Steven Brint

Schools and Societies

Third Edition

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Steven Brint is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• 3 ed
• Seitenzahl: 448
• Erscheinungstermin: 4. Januar 2017
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 254mm x 177mm x 31mm
• Gewicht: 844g
• ISBN-13: 9780804782470
• ISBN-10: 0804782474
• Artikelnr.: 45000571

Autorenporträt

Steven Brint is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at the University of California, Riverside.

Inhaltsangabe

Contents and Abstracts
1Schools as Social Institutions
chapter abstract
Chapter One introduces basic vocabulary for understanding schools as social
institutions. It discusses sociological theories of schooling and the
advantages of a comparative-historical approach. It examines schooling from
a macro-historical perspective, a meso-institutional perspective, and a
micro-interactional perspective. It compares the scientific and humanistic
sides of sociological analysis.
2Schooling in the Industrialized World
chapter abstract
Chapter Two discusses schooling in the wealthier societies of the
industrialized world. It charts the growth of enrollments at the primary,
secondary, and tertiary level over time. It compares the premises of elite
preparation and democratic uplift as starting points. It compares six
distinctive forms of schooling systems: those found in the United States,
Germany, England, France, Japan, and the former Soviet Union. It shows the
convergence of schooling systems of the industrialized world and the role
of transnational organizations in this convergence.
3Schooling in the Developing World
chapter abstract
Chapter Three discusses schooling in the poorer countries of the developing
world. It shows the divergence in schooling trajectories within the
developing world. It discusses the role of the World Bank and other donor
institutions in providing a common model of schooling. It discusses
persistent problems of schooling in the developing world, including
teachers who are not well trained and do not teach. It discusses the role
of educational achievement in economic development, comparing three
development theories: human capital, dependency, and state-led development.
4Schools and Cultural Transmission
chapter abstract
Chapter Four describes how and why curricula change over time, focusing on
the influence of ideological struggle among groups associated with the
traditional liberal arts and those with more practical orientations. It
discusses continuing regional variations in curriculum, the trends toward
global convergence in primary school curricula, and the continuing
variations in secondary school curricula that depend on commitments to
general or mixed general-vocational curricula. It provides evidence on the
achievement of students in different countries on international tests of
reading comprehension, mathematics, and science. It shows that the
performance of U.S. students is not as poor as many believe and analyzes
the sources of variation in these scores.
5Schools and Socialization
chapter abstract
Chapter Five discusses three dimensions of socialization: behavioral,
moral, and cultural. It describes the historical transition from village to
factory modalities of socialization and later toward the
bureau-corporate/mass consumption modality. It discusses elements of the
hidden curriculum of schooling that attempts to shape students who are fit
for life in societies that are bureaucratic- and mass-consumption oriented.
It discusses variation in socialization messages by social class,
race-ethnicity, and gender. It compares the socialization messages of the
playground to those of the classroom and the structural reasons for
variation in these messages.
6Schools and Social Selection: Opportunity
chapter abstract
Chapter Six discusses the schools' role in fostering the mobility of
students from lower social backgrounds. It shows that mobility occurs
largely because of changes in the occupational structures. Within this
context, schools in some societies provide greater opportunities for
mobility than others. Most of these societies are relatively egalitarian in
the economic and living conditions of the population. It discusses
differences between individual level studies of mobility and group-level
studies and shows that group-level studies show a less optimistic picture
of mobility than individual-level, or status attainment, studies. It
discusses the rise and fall of economic mobility through schooling in the
United States and attributes the current era of reduced mobility to
increasing inequality and the stronger connection between schooling and the
life chances of affluent families who mobilize resources to maintain their
privileges.
7Schools and Social Selection: Inequality
chapter abstract
Chapter Seven looks at the opposite side of mobility, the reproduction of
inequality through the schools. It discusses class inequality as the
constant divider, racial-ethnic inequality as the varying divider, and
gender inequality as the declining divider. It provides evidence to support
these characterizations. It examines school organization for its role in
reinforcing or reducing these inequalities, concluding that school
resources, ability grouping, and small classes have little influence but
that early tracking can have a large role as a reinforcer of inequality. It
shows that groups do not simply accept their fates but rather adapt to
leverage their resources to improve their situations inside and outside the
educational system.
8Teaching and Learning in Comparative Perspective
chapter abstract
Chapter Eight discusses the social conditions, training, and values of
teachers in comparative perspective. It also discusses the variation in
student outlooks that influence teaching. It disputes theories of variation
in learning styles. It describes the constraints and opportunities of
bureaucratic, grouped learning environments on the lives of teachers and
the influence of professional learning communities. It compares traditional
and progressive philosophies of teaching and shows how elements of
effective teaching combine features of both. It emphasizes that ideal
teachers vary in different parts of the world and that the key to
effectiveness is less a set of techniques than a cultural match between
teacher performance and students' expectations.
9School Reform
chapter abstract
Chapter Nine discusses four types of reform movements, characterized as the
four Es of reform: efficiency, excellence, enhancement, and equity. It
shows the roots of efficiency reform in the Progressive Era and the roots
of student-centered, or enhancement, reforms during the same era and
extending into the 1920s. The chapter focuses on excellence (or
accountability) reforms and equity reforms. It evaluates the successes and
failures of accountability legislation in the United States and other
industrialized societies. It provides evidence on the effectiveness of such
equity reforms as compensatory education, Head Start, comprehensive school
reform, educational priority zones, and publicly supported early childhood
education.
Coda: The Possibilities of Schooling
chapter abstract
The coda ends the book on a positive note, focusing on what we have learned
about effective schools. While arguing for forms of accountability that
provide authentic assessments of student learning, it argues against losing
track of the larger civic and cultural purposes of schooling, as described
by theorists such as John Dewey and Benjamin Barber. It shows that
variation in effectiveness is related to where schools and classrooms fall
in Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It describes the common characteristics of
effective schools and elements of communal organization.