This course is an overview of how sociologists analyze schools and education.
Education is a critical variable accounting in important ways for adult socioeconomic status.
Schools also are profoundly social institutions, and so a sociological approach is essential for understanding teaching, learning, and school success. Unfortunately, most education departments in colleges present only a psychological understanding of schools, teaching, and learning. This course gives a critical perspective that challenges this psychological dominance in the field of education. Another focus of this class is how to think about schools in terms of social policy. We want to talk about what societal goals relate to schools, whether they can help achieve social change, and what kinds of school policies might promote change.