Examining Education Perspectives in American Society

When it comes to the views of role of education, there are two views with different interest that there are in American society. 'the traditional view linked closely to the order, or functionalist, perspective in sociology, is that education provides a source of social mobility in society,' (pg. 394, Farley). Speaking in other terms, it gives or offers everyone to have a chance to build up and climb in the public eye, and how far one may move relies upon his or her capacity to reciprocate and the inspiration behind that. with that, the education system will allow a better way to serve people in preparing them to getting them ready for the professional jobs they seek and giving them the effective train needed to be successful with that, 'education provides employers with qualified workers, and it offers individuals the opportunity for mobility by rewarding them on the basis of what they know and what they can do rather than on the basis of who they are of what their background is, '(pg. 394, Farley).

At a different viewpoint, it shows the guidance and preparation doesn't go cohesively with the Goa that has been set that will give an honest opportunity for those to move up who are of the less fortunate. from the outside looking in this viewpoint, with the taking the conflict perspective into consideration, 'challenges the popular idea that “education is the answer',' (pg. 395, Farley). with there being so much inequality within our social and economic system, there can't be brought equality. Chris Jencks argued his point that if 'society wants to move in the direction of social equality the way to do it is not to 'educate' everyone, but rather to pursue changes in the economic system that would bring about equalization of income,' (pg. 395, Farley). basically, he views his opinion that education is unimportant and that being a high school or college graduate wouldn't change or alter the outcomes of any financial burdens, inequalities, or imbalances that are in America.

The conflict theory also plays its part with the standpoints of Karl Marx. according to this theory, he 'says is true of all institutions, exists to serve interests of the dominant or advantaged elite that reap most of society benefits. the true purpose of education, then, is not to provide social mobility but to channel students into roles and statues relatively like those of their parents,' (pg. 395, Farley). thus, the richer students who are more than likely white students, will receive or be offered better education opportunities and better graduation rates unlike the poorer kids, who are black, would go to a school with a lower graduation rate and poorer economic status.

Funding of Schools

The funding for schools plays a big part in the education system that ties into racial, social, and economic class. 'historically, schools in which many of the students are black, Hispanic, or American Indian have been underfunded in comparison to schools in which most of the students are white,' (pg. 398, Farley). Most of any schools funding will come directly from the Tate and the rest from local property tax. so basically, the students who live in the richer parts of the community get more money for funding in the schools because of the tax values of the homes and the kids who live in the community more poverty-stricken parts of the community will revive less money because of lower property taxes on the values of homes. in some states, lawsuits and claims have been made to help subside and wipe out the disparities of the growing of property tax collection and funding from the state. there hasn't been a difference in state funding made with any lawsuits or claims thus far. 'More than 80 percent of the states have been sued over this issue during the past thirty years, but the resulting reforms have been limited,' (pg. 399, Farley). In some states, the difference of range between the ore rich oppose to the poorer districts varies on how they may equalize their funding. For example, in West Virginia in the 1990's, the wealthier districts spent 4 percent more per student than the more impoverished districts, but counteracting that, in Illinois the wealthier districts spent 67 percent more per student than in the poorer districts, (Farley, 2012). because of this, the poorer districts would reduce their tax burdens and the wealthier districts would increase theirs to make up any difference made.

Cultural and Behavioral Factors in the Education of Minorities

Based on where a student may come from, background, and even attitude weighs heavily into the effect of how a minorities education will be played out. from the Coleman report, it was discussed that the school you attend whether it be in the wealthy district or poorer district didn't make a difference on how much a student was able to obtain and learn. The report suggested, 'regardless of the apparent quality of schools, it seemed that students with certain kinds of attitudes and backgrounds were falling behind,' (pg. 401, Farley).

When it comes to cultural and background factors, they are both very similar with how education can be learned in America in two very contrasting ways. one way is the functionalist perspective which 'identifies the source of the problem in 'dysfunctional' attitudes and beliefs among poor people and among racial ethnic minorities,' (pg. 402, Farley). with the other view, it is from a conflict perspective. this view 'sees the source of the problem in educational institution,' (pg. 402, Farley). Farley states that the performance of a minority in lower income gets treated in ways that they shouldn't so they will not be able to perform as they should in the classroom.

Cultural deprivation stated in the Farley text states that it 'was a key reason for bad school performance among minority, poor, and working-class children,' (pg. 402, Farley). in Coleman's research he found out that those children with a lower achievement rate didn’t have such things like a television, phone, reading materials, and anything else that could help enhance their levels of learning. Coleman also found that the 'under achieving children.... tended to (1) have poor self-esteem, (2) be relatively uninterested in school, and (3) believe that they could not control their environment,' (pg. 402, Farley).

Resolving the Issues

A teacher's role is important in the education system. teachers and student interaction determine a student's attitude and motivation. 'when teachers interact with students in certain ways, those students tend to learn, and when they interact with other students in other ways, the students fall behind,' (pg. 401, Farley). teachers can help influence students to interact with one another in society where different cultures exist and help teach different minorities and how their culture works. the approach from the text, multiculturalism and cultural immersion would be a suitable way to incorporate a comfortable and reasonable atmosphere to teach within the curriculum. multiculturalism can be defined as 'an approach that recognizes and values cultural difference and attempts to include all racial, ethic, ad cultural groups rather than just the dominant group,' (pg. 434, Farley). multiculturalism is totally a different approach from what we would be used to in a regular traditional learning environment. thus, cultural pluralism is seeded out to be achieved rather than cultural assimilation. cultural immersion is supposed to give the students positive role models (teachers) and helps promote a positive outlook on racial and ethnic backgrounds within the community of minority groups.

Using Videos

Visuals in a classroom setting are sometimes easier to understand because most people are visual learners. the Fox text states that 'students are reluctant to address personal experiences and attitudes about race directly, or when watching a video together can make it easier, since discussion centers on the individuals on screen, rather than on students personal experience,' (pg. 131, Fox). when the class has finished the video teachers should ask the students to reflect or review what they seen in the video in small groups. then maybe brainstorm their feelings and write them down so questions can be asked. videos that discuss everyday situations about race, culture, or ethnicity can always be found on the internet.

Conclusion

Learning about other minority groups and ethnicities from their perspective is highly important in order to get a better understanding, history over time has taught us differently what our views should be and how they should be implemented. in our daily lives. learning to treat everyone with respect is very important to our society. the change to inequality of education change and should become a more open topic to help promote equal opportunities to all cultures and minorities. Learning about other minority groups and ethnicities from their perspective is highly important in order to get a better understanding, history over time has taught us differently what our views should be and how they should be implemented. in our daily lives. learning to treat everyone with respect is very important to our society. the change to inequality of education change and should become a more open topic to help promote equal opportunities to all cultures and minorities.

References

1. Fox, H. (2017). When Race Breaks Out. doi:10.3726/978-1-4331-3974-1
2. Farley, J. E. (2012). Majority-minority relations (6 ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall. Retrieved from https://ccis.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780205976324/cfi/6/8!/4/2/50/2@0:0