Classical

Sociological
Perspectives of
Education

Sept 18th, 2006

 What is Education?
• Education is the social institution
responsible for the systematic
transmission of knowledge, skills,
and cultural vales within a formally
organized structure
Cultural Transmission
• The process by which children and
recent immigrants become
acquainted with the dominant
cultural beliefs, values, norms and
accumulated knowledge of a
society – occurs through informal
and formal education.
 Informal education

• learning that occurs in a

spontaneous, unplanned way.
 Formal Education

• Learning that takes place within an

academic setting such as a
school, which has a planned
instructional process and teachers
who convey specific knowledge,
skills and thinking process to
students
Theories of Education

• Functionalist
• Conflict
• Interactionist
 Functionalism
• Dewy
• Parsons
• Durkheim
• Education is responsible for
developing moral or normative
consensus, which is at the centre
of social integration and pattern
maintenance.
 Meritocracy
• A form of social system in which
power goes to those with superior
intellects - the belief that rulers
should be chosen for their superior
abilities and not because of their
wealth or birth
Functions of School System
– to teach the values of achievement, universalistic
standards of judgment, and emotional neutrality
appropriate for specialized occupations
– to train in specific skills and knowledge
appropriate for occupational roles
– to ensure the appropriate selection and allocation
of young adults to occupational roles in
accordance with merit, as measured by universal
standards of achievements
– to legitimate inequalities in material rewards in
democratic society through principles of merit
established in the school grading system
– to develop stable social relations with age peers
outside the family
– to inculcate appropriate sex-roles identification
 Schools Instill

• a) The value of achievement

- by rewarding those who achieve
through exam success.
• b) The value of equality of
opportunity
- by offering everyone an equal
chance to succeed.
 Emile Durkheim
..main function of education is the transmission
of society's norms and values in three mains
areas:
• 1. SOCIAL SOLIDARITY -
For example the teaching of history provides
social continuity.
• 2. SOCIAL RULES -
At school we learn to co-operate with
strangers and to be self-disciplined.
• 3. DIVISION OF LABOUR -
Education teaches individual skills necessary
for future occupations. This is a most
important function in advanced industrial
society with its complex division of labour.
 Schools transmit

• a) General Values necessary for

homogeneity
• b) Specific skills provide
necessary diversity for social co-
operation as people need to work
together to produce goods.
Manifest Functions of
Education
– Socialization
– Transmission of culture
– Social Control
– Social placement
– Change and innovations
Latent Functions of
Education
– Restricting some activities
– Matchmaking and production of
social networks
– Creation of a Generation Gap
Conflict Perspective on
Education

• From a conflict perspective,

education is used to perpetuate
class, racial-ethnic, and gender
inequalities through tracking,
ability grouping and a hidden
curriculum that teaches
subordinate groups conformity and
obedience.
 Conflict theorists
• argue that access to quality
education is closely related to
social class.
• education is a vehicle for
reproducing existing class
relationships.
 Pierre Bourdieu
• argues that the educational system
uphold patterns of behaviour and
attitudes of the dominant class.
• argues that students from diverse
backgrounds come to school with
different amounts of Cultural Capital –
social assets that include values,
beliefs, attitudes and competencies in
language and culture.
 Hidden Curriculum
• is the transmission of cultural
values and attitudes, such as
conformity and obedience to
authority, through implied
demands found in rules, routines
and regulations in schools.
 Marxism
• For Karl Marx, education performs
two main functions in capitalist
society:
• 1. It reproduces the inequalities
and social relations of production
of Capitalist Society.
• 2. It serves to legitimate these
inequalities under the guise of
Meritocracy.
Interactionist Perspective
on Education
• Interactionists focus on classroom
communication patterns and
educational practices such as
labeling that affect students’ self-
concept and aspirations
 Interactionist
• Labeling is the process whereby a
person is identified by others as
possessing a specific
characteristic or exhibiting a
certain pattern of behaviour (such
as being deviant).
 Interactionist
• Self-fulfilling Prophecy – defined
as an unsubstantiated belief or
prediction resulting in behaviour
that makes the originally false
beliefs come true.
• Typing refers to how teachers
'type' or categorize pupils as
'bright' or 'troublesome', 'good' or
'bad' etc.
 Recap
Theory Nature of Society
Functionalists Society is composed of
interrelated parts that work
Macrolevel together to maintain stability
within society. This stability is
threatened by dysfunctional acts
and institutions
Conflict theorists Society is characterized by
social inequality; social life is a
Macrolevel struggle for scarce resources.
Social arrangements benefit
some groups at the expense of
others
Interactionists Society is the sum of
interactions of people and
Microlevel groups. Behaviour is learned in
interaction with other people;
how people define a situation
becomes the foundation for
how they behave
Education focus Key ideas
focus on functions and dysfunctions Schools Transmit: a) General Values
of education necessary for homogeneity
b) Specific skills provide necessary diversity
for social co-operation as people need to work
together to produce goods.
focus on the relationship between 1. It reproduces the inequalities and social
education inequality relations of production of Capitalist Society.
2. It serves to legitimate these inequalities
under the guise of Meritocracy.
focus on classroom communication Looks at how these interactions may affect the
patterns and educational practices performances of pupils in the education
such as labeling that affect students’ system.
self-concept and aspirations
Average Tuition Fees
Average undergraduate tuition fees for full-time students, by discipline, by provinces
(Canada)
1999-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004
dollars
Canada
Discipline
Agriculture 3,061 3,159 3,216 3,301 3,487
Architecture 3,376 3,510 3,583 3,524 3,586
Arts 3,310 3,411 3,474 3,617 3,810
Commerce 3,171 3,300 3,536 3,743 3,991
Dentistry 7,863 8,424 9,105 9,703 11,733
Education 2,787 2,857 2,911 3,019 3,216
Engineering 3,481 3,624 3,776 3,865 4,371
Household Sciences 3,182 3,285 3,359 3,486 3,669
Law 3,495 4,044 4,366 5,021 5,995
Medicine 5,894 6,494 7,458 8,063 9,406
Music 3,347 3,356 3,454 3,586 3,753
Science 3,334 3,420 3,547 3,728 3,954
Total undergraduate 3,328 3,447 3,577 3,749 4,025
Note: Using the most current enrolment data available, average tuition fees have been
weighted by the number of students enrolled by institution and field of study. Fees at both
public and private institutions are included in the weighted average calculations.
Source: Statistics Canada, Centre for Education Statistics.
Last modified: 2004-09-01.
 Level of Educational
Attainment
Level of Educational Attainment

high school

University
Without

diploma

College
Trades
school
High
Name
Total

Canada 3,698,235 3,898,405 2,097,140 2,917,895 3,676,630 16,288,310

Newfoundland
100,470 45,430 61,535 39,450 39,970 286,855
and Labrador
Prince Edward
20,460 14,325 11,045 12,945 11,920 70,700
Island
Nova Scotia 131,090 90,010 86,220 88,295 100,045 495,650
New Brunswick 116,545 96,630 55,050 66,670 64,805 399,695
Quebec 979,960 1,018,715 505,650 637,890 866,455 4,008,675
Ontario 1,274,225 1,509,585 677,755 1,194,425 1,528,665 6,184,650
Manitoba 162,600 128,575 74,855 93,215 112,395 571,640
Saskatchewan 134,580 103,880 76,050 74,400 87,010 475,915
Alberta 349,940 363,210 245,885 299,825 343,500 1,602,355
British Columbia 416,245 518,150 295,180 401,755 512,715 2,144,050
Yukon Territory 2,795 3,615 3,045 3,510 3,960 16,925
Northwest
4,970 3,990 3,380 3,600 3,845 19,785
Territories
Nunavut 4,355 2,300 1,500 1,915 1,355 11,410
 Ed in Canada
Educational Attainment in Canada
Total 23,901,360
Elementary-secondary only 10,844,795
Less than grade 5 524,145
Grades 5-8 1,826,350
Grades 9-10 2,430,300
Grades 11-13 2,696,105
Secondary (high) school graduation only 3,367,900
Trades certificate or diploma 836,250
College education only 6,047,085
Without trade or college certificate or diploma 1,537,615
With trades certificate or diploma 1,601,275
With college certificate or diploma 2,908,200
University 6,173,225
Without degree 2,485,580
Without college education 1,133,685
Without certificate, diploma or degree 806,920
With trades certificate or diploma 8,080
With university certificate or diploma below bachelor level 318,685
With college education 1,351,890
Without certificate, diploma or degree 245,625
With trades certificate or diploma 153,320
With college certificate or diploma 670,205
With university certificate or diploma below bachelor level 282,740
With degree 3,687,650
With bachelor or first professional degree 2,534,010
With university certificate above bachelor level 382,955
With master's degree 642,055
With earned doctorate 128,625
 Uni Qualifications
University qualifications granted by field of study, by sex
1995-1996 1996-1997 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2000
Canada 178,120 173,935 172,075 173,575 175,555
Male 75,110 73,045 71,940 72,200 72,765
Female 103,010 100,890 100,135 101,375 102,790
Social sciences 67,860 66,665 67,020 66,990 67,775
Male 29,030 28,420 27,990 28,300 28,245
Female 38,830 38,245 39,030 38,690 39,530
Education 29,790 27,810 25,955 26,765 27,015
Male 8,695 8,040 7,565 7,740 7,735
Female 21,095 19,770 18,390 19,025 19,280
Humanities 22,355 21,370 20,815 20,445 20,150
Male 8,275 8,035 7,590 7,420 7,315
Female 14,080 13,335 13,225 13,025 12,835
Health professions and
12,900 13,075 12,660 12,705 11,935
occupations
Male 3,520 3,460 3,515 3,295 3,210
Female 9,380 9,615 9,145 9,410 8,725
Engineering and applied
13,065 12,765 12,830 12,685 13,235
sciences
Male 10,445 10,125 10,120 9,905 10,045
Female 2,620 2,640 2,710 2,780 3,190
Agricultural and biological
11,400 11,775 12,205 12,535 12,435
sciences
Male 4,755 4,780 4,775 4,810 4,770
Female 6,645 6,995 7,430 7,725 7,665
Mathematics and physical
9,785 9,740 9,990 10,460 11,250
sciences
Male 6,725 6,750 6,875 7,200 7,595
Female 3,060 2,990 3,115 3,260 3,655
Fine and applied arts 5,205 5,205 5,260 5,200 5,335
Male 1,780 1,705 1,735 1,740 1,715
Female 3,425 3,500 3,525 3,460 3,620
Arts and sciences 5,760 5,530 5,340 5,790 6,425
Male 1,885 1,730 1,775 1,790 2,135
Female 3,875 3,800 3,565 4,000 4,290
Note: Includes bachelor's and first professional degrees, undergraduate diplomas and certificates,
other undergraduate qualifications, master's degrees, doctoral degrees, and graduate diplomas and
certificates. Source: Statistics Canada, Centre for Education Statistics.
Last modified: 2005-02-17.