Chapter 12

Fourth Edition ANTHONY GIDDENS ● MITCHELL DUNEIER ● RICHARD P.APPELBAUM ● DEBORAH CARR

Chapter 12: Education and Religion

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The big issues • Why is education so important as a social institution? • How are education and inequality connected? • How does sociology look at religion? • What does religion look like around the world today? • What does it look like in the United States? © 2013 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

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The birth of modern education • In pre-modern societies, formal education was for the elite and the clergy. • What existed for the masses was familybased learning. • Mass education was nonexistent prior to modernity, when educational systems first appeared.

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Industry, nation, and schooling • • •

•

Mass education was introduced as industrialization spread. Schools provided an appropriately socialized and educated workforce. More and more jobs required basic academic skills. The modern workforce had learn how to learn as technologies were constantly changing.

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Industry, nation, and schooling • Specialization became increasingly important, alongside a general education. • As industry needs changed, educational systems were occasionally left trying to catch up. This still happens today.

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Sociological theories on education • A great deal of variation exists in theoretical approaches to education. • Two of the major perspectives: – Functionalist – Conflict

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Literacy • Literacy was relatively unimportant before the Reformation and the rise of science. • Alongside those changes came the printing press, which helped in expanding literacy. • Mass education systems were also a major factor in increasing rates of literacy.

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Education in developing countries • During the colonial era there were mixed feelings about educating indigenous peoples. • Eventually, local elites were educated. • This choice backfired as the newly educated elites led revolutionary movements.

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Education in developing countries • Educational systems in the former colonies were and have remained top-heavy, with stronger higher education than the primary and secondary. • This has led, in part, to today’s problem of “brain drain” at the top and illiteracy at the bottom. – 20.8% of those 15 and older in the developing world are illiterate (UNESCO 2010).

• Local education programs are now being promoted in many such nations. © 2013 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

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Education and inequality • • •

Historically, education has been seen as a primary means for promoting equality. But research indicates this is often not the case. In fact, our current system of education largely reproduces inequality.

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“Savage Inequalities” • Jonathan Kozol’s 1991 book showed massive inequalities in schools in the United States; for example: – East St. Louis, Ill.: poor, black, no resources – Westchester County, N.Y.: wealthy, white, an abundance of resources

• Critics have often focused on issues with Kozol’s methodology.

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Educational Attainment in the U.S.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census 2011k.

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Educational Attainment in the U.S. The highest level of school reached by the population aged 18 years and older NO HIGH SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE

ASSOCIATES DEGREE

MASTERS DEGREE

SOME HIGH SCHOOL

SOME COLLEGE

BACHELORS DEGREE

OTHER ADVANCED DEGREE

2.4%

31.2%

5.6%

9.7% 17.5%

8.6% 21.4%

21.2%

3.3%

29.6% 15.9%

WHITE NON-HISPANIC

4.4%

35.2% 11.5%

BLACK

12.9%

2.8%

10.1% 1.1%

HISPANIC

9.4% 19.8%

6.5%

5.2% 13.3%

1.3%

6.4% 4.7%

20.4%

7.1% 9.1%

13.5% 32.3%

6.5%

ASIAN

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census 2011k. © 2013 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

“Between school effects” • Earlier on (1966), James Coleman offered a more systematic way of studying educational inequality. • He found that actual school facilities were less different than expected. • His conclusion: student background was more important than school facilities or resources. © 2013 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

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Tracking • Tracking involves separating students into different instructional groups, ostensibly based on ability. • Students and teachers internalize these labels. • Privileged children are more likely to be placed in higher tracks, ultimately reproducing inequality. © 2013 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

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Education reform • Starting in the 1960s, desegregation and busing were used to promote equality. • Much disagreement remains over what needs to happen to improve our system today: – Vouchers – Privatization

– Charter schools – Home schooling

• A renewed focus on literacy is another mode of reform.

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Why is religion so important? • Religion is a “cultural system of commonly shared beliefs and rituals that provides a sense of meaning and purpose by creating an idea of reality that is sacred, allencompassing, and supernatural.” (p. 377) • Religion is also a cultural universal dating back some 40,000 years.

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How sociologists approach religion •

There are four broad themes being considered: 1. We are not concerned with the truth of religion. 2. Our focus is on the organization and institutionalization of religion. 3. We often see religions as unifying but also see where they can lead to conflicts. 4. Religiosity is explained by social, rather than psychical or spiritual, factors.

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Classical theories of religion • Durkheim was interested in the social functions of religion: – Provides shared sacred beliefs and practices – Provides shared moral order and social unity • Weber studied religion as part of major social change: – Saw a connection between Protestantism and capitalism – Saw Eastern religions as oriented differently

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Classical theories of religion • Marx, drawing upon the German philosopher Feuerbach, saw religion as ideology that reinforced inequality: – Religion as the “opiate of the masses” – Religion as self-alienation

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Contemporary theories of religion • Scholars in more recent years have done their research in religiously plural societies. • Religious pluralism and secular culture threaten certain social functions of religion. • Secularization of some sort is now accepted by most sociologists.

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How are religions organized? • Churches • Sects • Denominations • Cults/New religious movements

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Globalization and religion • Religious nationalist movements have gained traction as a reaction to Western encroachment. • Religious nationalism is frequently connected to global violence. • Catholic liberation theology arose in the Southern hemisphere.

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Religion in the United States • Despite declines in religious identification, Americans remain believers at high rates. • The decline in identification with some religious group: 1990: 90%  2008: