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Conflicts of the symbolic interactionist sociology
How conflict theory differs from functionalist theory in terms of education
Conflicts of the symbolic interactionist sociology
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There are many factors throughout the field of educational social psychology that attempt to explain why similar students perform differently within the classroom. The phenomenon known as the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) is one such example. James Davis first coined BFLPE in the field of psychology in 1966. Davis concluded from his study of male college students, that those high-achieving students that attended a college of a lower caliber tended to perform better and have a better outlook on their future careers. This indicates that it is better to be a big fish in a little pond, than a little fish in a big pond. This phenomenon has been studied extensively and has taken into consideration both high and low socioeconomic statuses (SES). The BFLPE phenomenon can also be attributed to three of the paradigms of sociology that applied to education: functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. The question remains, how and why are students affected by BFLPE and is there anything that can be changed within the education system to maximize the positive effects of BFLPE?
The BFLPE phenomenon addresses the notion of self-concept within school settings. The idea of self-concept is best explained through the self-categorization theory developed by John Turner and his colleagues. Self-categorization theory helps to explain how the self is identified through the association with a group. This means that the conceptual idea of the self is correlated to how one relates with a larger group. Concerning the BFLPE phenomenon, a high achieving student that attends a less prestigious institution will likely develop a notion of self-concept that places them in a high standing position, relative to their peers. Inversely, a high...
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...ant to encourage and expect high performance from their children, but to be understanding of relative caliber of institutions. Perhaps schools should consider deviating from the path of the previous century and encourage a more heterogeneous sampling of students, rather than tracking them based on ability. In the end, deciding if it is better to be a big fish in a little pond or a little fish in a big pond depends on the age and developmental level of the individual. Unfortunately, for this phenomenon to continue to occur, the school system will need to remain stratified. As with many questions in the field of social psychology, more research is necessary to better understand the factors that play into success as a student. Until then, the BFLPE phenomenon is merely another factor to take into account when attempting to understand student development in education.
...s with 2.5 grade point average students and economically diverse students in the same classroom there is no limit to the enrichment to the academic environment as a whole.
...wed as young adults almost ready for the life in society almost unfit for high school at their age. Race is another important factor that influences student’s perceptions society. Asians are expected to be more academically distinguished and stuck-up. African Americans are expected to stand lower academically and more likely to get into trouble similarly to Hispanics. All of the sometimes imagined or overgeneralized assumptions greatly influence relations within individuals and groups.
Leon Botstein, the President of the Bard College, deals with students every day. In his piece Let Teenagers Try Adulthood he goes through a list of several of the problems in high schools and follows that with a list of possible solutions. One of the main problems that Botstein finds is that students entering his university are rarely prepared. And that
The realm of education tends to shine a negative light on younger generations labeling them as menace to society and ultimately excluding them without fair opportunity. Every child is different; some may require more attention from teachers than others. Schools tend to forget this unique characteristic of human life once standardized testing and grading comes into the equation.
The ability for all children from varying walks of life to receive a well-rounded education in America has become nothing more than a myth. In excerpt “The Essentials of a Good Education”, Diane Ravitch argues the government’s fanatical obsession with data based on test scores has ruined the education system across the country (107). In their eyes, students have faded from their eyes as individual hopefully, creative and full of spirit, and have become statistics on a data sheet, percentages on a pie chart, and numbers calculated to show the intelligence they have from filling out bubbles in a booklet. In order for schools to be able to provide a liberal education, they need the proper funding, which comes from the testing.
As is common in the school systems, more prolific neighborhoods can use sources not available to another school in a poor neighborhood. There is a common thread in education that the students with access to more options, consistent teachers and environments perform better. This is revealed in HST to an excessive degree. In 2002 the No Child Left Behind was enacted. This act was fuel in the fires of HST, and ironically was meant to rectify the problem of poverty dictating education. “The NCLB (2002) places a significant emphasis on increasing academic achievement for all students, regardless of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status (SES), limited English proficiency, or students with disabilities on the local, state, and federal levels.” (Domond) NCLB (2002) was meant to challenge schools to address the gaps in the socioeconomically affected areas. Nonetheless, HST has exacerbated those gaps and penalized the schools in the geographical locations that have a higher poverty
Everyone knows about the various stereotypes and social stigmas that come with socioeconomic status whether they will choose to admit it or not. Society has come to assume that a child who comes from a family of low socioeconomic status, that they will not do as well as a child who comes from a family of a greater socioeconomic status. Unfortunately these assumptions are so ingrained in our brains that we start to follow the self-fulfilling prophecy. When a child from a noticeably low socioeconomic status walks into a classroom, it is not uncommon for the teacher to automatically assume that the child will not perform well in class, and in turn either grades the child more harshly or does not give the child as much attention as the other children from high socioeconomic status families. Do these children not perform well in class because of the self-fulfilling prophecy or is there something that happens during the critical period that causes the child to fall behind?
Today, the United States is still a racially segregated society. Getting into college is the first step in a student’s postsecondary educational journey, an academically strong start in college is the second because grades can either expand or limit opportunities for successfully completing a college degree . College students face many obstacles throughout their pursuit of higher education. Racial Segregation can affect college academic performance in a variety of ways. Segregation represents a major structural feature influencing success in college. Segregation experienced in childhood can influence later academic performance through a rage of channels. Segregation has other, more contemporaneous influences on academic performance. Massey
...tudents in high-poverty schools. Indeed, low-income students given a chance to attend more-affluent schools performed more than half a year better, on average, than middle income students who attend high-poverty schools” (Kahlenberg, Middle Class Schools for All 2). From this data, it is clear to see that the type of school is what matters most, not income. Ones social income class should not be used to determine their intelligence, but to only advertise their yearly salary.
One of Mantsios’ realities is that class standing has a significant impact on chances for educational achievement. Mantsios defines class by family income and the effectiveness of education based on standardized tests such as the SAT. In a study for the Carnegie Council on Children, a relationship can be seen between social class and scores on standardized tests. As the family income of a student increases so do the median SAT scores. Richard De Lone came to the conclusion that the higher the student’s social class, the better the chance that he/she will get higher grades. William Sewell showed a positive correlation between class and overall educational achievement. When the top quartile was compared with the bottom quartile, he found that students from upper-class families were twice as likely to obtain training beyond high school and four times as likely to attain a post-graduate degree. Sewell’s research proved that the higher the social class a student belonged to, the greater the probability of higher educational achievement. This study relates to the conclusions of Anyon that different social classes are given different curriculums and teaching styles which very well can affect school performance as shown in De Lone’s study. As Mantsios shows how the different teaching styles discussed in Anyon effects academic performance, Kozol exposes why some
Finally, it is a general opinion among many that academic performance is a manner of will and determination of an individual rather than their socioeconomic status. For instance, in schools of higher learning, there are a lot of students from richer backgrounds who do not perform well as compared to those perceived to be from poor backgrounds (Sacerdote, 2002). Research has shown that while socioeconomic status may influence the availability or access to learning materials, it is the student’s personal determination to excel that determines the kind of lifestyle they
Clearly each sociological perspective has something very different to say about how it views the social aspect of underperforming schools and the interaction they have with society as a whole. While functionalism focuses on certain positive aspects, and conflict theory argues our societies competitive tendencies, it is apparent that all three of the perspectives need to be addressed in order to gain a well-rounded educated opinion as to how any of societies’ many individual aspects fit into the massive complex web that defines our social structure.
Although our research project continues—it is far from finished—there were several considerations which brought us to the decision to write this book. First, in none of our publications had we spelled out the theoretical framework within which we have operated. It is consequently, with the relationships of our findings to each other, as well as to broader psychological issues, have not been discussed in a manner satisfactory to us. Second, is about we had a fair amount of unpublished data which we felt could only be evaluated within the context of all we have done. Third, is about we became increasingly aware that our work had important implications for psychological practices and procedures in the public schools. This awareness was due not only to our interpretation of our formal findings, or to the fact that we spent a great deal of time in the school setting, but also to the response of various school personnel who felt that our studies could be of great relevance in the development of testing procedures which would be more meaningful than those currently employed in our schools. The final factor entering into the decision to write this book was our inability, for reasons beyond our control, to remain together as a research team. We have worked intimately together for several years, all of us participating in the over-all
As previous discussed Bernstein’s research has shown that the language of teachers and school is that of the elaborate code, this leaves students from working class backgrounds often lagging behind in the classroom. (Gibbons, 1989). Teachers themselves tend to be come from a middle class background and this in itself effects how they view their students, they will value certain cultural capitals and will be bias towards students who possess these culture capitals. (O’Higgins-Norman, 2011) For teachers to be truly inclusion in their classroom they need to teacher outside their own culture. However this is not always the case as students from working class backgrounds are often judged unfairly on language, subculture values and material factors; which all lead to lower expectation. The social background of both students and teachers effect their classroom interactions. (Gorlewski, 2011). According to Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) result of lower expectation of students by their teacher will result in decreased performance, known as the Pygmalion effect. This study used the impact a teacher’s expectation can have on a student, so when a teacher expects students from a lower class to do badly this will happen, the student internalises this expectations and become a self fulfilling prophecy. This is particularly the case when teachers’ beliefs
When a lower tracked student is placed in the low-ability class, the placement can destroy a child’s confidence as well as promote inequality (Enns 2015). As the lower tracked education quality is much lower than a higher tracked classroom, there is a disadvantage for students who actually want to learn. There is not much encouragement for the lower-ability students because expectations are significantly reduced (Enns 2015). Despite being in a high-ability class, a child may feel pressure because he or she has to compete with other kids with the same intellect. When a child feels the need to compete, it could harm his or hers confidence level as well (Holloway 2003). A homogenous approach creates inequality within society because tracking is based off on an individual’s social background. Therefore, tracking will create a divide between the minority and majority groups. The majority dominant class has the upper-class advantage meaning that their children are most likely to be in the high intelligent class due to the extracurricular within their lives. While the minority is placed in the lower tracked class, they are given the lower quality education that they do not deserve (Enns 2015). Nevertheless, according to Paton (2012), the mixed approach was thought to have a its disadvantage because it might put high-ability children at a disadvantage. Parents were scared that the lower-ability children would hold their high-ability children back academically (Paton 2012). Having said that, the parents are wrong, as it is not another child’s fault in why their children are not pushed to their full potential. It is the teacher’s responsibility to provide more challenging lessons for the more intelligent children. The teachers are the ones who should push their students to their full potential (Paton