Sociology of Education

Catalog description

This course will offer a sociological overview of American schools and schooling, and their connection to broader social structures, institutions, and practices. With a particular focus on social inequality in education, we will discuss central themes, issues, and controversies in American education, including the nature and purpose of schooling, multicultural education, social and cultural capital in education, school reform, tracking, immigrant education, and the ways in which class, race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality intersect in students? divergent learning experiences and outcomes. While we are all familiar with schools, it is hoped that this course will help students better understand the sociological forces behind the shaping of the American educational system and the purposes, processes, consequences, and controversies of schooling that are often obscure in the day-to-day lives of students, teachers, administrators, parents, and the public.