Executive Summary
Education is an element that cannot be wished away in human terms. Its inherent capacity to create opportunities for people through impartation of knowledge and creation of sustainable development opportunities is a value that makes it eccentric and viably concomitant with modern times.
It is in education that attainment of skills for work and realization of professional capabilities is acquired and this therefore makes the process of education centrally important for every facet of human development and vital for every aspect of human existence. Government systems have different education systems that they favour for their citizenry and have different structures to establish these systems and optimize their effectiveness to their students. Educational Opportunity and Social Reproduction is the topic of study taken for this paper.
Introduction
Education is the single most paramount element in human development that creates opportunities through learning and imparting understanding to a learner in a manner that accords them self-empowerment and gives a real chance for exploitation of one’s potential.
It is in education that attainment of skills for work and realization of professional capabilities is acquired and this therefore makes the process of education centrally important for every facet of human development and vital for every aspect of human existence (Wootherspoon, 2009). Government systems have different education systems that they favour for their citizenry and have different structures to establish these systems and optimize their effectiveness to their students.
By no strain of imagination can it be thought that the subject of education can be discussed in entirely and have all its elements well covered within a paper of such brevity as this one and therefore a specific aspect of the topic will be taken and critically analyzed and assessed to determine its effectiveness and relevance to the whole subject at large (Hanushek & Ludger, 2008).
The area that is taken for discussion in this paper therefore is Educational Opportunity and Social Reproduction where the assessment of contributions that are made by formal education both to socio-economic opportunity and social equality will be discussed extensively.
The extent to which education has influenced socio-economic issues in the society in many regards is not appreciated. The authors of this article are of the contention that it is imperative that the line dividing these two be clearly understood in the light of their interdependence and their complementary roles to each other (Wootherspoon, 2009).
There is empirical evidence that point to the fact that education as an entity globally has continued to have unilateral impact on issues of development in the areas of socio-economic, political and cultural development (Wootherspoon, 2009). The gist of this is that educational privilege ensures that opportunities go to those who have educational upper hand in various areas of professional and personal training making the quality of life lived by such people.
Research Methodology and Data Collected
Since the research aims at determining the opportunities created by education in Canada (USA), the data collected in this study consisted of primary data and secondary data. Each research objective therefore utilized varying proportions of each form of data and the research taken for the research was the survey approach.
Chandra (2008) states that a descriptive survey approach is used to study, describe, explore and analyze relationships among geographically gathered subjects. Thus a survey was the most appropriate method to capture and compare the effect education has on development in Canada (Chandra, 2008).
In addition to this, the study also had a quantitative approach, as different educational parameters can be assessed using empirical data (Wootherspoon, 2009). Therefore a quantitative approach is best suited to meeting the research objectives, as it aims at gathering, analyzing and measuring data from a large sample to test the relation between different variables.
Stratified and simple random sampling procedures were used in selecting the study sample. Stratified random sampling was used to ensure subgroups in the population were proportionally represented while simple random sampling was used to select respondents within the subgroups entirely on the basis of chance (Chandra, 2008).
Primary and secondary data was collected in this study also. Primary data was collected by questionnaires, which included structured and unstructured questions, and interviews, which were used to collect data immediately. Secondary data was collected through a review of published and unpublished materials, such as articles, seminar papers, government policy papers, conference proceedings, business journals, textbooks, statistical abstracts, newspapers and periodicals.
Secondary sources were useful as the suggestions of different authors on the research topic could be adopted and/or modified to recommend how education is related to development of socio-cultural, political and economic aspects of humanity (Carew & Sara, 2003).
Results and Analysis
From the data collected, there are number of organizations that strongly indicated their relentless support for educational systems as being directly involved in social development of people. Illiteracy especially among the adults is a realization that is considered as hampering development and chocking such persons from sharing in the national cake as opportunities are limited for them (Bryk, Valerie & Peter, 1993).
This therefore means that the design of educational programs should be aimed at adequately addressing the specific needs of the people particularly in the said region. The implementation of an ideal educational program in the Canadian system calls for the collaboration between the federal government, a number of organizations and the Ministry of Education. Such a program will be very essential to children emerging from hardship stricken families that are very vulnerable.
Education being a concept that is self-actualizing and self-liberating, its effectiveness has to take center stage in the things that it does. The author talks of how the program needs to be area-specific so as it meets the specific needs of a given area satisfactorily which for the Canadian community that is heavily stratified and metropolitan, the following procedures are empirical for the system there.
These procedures identify the most fitting mechanism through which the education program can be accommodated in to the various lessons taught at school. These procedures are:
- First is the identification of an ideal lesson plan. This points to how exactly a number of the readily available materials and the various lessons can possibly accommodate the education activities
- Conducting a research study to identify the already available scope of knowledge in line with the learning habits of the children in the various schools targeted by the program. This highly helps to possibly identify the type of games that such children enjoy, if they have at any time shown interest in demonstration of various skills and abilities through activities like drama and music, and if they have at any time been exposed to any form of education.
- The identification of the most appropriate themes in an effort to avoid the tendency of over presenting some details in a particular teaching.
- Designing a number of interactive materials that would possibly help in encouraging the learners to think critically with reference to the developmental issues in social and economic terms as well as political connotations.
- The development of an ideal teacher’s guide. This needs to be formulated on the basis of the understanding that most of the school based materials are normally part of a very large scale educational program at either a regional or national level. Teachers in schools that looked forward to the adoption of this program need to acquire some training that can enable them to learn about a number of ways that education is instrumental in the learners’ life.
Discussion
According to Coleman (1988) he asserts that “social capital is not held by individuals but exists in the relationships among individuals and is defined by the actions it facilitates” (Brody & Camilla, 1990, p. 867). The results described above indicate that there is a direct relationship between development both personally and corporately of individuals and corporations that is determined by education.
In addition to this, there is also a direct relationship between opportunities created for someone with educational background of such a person. Canadian society is very stratified as the study realized and is highly unequal as regards gender, race and ethnic class, religion and age of individuals. It is on this basis that there are rampant discrimination that denies persons opportunities and chances at resources and developmental capabilities in the country (Bowles & Herbert, 2001).
This then means that the status quo dictates that opportunities only flow to those that are well educated in the society or those who have relations that are well-off while those who do not have the financial muscle have limited opportunities (Barbe, Swassing & Milone, 2006).
Given that education is this important for human development, there are elements of education therefore that have to be considered in ensuring that it is effective in its application and relevance to the people. These elements are embedded in the approaches taken for the system in teaching students. These approaches are important since teaching practices determine the effectiveness of the education system and also are an indicator as to whether the information imparted helps in the individual development of the person receiving it.
In the article The Role of Caring in the Teacher-Student Relationship for At-Risk Students by Chandra Muller of the University of Taus at Austin, these elements are well discussed. The author maintains that teacher-student relationship is important for learners as it gives an indication to what they are able to achieve from the system they operate under. He says:
An indicator of a positive teacher-student relationship is when the teacher perceives that the student is making an effort to learn and succeed in school. The first and most basic model presented controls on only students’ background and educational expectations. Next, students’ prior performance and course placement is controlled, followed by the full model that includes measures of the teacher-student relationship.
Not surprisingly, high-expectancy students are perceived by their teachers as expending more effort. The basic model indicates that boys, African American students, and, to some extent, Latino students are judged by their teachers as giving school less effort. The interactions between teachers and students upon which the students’ actions are judged usually take place in a context of the students’ previous work. The majority of students are grouped according to ability and prior performance. (Chandra, 2008, p.250)
This is the one single element that greatly characterizes the performance of students since it is common knowledge that the teacher bears a greater influence on the performance of a student. When the relationship between him and the student is appropriate, it creates a more quiet and convenient environment for learning and better performance (Chandra, 2008).
Finally, it is also established that education creates opportunities for individuals to varying degrees. This comes from the training that education offers in professional careers which go a long way in enabling individuals take on tasks effectively and with ultimate results (Wootherspoon, 2009).
When there is understanding in what one does, it becomes cost effective for such an individual to undertake the task as this is likely to be done with minimal resource allocation and this is the basis upon which corporations appoint their personnel as it is always a preference for them to attain most good with least resource allocation (Carew & Sara, 2003).
Discrimination based on race, gender, ethnic background in today’s time and age continues to lose ground as education has become the benchmark for determining the capabilities of persons as regard human capital.
The effect of these realizations therefore places greater responsibility to political ideologies and philosophies for world governments to ensure that there is equitable access, equality to treatment and equality for results as elements of the concept of educational opportunities (Carew & Sara, 2003).
It becomes the cardinal responsibility of political systems to shield their citizenry that may be less fortunate in one way or another (mostly socio-economically) to attain professional opportunities through learning and impartation of knowledge as is through education (Szuchman, 2005). These persons in the society that may be maligned for whatever reason need the protection of governments and other relevant agencies so as to ensure that there is a proper claim to the resources that are available to them through institutional learning.
Educational inequality therefore is the single factor that causes demise of opportunities of development for persons within a region such as Canada and therefore is a vise that needs to be addressed and obliterated from humanity with the repugnance and totality it deserves (Carew & Sara, 2003).
Poverty in summing up has also been identified as a killer to educational opportunities which places developing countries at greater risk of their development being hampered and therefore it is recommended that policies and strategies be created that are specifically concerned with poverty eradication so as to make it easier for persons from poor backgrounds to have access to quality education (Wootherspoon, 2009). Quality education is a tool that will ultimately create job opportunities and in a cyclic manner, scorch the plight of poverty.
References
Barbe, W.B., Swassing, R.H., & M.N. Milone. (2006). Teaching through modality strengths: Concepts and practices. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser.
Bowles, S., & Herbert, G. (2001). Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Brody, E., & Camilla, P. (1990). Effects of High School Coursework and Time on SAT Scores. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(1), 866-875.
Bryk, S., Valerie, E., & Peter B.H. (1993). Catholic Schools and the Common Good. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Carew, J.V., & Sara, L.L. (2003). Beyond Bias: Perspectives on Classrooms. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Chandra, M. (2008). The Role of Caring in the Teacher-Student Relationship for At-Risk Students. Sociological Inquiry, 17(2), 232-263.
Hanushek, E.A., & Ludger, W. (2008). The role of cognitive skills in economic development. Journal of Economic Literature, 46(3), 607-608.
Szuchman, L.T. (2005). The Role of Caring in the Teacher-Student. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Wootherspoon, T. (2009). The Sociology of Education in Canada: Educational Opportunity and Social Reproduction (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.