Lahore University of Management Sciences

SOC 223 Sociology of Education

Fall Semester 2016-17
Instructor
Room No.
Office Hours
Email
Telephone
COURSE BASICS
Credit Hours
Lecture(s)

Tania Saeed
TBA
TBA
Tania.saeed@lums.edu.pk

4
Nbr of Lec(s) Per
Week

Duration

1hr 50mins

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The education system is both a source of perpetuating socio-economic inequalities, and a tool for
challenging the status quo. Educational institutions, especially schools are an integral part of the
socialization process, preparing the next generation to take on their role as social actors. The
course examines how and why the education system perpetuates or challenges existing
inequalities within society. It introduces students to sociological theories of education, examining
the intersection between education, class, culture, gender, resistance and democracy. The first
part provides a macro level analysis of education and its place within society by introducing
students to grand theories of education with a particular emphasis on functionalism, pragmatism,
and critical pedagogy. The second part focuses on the formalized education system, in particular
the school, examining the structure and organization of the school, teaching and pedagogy,
classroom inequalities, and the politics of language and curriculum. The readings therefore move
from a macro level analysis to the micro unit of the school, highlighting both the potential and the
limitation of modern day schooling in challenging existing inequalities within society.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The course introduces students to fundamental sociological theories of education, providing
students with a basic understanding of how the education system functions in society. While the
readings are largely located within an American, European and Brazilian context, students
through class assignments, presentations and discussion will be required to apply these theories
to the context of Pakistan. The course will therefore equip students with the skills to critically
evaluate and analyse their social realities through the lens of different theoretical frameworks.
GRADING
Attendance 5%
Class Participation 10%
Mid Term 15%
Presentation + Research Paper 30%
Final Exam 20%
Response Paper (4) 20%
Students will be responsible for having done the readings before class, to be able to take part in the
class discussion. This is a reading and discussion intensive course.

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Presentation and Research Paper
Students will select one theoretical framework in consultation with the instructor. The framework
will be used to critically analyse different aspects of the education system in Pakistan through
either primary or secondary research. If the student has not taken a course on Research Methods
before, and opts for primary data collection then s/he will be required to work with the instructor,
and will need approval from the instructor before going into the field. S/he will also be provided
basic training on research methods and ethics of field research through tutorials with the
instructor during her office hours.
Students will be required to present their findings to the class, and write a 3000 word research
paper. Depending on the class size, research groups will include 2 to 4 students each.
Grading will be relative.
COURSE SCHEDULE AND READINGS
Introduction
Session One
-

Ball, S.J. (ed.) (2004) The Sociology of Education. A disputational account. The
RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Sociology of Education. London: RoutledgeFalmer, pp.1-12.
Apple, M.W., Ball, S.J. and Gandin, L.A. (eds.) (2010) Mapping the sociology of education:
social context, power and knowledge. The Routledge International Handbook of the Sociology
of Education. London and NY: Routledge, pp.1-12.

Session Two
-

Giroux, H (1997) Chapter 2 Culture and Rationality in Frankfurt School Thought:

Ideological Foundations for a Theory of Social Education. Pedagogy and the Politics of Hope.
Theory, Culture and Schooling. A Critical Reader, USA: Westview Presspp, pp. 35-70.
Hallinan, M.T. (ed.) (2000) Introduction: Sociology of Education at the Threshold of the
Twenty-first Century. Handbook of the Sociology of Education. USA: Springer, pp. 1-14.

Education, Class and Culture

Session Three:
-

Durkheim, E. (2007). On Education and Society. In A.R. Sadovnik (ed.) Sociology of

Education: A Critical Reader. New York: Routledge, pp. 23-35.
Ottaway, A. K. C. (1968) Durkheim on Education. British Journal of Educational Studies, 16
(1), pp. 5-16.

Session Four:
-

Bourdieu, P. (2004) The Forms of Capital. In Ball S. J. (ed.) The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in
Sociology of Education. London: RoutledgeFalmer, pp. 15-29.
Bourdieu, P. (1973) Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction. In J. Karabel and A. H.
Halsey (eds.), Power and Ideology in Education. New York: Oxford University, pp. 473-486

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Session Five:
-

Reay, D. (2001) Finding or Losing Yourself? Working-class relationships to education.

Journal of Education Policy, 16 (4), pp. 33346.

Harker, R.K. (1984) On Reproduction, Habitus and Education. British Journal of Sociology of
Education, 5 (2), pp. 117-127

Session Six:
-

Bernstein, B. (2003) Social Class and Pedagogic Practice. The Structuring of Pedagogic
Discourse, Volume IV: Class, Codes and Control. London: Routledge, pp. 6393.

Democracy and Education

Session Seven:
-

Hickman, L.A. and Alexander, T.M. (eds.) (1998) The Development of American Pragmatism.
The Essential Dewey. Volume 1 Pragmatism, Education, Democracy.USA: Indiana University
Press, pp. 3-13.
Neiman, A. Pragmatism: The Aims of Education and the Meaning of Life. In W. Kohli (ed.)
Critical Conversations in Philosophy of Education. New York; London: Routledge, pp. 56-72.

Session Eight
-

Dimitriadis, G. and Kamberelis, G. (2006) John Dewey. Theory of Education. New York;
London: Routledge, pp. 3-15.
Nie, N. H. and Hillygus, D. S. (2001) Education and democratic citizenship. In D. Ravitch
and J. Viteritti (eds.), Making good citizens: Education and civil society. New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press, pp. 30-57.

Session Nine
-

Dewey, J. (1998) Traditional Vs Progressive Education and The Need of a Theory of

Experience Experience and Education. USA: Kappa Delta Pi Pp. 1- 22.
Dewey, J. (2004) "Education as a Social Function, Aims in Education, The Democratic
Conception of Education Democracy and Education. India: Aakar Books, pp.11-25; 87-119.

Education and Critical Pedagogy

Session Ten
-

Darder, A., Baltodano, M., and Torres, R.D. (2008) Critical Pedagogy: An Introduction The
Critical Pedagogy Reader (Second Edition). UK: Routledge.
Lingard, B. (2010) Towards a sociology of pedagogies. In Apple, M.W., Ball, S.J. and Gandin,
L.A. (eds.) The Routledge International Handbook of the Sociology of Education. London and
NY: Routledge, pp.167-178.

Session Eleven
-

Freire, P. (1994/1970). Preface and Chapter One. Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

(Revised 20th Anniversary Edition). New York: Continuum.

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Freire, P. (1974) Society in Transition. Education for Critical Consciousness. London:

Continuum, pp. 3-17.

Session Twelve
-

Giroux H, and Giroux S.S. (2005) Challenging Neoliberals New World Order: The Promise of
Critical Pedagogy. In H. Giroux Border Crossings Cultural Workers and the Politics of
Education. New York and London: Routledge, pp. 209-220.
Giroux H (1997) Authority, Intellectuals, and the Politics of Practical Learning. Pedagogy
and the Politics of Hope. Theory, Culture and Schooling. A Critical Reader, USA: Westview
Presspp, pp. 95-117.

Sessions Thirteen - Fourteen

Review and Mid Term
The organized school
Session Fifteen
-

hooks, b (1994) Introduction and Engaged Pedagogy Teaching to Transgress Education as

the Practice of Freedom. London: Routledge, pp. 1-22.
Jaramillo, N.E. and Mclaren, P. (2009) Borderlines bell hooks and the Pedagogy of
Revolutionary Change. In M. del G. Davidson and G. Yancy (eds.) Critical Perspectives on bell
hooks. New York and London: Routledge, pp. 17-33.

Session Sixteen
-

Popkewitz, T.S. (1991) A Political Sociology of Educational Reform: Power, Knowledge and
Schooling. A Political Sociology of Educational Reform Power/Knowledge in Teaching, Teacher
Education, and Research. New York: Teachers College Press, pp.13-43.

Session Seventeen
-

Parsons, T. 1959. The School as a Social System. Harvard Educational Review 29:297318.

Bidwell, C.E. (2000) School as Context and Construction: A Social Psychological Approach
to the Study of Schooling. In Hallinan, M.T. (ed.) Handbook of the Sociology of Education.
USA: Springer, pp. 15-36.

Teachers and the structured classroom

Session Eighteen
-

Cohen, E.G. (2000) Equitable Classrooms in a Changing Society. In Hallinan, M.T. (ed.)
Handbook of the Sociology of Education. USA: Springer, pp. 265-284.

hooks, b. (1994) Confronting Class in the Classroom. Teaching to Transgress Education as

the Practice of Freedom. London: Routledge, pp. 177-190.

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Session Nineteen
-

Gamoran, A., Secada, W. G. and Marrett, C (2000) The organizational context of teaching
and learning: Changing theoretical perspectives. In M.T. Hallinan Handbook of the Sociology
of Education USA: Springer, pp. 37-64.
Shor, I. and Freire, P. (1987) What is the dialogical method? A Pedagogy for Liberation.
Dialogues on Transforming Education. USA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers Inc.

Session Twenty
-

Waller, W. (1932). Parents and Teachers and The Separate Culture of the School The
sociology of teaching. Wiley social science series., (pp. 6-14). Hoboken, NJ, US: John Wiley &
Sons Inc.

Politics of curriculum
Session Twenty One
-

Apple, M. (1985) Reproduction, contestation, and curriculum. Education and power. New
York: Routledge, pp. 1-34.
Eisner, E. (1997) Who Decides What Schools Should Teach. In D.J. Flinders & S.J. Thorton
(eds.) Curriculum Studies Reader. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 337- 341.

Session Twenty Two

-

Apple, M. (2006) Whose markets, whose knowledge? Educating the "right" Way: Markets,
Standards, God, and Inequality. New York, NY: Routledge.
Monahan, T (2009) The Surveillance Curriculum: Risk Management and Social Control in
the Neoliberal School. In A, Darder, M.P. Baltodano, and R.D. Torres (eds.) The Critical
Pedagogy Reader, pp. 123-134.

Gender politics and schooling:

Session Twenty Three
Grant, L., Horan, P.M. and Watts-Warren, B. (1994) Theoretical diversity in the analysis of
gender and education. In A. M. Pallas (ed.), Research in Sociology of Education and
Socialization, Vol. 10. Greenwich, CT: JAI, pp. 71-109.
- Weiler, K (2009) Feminist Analysis of Gender and Schooling. In A, Darder, M.P. Baltodano,
and R.D. Torres (eds.) The Critical Pedagogy Reader, pp 217-239.
Session Twenty Four
- Giroux, H.A. (1992) Literacy, Pedagogy, and the Politics of Difference. College Literature,
19(1), pp. 1-11.
-

Language and Education

Session Twenty Five
- Thiongo, Ngugi wa (1994) Chapter One Decolonising the Mind. The Politics of Language in
African Literature. Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Publishing House.
Sessions Twenty Six and Twenty Seven
Presentations

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Session Twenty Eight
Revision