SOCA01H3 Chapter 12: Chapter 12.doc
Document Summary
The chances are that if you have purchased this book, you are enrolled in a post-secondary educational institution. Another assumption: you have made the commitment to post-secondary education out of the belief that this investment will result in a well-paying, fulfilling job. Sociologists note that while education does provide the opportunity for occupational advancement, it also perpetuates social inequality. That is, schoolchildren learn not only basic literacy and numeracy skills, they also learn their proper" place in society; thus, social inequality is reproduced across generations. It is also pointed out that upper-class children have more advantages than their working-class counterparts, both in terms of attending a private school and attaining a higher education. Even when students are grouped together in the same classroom they do not receive the same education, as a result of tracking, or the differential assigning of children to educational programmes, on the basis of perceived ability.