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What Education Claims to Do for Us. What Do Sociologists Show It Often Does

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What Education Claims to Do for Us. What Do Sociologists Show It Often Does
Briefly discuss what education claims to do for us. What do sociologists show it often does? Illustrate with examples from the Caribbean

Education begins the day we are born and ends the day we die (Ballantinee and Hammack). According to Haralambos and Holborn education involves the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Although this is may be seen as the most appropriate explanation for what education is regarded as universally, education in modern developed and developing societies is generally implanted by the is offered at the institutional, or formal learning centers in society. In developed and developing countries, this formal education is becoming increasingly important as the level of educational attainment is usually associated with where you stand in your income, social status and the level of respect shown by others. Many of us grew up with the importance of education drilled into our brains. We are told to take our schoolwork seriously and in most if not all countries children are required to attend school until we get to a certain age. We are told that school days will be the best days of our lives and that the formal and informal experiences we gain at school will be cherished by us for the rest of our lives. According to the World Bank, Education is a powerful driver of development and one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty and improving health, gender equality, peace, and stability. Thus a high level of educational attainment appears to be the gateway to “success” in life and the answers to our social problems. According to Tyler Cowen; Men are born beasts. But education gives you a peer group, a self-image, and some skills as well. Getting an education is like becoming a Marine. Men need to be made into Marines. By choosing many years of education, you are telling yourself that you stand on one side of the social divide. The education itself drums that truth into you. Education claims that upon entering the school



References: About.com. 2013. “Sociology of Education.” Accessed March 12, 2013. Blog Spot.com 2013. “Functionalist Theories of Education.” Accessed March 12, 2013. http://agnihotrieducation.blogspot.com/2008/09/functionalist-theories-of-education.html Haralambos, Michael, and Martin Holborn History Learning Site. 2013. “The New Right and Education.” Accessed March 12, 2013. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/new_right_education.htm Huffington Post International Assessments.” Accessed March 12, 2013. http://sta.uwi.edu/conferences/09/salises/documents/J%20De%20Lisle.pdf   Library of Economic and Liberty (ECONLOG) .2013. “What does Education Do?” Accessed March 9, 2013.http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2006/02/what_does_educa.html    Natural Life Magazine. 2013. “The Dark Side of Schooling.” Accessed March 12, 2013. http://www.naturallifemagazine.com/0904/dark_side_of_schooling.htm Preserve Articles  Simon Fraser University (SFU). 2013. “Education and Socializing: A Proper Distinction?” Accessed March 13, 2013. http://www.sfu.ca/~egan/read823/Edsoc.html That’ll Teach Em’.2006 University of the West Indies (UWI). 2013. “ Is the Trinidad and Tobago education system structured to facilitate optimum human capital development? New findings on the relationship between education structures and outcomes from National and WIKIPEDIA

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