Sociology of Education, The: A Systematic Analysis

by Ballantine, Jeanne H.

• ISBN13: 9780130259745
• ISBN10: 0130259748
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-01-01
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

Comprehensive, contemporary, and cross-cultural in perspective, this book provides a sociological approach to education-- from several theoretical approaches and their practical application, to current educational issues, to the structure and processes that make education systems work. Using an open systems model as a framework, it shows the formal organization of schools with structure, goals and processes; the informal organization with hidden curriculum, organization climate, etc.; the external environment that influences what goes on in the school, including financing, parent(s), community interest groups, etc.; processes such as stratification and change; higher education. Diagrams show interrelationships between topics. For educators and anyone interested in the sociology of education and schools.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
Sociology of Education: A Unique Perspective on Schools	1	(26)
The Field of Sociology of Education	2	(4)
What Sociologists Study	3	(1)
Why Study Sociology of Education?	3	(2)
Kinds of Questions Asked by Sociologists of Education	5	(1)
Theoretical Approaches and the Development of Sociology of Education	6	(10)
Functionalist Theory	7	(3)
Conflict Theory	10	(3)
Interaction and Interpretive Theories	13	(1)
Recent Theories in the Sociology of Education	14	(2)
American Sociology of Education	16	(1)
The Open Systems Approach	16	(5)
Research Methods in Sociology of Education	21	(1)
Sociology of Education in the Twenty-First Century	22	(1)
Organization of the Book	23	(4)
Summary
Sample study questions in sociology of Education
Putting Sociology to Work
Conflicting Functions and Processes in Education: What Makes the System Work	27	(33)
Conflicting Functions of Education	27	(2)
The Importance of Processes in Educational Systems	29	(1)
The Function of Socialization: What We Learn and How We Learn It	29	(7)
The Early Childhood Education Controversy	30	(2)
Role of the Media and Commercials in Socialization	32	(4)
The Function of Cultural Transmission and Process of Passing On Culture	36	(11)
Some Factors Affecting Learning	37	(1)
How to Pass On Culture	38	(1)
What Culture to Pass On	39	(8)
The Function of Social Control and Personal Development	47	(4)
Violence and Discipline in Schools	48	(3)
The Function of Selection and Allocation: The Sorting Process	51	(4)
The Testing Game	52	(2)
Achievement Tests	54	(1)
The Function of Change and Innovation: The Process of Looking to the Future	55	(5)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
Education and the Process of Stratification	60	(29)
The Crisis in Schooling	60	(3)
Education and Stratification in America	60	(2)
Education and Stratification Around the World	62	(1)
The Process of Stratification: Is Inequality Inevitable?	63	(9)
Determinants of Social Class	64	(3)
Major Explanations of Stratification	67	(5)
Stratification and Equality of Educational Opportunity	72	(17)
The Meaning of ``Equality of Educational Opportunity''	72	(1)
Social Class Reproduction: The Debate over Public versus Private Schools	73	(2)
The Controversial Issue of ``Choice''	75	(1)
Ability Grouping and Teacher Expectations	76	(9)
Financing Schools in the United States	85	(4)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
Race, Class, and Gender: Attempts to Achieve Equality of Educational Opportunity	89	(42)
Gender and Equality of Educational Opportunity	90	(12)
Sex-Role Socialization	90	(2)
Sex Differences in the Educational System	92	(8)
Combating Gender Differences	100	(2)
Class, Race, and Attempts to Rectify Inequalities in Educational Opportunity	102	(9)
Trends in Public School Enrollments	102	(2)
The Underclass and At-Risk Students	104	(1)
Research on Equality of Educational Opportunity	104	(2)
The Battle over Desgregation	106	(1)
Court Cases on Desegregation	106	(3)
Effects of Efforts to Desegregate Schools	109	(1)
Student Goals, Aspirations, and Future Prospects	109	(2)
Integration Attempts	111	(5)
Educational Experience of Selected Minorities in the United States	116	(10)
Hispanic Students	116	(2)
Immigrants	118	(2)
Asian American Students	120	(1)
Native American Students	121	(1)
Special Education Students	122	(3)
Gifted Students	125	(1)
Improving Schools for Minority Students	126	(5)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
The School as an Organization	131	(26)
Social System of the School	132	(2)
Goals of the School System	134	(3)
Societal and Community Goals	134	(2)
School Goals	136	(1)
Individual Goals	137	(1)
School Functions: The Purposes of the School	137	(2)
Diverse Functions	137	(1)
Unanticipated Consequences of Functions	138	(1)
Conflicting Goals and Functions	138	(1)
The School as an Organization	139	(10)
The School as a Bureaucracy	140	(1)
Characteristics of Bureaucracy	140	(5)
Development of Schools as Bureaucracies	145	(2)
Problems in Educational Bureaucracies	147	(1)
Schools as ``Loosely Coupled'' Organizations	148	(1)
Centralized versus Decentralized Decision Making: The Fight over Control of Schools	149	(4)
Centralization of Decision Making	150	(1)
Decentralization	151	(2)
Professionals in the Educational System	153	(4)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
Formal School Statuses and Roles: ``The Way It Spozed to Be''	157	(29)
The Meaning of Roles	157	(3)
Status and Roles in the System	157	(1)
The School Organization and Roles	158	(1)
Role Expectations and Conflict	159	(1)
Perspectives on Roles	159	(1)
Roles in Schools	160	(26)
School Boards: Liaison Between School and Community	160	(3)
Superintendent: Manager of the School System	163	(3)
The Principal: School Boss-in-the-Middle	166	(4)
Teachers: The Front Line	170	(11)
Support Roles in the School: Behind the Scenes	181	(5)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
Students: The Core of the School	186	(37)
Student Characteristics	186	(6)
Expectations for the Student Role	188	(1)
Learning the Student Role	189	(2)
Conflicting Expectations for the Student Role	191	(1)
Student Coping Mechanisms	191	(1)
School Failures and Dropouts	192	(13)
Who Drops Out?	193	(2)
Why Students Drop Out	195	(1)
Gangs and Schools	195	(3)
School Crime and Violence	198	(1)
Retention and Suspension: School Reactions to Problem Students	199	(1)
Adolescent Employment and Dropping Out of School	200	(1)
The Future for Dropouts	201	(2)
Criticisms of the Student Role	203	(2)
Students and the Informal System	205	(8)
Student's Self-Concept	205	(1)
School Value Climate and Student Achievement	205	(2)
Teacher and Student Expectations	207	(1)
Peer Groups and Student Culture	207	(3)
Student Coping Strategies	210	(3)
Students and Their Environments	213	(10)
Effects of Home Environment on Educational Achievement	213	(2)
Family Background and Parental Involvement	215	(1)
Social Class Background	216	(1)
Parenting Styles	217	(1)
Family Aspirations	218	(1)
Single-Parent Homes	218	(1)
The Role of Mothers	219	(1)
The Number of Siblings	219	(4)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
The Informal System and the ``Hidden Curriculum'': What Really Happens in School?	223	(23)
The Open Systems Approach and the Informal System	224	(3)
The Hidden Curriculum	225	(1)
Reproduction Theory and the Informal System	226	(1)
The Educational ``Climate'' and School Effectiveness	227	(11)
The Value Climate	228	(1)
The School Climate and Effective Schools	229	(2)
Classroom Learning Climate	231	(2)
Student Friendship and Interaction Patterns in the Classroom	233	(5)
Power Dynamics and Roles in the Informal System	238	(8)
Theoretical Explanations of Power Dynamics in the Classroom	239	(1)
Teacher Strategies and the Informal System	240	(6)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
The Educational System and the Environment: A Symbiotic Relationship	246	(21)
The Environment and the Educational System	247	(3)
Types of Environments	248	(2)
The School Systems' Environments: Interdependence Between Institutions	250	(17)
Home and Family Influences on School	250	(2)
The Institution of Religion: Separation of Church and State	252	(4)
The Economics of Education: Financing Schools	256	(5)
The Political and Legal Institution	261	(2)
Communities and Their Schools	263	(4)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
The System of Higher Education	267	(52)
History and Development of Higher Education	268	(4)
Historical Functions of Higher Education	268	(1)
Trends in Development of Higher Education	269	(3)
Theoretical Approaches to Higher Education	272	(6)
The Expansion of Higher Education	273	(1)
Access to Higher Education	274	(1)
Stratification and Equal Opportunity in Higher Education	274	(2)
Elite versus Public Colleges	276	(1)
Admissions and the Courts	276	(2)
Characteristics of Higher Education in the United States	278	(2)
Growth of Higher Education	279	(1)
The School-to-Work Transition and the Credential Crisis	279	(1)
Functions of the Higher Education System	280	(6)
The University as a Community	281	(1)
The Function of Research	281	(1)
The Function of Teaching	281	(1)
The Function of Service	282	(1)
The Function of the ``National Security State''	282	(1)
Conflicts over the University's Function	282	(1)
The Academic Function of Universities versus Big Business	283	(2)
What Type of Curriculum?	285	(1)
Higher Education as an Organization	286	(4)
Higher Education Structure and the Bureaucratic Model: Does It Work?	286	(4)
Roles in Higher Education	290	(15)
Roles in Higher Education: The Clients	290	(1)
Gender and Race in Higher Education	291	(5)
The Graying of College Graduates	296	(2)
Roles in Higher Education: The Faculty	298	(1)
Faculty Issues in Higher Education	299	(5)
Roles in Higher Education: Administrators	304	(1)
Environmental Pressures on Higher Education	305	(7)
Government Influence on Funding of Higher Education	305	(2)
The Courts and Affirmative Action	307	(4)
Environmental Feedback and Organizational Change	311	(1)
Outcomes of Higher Education	312	(3)
Higher Education: Attitudes, Values, and Behaviors	312	(1)
The Value of a College Education	313	(2)
Problems and Reform in Higher Education	315	(4)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
Educational Systems Around the World: A Comparative View	319	(34)
Cross-Cultural Educational Studies	322	(2)
Comparative Education as a Field of Study	322	(2)
Comparative Education and the Systems Approach	324	(1)
Approaches to Cross-Cultural Studies of Educational Systems	324	(6)
Comparative International Studies of Achievement	325	(5)
Theoretical Perspectives and Typologies in Comparative Education	330	(9)
Modernization and Human Capital Perspectives	332	(1)
``Legitimation of Knowledge'' Perspective	333	(1)
Rich versus Poor: An Educational Typology	334	(3)
World System Analysis	337	(2)
Global Institutional Interdependence	339	(14)
Education and the Institution of Religion	340	(1)
Family, Social Class, and Education	341	(1)
Education and Economic Institutions	342	(3)
Political-Economic Divisions Between Societal Systems	345	(2)
Higher Education Around the World	347	(6)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
Educational Systems Around the World: Case Studies	353	(20)
Education in Britain	354	(6)
Development of Education in Britain	354	(2)
Control and Decision Making in Education	356	(1)
Structure of the Educational System	356	(1)
Composition of British Schools	357	(1)
Exams and Credentials	358	(1)
Inequality in Education and Occupational Mobility	358	(1)
Higher Education in Great Britain: Elite versus Mass Education	359	(1)
Education in the People's Republic of China	360	(5)
Recent Historical Events Affecting China	361	(1)
The Drive Toward Modernization	361	(2)
Status and Structure of Education in China	363	(1)
Higher Education in PRC	364	(1)
Formal Education in Colonial Africa	365	(8)
History of Ghanaian Education	366	(1)
Forms of Education	367	(2)
Structure of the Ghanaian Educational System	369	(1)
Equality of Opportunity in Ghanaian Education	369	(1)
Higher Education	370	(3)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
Educational Movements and Reform	373	(24)
The Nature of Educational Movements	375	(2)
Educational Movements Throughout History	377	(4)
Early European Education: Purpose and Function for Society	377	(1)
Educational Movements in the United States	378	(3)
Alternative Education and Related Movements	381	(8)
Third World Alternative Educational Movements	382	(1)
English Primary Schools	382	(1)
Open Classrooms	383	(1)
Back to Basics	384	(2)
Private Schools	386	(1)
Accountability Movements	387	(1)
Effective Schools and Educational Reform	388	(1)
Structural and Curricular Changes in the Schools	389	(8)
The ``School Choice'' Movement	389	(2)
``Multiculturalism'' and ``Political Correctness'	391	(1)
Technology and the Classroom	392	(1)
Other Movements, Reforms, and Fads	392	(5)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
Change and Planning in Educational Systems	397	(5)
The Dynamics of Change	398	(5)
Change and Levels of Analysis	399	(2)
Sources of Change	401	(2)
Perspectives on Change	403	(5)
Structural-Functional Approach to Change	403	(3)
Conflict Approach to Change	406	(1)
Open Systems Approach to Change	406	(2)
Bringing About Change	408	(2)
Individual in the System	409	(1)
Change at the School Level	409	(1)
Strategies for School Change	410	(4)
Types of Strategies	411	(2)
Obstacles and Resistance to Implementation of Change	413	(1)
The Sociologist's Role in Educational Change and Policy Formation	414	(4)
Summary
Putting Sociology to Work
EPILOGUE Schools in the Early Twenty-First Century	418	(8)
Demographic Trends	418	(1)
Family, Economic, and Social Trends	419	(3)
Schools in the New Century	422	(1)
Reform and Policy in Educational Systems	423	(1)
The National Educational Goals	423	(1)
Some Things We Have Learned	424	(2)
References	426	(43)
Index	469

Excerpts

Preface Integrating the important and diverse topics in the field of sociology of education by showing how they are related is the main goal of this text. It emphasizes the diversity of theoretical approaches and issues in the field and the application of this knowledge to the understanding of education and schooling. Education is changing rapidly; it is no easy task to present the excitement of a dynamic field with diverse and disparate topics. To present the material to students in a meaningful way, a unifying framework--an open systems approach--is used. It is meant to provide coherent structure, not to detract from the theory and empirical content of sociology of education. In the fifth edition of the text, several changes are noted. There are three new chapters. One is on students in the educational system, including factors affecting achievement, in particular family and peers. The former chapter on schools around the world has been divided and expanded into two chapters: one dealing with theories of varying educational systems, the other providing case studies of educational systems within a framework representing several different types -of societies, from core to periphery and developed to developing, with different political-economic systems. In addition, extensive updating of findings on educational problems and additional updated data have been included. After teaching sociology of education to marry undergraduate and graduate students and using a variety of materials, I was concerned that the materials available, though excellent in quality, were not reaching undergraduate students who were from sociology, education, and other majors. The level of many texts is quite advanced, the themes of some books make their coverage or approach limited, or the books present research in such depth that they are beyond the grasp of undergraduates. During my work with the Project on Teaching Undergraduate Sociology, I focused on presentation of materials to undergraduates, and I have attempted to translate the ideas developed there to this text. The book is. best suited for sociology of education and social foundations of education courses at the undergraduate or beginning graduate level. Several goals guided the writing: To make the book comprehensible and useful to students.Realizing that most students are interested in how the field can help them deal with issues they will face, I emphasize the usefulness of research findings. Choices had to be made concerning which studies and topics to cover. Those chosen should have high interest for students and help them as they interact with school systems. To present material in a coherent framework.The instructor has leeway within the open systems approach to add topics, exclude sections of the text, and rearrange the order of topics without losing the continuity and integration present in this framework. To present diverse theoretical approaches in sociology of education.Several valuable perspectives exist today; the book gives examples throughout of theories and how they approach issues in the field. To include as major sections several topics that have not been singled out by many authors but are important current or emerging topics and are of interest to students.Separate chapters are devoted to higher education, informal education ("climate" and the "hidden curriculum"), the school environment, education around the world, and educational movements and alternatives. To indicate how change takes place and what role sociologists play.With the increasing emphasis on applied sociology, more courses are including information on applied aspects of topics covered. This is the focus of the final chapter but is covered throughout the text. To stimulate students to become involved with educational systems where they can put to use the knowledge available in t