2. After studying this chapter, you should
be able to do the following:
Describe the manifest and latent functions of education
according to the Functionalist view.
Explain the nature of education from the conflict theory
view.
Explain the causes and effects of racial segregation in
the public schools.
Discuss the extent to which high-school dropouts are a
social problem.
3. EDUCATION
Lester Frank Ward believed:
The source of inequality in society was the
unequal distribution of knowledge.
The main purpose of education was to
equalize society by diffusing knowledge to all.
4. EDUCATION
Functionalists
Stress the importance of education in
socializing the young, transmitting the culture,
and developing skills.
Conflict theorists
Note that education preserves social class
distinctions, maintains social control, and
promotes inequality.
6. FUNCTIONALIST VIEW
SOCIAL FUNCTIONS - Social processes
that contribute to the ongoing operation or
maintenance of society.
MANIFEST FUNCTIONS - The intended or
recognized consequences of those processes.
LATENT FUNCTIONS - Unintended or not
normally recognized consequences.
7. FUNCTIONALIST VIEW
MANIFEST LATENT
Socialization Cultural
Transmission
Academic Skills Innovation
Child Care Postponing Job
Hunting
8. MANIFEST FUNCTIONS
SOCIALIZATION
There is a need for the formal educational
system to extend the socialization process that
starts in the family
CULTURAL TRANSMISSION
Major portions of society’s knowledge are
passed from one generation to the next.
9. MANIFEST FUNCTIONS
ACADEMIC SKILLS
- Skills needed to hold a job.
- Ability to analyze information
- Ability to understand financial transactions
- Knowledge to participate in political life
10. MANIFEST FUNCTIONS
INNOVATION
Need to transmit society’s knowledge, and part
of that knowledge consists of the means by
which new knowledge is to be sought.
Learning how to think independently and
creatively is a very valuable tool
11. LATENT FUNCTIONS
CHILD CARE
One latent function of many public schools is
to provide child care outside the nuclear
family.
- The actual school day.
- Feeding programs – over half of U.S.
school children are now provided free meals.
- After school programs, both academic,
sports and pure child care provisions
- Health and dental screenings
12. LATENT FUNCTIONS
Postponing Job Hunting
- Requirements to stay in high school until age
18 keeps those under 18 out of full time work
- More and more young American adults are
choosing to go to college or technical skills,
keeping them out of the work force longer
13. LATENT FUNCTIONS
AFFIRMING SOCIAL BOUNDARIES
- Residential patterns tend to group people of
similar socio-economic status in the same EL-HI
systems.
- Many top private colleges accept a large
portion of their students from upper and upper
middle class backgrounds
- In both settings this leads to children from
like backgrounds being grouped together in their
social relationships
15. CONFLICT THEORY VIEW
BACKGROUND
Certain groups in society come to dominate
others
The educational system is a means for
maintaining the status quo
EDUCATION
1. Socializes students into ruling class values
2. Helps to maintain order and stifle creativity
3. Produces the types of people the system
needs
.
16. CONFLICT THEORY VIEW
Social Control
Conflict theorists conclude that the most
important lessons learned in school are not
those listed in the formal curriculum but, rather,
involve a hidden curriculum.
DEF: The social attitudes and values taught in
school that prepare children to accept the
requirements of adult life and to fit into the
social, political, and economic statuses the
society provides for them.
17. CONFLICT THEORY VIEW
HIDDEN CURRICULUM
Schools develop personal control and social
skills in children
To succeed in school the child must master the
academic AND the hidden curriculum
The hidden curriculum emphasizes being docile,
respecting peers and other non-academic norms
18. CONFLICT THEORY VIEW
TRACKING – Screening and Allocation
DEF: The separation of students into streams
that lead to differential education based on
ability. In principle, American schools do not
practice this. But consider:
1. Within most schools there are college
tracks, normal tracks and vocational tracks
2. There are public, private and elite schools
3. There are private colleges that admit based
on family background.
19. CONFLICT THEORY VIEW
The Credentialized Society
A degree or certificate has become necessary to
perform a vast variety of jobs. This limits the
ability of others to do this type of work.
The credential does not necessarily mean
that the recipient can perform the job better.
If the necessary credential is a college
degree, even if it is unrelated to the job, then the
credential acts as a gate keeper to the better
jobs and may keep out malcontents, etc.
20. Median Income by Education Level
Male Female
High School Dropout $27,180 $20,341
High School $37,632 $27,477
Some College or $46,562 $34,745
Associate’s Degree
Bachelor’s Degree $65,011 $47,333
Advanced Degree $88,840 $61,228
21. AMERICAN EDUCATION ISSUES
Unequal Access
Due to residential patterns there is de facto
segregation in the schools
There is also low college participation among
some groups due to cost, inadequate
preparation and the fact that college seems like
a foreign culture because it reflects the upper
classes
Separate but equal has not worked for
minorities
22. AMERICAN EDUCATION ISSUES
E.S L. English as a Second Language
There is debate whether to teach in multiple
languages until children become proficient or
whether to teach in English only and force
assimilation.
6.3 million children aged 5 to 17, or 14%, speak a
language other than English at home.
Another 3.2 million elementary and secondary school
students are classified as having limited English
proficiency.
23. AMERICAN EDUCATION ISSUES
High-School Dropouts
Highest drop out rate is among hispanics
10% of males, and 8% of females drop out
Dropping out affects not only those who leave
school, but also society in general for many
reasons:
They pay less in taxes
They have increased demand for social services
including welfare, medical assistance, and
unemployment compensation.
Dropouts have poorer health.
Half of all state prison inmates did not complete high
school, while they are only17% of the population
24. AMERICAN EDUCATION ISSUES
HOME SCHOOLING
There are three main reasons why parents
choose to home school :
Concerned about the school environment
Provide religious or moral instruction
They are dissatisfied with the academic
instruction available at the available schools
25. AMERICAN EDUCATION ISSUES
STANDARDIZED TESTING
Much criticism has been leveled at standardized
tests.
The testing services say the tests merely try to
chart, scientifically and objectively, different
levels of mental achievement and aptitude.
The critics assert that the tests are invalid
academically and biased against minorities.
26. AMERICAN EDUCATION ISSUES
GENDER BIAS - 2 TYPES
At the academic level there continues to be
more favorable treatment of males by teachers,
and less attention being payed to females
However, the socialization process of schools
tends to more harshly affect males who are
more prone to act out.
27. AMERICAN EDUCATION ISSUES
THE GIFTED
Many feel that the gifted are being shortchanged
in public schools
It has been proposed that gifted children have
three atypical traits:
Precociousness-–gifted children begin early to
master some domain
Nonconformity, an insistence on doing things
according to their own specific rules
A rage to master, or a desire to know
everything there is to know about a subject.
