SOC 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Compulsory Education, Merit System, Functional Illiteracy
Document Summary
Education: the social institution through which society provides its members with important knowledge, including basic facts, job skills, and cultural norms and values. Schooling: formal instruction under the direction of specially trained teachers. In low- and middle-income countries people learn at home and reflects national culture. Patriarchy shapes opportunity: 45% of boys and 30% of girls attend secondary school. Japan has some of the world"s highest achievers. Half attend cram schools to attend university. 96% of young people graduate from high school. Japanese students outperform canadian students in mathematics and science. Schooling was a privilege of nobility in middle ages. British law now requires every child to attend school until age 16. Public schools are what we call private boarding schools, for the wealthy. University admission is based on a merit system with examinations. Graduates of oxford and cambridge become the country"s elite.