{"id":1579,"date":"2016-05-23T20:56:35","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T20:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontosociology-waymaker\/?post_type=chapter&p=1579"},"modified":"2016-07-05T18:54:43","modified_gmt":"2016-07-05T18:54:43","slug":"reading-conflict-theory-on-education","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-mvcc-intro-to-sociology\/chapter\/reading-conflict-theory-on-education\/","title":{"raw":"Reading: Conflict Theory on Education","rendered":"Reading: Conflict Theory on Education"},"content":{"raw":"

Conflict Theory<\/h2>\r\n
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Conflict theorists do not believe that public schools reduce social inequality. Rather, they believe that the educational system reinforces and perpetuates social inequalities that arise from differences in class, gender, race, and ethnicity. Where functionalists see education as serving a beneficial role, conflict theorists view it more negatively. To them, educational systems preserve the status quo and push people of lower status into obedience.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"275\"]\"Boy Conflict theorists see the education system as a means by which those in power stay in power. (Photo courtesy Thomas Ricker\/flickr)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/figure>\r\n

The fulfillment of one\u2019s education is closely linked to social class. Students of low socioeconomic status are generally not afforded the same opportunities as students of higher status, no matter how great their academic ability or desire to learn. Picture a student from a working-class home who wants to do well in school. On a Monday, he\u2019s assigned a paper that\u2019s due Friday. Monday evening, he has to babysit his younger sister while his divorced mother works. Tuesday and Wednesday, he works stocking shelves after school until 10:00 p.m. By Thursday, the only day he might have available to work on that assignment, he\u2019s so exhausted he can\u2019t bring himself to start the paper. His mother, though she\u2019d like to help him, is so tired herself that she isn\u2019t able to give him the encouragement or support he needs. And since English is her second language, she has difficulty with some of his educational materials. They also lack a computer and printer at home, which most of his classmates have, so they have to rely on the public library or school system for access to technology. As this story shows, many students from working-class families have to contend with helping out at home, contributing financially to the family, poor study environments and a lack of support from their families. This is a difficult match with education systems that adhere to a traditional curriculum that is more easily understood and completed by students of higher social classes.<\/p>\r\n

Such a situation leads to social class reproduction, extensively studied by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. He researched how cultural capital<\/span><\/strong>, or cultural knowledge that serves (metaphorically) as currency that helps us navigate a culture, alters the experiences and opportunities available to French students from different social classes. Members of the upper and middle classes have more cultural capital than do families of lower-class status. As a result, the educational system maintains a cycle in which the dominant culture\u2019s values are rewarded. Instruction and tests cater to the dominant culture and leave others struggling to identify with values and competencies outside their social class. For example, there has been a great deal of discussion over what standardized tests such as the SAT truly measure. Many argue that the tests group students by cultural ability rather than by natural intelligence.<\/p>\r\nWatch this video to better understand how cultural capital impacts a hypothetical student.\r\n\r\n