Sociological Theories of Education

Brief notes.

Reading

Wotherspoon, T., & Sawchuk, P. H. (2005). The Sociology of Education in Canada. Canadian Journal of Sociology, Chapter 2.

Liberal analysis of education: allocation & socialization

Structural functionalism: education’s functions in social maintenance and development
- Émile Durkheim - an integrative & regulative mechanism for meaningful social participation
- Talcott Parsons - allocation & socialization, internalization of values
- James Samuel Coleman - equality of educational opportunity than outcomes
- John Porter - contribution to social mobility (but domination by elites)
Educational progressivism: education with other spheres of social life
- Jane Addams - integration of education, social theory and community-based practices, collective realization of social benefits for all
- John Dewey - remedy to social problems, child-centered education practices.

They drew the relatively optimistic and unquestioning assumption about the role of education in the service of individual, social and economic development. They tend to offer a description of an ideal state of education rather than a clear explanation of social reality. In sum, liberal analysis tend to overestimate the extent to which social reforms can contribute to social change, in the process ignoring or minimizing the significance of more deeply embedded power relations associated with class, gender, race, etc.

Interpretative analysis of education: schooling process & interaction

Social constructivism: two key features of schooling
- Meaning and nature of school practices for participants
- Importance of language/knowledge/curricula/…other symbolic aspects in school
- Symbolic interactionism
Some influential thinkers:
- Max Weber - rationalization, credentials, bureaucratic site and techno-experts
  - Neo-Weberian analysis: bureaucracy and power in contemporary schooling
- Randall Collins - Interaction Ritual Chains, educational expansion & credential inflation
- Chicago School of sociology
  - Willard Waller - The Sociology of Teaching, school as social organism
- Howard S. Becker - self-fulfilling prophecies: teacher expectation, teacher–pupil relationship
- New sociology of education - power relations embedded within educational practices

Interpretative sociology is often limited by its failure to link what happens in schools with the world beyond schooling. The focus on “everyday processes” often ignores broader historical contexts, social structures, and how things came to be in the first place. In sum, similar to functionalist, interpretative analyses contribute rich description rather than explanation.

Critical analysis of education: causes of educational inequalities & changes

Criticize functionalist analyses as ideologies that serve dominant social groups
Educational process as a mean to subordination and disempowerment
Three orientations to critical analysis
- Neo-Marxism: political economy
  - Karl Marx - social class relations, contradictory nature of schooling
  - Harry Braverman - capitalist control over degradation/deskilling
  - Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis - Schooling in Capitalist America, correspondence principle
  - Cultural reproduction theory
    - Pierre Bourdieu
  - Resistance theory
    - Paul Willis
    - Michael Apple
- Feminism
  - Sexism in classrooms/employment positions/textbooks/language use/…
  - Radical feminism - fundamental restructure of roles
  - Socialist feminism - social class differences in gender
- Critical pedagogy
  - Feminist pedagogy
  - Anti-racism education

To develop adequate sociological understanding of education:

Recognize education as a broad set of practices that is not restricted to specific institutional forms like schools/colleges/universities. Education takes place both formally and informally in all aspects of our lives. Educational practices have both intended and unintended consequences.
Formal education is riddled with contradictions. It can contribute to enhanced social and economic opportunities, individual self-awareness, and greater understanding of our place in the world, but it can also lead to oppression, subordination, and restricted socioeconomic opportunities.
Be able to understand and link together, what happens inside schools as well as the organization and operation of the education system as a whole. The analysis of education, in turn, must be integrated with an understanding of wider social processes, structures, and strategies for transformation.
Be aware of the historical factors that have given rise to educational systems and processes of educational change.
Formal education involves the production and dissemination of knowledge and skills of various forms. We must be aware of how these processes are contested and often selective in nature, so that we can understand the extent to which they include and represent diverse social interests.
Be sensitive to how the needs and actions of educational practitioners, including students, teachers, administrators,and policy-makers, can inform and be informed by educational analysis and research. It is important, in this regard, to recognize that none of these groups is homogeneous; rather, they reflect varied experiences characterized by gender,race, ethnicity, class, and other important social characteristics.