Chapter 12 Education and religion

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Chapter 12Education and religion

• An Overview of Education and Religion
• Sociological Perspectives on Education
• Religion in Global Perspective
• 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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FunctionalistsFunctions of Education

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

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FunctionalistsFunctions of Education

• Latent functions
• Restricting some activities.
• Matchmaking and production of social networks.
• Creation of a generation gap.

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Conflict Perspective

• Education is a vehicle for reproducing 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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Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy- students perform
  according to the expectations of their teachers.
• Students labeled as gifted may achieve at a
  higher level because of the label.
• Some girls learn to attribute success to effort
  while boys learn to attribute success to
  intelligence and ability.

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Religion

• Seeks to answer important questions such as why
  we exist, why people suffer and die and what
  happens when we die.
• Comprised of beliefs, symbols and rituals.
• All known groups over the past 100,000 years have
  had some form of religion.

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Four Main Categories of Religion

1. Simple supernaturalism - the belief that
   supernatural forces affect people's lives
   positively or negatively.
2. 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 Main Categories of Religion

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

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Functionalist Perspective

• Religion has 3 important 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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Trends in Religion in the U.S.

• The rise of a new fundamentalism has occurred at
  the same time as a number of mainline
  denominations have been losing membership.
• Some members of the political elite in Washington
  have vowed to bring religion "back" into schools
  and public life.

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Goals 2000 Educate America Act

• Passed by Congress in 1994 to challenge the
  nations public school system to meet specific
  goals by 2000.
• Very little progress has been made.
• The stated goals are overly idealistic.

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Goals 2000 Educate America Act

• Three key goals
• Students leave grades 4, 8, and 12 with
  competency in English, math, science, history,
  and geography.
• U.S. students will lead in science and
  mathematics achievement.
• Every adult will be literate.