Matthew Sysa Blog 2

            The reading for this week was chapter 2 of the textbook. This chapter included information on various theories related to sociology of education. In this chapter we were given the different perspectives of many sociologists and how their perspectives could be connected to education.

            One aspect of this chapter that I could relate to was when they talked about credentialism. “Credentialism refers to the requirement of obtaining specific qualifications for membership to particular groups.” (p. 28). This connects to us as education students, as to gain a future job in the education field we are required to first acquire a university degree (our credentials). However, as I read on, credentialism also states that for many jobs “the skills required in these jobs may have nothing to do with the degree that individuals have.” (p. 28). This connects to me personally as my dad has been working for the same company for 30 years. However, he continually loses out on promotions to younger employees with no experience and who have come out of school with any sort of university degree, not even one related to the job.

            Also, one other aspect of this chapter that caught my attention was when they talked about cultural capital, which “refers to high status cultural knowledge possessed by individuals.” (p. 34). I connected to this topic because from kindergarten to grade 12 I was enrolled in French immersion and graduated high school with a French immersion diploma. During my time at school, many people told me that by having a second language; specifically French I would have more job opportunities available to me in the future. Knowing this, I decided to take French as my minor, to give me more job opportunities when I graduate.

Discussion Question:  What can be done to create a more equal school environment and remove social classes from the education outcome?