questions to consider as you read Topic 3
1. What role does education play in social stratification?
2. What are some key variables, both in and outside the schools, that affect stratification? 3. Using appropriate examples, discuss the factors that contribute to the increase of private schools 4. Can education change the social mobility of individuals in society? Justify your answers In our society is that education provides a legitimate mechanism to achieve and “move up” in social class – upward social mobility
Weber - social class is comprised of wealth, power, and prestige.
Social classes have certain values attached to them and we learn
them through socialization which includes attitudes towards education. Reflection & Discussion
Additional reference :
Refer: ASCRIBED STATUS & ACHIEVED STATUS
Explain your understanding of ascribed
status and achieved status with appropriate examples Education and Stratification
The expectation in our society is that we can improve
our position through hard work and education.
Additional degrees command higher incomes.
Education plays a significant role in sorting people
into occupational categories.
Many less tangible factors enter into the sorting process.
Major Explanations of Stratification
Functionalist Theory
A major function of schools is to develop, sort, and
select individuals by ability levels to fill hierarchical positions;
Functionalists argue that this is a rational process
based on the merit of individuals.
How do we determine the value of merit?
Conflict Theory Values, rules, and institutions of society reflect the dominant class and is evidenced in education.
Schools were developed to meet the needs of capitalist
employers and to provide a mechanism of social control allowing the elite to rule.
This reproduces inequalities from one generation to the next.
Educational Opportunity Equality of opportunity asserts that all people have an equal chance of obtaining equal opportunity to achieve in our society.
Does Malaysian educational system have equal
educational opportunity? Justify your answers Public versus Private Schools “Status rights” in private schools allow for the “passage of privilege.” Do private schools produce higher-achieving students than public schools?
In private schools, parents have to pay more to ensure their
children behave well enough to stay in them, which implies more parental involvement. Ability Grouping & Teacher Expectations
Cognitive differences are strongly associated with
parental social status – even in early childhood.
Achievement grouping was developed because the
thinking was that it is more efficient to teach students with the same level of ability (reading groups in elementary schools and tracks in high schools). Impact of Ability Grouping Lower ability groups are largely comprised of minorities and students from lower social classes, who are often stigmatized.
Students in any given group tend to be fairly homogeneous.
Each school has its own stratification system.
Discuss how do Malaysian schools streamed students?
Students in upper-ability groups are disproportionately from the upper
socioeconomic strata and teachers tend to provide more feedback to them. Ability grouping often reinforces race and class segregation, perpetuates stereotypes, and lowers aspirations and self-esteem of lower-grouping students.
Many argue that tracking programs based on presumed ability
result in two unfortunate consequences: “more academic failure, and heightened racial and social class animosity” (Brookover, Erickson, and McEvoy, 1996) that are more important than the gains it provides for those in the higher tracks. What are the implications of streaming in Malaysian Schools? Teacher expectations Students aspirations Inequality Students self esteem and self fulfiling prophecy Segregation/Polarization Discrimination Cultural reproduction Labeling & stereotyping Teacher Expectations Influenced by a variety of factors:
1.Student’s previous work and test scores
2.Student’ dress, name, and physical appearance 3.Attractiveness
4.Language and accent
5.Gender
6.Parents’ occupation 7.Single-parent and motherhood status 8.The way the student responds to the teacher Self-fulfilling prophecy:
Children pick up on the subtle cues and interactions
from the teacher.
Teachers expect less and students give less, as
students internalize teacher expectations. Discussion