This makes the schools trying to appeal to the middle class parents, to make the middle class parents choose their school and help them get their own results better. The school markets themselves with glossy brochures, good previous results, school trips and other facilities such as swimming pools or football stadiums. All of this put together means that the teacher ends up with different expectations from students in different social
Functionalists however argue that the hidden curriculum prepares younger generations for life in the work place, For example, we obey higher authority such as teachers, of which in the work place would be our employer. Unlike Marxists, Functionalists believe that social mobility is possible and education gives individuals the best chance to achieve their status. American Sociologist, Parsons believes that education is a secondary agent of socialisation, and the
The documentary Waiting for Superman(2010) directed by Davis Guggenheim and the picture book The story of Ruby Bridges(1995) written by Robert Coles and illustrated by George Ford presents the idea of the American School system. The documentary scrutinizes the failures of the public education system in America by following several students as they strive to be accepted into a charter school, while the picture book shows the determination of a young girl as she thrives to receive proper education despite the racial inequality that she is facing. The readers are positioned to react in a positive manner. Despite the fact that both texts share the main idea of the school system in America, the ideas revolving around the main idea are presented
Also, because the teachers have middle class values as well, the cultural deprivation theorists believe that they will have a bias against the working class kids and therefore they will not be able to teach them properly since their values and cultures conflict. Compensatory education is a policy that was designed to deal with the problem of cultural deprivation, by providing extra resources to schools and communities in deprived areas. Compensatory education programmes were introduced to intervene early in the socialisation process to compensate children for deprivation they experience at home. The most comprehensive programme was Head Start. It involved health care, social services, and education.
Now people’s ideologies are influenced by the education system, which is now the main agency of control within society. People are now entitled to more choices and their acceptance comes from their experience of education. Althusser states people used to accept their position in society because they believed it to be ‘gods will’. This theory suggests that if individuals are going to accept inequality their ideologies need to be controlled and the only way to accomplish this is to become a teacher and to control the society through power. Education according to Althusser reproduces inequality by preparing pupils for work in the wider society.
Grading in Special Education by Susan M. Brookhart looks at a different grading strategy. She thinks students in special education need to be graded based upon their goals in their Individual Education Plan's (IEP). Brookhart expresses that grading students in special education at a lower level then everyone else is unfair to both students in special education and to those not in special education. This is an interesting article/book for parents to read because it gives them some ideas of questions to bring up to their child's case mangers on different ways to grade their children in special
It is at school that children begin to learn lessons about the relationships between the genders in society. Girls learn that they are more likely to be inferior and about male’s dominance in
They are naturally curious about sex, body, and taboo subjects. Many classrooms attempt to subvert this aspect of the teenage life, but the carnival in the classroom would have a place for it—it must have a place for it. Caroline Shields, in her book, Good Intentions Are Not Enough: Transformative Leadership for Communities of Difference, describes how in many schools, “those in power often take steps to organize the existing structures to exclude diverse voices and perspectives” and that “Rather than organize to emphasize and encourage participation…, many schools find ways to discourage discussion on controversial topics” (183). Schools are making the “assumption that people have equal access and opportunities to voice their opinions and that those who choose not to exercise that right do so out of informed choice.” They assume that students and even their parents are uninvolved and lack achievement simply because they are disinterested and unmotivated (Shields, 183). However, Shields suggest that it is because they have no voice, no power within a “typical school organized in hierarchical and uniform lines according to what has become known as the “factory model” of organizational life” (183).
The History Boys on Contemporary Education Monika Bregović Abstract Alan Bennett’s play The History Boys provides different perspectives of the educational system, which are reflected in different teaching techniques used by the fictional teachers. The play reflects the clash between two ways of producing legitimacy for education – the modern that relies on grand narratives, and the postmodern that relies on performativity and profitability. The issues raised by Bennett concern the changes in the educational system triggered by reforms introduced in the 1980s that were perceived as a gradual commodification of education. Changes in educational policy governed by neoliberal logic continue to have great impact on contemporary education with the introduction of the Bologna process. The only female teacher in Bennett’s play Mrs Lintott, offers a feminist critique of the system of education as well.
Dress Codes in Schools Kelly Mennillo Com/220 Due: 4/22/12 Kelly Munoz Some people believe that our schools should require their students to adapt to a dress code to improve student behavior, enhance students’ self-confidence, and reduce differences among socioeconomic levels. Others may say that policies enforcing dress codes, or requiring school uniforms violate students’ First Amendment rights, and suppress individuality. The argument over school dress codes and school-uniform policies continue to rage in the meeting rooms, administrative officers, and classrooms of public schools throughout the country. School officials place dress code policies so there will be orderly dressing amongst the students’. Dress codes are important, but they are troublesome at the same time.