While reading chapter 2, I found myself viewing the Education system through different perspectives. Throughout the chapter, various theoretical perspectives on the sociology of education were presented. The text says that viewing the world through these different perspectives is like looking through “a specific set of glasses” (15).
Karl Marx was a sociologist who believed that individuals are controlled by the social structures in society. Although I do not agree with everything that Karl Marx preached, I do wonder how much social structures, like a school dictate social life and maintain social classes (18).
Unlike Marx who was a macro-theorist, Pierre Bourdieu was a micro-theorist but also believed that inequality is reinforced in schools. This was done through different forms of capital, such as cultural capital. Cultural capital involves being familiar with high culture. This can benefit a child because they are exposed to more sophisticated language, which can cause a teacher to view the child more positively (35). I would agree that this could cause a teacher to expect more from that student because they believe they are more capable. I realize that teachers try to accommodate their teaching to teach where a child is at academically (zone of proximal development). However, do we fail to challenge the less academically inclined because of lower expectations of them?
Discussion question: What specific things occur in schools that maintain social classes and benefit elites?
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