SOCB26H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Longitudinal Study, These Kids, Correspondence Principle
Lecture 2
Educational Selection
• At one time, parents who inherited social status passed that on to their children
• Toda people ae ail ealth due to thei aees hee ualifiatios a’t e
passed down – each member of the family has to obtain that knowledge on their own
• Modern status us determined by educational attainment, which is a function of a
selection process
How do education systems select?
• Students are selected into different kinds of schools
o One that prepares students for university and high status occupations
o Second for immediate employment in low status job
• Streaming (selection within the school)
o Thee’s a aadei, stategi stea ade fo those atig to go to
university
o Thee’s a applied stea that leads to oatioal, lo status jobs
o AKA academic and applied diplomas received once graduated from high school
o Also, selection based on ability (not by choice)
▪ What that student shows in classrooms predicts what long term career
that person holds
o Once students were put in their specified stream, there was a less likeliness that
the student would switch over to the opposite stream
How is educational streaming justified?
• Putting kids into specific categories depending on their abilities makes it easier to teach
o Kids who pursue biology majors, psych, literature, etc
• Children learn better once put with others who relate to the same thing and who
portray the same abilities to accomplish tasks (mixed ability might not be wise)
• Educational streaming helps prepare children for the real world when working their
desired jobs
Cons about educational streaming
• Paets’ soial status ofte pedits hee that hild is goig to ed up
o This is the same with ethnicity
• Streaming creates more pre-existing differences in academic ability and achievement
among students
• Children who are placed in lower streams tend to believe there is no way out and end
up having low career goals and expectations for reality
What are the effects of educational streaming in high schools
• A longitudinal study surveyed American high school students grades 10, 11 and 12 that
were in academic and applied programs
o Results ee that the studets’ gade aks ad paetal soioeooi
status determined the initial allocation into academic and applied programs
o Oetie, studets’ gades i aadei field ieased – studet’s gades i
applied field decreased
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▪ Reason being the ability that the students showed and the streaming
itself
o Conclusion
▪ streaming has an effect on ability and school fulfilment
▪ eventually, the distribution to high status streams improves performance,
distribution to low status streams decreases performance
Organization
• Schools expect students to show up for their classes on a daily basis and on time, this
creates a sense of organization and focus within the classroom
How do schools motivate students?
Best strategies:
• Rewarding students with high grades – then gets praised by parents for good work
• Reminding students that all of these rewards come in the future, not now
• The problem is that if you are a teenager it is very hard to be motivate by rewards that
come in the future
• Schools require young people to do things that they would not choose to do on their
own time with an incentive which is a grade
• Teachers are forced to motivate students today, with rewards that might arrive next
week, next month, next year
Most studets aot defe gatifiatio…
• Because schools require students to do things that they might not choose to do, and
have only limited ways to motivate them, they are inherently conflict prone
organizations
• Disruptive students make it difficult for teachers to teach and students to learn
• The classroom teaching can often be a situation of a degree of confidence within the
students and so the teachers often try to control that using classroom rules
o Ex. Put up your hand when answering or asking a question
o The problem is that these strategies have the effect of blocking students from
learning
We expect more from schools than we expect from most other social institutions
• Teaching and learning
o Passing on knowledge through generations
• Providing a means for social mobility
o Most parents would love their kids to live a easier and better life than they did
themselves; get better jobs and grades
o Adults/parents (tax payers that fund schools) have high expectations for the
school system and expect that their children get the necessary education to get a
great job
• Providing a safe environment for children and youth
o
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