The sociology of education studies formal schooling as a social institution that does far more than transmit academic knowledge: structural functionalists, following Émile Durkheim, describe schools as socialization agencies that teach children how to get along with others and prepare them for adult economic roles, partly through an explicit curriculum and partly through a 'hidden curriculum' of norms and values. A second core function is credentialing and role placement, sorting students for the labor market. Conflict theorists, drawing on Pierre Bourdieu, argue this sorting reproduces existing social inequality, because schools treat the dominant group's 'cultural capital' as the natural and only proper kind, giving already-advantaged students a built-in edge. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Institution TypeSourced to the subject's own accountSocialization/credentialing institution (also functions as a stratification mechanism per conflict theory) 1 Emergence PeriodSourced to the subject's own accountFormal, institutionalized mass schooling is a comparatively late development tied to industrialization and the modern nation-state, though narrower formal educational institutions (such as the Chinese imperial examination system) go back centuries earlier; systematic sociological analysis of education as an institution began around the turn of the 20th century with Durkheim and Max Weber. 1 Connections
Associated With
Apprenticeship functioned as a primary vocational education pathway before the rise of formal schooling, transmitting a trade's skills and knowledge from master to apprentice.
Source Basil Bernstein (Wikipedia)
Source James S. Coleman (Wikipedia)
Meyer world society theory showed how mass schooling spread globally as a taken-for-granted institutional model, not merely a response to local economic need.
Mannheim sociology of knowledge examined how formal schooling and other institutions of education transmit, and can also renew, a society dominant worldview across generations.
Source Mary Wollstonecraft (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Sociology of Education
Source Larry Cuban blog: Life in Classrooms and Philip Jackson
Source Rudolf Rocker (Wikipedia)
The scouting movement was founded explicitly as an informal educational institution, teaching practical skills, citizenship and moral character outside the formal school system.
Source Sidney Hook (Wikipedia)
Source Voltairine de Cleyre (Wikipedia)
Informed By
Durkheim's structural-functionalist account describes schools as socialization agencies preparing children for adult social and economic roles.
Source Wikipedia: Sociology of Education
Studied By
Source Encyclopedia.com: James S. Coleman
Source Encyclopedia.com: Karl Mannheim
Source Encyclopedia.com (Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography and International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences): Lester Frank Ward
Source Wikipedia: Louis Althusser
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Sociology of Education
Wikipedia- Structural functionalism and Education and social reproduction sections
- synthesized from Structural functionalism and Education and social reproduction sections
- synthesized from Structural functionalism section
Lead section, definition
The sociology of education is the study of how public institutions and individual experiences affect education and its outcomes.
Structural Functionalism, Socialization subsection, hidden curriculum
it is mainly achieved through the hidden curriculum, a subtler, but nonetheless powerful, indoctrination of the norms and values of the wider society.
Structure and Agency, Bourdieu and cultural capital subsection
Bourdieu argues that it is the culture of the dominant groups, and therefore their cultural capital, which is embodied in schools, and that this leads to social reproduction.
Filling roles in society section, sorting for the labor market
As various jobs become vacant, they must be filled with the appropriate people. Therefore, the other purpose of education is to sort and rank individuals for placement in the labor market.
- Informed By: Structural Functionalism, Structural functionalism section
- Associated With: Meritocracy, education and social reproduction section
View the Source Encyclopedia.com (Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography and International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences): Lester Frank Ward
Encyclopedia.com (Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography and International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences)Studied By: Lester Frank Ward, Article textQuote, Studied By: Lester Frank Ward, Article text
In short, Ward anticipated the development of modern governmental responsibilities (the welfare state), planning, and the expansion of formal education as a funnel for maximum participation by citizens in public affairs.
Encyclopedia.com: Karl Mannheim
Encyclopedia.comStudied By: Karl Mannheim, Article textQuote, Studied By: Karl Mannheim, Article text
He was also lecturer in the sociology of education (1941-1944) and then professor of education and sociology (1944-1947) at the Institute of Education of the University of London.
Encyclopedia.com: James S. Coleman
Encyclopedia.comStudied By: James S. Coleman, Article textQuote, Studied By: James S. Coleman, Article text
He describes two methods for bringing about educational equality: court-imposed efforts to achieve racial balance (e.
Wikipedia: Louis Althusser
WikipediaStudied By: Louis Althusser, Article textQuote, Studied By: Louis Althusser, Article text
Ideological practice consists of an assortment of institutions called "ideological state apparatuses" (ISAs), which include the family, the media, religious organizations, and most importantly in capitalist societies, the education system, as well as the received ideas that they propagate.
Voltairine de Cleyre (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Voltairine de Cleyre, Lead sectionQuote, Associated With: Voltairine de Cleyre, Lead section
But by 1910, she had returned to the movement and moved to Chicago, where she lectured on progressive education.
Sidney Hook (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Sidney Hook, Lead sectionQuote, Associated With: Sidney Hook, Lead section
Sidney Hook (December 20, 1902, July 12, 1989) was an American philosopher of pragmatism known for his contributions to the philosophy of history, the philosophy of education, political theory, and ethics.
Rudolf Rocker (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Rudolf Rocker, Lead sectionQuote, Associated With: Rudolf Rocker, Lead section
In the US, he was active with the Yiddish Freie Arbeiter Stimme group, and was particularly involved in libertarian education and in solidarity with the Spanish Revolution against its fascist and Stalinist enemies.
Basil Bernstein (Wikipedia)
WikipediaAssociated With: Basil Bernstein, Lead section, birth dateQuote, Associated With: Basil Bernstein, Lead section, birth date
Basil Bernard Bernstein (1 November 1924-24 September 2000) was a British sociologist known for his work in the sociology of education.
James S. Coleman (Wikipedia)
Associated With: James S. Coleman, Lead section, contribution sentenceQuote, Associated With: James S. Coleman, Lead section, contribution sentence
He studied the sociology of education and public policy, and was one of the earliest users of the term social capital.
Mary Wollstonecraft (Wikipedia)
Associated With: Mary Wollstonecraft, Wikipedia, lead paragraph, notable workQuote, Associated With: Mary Wollstonecraft, Wikipedia, lead paragraph, notable work
Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men but appeared to be only because they lack education.
Larry Cuban blog: Life in Classrooms and Philip Jackson
Associated With: Philip W. Jackson, Paragraph 5Quote, Associated With: Philip W. Jackson, Paragraph 5
Jackson’s Life in Classrooms launched a generation of qualitative studies of schools and teacher work that captured the sensibilities of teacher/student interactions within schools and what was consciously and unconsciously being taught and learned.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.