The State, Education and Social Classes

języki obce

(tylko po angielsku) Good knowledge of English in speech and writing.

Knowledge of the basics of the sociology of politics and education.,

The general aim of the seminar is to discuss selected topics related to the changes in the education system in Poland, the UK and around the world. Particularly important would be questions concerning the role of the school in the reproduction of class inequalities. Other important issue is the role of the state and its institutions in initiating the change in the educational system and different ways of school transformations. The implications of educational system for the functioning of the state, society, public sphere, social bonds and citizenship in modern times are going to be addressed on the seminar as well.

The general aim of the seminar is to discuss selected topics related to the changes in the education system in Poland, the UK and around the world. Particularly important would be questions concerning the role of the school in the reproduction of class inequalities. Other important issue is the role of the state and its institutions in initiating the change in the educational system and different ways of school transformations. The implications of educational system for the functioning of the state, society, public sphere, social bonds and citizenship in modern times are going to be addressed on the seminar as well.

Specific issues:

The State and social classes in the educational system

The changes in the educational system in Poland

The educational system in the UK

Migration (e.g Polish migration to the United Kingdom) as a social laboratory for studying the transformation of class-motivated attitudes toward the state and educational system

Global trends in educational policy

The role of the school in the reproduction of class inequalities

System of education in different types of capitalism (Fordism and state capitalism, Post-Fordism),

The state and other central institutions and its impact on the educational system

Implications of school transformation for the contemporary state, society, public sphere, social bonds and citizenship

● ALPHABET (2013) documentary by Erwin Wagenhofer

● Ball S. J. (2003), Class Strategies and the Education Market. The Middle Classes and Social Advantage, RoutledgeFalmer, Londyn.

● Boltanski, L. and Thévenot, L. (2006), On Justification: Economies of Worth. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford.

● Bourdieu, Passeron Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture

● Bowles i Gintis (1976) Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life

● Green F., D. Kynaston (2019), Engines of Privilege. Britain’s Private School Problem, Bloomsbury Publishing, London.

● Michael Burawoy and Karl Von Holdt (2012), Conversations with Bourdieu – The. Johannesburg Moment, Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand Press.

● Collins R (1979) The Credential Society: A Historical Sociology of Education and Stratification Academic Press;

● Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2007.

● Pei-Chia Lan Raising Global Families: Parenting, Immigration, and Class in Taiwan and the US: Migrant Domestics and Newly Rich Employers in Taiwan. Stanford: Stanford University Press 2018.

● Reimers Fernando M. ed., “Letters to a New Minister of Education” Independently published 2019.

● Tomlinson Michael (2013) Education, Work and Identity: Themes and Perspectives, London and New York, Bloomsbury Academic

● Willis, Paul E. (1981), Learning to labour: how working class kids get working class jobs, Columbia University Press, New York.

After completing the course the student:

Knows and understands basic concepts of various sub-domains of sociology (e.g. sociology of education,

Is reflective and critical of the problem of social differentiation and inequalities

Has in-depth knowledge of tools and goals of social policy

Can do a critical and reflective analysis of the consequences of the processes occurring in modern societies

Credit and exam requirements:

● Full attendance (two absences allowed) reading all assigned texts and actively participating in class discussions;

● At the end of the course participants are requested to write a paper of 30,000-32,000 characters or 15-18 pages. The topic of the paper, related to the content of the course, is agreed with the course teacher;

● Final grade is awarded at the end of the course, as a mean of the essay and participation grades;

When participating in class discussion students are expected to demonstrate the following:

● Knowledge, gained from reading the assigned texts and general erudition;

● Ability to argue for and against the positions presented in the discussion;

● Own opinion on the discussed social problems and their proposed solutions.