In Ruby Paynes opinion, teachers can change a low income students life just by establishing mutual respect. The teacher needs to care about the student and be sure to give the student the necessary skills to advance throughout life. This is somewhat like one of the education theories, symbolic interactionist theory. Symbolic interactionists limit their analysis of education to what they directly observe happening in the classroom. They focus on how teacher expectations influence student performance, perceptions, and attitudes.
Assess the view that the education system exists mainly to select and prepare young people for their future work roles One perspective that supports this is the functionalist view that secondary socialisation prepares children for work later on in life. They believe secondary socialisation does this as in a school environment you learn the norms and values of authority figures, for example, the teachers. Functionalists therefore believe that this can then later be applied in the work place as the norms and values are carried on however the authority figure role changes from teacher to boss. Generally, the text implies that primary socialisation isn’t enough in preparation for a large-scale society. Education, a secondary agency of socialisation
Another way that middle class parents can support their children is by taking them on educational trips, for example, museums. This means their children can have a better understanding on more things in life. They would also probably read more to their children as they may have more time, which will help the child’s mind develop and give their child the best head start they can. Some sociologists argue that working class children wont have this advantage as their families will lack books, educational toys and also because
Using league tables is a good thing as if you want your child to go to a good school, you can chose the one most suitable with good education and exam results. Schools are paid by how many children they can attract so school results and Ofsted inspection publications is hoped to make schools compete and get good results or they wont attract pupils and the funding. Different types of schools for example faith schools and academy schools are a change that also helped pupils in education. Faith schools were introduced in the 1990s by demands of Muslims who wanted their own faith schools. Different types of schools help as parents have more choice and freedom of where they want their child to go.
Sociologists like Cultural deprivation theorists would agree with this statement.They believe that parental interests and attitudes to education influence working class childrens' attainment levels, this can be positive or negative influence.They would argue that children look upon their parents as role models, .When they see their parents act in a negative way regarding rules, school and work, they often follow in their footsteps. This could result in the children developing an Anti-School subculture. Studies do show that the working class do considerably worse than the middle class, in many aspects of education. Children in the middle class are more likely to struggle in school, more likely to underachieve at GCSE level and more likely to be expelled and excluded than middle class students. Cultural deprivation theorists would blame this on the lack of parental guidence and encouragment to succeed in education.
With the appreciation of diversity and the embrace of multiculturalism, attitudes will change because the school system will realize that too long have they marginalized the abilities of minorities and children of different cultures. When teachers in the school system have learned to stop the prejudice and give all children a fair share then it will break the child’s mind set that they do not measure up to their peers and will prove that each child given an opportunity can equally
This does not mean that parents have no rights to what happens to their child while they are at school but this allows school to guide student behaviors though discipline. This idea is called in loco parentis (pg. 378). This concept was once more important in schools than it is now but it has brought forth it idea that no matter the student, disabled or not, there needs to be a certain level of responsibility put on all students for their behaviors when they are at school. This would be a great chapter of the book for parents to read because it would help them to understand why the school is doing what it is doing.
However it seems educators would rather play it “safe” avoiding adult themes in school-assigned literature and sticking to what they have deemed as age-appropriate for students. The term “age-appropriate” has been widely used as a proxy for beliefs & values conveyed on children & how much control they have over them. If you take a look on what was considered age-appropriate even 50 years ago and fast forward to our present day society it clear that we are not living in the same world. What was once the traditional family structure; two parents, one that often stayed home to care for their children has deteriorated and children are receiving less and less time supervised by an adult at home making a child’s time is school even more
We have age limits and restriction on many things, but why does are education system expect these young kids to make the right choices, ask for help and develop good study habits on their own. Our education system needs a new approach to resolve these issues. Teachers and parents need to be held responsible, for how well these kids do in school. We need come up with a new plan so these students aren’t left lost and helpless. Flunking students can be used as a positive tool by our education system.
While there are several “rags to riches” stories that serve to encourage the members of the lower class to work hard and achieve their dreams, much truth lies in the fact that the government does not provide enough opportunities for them to do so. I would recommend revising the school choice provision of the No Child Left Behind Act in order to enable the mobility of students to schools located outside of their district. By doing so, many of the children within the working class would have the option to attend a school where they could receive the same opportunities as those of their high-born