Education and Religion

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Chapter 12

• Education and Religion

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Questions for You

• How do the social institutions of education and
  religion affect the order and structure of
  society?
• How are issues of race, class and gender factored
  into religious and educational institutions?

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Chapter Outline

• An Overview of Education and Religion
• Sociological Perspectives on Education
• Problems Within Elementary and Secondary Schools
• Opportunities and Challenges in Colleges and
  Universities
• Religion in Historical Perspective

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Chapter Outline

• Sociological Perspectives on Religion
• Types of Religious Organization
• Trends in Religion in the United States
• Education and Religion in the Future

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An Overview of Education and Religion

• Education and religion are socializing
  institutions.
• The sociology of education examines formal
  education or schooling in industrial societies.
• The sociology of religion focuses on religious
  groups and organizations, on the behavior of
  individuals within those groups, and how religion
  is intertwined with other social institutions.

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How Much Do You Know About the Impact of Religion
on U.S. Education?

• True or False?
• The Constitution of the United States originally
  specified that religion should be taught in the
  public schools.

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How Much Do You Know About the Impact of Religion
on U.S. Education?

• False.
• Due to the diversity of religious backgrounds of
  the early settlers, no mention of religion was
  made in the original Constitution.
• Even the sole provision that currently exists
  (the establishment clause of the First Amendment)
  does not speak directly of the issue of religious
  learning in public education.

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How Much Do You Know About the Impact of Religion
on U.S. Education?

• True or False?
• Virtually all sociologists have advocated the
  separation of moral teaching from academic
  subject matter.

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How Much Do You Know About the Impact of Religion
on U.S. Education?

• False.
• Most contemporary sociologists do not think that
  it is their role to advocate specific stances on
  morality topics.
• Early sociologists were less inclined to believe
  that they had to be value-free.
• Durkheim strongly advocated that education should
  have a moral component and that schools had a
  responsibility to perpetuate society by teaching
  a commitment to the common morality.

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Education

• The social institution responsible for the
  transmission of knowledge, skills, and cultural
  values within a formally organized structure.
• In all societies, people must acquire certain
  knowledge and skills in order to survive.
• In simple technology societies, this might
  include hunting, gathering, fishing and farming.
• In complex technology societies, knowledge and
  skills are related to the requirements of the job
  market.

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Sociological Perspectives on Education

• Functionalists suggest that education contributes
  to the maintenance of society and provides
  opportunity for upward social mobility, and
  meritocracy.
• Conflict theorists argue that education
  perpetuates social stratification.
• Symbolic interactionists focus on classroom
  dynamics and the effect of self-concept on grades
  and aspirations.

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Manifest Functions of Education

• Socialization
• Transmission of culture
• Social control
• Social placement
• Change and innovation

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Latent Functions of Education

• Restricting some activities.
• Matchmaking and production of social networks.
• Creating a generation gap.

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Conflict Perspectives

• Education reproduces existing class
  relationships.
• Unequal funding is a source of inequality in
  education.
• Access to colleges and universities is determined
  not only by academic record but also by the
  ability to pay.

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Cultural Capital and Class Reproduction

• According to the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu,
  students come to school with different amounts of
  cultural capital.
• socially approved dress and manners, knowledge
  about books, art, music
• The educational system teaches and reinforces
  values that sustain the elites position in
  society.

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Tracking and Social Inequality

• Tracking is the practice of assigning students to
  specific groups based on their test scores,
  previous grades, or other criteria.
• Conflict theorists believe tracking affects
  educational performance and overall academic
  acheivement.

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The Hidden Curriculum

• A study of five elementary schools in different
  communities found
• Schools for working-class students emphasize
  procedures and rote memorization.
• Schools for middle-class students stress the
  processes involved in getting the right answer.

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The Hidden Curriculum

• Schools for affluent students focus on activities
  in which students express their own ideas.
• Schools for students from elite families work to
  develop critical thinking skills, applying
  abstract principles to problem solving.

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Symbolic Interactionist Perspecitive

• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - students perform
  according to expectations of teachers.
• Girls learn to attribute success to effort.
• Boys learn to attribute success to intelligence.

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Polling Question

• How far do you intend to go in school?
• Two years of college
• Four years of college
• Master's degree
• Professional degree (law, medicine, dentistry)
• Ph.D.

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Unequal Funding of Public Schools

• State and local governments contribute about 47
  each toward education and the federal government
  pays the remaining 6.
• In recent years, some states have been held
  accountable for unequal funding that results in
  rich and poor school districts.
• Voucher systems would allow families to spend
  government money to purchase education at the
  school of their choice.

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School Violence

• In the 1990s violent acts resulted in numerous
  deaths in schools across the nation.
• Schools in Pearl, Mississippi, West Paducah,
  Kentucky, Jonesboro, Arkansas, Springfield,
  Oregon, and Littleton, Colorado, witnessed a
  series of killings in schools by students that
  shocked people across the world.

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Contrary to public perception, violent crime in
schools has declined dramatically since 1994. The
annual rate of serious violent crime in 2007 (40
per 1,000 students)was less than half of the rate
in 1994. These data are victim reports collected
as part of the National Crime Victimization
Survey and are not derived from school records.
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The rate of homicides in U.S. schools has
declined substantially since the early 1990s.
There was an apparent interruption in the
downward trend during a period of highly
publicized shootings that may have generated some
copycat shootings.
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Dropping Out

• About 10 of people between the ages of 14 and 24
  left school before earning a high school diploma.
  
• Dropout Rates
• Latinos/(Hispanics) - 24
• African Americans - 12.2
• non-Hispanic whites - 7.9
• Asian Americans - 1

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Racial Segregation and Desegregation

• In 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
  separate but equal segregated schools are
  unconstitutional.
• Five decades later, racial segregation remains a
  fact of life in education.
• Efforts to bring about desegregation or
  integration have failed in districts throughout
  the country

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Polling Question

• How far do you intend to go in school?
• Two years of college
• Four years of college
• Master's degree
• Professional degree (law, medicine, dentistry)
• Ph.D.

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Community Colleges

• In 1948 a presidential commission report called
  for the establishment of a network of public
  community colleges that would
• charge little or no tuition
• serve as cultural centers
• be comprehensive in their program offerings
• serve the area in which they were located.

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Community Colleges

• According to the American Association of
  Community Colleges (2005)
• There are 1,166 community colleges in the U.S.
• They enroll almost 12 million students.
• Community college enrollment accounts for 46 of
  U.S. undergraduates.
• Almost 40 of community college students receive
  financial aid.
• Women make up 58 of community college students.

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The Cost of a College Education

• According to some social analysts, a college
  education is a bargain at about 90 a day for
  private schools or 35 for public schools.
• Others believe that students who lack money may
  be denied access to higher education, and those
  who are able to attend college tend to receive
  different types of education based on their
  ability to pay.

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Racial and Ethnic Differences in Enrollment

• Latina/o enrollment as a percentage of total
  college enrollment increased from 5.7 to 9.8
  between 1990 and 2001.
• Although African American enrollment increased
  between 1990 and 2001, today it remains at 11.
• Native American enrollment rates have remained at
  about 0.9 from the 1970s to the 2000s however,
  tribal colleges on reservations have experienced
  an increase in enrollment.

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Educational Achievement Persons 25 and Older
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Polling Question

• How important would you say religion is in your
  own life?
• Very important
• Fairly important
• Not very important
• No opinion

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Religion and the Meaning of Life

• Religion seeks to answer important questions such
  as why we exist, why people suffer and die, and
  what happens when we die.
• Religion seeks to explain suffering, death, and
  injustice in the realm of the sacred.
• Things that people do not set apart as sacred are
  referred to as profanethe everyday, secular or
  worldly aspects of life.

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Four Categories of Religion

• Simple supernaturalism - the belief that
  supernatural forces affect people's lives
  positively or negatively.
• Animism - the belief that plants, animals, and
  elements of the natural world are endowed with
  spirits that impact events in society.

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Four Categories of Religion

• Theism - belief in a God or Gods.
• Transcendent idealism - belief in sacred
  principles of thought and conduct, such as truth,
  justice, life and tolerance for others.

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Major World Religions
Christianity Islam
Current Followers 1.7 billion 1 billion
Founder Jesus Muhammad
Date 1st century C.E. ca. 600 C.E
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Major World Religions
Hinduism Buddhism
Current Followers 719 million 309 million
Founder No specific founder Siddhartha Gautama
Date ca. 1500 B.C.E 500 to 600 B.C.E.
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Major World Religions
Judaism Confucianism
Current Followers 18 million 5.9 million
Founder Abraham, Isaac, Jacob Kung Fu-Tzu
Date ca. 2000 B.C.E. 500 B.C.E
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Functionalist Perspective

• Religion has 3 functions
• Providing meaning and purpose to life.
• Promoting social cohesion and a sense of
  belonging.
• Providing social control and support for the
  government.

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Conflict Perspective

• According to Karl Marx, religion is the "opiate
  of the people."
• Max Weber argued that religion could be a
  catalyst to produce social change.

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Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

• Religion serves as a reference group to help
  people define themselves.
• Womens versions of a certain religion usually
  differ from mens versions.

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Characters of Churches and Sects
Organization Membership
Church Large, bureaucratic organization,led by professional clergy Open to all members usually from upper and middle classes
Sect Small group,high degree of lay participation Guarded membership, usually from lower classes
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Characters of Churches and Sects
Worship Salvation
Church Formal, orderly Granted by God
Sect Informal, spontaneous Achieved by moral purity
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Characteristics of Churches and Sects
Attitude Toward Other Religions
Church Tolerant
Sect Intolerant
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Major U.S. Denominations that Self Identify as
Christian
Religious Body Members Churches
Roman Catholic 69,135,000 18,992
Southern Baptist Convention 16,270,000 43,669
United Methodist 8,075,000 34,660
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 5,691,000 12,753
Church of God in Christ 5,500,000 15,300
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Major U.S. Denominations that Self Identify as
Christian
Religious Body Members Churches
National Baptist Convention, U.S.A. 5,000,000 9,000
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 4,851,000 10,519
National Baptist Convention of America 3,500,000 N/A
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 3,099,000 10,960
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U.S. Religious Traditions Membership
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Polling Question

• Do you think schools in America should continue
  to follow the Christian holiday schedule?
• Yes
• No

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Sociological Perspectives on Education and
Religion
Functionalist Functionalist
Education One of the most important components of society Schools teach students not only content but also to put group needs ahead of individuals.
Religion Sacred beliefs and rituals bind people together and help maintain social control.
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Sociological Perspectives on Education and
Religion
Conflict Conflict
Education Schools perpetuate class, racial, and gender stratification, through what they teach, to whom.
Religion Religion may be used to justify the status quo (Marx) or to promote social change.
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Sociological Perspectives on Education and
Religion
Symbolic Interactionist Symbolic Interactionist
Education Labeling and the self-fulfilling prophecy are examples of how students and teachers affect each other as they interact.
Religion Religion may serve as a reference group for many people, but because of race, class, and gender people may experience it differently.
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Quick Quiz
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• 1. According to the cultural capital model
• a student will be taught by teachers of one's own
  culture.
• children with less cultural capital coming into
  school will have fewer opportunities for
  succeeding.
• children with less cultural capital coming into
  school will catch up with the rest of the nation.
• going to school provides one with the necessities
  of one's culture.

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Answer B

• According to the cultural capital model children
  with less cultural capital coming into school
  will have fewer opportunities for succeeding.

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• 2. The assignment of students to specific
  courses and educational programs based on their
  test scores, previous grades, or both is called
• positioning
• assessment
• placement
• tracking

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Answer D

• The assignment of students to specific courses
  and educational programs based on their test
  scores, previous grades, or both is called
  tracking.

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• 3. According to Pierre Bourdieu, schools
  legitimate and reinforce the dominance of social
  elites.
• False.
• True.

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Answer B

• According to Pierre Bourdieu, schools legitimate
  and reinforce the dominance of social elites.

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• 4. According to sociologists, religion attempts
  to
• bridge the gap between the known and the unknown.
• have a personal relationship with God.
• all of the choices.
• save every soul.

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Answer A

• According to sociologists, religion attempts to
  bridge the gap between the known and the unknown.

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• 5. Who said "religion is the opiate of the
  masses?
• Emile Durkheim
• Karl Marx
• Max Weber
• Talcott Parsons

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Answer B

• Karl Marx said "religion is the opiate of the
  masses

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• 6. A relatively small religious group that has
  broken away from another religious organization
  to renew what it views as the original version of
  the faith is referred to as
• an ecclesia
• Catholicism
• a sect
• a denomination

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Answer C

• A relatively small religious group that has
  broken away from another religious organization
  to renew what it views as the original version of
  the faith is referred to as a sect.