Issues and Trends in Education

Examination of the education process and its bilateral relationship with society in both historical and sociological terms. Attitudes and values developed as a result of research in both education and sociology are stressed. May not be taken pass/fail.

Current Semester Information

240A: Issues & Trends in Educ

Issues and Trends: Topics in the Sociology of Education

This class brings a sociological lens to the study of current issues in education. Our grounding question will be: how is inequality produced, reproduced and contested? Drawing upon social theory, we will look at how race, gender, class, sexuality and other forms of inequality shape people's lives and how education, in the broadest sense, is shaped by and shapes these divisions. We break down terms such as ideology, achievement, the state, power, capital, progress, and success as a means of not only understanding broad trends in educational achievement, policy and practice, but also deconstructing the foundational premises upon which claims about education and schooling are made.

This course is grounded in literature from the sociology and anthropology of education. It will explore functionalist and conflict theories of education, drawing upon work within both theoretical paradigms.