The Effects of Social Stratification on Education

Abstract

This essay encompasses the research done regarding the effects of social stratification on education, including societal standing, equal opportunity in education, diversity, and inclusive schools/education. This has resulted in a better understanding of how social stratification works and that it is used to separate people into the upper, middle, and lower class. Students are paired into the same social standing as their parents and it has given them a late start than that of their peers in middle class. Studies based on Equal opportunities in education have shown that the system is biased based on backgrounds. Many Blacks and Hispanics are being left behind even while in the same classroom. Professors researching for their books are discovering all of this information and seeing how much lower the bar becomes for an equal education among all students. Bullying others based on the backgrounds they come from is a good example at why diversity needs to be handled properly as it divides people and can tear them apart. Americas bad history will constantly stay on track to repeating itself if none of these changes are nipped in the bud at an early age.

Introduction

The purpose of this investigation is for me to evaluate the topics listed in the title and gain a better understanding going forward as a potential educator. My research will cover Social stratification and how it separates everyone into categories. Equal education is not so equal in many areas and affects many students. Diversity is on the rise in schools with students, but not with teachers. Inclusive schools and education is crucial to the futures success. This investigation provides a self learning experience about what happens constantly in today’s education and the structure surrounding it. As a student I am unaware of some of the topics listed and how much it actually impacts education and society. This will shed light on the methods that are currently still in place with the educators and education while also showing how it is slowly changing. The change starts with educators.

Social Stratification

Social Stratification is Society’s way of separating people into categories that is heavily based on their level of education, How much money one makes, their race, status, amount of power one has, and age. It is an unfair judgmental system that does not treat everyone equally. The many tiers are what makes up a person. It has such an impact on every ones lives that it dictates your path and almost lays it out for you to follow. The word Social means Relating to society or its organization. A collection of people in an area that connect to one another. “Stratification implies unequal access to to valued goods”. Combined it is an unequal system that will constantly affect society in each generation. Karl Marx came up with only 2 classes. There was the bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The first was the higher class that owned companies while the latter was the working class and did all the work. They had these ideas way back when the conflict theory was created in the year 1848. The social standing system has been adjusted over the years, but still holds firm the beliefs of separation.

What this means in education is that while children do not have a Social status of their own just yet, one is practically given to them based on the parents that birthed them. Thus affecting the education their children is able to receive. We all attend the same schools and are not receiving the same education. Children from a working background receive a different education than that of the middle class and it shows. Diane Reay, a professor at Cambridge University, was doing research for her book and realized how bad it was. “When they’re all in the same building, the working classes are still getting less education than the middle class..” (Ferguson). In the article another quote from Professor Reay stated “We are educating different social class for different functions in society.” This shows that while the inequality is becoming bigger Educators are now contributing to this.

The Education received contributes as well and it starts with the educators. They dictate what to teach them. The system is now contributing to keeping those from the lower class at the bottom. This makes it much more difficult to achieve anything higher as they are then required to do more than their peers in the middle class. In a study conducted this article mentions that there is a teacher gap in quality. This is between students of color from a low-income background and that of their white peers from a high-income background. While it has caused some outrage it is true as some public schools were shut down due to poor performance.

Equal Opportunity Education

The Equal Opportunity Education is a federal law in the USA. It states you cannot discriminate others based on Race, Gender, Sexual preference, Disability, and family background. It is a law used everywhere in the United States of America, yet it is still being broken to this day. “Public schools were ordered to desegregate in 1954..” and still there is segregation and bullying. The article also states there were complaints from White and Asian students that felt the efforts mostly helped the Black and Hispanic community. Being a student that falls under that category I feel it has indeed helped level the playing field. While to them their complaints might be valid because they come from the other side of the coin. They have had better opportunities and have not come from a low-class background.

The best outcome is for all schools to honor the law that was made to protect kids no matter the background they come from. To remove the selective testing programs that are falsely in place to weed out students because of their race and background. Like the video in the discussion board of week 2, A teacher learns to teach more efficiently because of the students in his or her class every year. That is where it should start when treating every one equally and fairly. Mr. Smiths ability to treat all of his students equally by learning the needs of each helped him ensure they all got a good education at the same time. Another form inequality was when a couple of schools were recently put in the spotlight for shaming poor children because of the inability to afford school lunch. Whether it is with school supplies, lunches, and the education received changes must be made.

All students deserve a fair chance. Based on the results from a study conducted on certain school districts which focused on how many Black students actually fell behind academically compared to their White peers is appalling. Our course textbook, covered in Chapter 2, Putting the needs of the students first and evaluating their needs helped Educators devise a plan that was able to help all the students learn efficiently at the same time. It also covered how Educators were biased and favored one gender over the other. Favoritism affects Equal opportunities in Education for students. Teachers need to have open ideas and not be tied down to old traditions and letting outside influences affect the way they treat all of their students in a classroom.

Diversity in Education

Diversity means variety. In Society there are a variety of people that come from all parts of the world and have different backgrounds. Every one is Diverse in some way as no 2 people are alike. The issue with Diversity is that the only thing Society focuses on is your race, background, and social standing. In education there is a lack of diverse teachers which makes it difficult for some students to relate to them. The needs of students today has changed as many do not speak English and have certain physical disabilities all of which causes them to fall behind. Some older teachers are not completely equipped or taught to handle the new needs of children. Many new teachers are having to take on extra work in order to learn and make up the difference. The best way to learn is by experiencing things first hand. In last weeks discussion video we learned about the 7 important things in education and how to improve upon the methods used today in classrooms.

Inclusion is important. Showing appreciation for the different backgrounds/cultures and placement of encouraging images in the classroom can help. However, in an article it stated “even if diversity and inclusion are present, without an equity mindset, true progress cannot be made”. Many changes can be made to a classroom to show appreciation and create a safe space for students, but if the ability to teach is not there it will fail. Failing to show diversity at a young age teaches students to be close minded and reject any that are not like them. This affects the way they interact with others in the world and hurts any room for social improvement.

Academic gaps, racial separating, and sexual orientation are all problems in education. Students bully others because of their close mindedness. The inability to accept we all do not come from the same tree will forever keep people divided. We are not born hating those around us it is something students are taught. Properly educating those that are not familiar with such things can help them to accept others. As silly as this sounds a good example is the movie “The Land before Time”. There is a part in the movie where Cera’s father tries to separate her from Little foot. He is openly racist towards Little foot stating we do not hang round “Long Necks”. The comment he made teaches his daughter not to accept those unlike her. This can applied in many ways like Religion, Facial features from different backgrounds, and even the language you speak.

In conclusion, if taught early on that we accept those unlike ourselves we can slowly close the gap on the segregation. Celebrating the cultural events that happen throughout history is a good way to include diversity awareness in classrooms. Telling stories of heroes in other cultures can help students open up and feel accepted. Showing movies or reading books that focus on another person’s background is also a good way to show everyone the similarities. It starts as early as elementary schools and with more and more people coming into America changes must be made to accommodate all of the students. A video mentioned how outraged certain parents became when the school board wanted the superintendent to make boundary changes parents became outraged and threatened to sue. This is why the inclusion of different backgrounds is important at such an early age. Parents became upset over something so insignificant that it only added to their inability to be welcoming. It only contributes to the toxicity in Society towards Racially diverse people.