Summary The Real World - an Introduction to Sociology Part 2

Title VII of the civil rights act of 1964- ensures you're right to apply for and hold a job without being discriminated against because of race, gender, or jealous -the department of education shape your everyday life as well- you submit fafsa to determine your financial aid -it is important to remember that we have built these instiations ourselves, through our participation in the democratic process -democratic processes require a free press and a educated polity; to make decisions and cast votes, you must have the tools to gather info and comprehend the issues your votes will influence. What is education? -informed public was essential to the survival of democracy -education was seen as critical to the founding of the new republic -in the us public education has traditionally been under state and local control, although the federal government began playing a larger role in the later half of the 20th century -private schools and religious schools are involved in education -9 percent of k-12 students attend private, 88 public- 3 percent- homeschooled Education- is the central means by which a society transmits its knowledge, values, and expectations to its members -goal: to give students the necessary understanding for effective social functioning -includes the transmission of information, principles and values, the regulation of personal character and discipline of the mind -can be either formal or informal and can occur in a variety of settings History of modern education: -formal, institutionalized, secular education in western civilization began in ancient greece around the 8th century B.C.E. when students studied philosophy, math, music, and gymnasiums -higher education was carried out by the philosopher before the rise of schools as an institution -in the middle ages, the church was the main educator, with schools in monasteries and cathedrals, and until 1200 C.E., the schools focused mainly on training students to be priests -13th century- lay education emerged. It consisted of apprentice training for a small group of the common people or education in chivalry for the more privileged. -during the middle ages- universities offered courses in 3 subjects- law, theology, medicinethese courses were available to only most privileged members of society: royals, aristocrats, those families with ties to the monarchy and the church - the roots of what we would recognize as modern mass education can be traced back to the idealism of the European Enlightenment of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. -During this period, the value of education greatly increased. -The leading thinkers of the day, such as Voltaire, Locke, and Franklin, emphasized knowledge—reason, logic, and science—over religious tradition. -They were convinced that the well-being and future of modern society depended on enlightened self-knowledge, which could be achieved only through learning. -Education in the United States grew rapidly during this same period. -The founders’ belief that it is the government’s responsibility to provide basic education to all its citizens—and that fulfilling this obligation is beneficial for both society and the individual—helped create the U.S. public education system. -Schooling came to be seen as a necessity rather than a luxury and became legally mandatory for all children age sixteen and younger; Massachusetts was the first state to enact such a law, in 1852. -As larger proportions of the population began attending schools, curricula became more varied and included both academic and vocational education to prepare students for a diversifying set of future occupations (not just farming or housewifery). -By 1929, elementary, junior high, and high schools had spread to every state and territory in the nation, including Alaska, and opportunities for higher education also expanded, especially in the land-grant colleges of the western United States. - Before 1900, less than 2 percent of Americans finished high school, and even fewer went on to college. - High school dropout rates are also at a record low, with only 7 percent of students dropping out of high school in 2013. -The increase in high school graduation rates is marked by a significant decrease in dropouts among black and Hispanic students, whose dropout rate has decreased to 8 percent and 14 percent -there are variations according to states Education and the reproduction of society -we learn to follow society's rules and to respect authority, and we are socialized to develop other qualities that will eventually make us efficient and obedient workers -tracking- students are identified as gifted or are placed into remedial or vocational education, teach us about success and achievement and our chances for both -when in lower class u loose chance for ap credits Education and inequality -unemployment rates are directly correlated with educational attainment: those with a high school degree experienced an unemployment rate of 6 percent, those w a bachelors degree 3.5 percent, those w a master 2.8 percent -a growing gap between the percentage of women (37 percent) and men (30 percent) with bachelor’s degrees or higher -Although more women than men earn bachelor’s degrees, on the job market they make considerably less than their male counterparts - only 10 percent of people from low-income backgrounds, compared to half of people from high-income families, obtain bachelor’s degrees -caucasian or Asian students may notice that there are fewer African American and Hispanic students in the gifted classroom than in the remedial classroom, and they may learn to think that whites and Asians are smarter than blacks and Hispanics -children without disabilities may see disabled kids left out of activities or sent to the special ed -these are micro=inequalities common in american classroom Hidden curriculum- the lessons that students learn indirectly but that are an implicit part of their socialization in the school environment -training of future workers -schools look a lot like factories -presenting and reinforcing an image of what is considered normal, right, good Studies of education: Symbolic interactionist study: -which maintains that the social world is constructed through the interactions of individuals. -iq test told the teachers the wrong shit -the researchers concluded that the teachers attitudes about their students unintentionally influenced the students academic performance -when teachers expect students to succeed, the students indeed tended to improve -this means that changes in classroom interactions could lead to an improvement in academic performances among students from underprivileged backgrounds Conflict theory: -which sees society as a system characterized by inequality and competitions -john kozol savage inequalities= is an ethnographic study of public schools in cities across the country, -kozol a former teacher contends that because schools are funded by local property taxes, children in poor neighborhoods are trapped in poor schools, which reinforces inequality -when kozol interviewed the parents and students in wealthy areas- he discovered that many of them believe educational inequalities are a thing of the past Structural functionalist on school -educational inequality is merely preparation for occupational inequalities later in life -believe that every social phenomenon has a role to play in keep society at equilibrium -the credential society- randall collins= argue that's class inequalities are reproduced in educational settings and that there is very little schools can do to increase learning -when class background factors are held constant none of these factors (better teachers, better facilities, test scores) have any effect -believes that reproducing the existing class structure is the true function of education -that we consider abolishing compulsory school requirements and making formal credential requirements for employment illegal -this would make it illegal for employers to ask how much education a job applicant has, much as it currently illegal to ask about race or gender The present and future of education: Problems: including low rates of literacy and poor standardized test scores, lack of sufficient funding and crumbling infrastructure, low pay for teachers, overcrowded classrooms, and high rates of crime on campus -america's failing public education system points toward a connection between poverty and academic underachievement No child left behind- each state was responsible for testing every student in its public education system at specific grade intervals to determine levels of success -low performing schools were identified with school report cars and were required to improve both student and teacher performance -parents also had the option of removing their children from consistently low performing schools and placing them in other schools within the district -this was suppose to promote equal education- it had mixed results -43 states have adopted the common core as a way to standardize and improve test scores while better preparing students for college -this is a state led rather than federal initiative and state adoption of standards is voluntary Charter schools and school vouchers Charter schools- are public schools, but they are run by private entities, such as a parents group or an education corporation -They operate with relative freedom from many of the bureaucratic regulations that apply to traditional public schools -represent a compromise position between public and private schools and provide a way for parents to exercise control over their students educational experiences without completely abandoning the public school system -are designed to support educational innovation; some have special emphasis on arts or sciences, others offer special services like health clinics or community based internships for students -they can make changes and implement decisions faster because of their freedom from district governance. -they can monitor their successes and failure more closely and more responsive to the needs of students, parents, and communities -school vouchers- allow parents in neighborhoods where the public schools are inadequate to send their children to the private school of their choice. Homeschooling- is the education of school-aged children under their parents supervision outside a regular school campus. Unschooling- a homeschooling alternative that rejects the standard curriculum in favor of student-driver types of learning Early college high schools- are new institutions that blend high school and college into a coherent educational program in which students earn both a high school diploma and two years of college credit toward a bachelor's degree -each early college high school is a collaborative endeavor between a public school district and an accredited higher education partner Dual enrollment- programs allow high school students to gain college credit for the courses they take through a concurrent enrollment agreement with a local college A community college- a 2 year school that provides gen ed classes for students who want to save money while preparing to transfer to a 4 year university, -they provide vocational and technical training for people planning practical career, retrain downsized workers new career paths, Online learning (education)- or called distance learning) have been available for hundred of years and served as a way for people in remote locations to benefit Religion: -includes any institutionalized system of shared beliefs - propositions and ideas held on the basis of faith and rituals (practices based on these beliefs) that identify a relationship between the sacred (holy divine, supernatural) and the profane (ordinary, mundane, everyday) -sociologists do not evaluate the truth of any systems or beliefs; they study the ways that religions shapes and are shaped by cultural institutions and processes, as well as the ways the religion influence and are influenced by the behavior of individuals STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM -First, religion shapes everyday behavior by providing morals, values, rules, and norms for its participants. -From the Judeo-Christian commandment “Thou shalt not kill” to the Buddhist commitment to reconcile strife to the Qur’anic requirement to eschew alcohol and impure foods, religious rules govern both the largest and smallest events and actions of followers’ daily lives. -Religious practices usually include some type of penance or rehabilitation for those who break the rules: Catholics can confess their sins to a priest and be assigned prayer or good works to redeem themselves; Muslims spend the month of Ramadan fasting during daylight hours to purify their bodies and souls; Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day of Atonement and also involves fasting, as well as appeals for wrongs to be forgiven. -Another function of religion is to give meaning to our lives. - Religious beliefs can help us understand just about everything we encounter because every religion has a system of beliefs that explains such fundamental questions as, How did we get here? What is our purpose in life? Why do bad things happen to good people? All religious traditions address these questions, helping their followers explain the inexplicable, making the terrible more tolerable, and assuring believers that there is a larger plan. -Finally, religion provides the opportunity to come together with others—to share in group activity and identity, form cohesive social organizations, and be part of a congregation of like-minded others CONFLICT THEORY These are the (mostly unifying) functions of religion for individuals and for society, but there are also ways in which religion can promote inequality, conflict, and change. -from a conflict perspective, the doctrines of the three major monotheistic religions: religions that worship one divine figure (judaism, christianity, islam)- are quite sexist -religious organizations have also been agents of social justice and political change -religion: movements for african american rights -liberation theory- a movement within the catholic church to understand christianity from the perspective of the poor and oppressed, with a focus on fighting injustice -religion is complex: it can subjudgate and oppress at the same time it can liberate. Symbolic interactionism: -focus on how religious meaning is constructed in interaction and how religion is incorporated into the everyday life of individuals and groups -this approach is appropriate for examining religious symbolism, religious communication, religious practices. Religiosity- the consistent and regular practice of religious beliefs and hey gauge religiosity in terms of frequency of attendance at worship services and the importance of religious beliefs to an individual Extrinsic religiosity: refers to a person's public display of commitment, such as attendance at religious services or other related functions Intrinsic religiosity- refers to a person's inner religious life or personal relationship to the divine -gender, age, race, geographic region, political party, and education are all variables that influence religiously The us is largely christian= but buddhism, islam and judaism are practice by a portion of the population fundamentalism= which is not a religion in itself but a traditionalist approach that can be applied to any religion. Fundamentalism- is a way of understanding and interpreting sacred texts that can be part of any denomination or sect Fundamentalist christianity= centers on a strict, sometimes liberal interpretation of the bible and advocates a return to the historic founding principles of christianity founding principles of christianity, arguing that modern approaches to christianity are corrupt and inauthentic. Evangelical approach- attempt to convert individuals to their way of worshipping See their conversion work as a service to others= an attempt to save souls= and have adapted many modern technologies to their caused. Unchurched spirituality- a term described those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious and who often adopt aspects of various religion traditions -the separation of the church and state is one of the main reasons europeans came to north america. -secular society- non religious, separates church and state and does not endorse any religion Religion in the white house -there is no requirement that a president has to be a man or christian but mostly all of them have been -we should not be concerned about a presidents religious affiliation, but it matters. Religion: the micro-macro link -religious beliefs, practices, and prejudices can inflame global conflicts and resolve them and can shape national political life in observable and unexamined way -religion is integral in the everyday lives of many americans who find comfort and kinship in their religious beliefs and practices -state and federal policy decisions about school vouchers affect individual students and neighborhood public schools and they benefit parochial schools and the religious institutions that run them =