In reference to an article published in the New York Times on September 6 2011, most people from New York are largely discontented with the quality of education that is being offered in most government schools within the city. According to them, the system has gone down since the Mayor in charge took over leadership for the last nine years. The majority of people cited various reasons for their dissatisfaction.
Such reasons included treating the schools as business entities, wrong choice of education system, shallow content, congestion in classes, poor services to children with disabilities among others. This is despite the fact that the mayor’s spokesperson rated the progress in the schools using the increased rate of graduation as well as the admirable performance in their exams.
With regards to the New York Times polls, the quality of education in these schools deteriorated in 2010 when a person with little experience in education was made the overall chancellor in charge of the schools. However the teachers in these schools were rated higher in 2011 at 34% than in 2004 which was at 13%.
In view of the above story, sociology refers to the systematic study of social interaction and social organization. Sociological imagination refers to one’s ability to see beyond his/her daily life as the source for success or defeat. In other words sociology Imagination is a term used to denote an individual’s capacity to visualize his/her personal experience as well as individual challenges (micro level) as influenced by the structural organization of our society at present (macro level).
In general, micro sociology refers to the analysis of people‘s day to day behaviors while macro sociology refers to a society’s collective practices as in associations and institutions as well as their public patterns. It involves viewing the society as the root of our accomplishments and downfall. C. Mills 1959 states that, sociological imagination enables an individual to identify with the history involving the inner meaning of life as well as the profession of an individual.
According to him, many people are not aware of the connection that exists between their way of living and their history. These people do not appreciate what history has contributed to what they later become in life and in the society. When studying the society, logical and scientific examination should be applied. The study should also involve relative analysis of the past.
From the above definition of sociology and sociological definition, it is no doubt that the story given can be described as a social issue. This is because it is dealing with public schools which are social institutions and involve the cooperation of the administrators, teachers, pupils and parents.
It is in these institutions that the constant actions of the stakeholders mentioned above may lead to either failure or success of the learners and thus to the growth and development of the society at large in future. In addition, comparative analysis of the history of the school has been used to support the above story. This is seen where the teachers’ performance in government schools was rated at 34% in 2011 as compared to 13% in 2004.
Functionalism refers to the theory that states that, for a society to exist, division of social status is inevitable. According to this theory, the most motivated and daring people work hardest in life and pursue education to the highest level in an effort to climb the social ladder. The theory argues that, other people in the society are less motivated and less aggressive in life and end up meeting their basic needs by working manually.
This theory stipulates that, such inequality in social classes must exist in a society for it to develop. For a society to grow there must be employers and employees. According to the functionalists, a society is an organized structure with unique functions and dysfunctions of institutions, and distinguishes between visible functions and hidden functions. This approach regards all individuals as having something in common and based on their beliefs and ethics.
Conversely, the Conflict Theory stipulates that those people who are at the highest social class where they have influence and reputation are in a constant struggle to retain their status. While doing this, these people create feelings of dissatisfaction, doubt and resentment amongst themselves. In such cases, the common people are incapable of obtaining similar education as well as material goods with those who possess power.
This is because the few people who are up the social class ladder are always struggling to acquire and uphold more affluence, influence and status. In this kind of social division, those in the low- social class are not allowed to attain a similar position with those who are up the social ladder even though they may also be intelligent and aggressive.
In contrast, symbolic interactionism involves the minute subdivisions of people within a given society. Such subdivisions are symbols that represent wealth, speech communities and activities. The groupings are often viewed as the constituents of the overall culture within a society.
In the analysis of the above story using the principles of the conflict theory, it is clear that the administrators of the public schools in New York are in a constant struggle to own the schools even when some are incompetent. This makes it impossible for those who are in the lower class to possess similar positions of leadership with those in power.
Therefore even though some learned parents realize that the level of education in the public schools have gone down, they have no influence over the schools’ culture. Moreover, the children of the common man continue living in unfavorable conditions such as congestion in classes.
Looking at the above story using the eyes of a functionalist theorist, we can argue that a school is a social institution whereby learners who put more effort at school end up pursuing better careers, live better lifestyles and acquire more influence as compared to those who do not work hard.
More often than not, this group of people ends up doing manual work and living poor lifestyles. Here, the mayor can be said to have worked extra hard to acquire his leadership position as a chancellor.
In view of symbolic interactionism, we can say that the public schools that are being referred to in the story constitutes of learners who have something in common. This includes poor services and overcrowding. They constitute of children whose parents are at the lowest level in the social class ladder and therefore experience similar problems.
However, all these learners have equal chances to change their lifestyles. Those who will work hard despite their challenges will end up doing well in school and pursue better professions and thus raise their social status changing their associations to match their lifestyles.
In conclusion, among the three theories, the conflict theory offers a more convincing and applicable analysis on the main issue. This is because the administrators of the public schools in New York are in a constant struggle to own the public schools even when some are incompetent making it impossible for those who are in the lower class to obtain similar positions of leadership.