Chapter 12 - The University of North Carolina at Pembroke

Third Edition ANTHONY GIDDENS ● MITCHELL DUNEIER ● RICHARD APPELBAUM ● DEBORA CARR Slides created by Shannon Anderson, Roanoke College

Chapter 12: Education and Religion 1

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?

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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 family-based learning. • Mass education was nonexistent prior to modernity, when educational systems first appeared.

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Industry, nation, and schooling • • •

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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 prior to 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 was and has 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. • Local education programs are now being promoted in many such nations.

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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” • Journalist Jonathan Kozol’s 1991 book showed massive inequalities in schools in the United States • For example: – East St. Louis: poor, black, no resources – Westchester County, NY: wealthy, white, an abundance of resources

• Critics have said his methodology was flawed. © 2011 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

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“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.

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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.

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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 Charter schools Privatization Home-schooling

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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, all-encompassing, and supernatural” (p. 344). • 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: – Provided shared sacred beliefs and practices – Provided 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 the German philosopher Feuerbach, saw religion as ideology reinforcing 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 • Rise of Catholic liberation theology 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%  2001: 81% • The biggest decline was among Christians, while the most growth was in those with no religious identification.

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Figure 12.1 Religious Affiliation (percentage of U.S. population)

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Rise of conservative Protestantism • Recent research has shown that more than ½ of Protestants describe themselves as “born again.” • The increase in conservative Protestantism affects all Americans. • There has been a decline in liberal and moderate Protestantism at the same time as the growth in more conservative denominations. © 2011 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

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Gallup on global religion

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Religion and socioeconomic status • Socioeconomic status varies by religious group membership. – Jews and liberal Protestants have the highest SES, then moderate Protestants and Catholics, followed by conservative and black Protestants.

• Jews are most likely to be Democrats, conservative Protestants to be Republicans.

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This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint Presentation for Chapter 12: Education and Religion

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Clicker Questions 1. Which perspective in sociology has argued that education expanded in response to employers’ need for their workers to possess certain traits (self-discipline, dependability, and punctuality, for example) that were best taught in school? a. functionalists b. Marxists c. feminists d. symbolic interactionists

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Clicker Questions 2. What was the main conclusion of the landmark studies of educational inequality carried out in the 1960s by James Coleman, and later replicated by Christopher Jencks?

a. Educational and occupational attainment are governed mainly by family background and nonschool factors. b. Outside of the poorest areas, black schools are often as well funded as white schools. c. Reform of the educational system is essentially useless without reform of society. d. Intelligence is largely a product not of heredity but of the environment and, in particular, the actions of parents. © 2011 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

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Clicker Questions 3. One main reason for the rise of large educational systems was the process of a. medical innovation. b. agricultural expansion. c. industrialization. d. technological innovation.

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Clicker Questions 4. How do sociologists define the term religion? a. events that absorb the public imagination and generate a good deal of communal activity (in the way of marketing campaigns, television specials, and e-mail) a long time after they actually happened, such as Elvis, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Beetles, Star Wars, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Oprah, South Park, and so on b. a cultural system of commonly shared beliefs and rituals that provide a sense of ultimate meaning and purpose by creating an idea of reality that is sacred, all-encompassing, and supernatural c. a search for inner fulfillment d. any organization that meets in a church and is led by priests or ministers © 2011 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

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Clicker Questions 5. Linking strongly held religious convictions with beliefs about a people’s social and political destiny is a. religious economy. b. religious nationalism. c. civil religion. d. ethical religions.

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Clicker Questions 6. Which major sociological thinker made the distinction between “the sacred” (objects such as crosses, bibles, and jewelry that have a direct spiritual connection to the divine) and “the profane” (the ordinary objects of everyday life, such as chairs, tables, and sinks)? a. Marx b. Durkheim c. Weber d. Foucault

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Clicker Questions 7. What do some sociologists consider to be one of the most important trends in global religion today? a. Islamic revivalism b. the creation of the Israeli state c. religious nationalism d. secularization

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Art Presentation Slides Chapter 12

Education and Religion Anthony Giddens Mitchell Duneier Richard P. Appelbaum Deborah Carr

Chapter Opener

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With the spread of industrialization, the demand for educated workers increased. The newly expanded education systems emphasized basic skills like reading, writing, and mathematics instead of specific skills for work.

Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

The problem of schools falling into disrepair is a chronic one in poverty stricken areas all over the country.

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Globalization and Everyday Life

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Globalization and Everyday Life

Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

In 1970 a U.S. judge in North Carolina ordered that black students be bused to white schools and that white students be bused to black schools.

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In his research on the social and economic influence of religions around the world, Max Weber categorized Eastern religions as Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition “other- worldly” and Christianity as a “salvation religion.” Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Óscar Romero, Archbishop of El Salvador, led a movement against the repressive political regime.

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Figure 12.1 Religious Affiliation (percentage of U.S. population)

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Table 12.1 Changes in Religious Self-Identification in the United States, 1970– 2005

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This concludes the Art Presentation Slides Slide Set for Chapter 12

Essentials Of Sociology THIRD EDITION

by Anthony Giddens Mitchell Duneier Richard P. Appelbaum Deborah Carr