Improving the Educational System Essays -- Education Teaching Learning

Improving the Educational System ï » ¿Teachers are committed to challenging all students to succeed, whatever their abilities, interests, social and cultural background, gender, prior attainment or aspirations. As future teachers, we need to know the aspects of society, so that we can ensure that each one of our students is successful and achieves his or her potential through the education provided. In this paper, I will be using the articles from the Social Class/Race and School Finance section of the class to evaluate the effects of social stratification, cultural capital, and social reproduction, school financing, and school environment. Social stratification lies at the core of society and of the discipline of sociology. Social inequality is a fundamental aspect of virtually all social processes, and a person's position in the stratification system is the most consistent predictor of his or her behavior, attitudes, and life chances. Social stratification links almost all aspects of society together, and therefore understanding what is happening to social stratification helps us understand a wide range of other changes in society. In the article â€Å"Social Class Differences In Family-School Relationships: The Importance of Cultural Capital† by Annette Laureau, summarizes a study of family-school relations and cultural capital. The results(of the study) suggest that social class position and class culture becomes a form of cultural capital in the school setting(Laureau, 1987). The families of working class lacked money, time, individual educational attainment, value of education, and high expectation on their children where as the middle-class families had all the advantages to support their children’s achievement at school. Lareau shows the effortful evidence that parents with resources will be able help their children attain much higher aspiration. This research uses the concepts of social and cultural capital to student behavior. Social capital may take the form of information-sharing channels and networks, as well as social norms, values, and expected behaviors. High status cultural signals include the attitudes, preferences, knowledge, behaviors, possessions, and credentials that function as informal academic standards, and that are generally defined by the dominant class. Individuals who lack the required cultura... ...help to improve the education these students receive. Improving the learning environment is the first step to rebuilding our inner city schools. More importantly, programs for the students and families will improve their future. The educational systems in America have many faults, but if more people become aware, things can only improve. It is hard to make any pinpoint decisions to improve the educational system because it is such a epic problem. I believe as a future teacher, I may be able change things, and with time maybe equal education for everyone won’t be just a far away dream. Bibliography: References Kozol, J.(1991). Life on the Mississippi. In Save inequalities: Children in American’s schools. New York, NY: Harper Perennial Kozol, J.(1991) Other people’s children. In Save inequalities: Children in American’s schools. New York, NY: Harper Perennial Laureau, A(1987) Social class differences in family-school relationships: The importance of cutural capital. Sociology of education, 60, 73-85 MacLeod, J. (1995). Ain’t No Makin’ It: Aspirations and attainment in a low-income neighborhood. Boulder, CO: Westview Press Revised Edition