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Understanding Education: A Sociological Perspective
Who should be educated, when, by whom and how? What purposes should education serve? Why does education matter?
These fundamental questions of value are not always seen as central to the sociology of education. However, this book argues that they are pivotal and provides a sophisticated and engaging introduction to the field that is designed to open up these important debates. It draws attention to the many points of disagreement that exist between major thinkers in the sociology of education, and the values on which their ideas are based. By involving readers in crucial questions about the potential contribution of sociology to education policies and practices, it aims to bridge the divide between education as it is talked about by academics, and the concerns of policymakers and educators who have to make practical decisions about what is to be done.
Chapter by chapter the book introduces competing approaches in the sociology of education - structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, Marxism, feminism, critical race theory and poststructuralism. It shows how these can be applied to major themes such as social reproduction, the politics of knowledge, multicultural education, identity and teachers’ work. Throughout, the authors emphasise the importance of understanding social and educational values and the ways in which these underpin and impact upon the work of both academics and educators.
These fundamental questions of value are not always seen as central to the sociology of education. However, this book argues that they are pivotal and provides a sophisticated and engaging introduction to the field that is designed to open up these important debates. It draws attention to the many points of disagreement that exist between major thinkers in the sociology of education, and the values on which their ideas are based. By involving readers in crucial questions about the potential contribution of sociology to education policies and practices, it aims to bridge the divide between education as it is talked about by academics, and the concerns of policymakers and educators who have to make practical decisions about what is to be done.
Chapter by chapter the book introduces competing approaches in the sociology of education - structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, Marxism, feminism, critical race theory and poststructuralism. It shows how these can be applied to major themes such as social reproduction, the politics of knowledge, multicultural education, identity and teachers’ work. Throughout, the authors emphasise the importance of understanding social and educational values and the ways in which these underpin and impact upon the work of both academics and educators.
240 pages, Paperback
First published November 16, 2009
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February 3, 2011
Perhaps the most interesting part of this book is about asking students who are leaving a natural history museum to order, in terms of evolutionary advancement, the ‘human races’. Invariably, whites or yellows are placed at the top and reds and then blacks are at the bottom. But what is really interesting here is that evolution (despite constant claims to the contrary) does not talk about advanced or not advanced evolutionary specimens. To evolution e coli and humans are equally ‘evolved’ – in as far as they are both the product of 4 (odd) billion years of evolution. Evolution is not interested in these ‘more or less’ schemes of evolutionary development - the only evolutionary prize going is if you survive and then pass on your genes, and that’s it.
But these ideas of higher and lower – these essentially racist ideas – are hard to shift. The most revolting part of all of this is the effect racism has had on the self-image of Black Americans as was documented in that most horribly telling and sad experiment that Clerk did with dolls that was used in the Brown Vs Board of Education. http://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/05/... We whites should pray that there isn't a God, as for us to have allowed such things to happen and done little or nothing in response would have to justify endless punishment, particularly given our power to do something to change this.
I’ve been reading an awful lot lately about sociology (particularly the sociology of education) for my masters and this book was one of the core readings in a course I've just finished. Essentially, the main concerns are the relationship between individual agency – how much free will you have – and the role that social structures play in determining our life options. In societies, such as Australia and the United States, where social inequality is becoming increasingly entrenched and social mobility increasingly difficult, it is interesting to see how both countries continue the myth of egalitarianism (the Australian and American Dreams having increasingly moved from the status of myths to fantasies). In such societies ‘agency’ plays an ever-diminishing role, certainly as life paths become fixed according to the particular caste one is unfortunate enough to be born into.
Perhaps my greatest concern with this book was around the notion of agency and structure – that is, agency was always being seen as a positive and structure generally presented as pejorative. But there seems little question that without the right social structure any possibility of agency is removed, just as particular forms of agency can limit or remove the freedoms of all those around you.
This is a short, but dense book that gives a broad introduction to a great many of the topics and concerns of both sociology and education. There is much to think about here – particularly around questions of identity. I‘m becoming increasingly concerned about questions of identity – far too often identity seems to be purely about difference (ironically enough), how I’m different from you and why I don’t like you. Or worse, as with the black children holding white dolls mentioned above and saying the white dolls are ‘nicer’ identity seems a vexed, confusing and dangerous topic. Which, I guess, is why I find it so endlessly fascinating.
But these ideas of higher and lower – these essentially racist ideas – are hard to shift. The most revolting part of all of this is the effect racism has had on the self-image of Black Americans as was documented in that most horribly telling and sad experiment that Clerk did with dolls that was used in the Brown Vs Board of Education. http://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/05/... We whites should pray that there isn't a God, as for us to have allowed such things to happen and done little or nothing in response would have to justify endless punishment, particularly given our power to do something to change this.
I’ve been reading an awful lot lately about sociology (particularly the sociology of education) for my masters and this book was one of the core readings in a course I've just finished. Essentially, the main concerns are the relationship between individual agency – how much free will you have – and the role that social structures play in determining our life options. In societies, such as Australia and the United States, where social inequality is becoming increasingly entrenched and social mobility increasingly difficult, it is interesting to see how both countries continue the myth of egalitarianism (the Australian and American Dreams having increasingly moved from the status of myths to fantasies). In such societies ‘agency’ plays an ever-diminishing role, certainly as life paths become fixed according to the particular caste one is unfortunate enough to be born into.
Perhaps my greatest concern with this book was around the notion of agency and structure – that is, agency was always being seen as a positive and structure generally presented as pejorative. But there seems little question that without the right social structure any possibility of agency is removed, just as particular forms of agency can limit or remove the freedoms of all those around you.
This is a short, but dense book that gives a broad introduction to a great many of the topics and concerns of both sociology and education. There is much to think about here – particularly around questions of identity. I‘m becoming increasingly concerned about questions of identity – far too often identity seems to be purely about difference (ironically enough), how I’m different from you and why I don’t like you. Or worse, as with the black children holding white dolls mentioned above and saying the white dolls are ‘nicer’ identity seems a vexed, confusing and dangerous topic. Which, I guess, is why I find it so endlessly fascinating.
Displaying 1 of 1 review