Universal Access to Education

Universal Access to Education

The Burden of Universal Access to Education

Universal access is defined as people’s equal ability to be part of an education system. Every person across the world is entitled to a decent education at the primary level to develop skills and become more productive members of society through learning how to tolerate others and respect other people’s freedom (McCowan 509). The United States Constitution provides that everyone has access to Education. Universal Education is supported through government funding. State and federal governments cover the cost of free public Education to allow impoverished individuals to access primary Education. Education is linked to human capital, the economic value of an employee’s skills and experience. It includes assets such as training, Education, health, intelligence, and other attributes employers value, such as respect and loyalty. Therefore, defining human capital as an educated society could be interpreted as the economic value of the skills society members acquire through Education.

One of the positive consequences of an educated population is more employment. A literate society includes individuals with various skills and knowledge that can be leveraged to improve community organizations’ performance. Society members equip themselves with relevant knowledge and skills that make them qualified for open positions, increasing the employment rate. The second consequence is a reduced crime rate. The reduction in crime rate is attributed to more society members being employed and getting a genuine income to sustain themselves and their families. The third consequence is increased economic growth. When most people are educated, high productivity increases average income, contributing to economic growth.

Education as a Social Institution

Generally, Education is the process of acquiring new knowledge and skills. However, a more comprehensive definition of Education portrays it as a social institution. According to the functionalist perspective, Education is an essential social institution due to latent and manifest actions (Griffiths et al. 360). Latent actions are the unintended and hidden functions, and manifest functions are the visible and intended functions. Therefore, based on this view, Education serves as a social institution by facilitating socialization and introducing individuals to social networks that may last a long time and help people secure employment. The conflict theory perspective views Education as a system perpetuating and reinforcing inequalities arising from differences in gender, class, race, and ethnicity (Griffiths et al. 361). Based on this perspective, Education can be defined as a social institution because it equips individuals with beliefs and behaviors that determine how they socialize. For instance, Education includes familiarizing students with their social class and how society views people from different social types based on the quality of Education offered. Therefore, individuals learn to accept and maintain their position as lower society members due to the disparity of resources within the educational system, whereby students in affluent neighborhoods have access to resources. At the same time, those in poor communities do not.

The symbolic interaction perspective views Education as a way of labeling based on an individual’s societal power (Griffiths et al. 363). Based on this perspective, Education is a social institution because it defines individual status in a social setting whereby educated people are shown more respect than uneducated people. Education also creates symbolic interactionism in society by determining a person’s level of achievement based on academic performance. Therefore, powerful social groups in the education system develop labels used by the whole population in a learning institution and limit the social inclusion of the labeled as low achievers.

References

Griffiths, Heather, et al. Introduction to Sociology 2e. 2017.

McCowan, Tristan. “Reframing the universal right to education.” Comparative Education, vol. 46, no. 4, 2010, pp. 509-525.

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Universal Access to Education

In Education, we learn about Education as a social institution (macro level of analysis). One aspect of education sociologists look at is “Access to Education” for everyone. Read Chapter 16, page 357 of an online text. Education 16 on access to education: The educator’s global concern is universal access. This term refers to people’s equal ability to participate in an education system. On a world level, access might be more difficult for certain groups based on class or gender (as was the case in the United States earlier in the nation’s history, a dynamic we still struggle to overcome). The modern idea of universal access arose in the United States as a concern for people with disabilities. In educated states, universal Education is supported by federal and state governments, covering the cost of free public Education.

Today, the optimal way to include differently-abled students in standard classrooms is still being researched and debated. “Inclusion” is a method that involves complete immersion in a traditional classroom, whereas “mainstreaming” balances time in a special-needs classroom with conventional classroom participation. There continues to be social debate surrounding implementing ” universal access to education.”

1. Discuss the burden of Universal Access to Education in our country. Is it a constitutional right for all citizens of our country? Who pays for this? What does “Human Capital” mean in terms of an educated society? What are the positive consequences of an educated population? You might have to Google “human capital” and see how it applies to a literate education.
2. Please explain Education as a social institution (the macro level of analysis) by three sociological perspectives: functionalism, conflict, and symbolic interaction from “Theoretical Perspectives on Education” on pages 359-363 from the online textbook chapter 16.