Foremost, there are several theories behind educational attainment. First, there is the curriculum theory, which explains how curricula of education benefit or harms those who learn it. Within in the main curricula, such as mathematics and history, this theory suggests that there is a hidden curriculum that is learned simply by being in a learning environment and not necessarily intentional. For example, a student in a teacher-led classroom is learning submission. Another example could be teachers addressing students as boys and girls. Looking at the sociology of education, it is the study of how institutions and one’s experiences affect their educational outcomes. Examples of theories from sociology of education include functionalism and conflict theory. Functional theory of education puts an emphasis on the …show more content…
From the United States history inception; however, many laws and regulations have limited minorities’ educational opportunities. Therefore, many minority individuals are “stuck” in a second-class rank permanently. To illustrate this point, let us look at the education history of the Latino population. The historical purposes of public education in the United States are to educate citizens in the democratic process, assimilate immigrants into American culture and language, and prepare a stable workforce for a productive economy (Apple & Beane 1995). Many immigrants, particularly those from northern Europeans, have been successfully integrated with full citizenship into the U.S. politics. However, many immigrants of different origin have been kept out of polity, especially Latinos. Latinos have consistently faced social, economic, and political barriers embedded in their historic presence in the U.S. Despite these obstacles, Latinos have reminded the nation that "equal treatment under the law" is not dependent on country of origin, language, or even skin
The institution of public education has been one of the most controversial establishments in the United States since its inception. More specifically, equality in the conditions and the opportunities it provides has been sought as one of its major goals. There is little doubt that minority ethnic groups have struggled to achieve educational equality, just as they have struggled for equality in other aspects of life. One way that minorities have tried to achieve equality in education is through lobbying for help in college admissions for their respective groups. This social practice has been debated on many grounds, including necessity and ethical permissibility.
theories can be defined as a way that a student grows, progresses, or increases his or her
As a community Mexican Americans are the least likely to actively vote or participate in local, state and federal elections or politics(Tovanche). With this action the American population goes misrepresented in government. Policies to aid the education systems and infrastructure of Mexican American communities cannot be passed if there are not sufficient votes in support of such laws. As a whole the Mexican American community cannot prosper without representation in legislation. With the education of Mexicans in U.S. history a sense of belonging and civil responsibility is brought on. With this new found sense of belonging and responsibility the majority minority should be provoked into a social awareness and duty of voting and using the government to further the community’s progress, rather than remaining victims of the laws and bills passed to stunt their
For the social institution of education or specifically high school the major sociological theory that seems to best describe it using the best using the sociological theory is the functionalism theory. High school education serves a vital role in American society with preparation for later schooling and a general preparation of students for their roles in society as young adults.
The number of ELLs being educated in the United States has increased dramatically. Although total enrollment between the 1993-1994 school year and the 2003-2004 school year rose by only 10%, the number of school-age ELLs increased by 100% (Short & Echevarria, 2004), and researchers predict that by the year 2030, 40% of the school-age population will be ELLs (DelliCarpini, 2008). This rise in school-age ELLs can be attributed to the increasing immigrant population in the U.S. (Echevarria et al., 2006). Although 75% of all immigrant children reside ...
Latinos have struggled to discover their place inside of a white America for too many years. Past stereotypes and across racism they have fought to belong. Still America is unwilling to open her arms to them. Instead she demands assimilation. With her pot full of stew she asks, "What flavor will you add to this brew?" Some question, some rebel, and others climb in. I argue that it is not the Latino who willingly agreed to partake in this stew. It is America who forced her ideals upon them through mass media and stale history. However her effort has failed, for they have refused to melt.
Immigration has always been a contentious issue in the United States. Benjamin Franklin thought that the influx in German immigration would flush out the predominately British culture in America at the time. (5) Furthermore, a continual wave of foreign cultures began pouring into the American metropolitan areas at the turn of the 20th century. The migration of Italians, Poles, and Jews across the Atlantic Ocean began a mass assimilation of cultural ideology and customs into the United States, yet many people thought that these migrants could not adapt. Today, the American society has become a melting pot of foreign influence; however, many cynics remain skeptical about the incorporation of Latin American people and their influences. Accordingly, these same critics are just as naïve as their previous counterparts, who refused to accept the many gifts and contributions these immigrants have to offer. We must ask ourselves: How long will it take to peacefully incorporate Spanish immigrants into American society? America was built on the movement of these cultures, and the current population of this country must set aside its non-democratic premonitions, and embrace the historical and positive aspect of Latin American immigration.
Since the creation of the United States of America, immigrants from all backgrounds have sought refuge, a home and a life in this country of prosperity and opportunity. The opportunity of freedom to exercise natural rights is a large pull factor that causes many people to come to America. Others come because it is a country where one can prosper. Prosperity of people in a country, however, is a more challenging phenomenon to explain than opportunity. Immigrants seek economic, social and educational as well as cultural prosperity. The question of how to gain such prosperity is a difficult one to answer. Some immigrants come to America, cast off their past identity and attempt to find a new, less foreign one. By assimilating to American culture with this new identity, they start a long and treacherous journey to seek prosperity in a land vastly different from the one they once called home. Many will gain educational, economic and social prosperity, but never gain cultural prosperity. Assimilating to American culture so hastily, some immigrants are never able to explore and keep up with their cultural backgrounds. Their families grow up and became Americans, never cognizant of their given up ethnic identities. Those immigrants, however, who are able to gain cultural prosperity through the help of other immigrants of their respective background, become integrated into American society while keeping their ethnic identity. This is the sort of opportunity that the United States of America has provided new arrivals since its founding. Although many immigrants become overwhelmed with American culture and assimilate into it, those who contribute to a working ethnic society are able to dela...
In conclusion, we can see how the inflow of immigrant population has shaped America as a nation. This shows that the power to vote and the ability to stand for elections and seek seats in the congress has empowered the immigrants to make decisions about the future of America’s political scene. Nevertheless the Latinos are a dominant future workforce of the US economy. A lot of the Hispanics have joined the Military. Lastly, it is projected that the business community, military, political system, and the education institutions of the United States will be reliant on the Latinos in the near future.
These groups need to work together to develop a statewide agenda. Hispanic students, according to some studies, lag behind other students in classroom performance; have the highest dropout rate of any ethnic group in the country; and, according to federal data, are less likely to pursue higher learning(Tucson ’66). We as a society, need to have a school system that prepares our students for higher education if that is their choice. Society needs to work together to change the educational process for Latino students. Consider these numbers, which we drew from As A Relook at Tucson ’66 states” Minority groups are being shortchanged by more than 20...
Immigration played a large part in public education. With so many children immigrating to America for an education, schools were being packed with students. However, many of these students were not going to school and instead were working in
Immigration has been a part of American history ever since the United States was founded. American schools were built on the foundation of European traditions that have come to be problematic due to the increased number of immigrants from different regions of the world. There have been recent arguments over the quality of education migrants, legal and illegal, are receiving in secondary education. There are various differences amongst legal and illegal immigrants’ education in the United States that are controlled by environmental situations that alter achievement in the classroom. In this decade, what are school administrators doing in secondary education to prepare immigrants students to go to college, when these students are sometimes placed in environments that hold them back from receiving post-secondary education?
Latinos face a lot of discrimination when they come to the united stated or they try to assimilate to the American culture. Most immigrants have to deal with the police investigating them because they think they are all drug dealers or are in some type of illegal organization. They also have to deal with people calling them names because of their skin color. Americans also accuse Hispanics of stealing their jobs (Ramos, 53). They also face seeing racist graffiti on homes or wall of a building and they have to face hate crimes (Plunkett, 15). They sometimes get excluded from white communities (Plunkett, 39). Latinos are also blamed for serious problems the country faces (Ramos, 195). There are reasons for Americans to discriminate Latinos and reasons why they shouldn’t discriminate them.
This essay will explore the relationship between education and society from a sociological perspective, the topics I have chosen to explore is Marxism, functionalism, education and class, feminism and the last topic is a very general topic which enhances our understanding of sociology and the world we live in. I chose the topics above as they offer an interesting viewpoint of education and sociology; also the topics above interlink this makes it easier to understand the contributions from a sociological perspective. Furthermore, to enhance my understanding of the topics I have found readings from other modules which offer a different perspective of education and society this will enable me to answer the question much more concisely as other viewpoints can challenge the topics I have stated above.
Sociologists employ three major theoretical perspectives in sociology today. They are the structural-functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionism. The structural-functionalist perspective is done at a macro level and its focus is on the relationships between the parts of society. The Conflict perspective is done at a macro level and its main focus is on how the wealthy controls the poor and weak. Symbolic Interactionism is done at a micro and it focuses on the use of symbols and face to face interactions.