Education and Society

An Introduction to Key Issues in the Sociology of Education

Dr. Thurston Domina, Dr. Benjamin G. Gibbs, Dr. Lisa Nunn, Dr. Andrew Penner

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780520295582
• eBook ISBN: 9780520968301
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Education General
• Index: Social Sciences

Drawing on current scholarship, Education and Society takes students on a journey through the many roles that education plays in contemporary societies. Addressing students' own experience of education before expanding to larger sociological conversations, Education and Society helps readers understand and engage with such topics as peer groups, gender and identity, social class, the racialization of achievement, the treatment of immigrant children, special education, school choice, accountability, discipline, global perspectives, and schooling as a social institution. The book prompts students to evaluate how schools organize our society and how society organizes our schools. Moving from students to schooling to social forces, Education and Society provides a lively and engaging introduction to theory and research and will serve as a cornerstone for courses such as sociology of education, foundations of education, critical issues in education, and school and society.

PART 1

THEORETICAL ORIENTATIONS IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

CHAPTER 1

The Growth of Schooling in Global Perspective

EVAN SCHOFER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE

EDITORS’ NOTE

Having grown up in and around schools, we all have a considerable store of firsthand knowledge about education. We likely also have strong ideas about the various ways in which schools interact with the societies in which they are located. For example, many of us behave in a way that’s consistent with human capital theory—studying because we believe that the knowledge and skills we accumulate in school will make us more employable, more productive, and better-paid members of the labor force.

What we already know and believe about education and society is a valuable resource to draw upon as you begin your study of the sociology of education. But it’s also important to acknowledge that our firsthand knowledge is limited in important ways. The sociology of education is all about taking a broader view of schooling. We hope that, as you read this book, you’ll reflect on the remarkably different ways that diverse students experience school and the many different ways that societies might organize the education of their youth.

This chapter by University of California, Irvine, sociologist Evan Schofer is a good place to start. Schofer reminds us that “school” is a relatively new invention, and that the idea that schools should be open to virtually all youth is newer still. You’ll repeatedly encounter the word institution in this chapter. You surely know this word, but unless you’ve spent a lot of time in a sociology classroom, you may not have thought hard about what it means. In this chapter, Schofer is using institution to mean a set of ideas about how to accomplish broad social goals. In this sense, education is an institution.

As you read this chapter, think about why the institution of education became central to societies around the world during the twentieth century. Can you imagine a world without schools? How different might your life be in such a world?

KEY POINTS

•Schooling has grown tremendously over time, at every level, and in every corner of the globe. Scholars refer to this as the rise of the schooled society.

•It is commonly assumed that schools emerge and expand because people need human capital (skills) in order to get jobs.

•Sociologists offer alternative views about the growth of schooling. Some believe it reflects the efforts of elites to maintain their advantages.

•Other sociologists believe that the growth of schooling reflects the spread of ideas and cultural norms, such as a belief in the scientific method and in universal human rights, that make schooling seem particularly important and valuable.

•Some evidence can be found for each perspective. Historical evidence often supports the two sociological arguments. Quantitative studies of global trends tend to support the latter view.

INTRODUCTION

School is a universal experience for children growing up in wealthy countries like the United States. In fact, school is so commonplace, so utterly taken for granted, that we rarely question its existence. But why do we have schools in the first place? And why is there more schooling now than in the past?

This chapter describes and explores the tremendous growth of schooling over the past two centuries. Several important theories developed by sociologists of education are discussed, as well as evidence sociologists have used to evaluate these perspectives. Finally, the chapter briefly reflects on the consequences of the hyperexpansion of schooling.

THE OVERWHELMING SUCCESS OF MODERN SCHOOLING

Educators and scholars often proclaim a state of crisis in schooling, because schools do not accomplish all that we hope and desire. Yet in an important sense, schools are fantastically successful. Two centuries ago, schooling was rare around the world, mainly limited to affluent men in a handful of countries. Even fifty years ago in Europe, university matriculation was fairly uncommon. In poor countries, few children continued beyond elementary school, and hardly anyone went on to college. Now, most of the world’s children get at least a basic education. College is the norm for people growing up in rich countries, and college enrollment is expanding quickly everywhere else. Schooling has also become more inclusive over the past century. Women were excluded from many kinds of education in the past, but they now attend school at higher rates than men in most parts of the world. Enrollment trends among members of disadvantaged minority groups have also improved in many places. This is not to say that all inequalities have been solved, but the overall trends in school enrollments are encouraging.

Figure 1 presents historical trends in school enrollments for the last two centuries, pieced together from different sources (adapted and updated from Schofer and Meyer 2005).¹ As is evident, mass education expanded during the course of the nineteenth century, with a sharp acceleration after 1945, when World War II ended. Participation in junior high and high school took off at the end of the nineteenth century and followed a similar trajectory. College and university enrollments accelerated starting around 1960.

Figure 1. Worldwide school enrollments in millions, 1815–2015. Source: adapted and updated from E. Schofer and J. W. Meyer, “The Worldwide Expansion of Higher Education in the Twentieth Century,” American Sociological Review 70, no. 6 (2005): 898–920.

The sheer scale of modern schooling around the world is something to behold. Upward of 700 million children now attend elementary school, 550 million attend junior high or high school, and another 200 million are enrolled in college or graduate school.² All told, something like 1.4 billion people are students at this very moment, or nearly 20 percent of humanity.

The world’s incredible commitment to education is also reflected in budget numbers. Most wealthy countries spend around 5 percent of their economic resources on education.³ The US economy produces about eighteen trillion dollars’ worth of goods and services each year, and about 5.7 percent of that amount is spent on education—roughly a trillion dollars! The figure for the globe is harder to estimate but certainly exceeds five trillion dollars and is probably closer to ten trillion. Sociologist David Baker (2014) refers to this as the educational revolution and describes our world, in which education has such centrality and importance, as “the schooled society.”

Opposition to schooling was common in the past. Elites feared education would lead to rebellion: peasants filling their heads with new ideas might become discontent with their place in the social order. Families and religious groups worried that secular public schools would undermine traditional values and authority over their children. These forms of opposition still exist. For instance, radical religious groups have intimidated and even attack schoolchildren in Afghanistan and Nigeria. But opposition to schooling is now very much the exception rather than the rule.

THE RISE OF MODERN SCHOOLING

All human societies provide some form of education to their young, but the forms have varied throughout history (see Collins 2000). Children are taught knowledge and skills directly by their parents. A craftsperson may learn a trade by apprenticing with a master for many years. Workers may gain job skills from training programs run by their employers. Or religious groups may create schools focused solely on theology and religious tradition. These can all be observed today, but they are not the main story.

The huge expansion of schooling primarily involves a particular form of education, often called modern schools, which have their origins in western Europe. The features are familiar, as most of us have experienced them. Modern schooling takes place outside the home, in age-graded groups, taught by professional teachers and organized by governments or sometimes private or religious groups. Modern schools generally emphasize reading and writing, math, and social studies at the lower levels. The higher levels of schooling tend to be more diverse and sometimes include job skills or professional training. Universities have a longer history in Europe, dating back to the medieval era, and elements of modern schooling are derived from them. Ultimately universities became linked to rapidly growing systems of mass schooling, producing the stages of education we are familiar with today.

COMPARATIVE VARIATIONS: BRIEF EXAMPLES

Modern school systems have many similarities around the world, a point that will be taken up later. That said, there are plenty of differences in schools around the world, variations on a common theme. The United States happens to be one of the more atypical countries when it comes to the organization and funding of schools. American education is unusually decentralized. Schools are mainly funded by states and local communities, rather than by the central government in Washington, DC. Consequently, US schools are particularly unequal in terms of funding, as poor communities have few tax dollars for education. State or local groups have relatively greater control over the curriculum than does the federal government. This can be seen as ensuring valuable flexibility: schools can cater to local values and concerns. But this control can create an opportunity for controversy and conflict if, for example, some local communities would prefer to gloss over the injustices of slavery or teach creationism rather than evolution.

In contrast to the US approach, a more typical approach is for countries to establish a ministry of education (a high-level branch of the government), which plans and funds schooling throughout the country. This tends to produce greater consistency in funding and in what schools teach. Another difference is that many countries have different types of schools at the higher levels. In Germany, for instance, some students might go to academic high schools to prepare for college, while others may attend specialized vocational schools devoted entirely to teaching job skills like metalworking or car repair. Finally, high-stakes examinations are a common feature in many countries. To graduate from one level of schooling to the next, or to avoid being forced into vocational training, one has to pass a challenging test. In South Korea and China, for example students may study for years, often spending long hours in after-school tutoring programs (“shadow education”), to gain ac...

Table of contents

• Imprint
• Subvention
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Editors’ Introduction
• Part 1 Theoretical Orientations in the Sociology of Education
• Part 2 Student Experiences in Education
• Part 3 Schools and Other Educational Organizations
• Notes
• Index