It is a general human tendency to discover certain principles by which to govern one’s actions in dealing with other people. Over the course of their lives, people infer those general principles, either consciously or unconsciously, based on the outcomes of particular actions that they take. It is undoubtedly the case that people are greatly influenced by their culture in establishing a set of governing values.
However, I believe that one has to be critical towards the conventional values of one’s culture and try to go beyond the cultural norms in search of deals that can have deeper foundations. Over the course of my life, I have concluded that it is beneficial to consider three central notions as a frame of reference in determining the morality of each particular action. In my opinion, those values are empathy, equality, and justice.
I have always seen the ability to take the other’s perspective or empathize with him or her as the foundation of moral behavior. If we were not able to see others as beings similar to ourselves, we would not have any reason to consider their interests on a par with our own. It would be perfectly natural to use the other as a means to our own ends if we were not able to think about his or her needs as well. Therefore, I always try to view every situation in which I am involved from the perspective of all the other participants in order to grasp the accurate picture of that situation. This maneuver assures that everyone’s needs are addressed to the extent that it is possible. It also ensures that no one is hurt emotionally or in any other way.
Related to the principle of empathy is the notion of equality, which is extremely important as an addition to the ability to empathize. As it has been said, people have an impulse towards empathizing with others; however, the mere ability to feel the other’s pain and consider his or her desires is not enough if every person’s wants, needs, and emotions are not treated equally. For instance, many people were moved by the pain of the slaves they held, and yet, they simply did not see the slaves’ pain as equal to their own. The principle of equality compels us to have each individual as similar to everyone else and avoid making any sort of discrimination based on race, religion, nation, or class.
Finally, the third principle that I always consider when judging the moral character of my actions or the actions of others is justice. Given the two principles I have outlined above, justice can sometimes be a concept that is often in conflict with empathy and equality. For instance, when helping to resolve personal disputes between two people, if one empathizes with both sides and holds the interests of both sides as equal, no resolution can be reached.
The impulse towards justice means that a person who consciously disregards the interests and needs of others automatically reduces the need for consideration of their own interests in the eyes of others. I would claim, however, that one cannot wholly disregard empathy in order to serve justice because doing so can easily result in vengefulness, which I view as irrational and dehumanizing.
There are many examples where adherence to the values outlined above helped me to make a moral decision. For instance, empathy for those who suffer, or are in a position not favored by society, incited me to join and volunteer at several humanitarian organizations. I spent an entire summer volunteering at the Red Cross, where we prepared food for the homeless and helped in organizing many charities. I think that everyone should be involved in humanitarian activities to the extent that they can because helping others is not just our choice but a moral obligation.
Nowadays, multiculturalism is one of the essentialities of the modern education due to the rise in the diversity in the classroom (Ford, 2014). In turn, this concept is highlighted in K-12 standards by referring to culturally responsive teaching, justice in decision-making and racial awareness and identity (Aceves & Orosco, 2014).
In spite of the gravity of multiculturalism in the American society, the teachers and students tend to misinterpret the concept of the intercultural environment by often regarding representatives of various ethnicities as “monocultural” (Ford, 2014, p. 60). This misconception drives the development of stereotypes and bullying and contributes to the fact that modern American education lacks consistency (Ford, 2014). These issues and the rising significance of multiculturalism are the primary reasons for conducting research in this sphere.
Consequently, in the context of this paper, evaluating Bank’s four approaches to integration of multiculturalism and the color-blindness tactic are vital. Alternatively, offering instructional strategies to minimize the occurrence of racism in the classroom and designing a program to make multiculturalism an essential part of the educational process are critical. In the end, modifying school-wide behavior, making it more culturally responsive, and proposing suitable techniques to achieve these goals cannot be underestimated, as they improve the level of multiculturalism in the educational institution.
Bank’s Four Approaches
In the first place, evaluating and analyzing Bank’s approaches to the incorporation of the multicultural content into the curriculum is critical. In this case, the researcher divided the tactics into contributive, additive, transformative, and social action approaches (Chun & Evans, 2016). In this case, a contributive approach is often referred to as the most common strategy to cultivate an increase in the level of multiculturalism in the classroom.
It is commonly associated with using holidays and historical figures to build an understanding of international relations in the world (Chun & Evans, 2016). In the context of the curriculum, organizing various events such as international food festival and devoting each week to different leaders such as Martin Luther King and Christopher Columbus will help determine a contribution of various ethnicities to the development of the United States of America.
In turn, the additive approach implies emphasizing the importance of diversity without redesigning the curriculum (Chun & Evans, 2016). In this case, the instructor uses the common historical facts and well-developed programs without spending additional time on changing the content (Chun & Evans, 2016). Referring to historical events, periods, and ethnicities such as indigenous people, Hispanics, and African Americans during the educational sessions will help form a general overview of the history of the country and the world. Organizing these classes every month is the most appropriate timeframe.
In turn, one cannot underrate the effectiveness of the transformative approach, as it allows for discovering historical events from dissimilar angles (Chun & Evans, 2016). In the context of the curriculum, the proposed above educational sessions about the fundamental historical events and figures can be modified by adding different perspectives. For example, while discussing the African-American Civil Rights movements, the instructor has to refer to the viewpoints of various continents like the Americas and Europe and races such as African Americans and Hispanics. Each class can be divided into segments to devote equal time to each discussion.
As for the social action theory, it implies that students discuss the issue and participate in finding a solution (Chun & Evans, 2016). In the first place, this strategy can be applied to the curriculum with the help of discussion forums. This concept will assist in cultivating an understanding of the gravity of the issue of sexism or racism in the classroom. After indicating a problem, the students will be encouraged to develop various solutions to minimize the level of racism in American society.
Color-Blindness, Racism, and Instructional Strategies
The concept of color-blindness suggests that the individuals have to be treated equally disregarding their visual racial attributes (Mazzocco, 2015). This approach does not categorize the modern society into ethnic groups and highlights the importance of individualism (Mazzocco, 2015). Nonetheless, despite the beneficial intentions of color-blindness, this approach cannot solely diminish the racism. On the contrary, some scholars refer to the fact that it contributes to its development.
For example, color-blindness does not help the students to adapt to the habits of representatives of different cultures during the social interactions (Apfelbaum, Norton, & Sommers, 2012). Simultaneously, it creates racial bias and bullying, as the students are not educated about the cultural features and differences (Apfelbaum et al., 2012). Instantaneously, color-blindness diminishes the significance of discrimination in modern society and disregards the rights of various ethnicities (Apfelbaum et al., 2012). A combination of these factors underlines that color-blindness is a primary source of racism due to misunderstandings and the lack of social background and flexibility.
To avoid racism and discrimination in the classroom, the teacher can utilize various external resources such as YouTube. Following this approach will help provide an objective opinion about races and cultural differences, and the teacher’s tone will be unbiased. Simultaneously, the instructor can develop a set of rules, which all students have to follow. Alternatively, students can participate in the development and propose their own solutions to enhance the atmosphere and learning environment in the class. Applying this tactic can assist in avoiding discrimination, as this framework has to be equally respected by all participants of the educational process.
Speaking of other instructional tactics, they have to comply with the K-12 principles of cultural responsiveness and engage different students into the discussions (Aceves & Orosco, 2014). In this case, emphasizing the significance of equality together with the students will assist in building a learner-friendly environment in the classroom.
At the same time, students’ participation in various discussions concerning race and culture will help them express their opinions and shape the understanding of the diversity and its gravity. It could be said that the tactics mentioned above will help minimize the gaps created by the color-blindness and racial bias. It will be one of the approaches to encourage students’ participation and underline the importance of diversity.
A Program for Integrating Multiculturalism
Based on the analysis conducted above, it is critical to design an educational program, which will support the integration of multiculturalism in the curriculum. In this case, the importance of multiculturalism can be delivered to the students by organizing various discussions, performances, and cultural evenings monthly or weekly. Applying the game-based learning is reasonable, as it is believed to have a positive impact on the academic excellence (Yien, Hung, Hwang, & Lin, 2014). Dressing up and playing the roles of the representatives of different cultures will help students to feel the diversity of the cultural world.
As for the literature classes, this subject can apply the general concepts of the program. Once a week a teacher can identify the culture-related fictional literature to be read during the class. The readings can be represented in the form of short stories or tales. After reading the materials, the students can discuss the actions of the main characters and compare them with the customs of their own cultures. Using this approach will assist in learning about the diversity and multicultural nature of the modern world. In turn, learning and being acquitted with the poems of different cultures could serve as a basis for the development of performances and cultural evenings once a week.
As for the history, this subject can apply similar concepts as literature due to the interdependence and similarities of these disciplines. Nonetheless, in this case, it will be critical to discuss the connection between the cultures and their contribution to the development of the world. Displaying dissimilar opinions with the help of the transformative approach will have a beneficial impact on the student’s understanding of multiculturalism. At the same time, using performances of famous historical events and games make the classes interesting and interactive.
In this case, the discussions can be organized once a week while other occasions can be held once a month. Furthermore, integrating history and literature can be viewed as a possibility. As for math, the teacher can design the tasks to be associated with the customs and traditions of different cultures. Simultaneously, conducting historical sessions about math once a week will help students become acquainted with diversity, and using technology will make lectures more interactive (to be organized twice a week).
Incorporating Positive Behavior in Schools: Techniques
Focusing on the educational sphere is critical, as it is one of the definers of the educational quality. Nonetheless, one cannot underestimate the gravity of the school-wide behavior on cultivating the responsive cultural environment within the educational unit. In the first place, one of the primary goals is to support multiculturalism in the educational institution.
In this case, this goal can be reached by encouraging students to participate in various events (School climate and discipline, 2016). Consequently, it could be said that organizing school-wide events such as international food and culture evening, dances, and cultural conferences will assist students and teachers in sharing their understating of multiculturalism.
Another aspect, which will have a positive impact on the development of multiculturalism is paying vehement attention to the emotional intelligence and learning environment (School climate and discipline, 2016). These factors can be delivered to the students with the assistance of supporting activities such as educational sessions and counseling.
In this instance, these activities will have a beneficial impact on students and teachers simultaneously. The students can clearly express their problems to the counselors and receive feedback. At the same time, critical attention will be paid to teachers’ emotional intelligence and their ability to deliver the ideas of multiculturalism to students. Based on the evaluation of the instructor’s intelligence, it will be evident if the additional training is a requirement.
Lastly, one cannot underestimate the involvement of parents’ in the educational process (School climate and discipline, 2016). They are critical definers of the academic excellence, and their support and awareness of the essentiality of diversity and multiculturalism have a positive impact on the school-wide practices. In this case, encouraging parents to participate in the specialized educational sessions will have a positive influence on the learning conditions at home and inside the institution. At the same time, the parents can take part in the cultural evenings and events and schedule meetings with the counselor to resolve the problems in case of their occurrence.
References
Aceves, T., & Orosco, M. (2014). Culturally responsive teaching.
Apfelbaum, E., Norton, M., & Sommers, S. (2012). Racial color-blindness: Emergence, practice, and implications. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(3), 205-209.
Chun, E., & Evans, A. (2016). Rethinking cultural competence in higher education: An ecological framework for student development. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Ford, D. (2014). Why education must be multicultural: Addressing a few misconceptions with counterarguments. Gifted Child Today, 37(1), 59-62.
Mazzocco, P. (2015). Talking productively about the race in colorblind era. Web.
School climate and discipline: Key elements of school-wide preventive and positive discipline policies. (2016).
Yien, J., Hung, C., Hwang, G., & Lin, Y. (2014). A game-based learning approach to improving students’ learning achievements in a nutrition course. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 10(2), 1-10.
Being at the forefront of the educational system, teachers, especially the great ones, have immediate access to the realities in the schools they work for. Jonathan Kozol is one such teacher who was aghast at the educational inequalities he has observed in schools with the direst conditions and schools with the best facilities and programs offered to more fortunate students. From the physical environment to the curriculum, Kozol (1991) has documented and given commentaries on the realities he knew existed but seemed to be unseen or unheard of, if not ignored, by people in authority to balance the inequalities.
Kozol (1991) lyrically presents ironies in the educational system of the land of the free as he laments the provision of sorry states:
“The crowding of children into insufficient, often squalid spaces seems an inexplicable anomaly in the United States. Images of spaciousness and majesty, of endless plains and soaring mountains, fill our folklore and our music and the anthems that our children sing. “This land is your land,” they are told; and, in one of the patriotic songs that children truly love because it summons up so well the goodness and the optimism of the nation at its best, they sing of “good” and “brotherhood” “from sea to shining sea.” It is a betrayal of the best things that we value when poor children are obliged to sing these songs in storerooms and coat closets” (Kozol:160).
Educational inequality is mostly felt by poor African American adolescent students due to the developmental task of “integrating their individual personal identity with their racial identity. This integration process is a necessary and inevitable developmental task of growing up Black in the midst of White mainstream culture (Ward, 1995, Cross et al., 1991)
Living with their predecessors’ legacy of being racially discriminated and historically exploited and abused by the White people may have left generational scars in their psyche, that even up to now, being Black in an urban setting remains to be an issue.
Many social scientists, politicians, and the media tend to paint a bleak picture for youth living in predominantly Black urban settings in this country (Barbarin, 1993). Poverty, academic failure, early death due to poor health care and violence, drug abuse and addiction, high unemployment rates, teenage pregnancy, gangs, and high crime rates are some of the conditions highlighted to describe the state of the urban underclass in which children must develop and attempt to survive (Dryfoos, 1990; Halpern, 1990; Masten, Best, & Garmezy, 1990; Werner, 1990).
Theoretical conceptualizations of factors that influence urban African American adolescents’ academic achievement have included deficiency models, which focus on factors that may preclude some of these youths from achieving academic success. Fordham & Ogbu (1986) have asserted that in order for these Black American adolescents to succeed academically, they should adopt more Eurocentric values regarding education. This “acting White” hypothesis has largely assumed a positive correlation between endorsing Eurocentric values and high scholastic achievement.
Challenges to this theory have come from a few empirical studies, in which the endorsement of mainstream socialization messages and Eurocentric values were negatively associated with school and general self-esteem (Constantine & Blackmon, 2002; Spencer et al., 2001). Constantine and Blackmon suggested that “acting White” could be detrimental to many urban African American students’ academic self-efficacy within predominantly Black school settings. For some urban African American adolescents who attempt to act “white”, such behaviours may result in bullying, ridicule, social isolation, reduced peer and social self-esteem, and feelings of community and cultural betrayal (Constantine et al., 1998; Steward et al., 1998; Wilson, Cooke, & Arrington, 1997), In fact, adopting Africentric cultural orientations or endorsing attitudes and behaviours that reflect ethnic or racial pride may better promote the academic and psychological well being of many urban African American students. Another factor responsible for the perceived difficulties of such adolescents with academic achievement may be Institutional racism. (Butler, 2003). This may be described as differential access to educational opportunities based on racial or ethnic group membership (Jones & Carter, 1996). As an example, some urban African American high school students may be prohibited from gaining access to quality education and school facilities because of contemporary structural factors (e.g., racism and low socioeconomic status) that perpetuate historical injustices (e.g., slavery) (Jones, 2000). Allen-Meares (1999) reported that the “conditioned failure model” could represent a form of institutional racism against urban African American students in that these students are often brainwashed into believing that they are inferior to their white peers.
Going back in history, the blacks, exploited in the segregation of the races, felt a mounting sense of devastation two generations after slavery’s end. The legality of the segregation of blacks and whites in Clarendon County affected millions of school-aged children in the segregated states. In 1947, a lawsuit was filed by parents of African American students in that rural county against the school district for the board’s refusal to provide buses to ferry black students to school, although it provided buses for white students (Lasner, 2002).
Upon further investigation by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), it was revealed that black children who could get to school endured dire circumstances, using second-hand books and a few supplies. They used broken furniture in cold rooms situated in dilapidated buildings. The ratio of teachers to students was far from ideal, and black teachers earned a much lower salary than white teachers. Such dreadful state of black schools moved NAACP’s chief counsel, Charles Hamilton Houston and his assistant Thurgood Marshall to represent the parents in their constitutional assault on segregated public education (Brown & Valk, 2004). Houston and Marshall documented the inequity between educational opportunities for blacks and whites. Houston’s card was the belief that a broken “separate but equal” policy would eventually dissolve discrimination. He searched for collaborators in his strategy and found a witness in high school student Barbara Johns of Farmville, Virginia. Johns led a student strike against Moton High School, which was scandalous in such a quiet town priding itself on the harmony of its race relations while still adhering to the Jim Crow’s segregated schools policy. Johns was moved by her indignation at the fact that more than 450 black students were crammed into a small eight-room schoolhouse made from tar paper-covered buildings while their white counterparts luxuriated is roomy and modern facilities. Johns’ campaign for her co-students to question the segregated educational system resulted in a yearlong strike that helped change the nation. Her suit, compiled with four similar cases from elsewhere in the country, became part of the 1954 Brown vs Board of Education.
The Supreme Court decision was in favour of the case known as Brown vs Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas, which is arguably the most significant ruling made by the United States Supreme Court in the twentieth century (Brown and Valk, 2004). The court claimed that racially segregated public schools were discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional.
Although the court ruling of desegregation “with all deliberate speed” was pronounced, it triggered massive white resistance across the South. It was an inconvenience to leave their comfort zones, which was well-expected behaviour from those who enjoyed higher positions in the hierarchy. Headstrong white residents established private “academies” still exclusive for white children. Black children, as well as adult African American supporters of civil rights, were attacked by white mobs (Brown & Valk, 2004). Eventually, desegregation eased its way to spread all over America.
Conversely, African American communities embraced the Brown ruling as a sign of the government’s support for the defeat of Jim Crow. It was viewed as a step toward fulfilling America’s liberal democratic creed.
Kozol (1991) agrees that the educational system has a role in such educational inequality still prevalent in many schools today. He believes that local wealth dictates school quality. The richer districts, those in which the property lots and houses are more highly valued, have more revenue derived from taxes to fund their public schools better. Quality schools get to dictate their student’s access to resources that greatly influence their school performance and attainment. In effect, benefits redound to the students, as their performance and attainment may well dictate the future financial rewards that will allow them access to homes in wealthier communities. Thus, the cycle of a rigid caste system is fostered.
John Dewey (1916) believes that quality education stems from how children are trained to think. This may not have anything to do with the caste system discussed above but more to do with how teachers approach teaching and learning. Dewey advocates learning must be experienced by the learner if it is to be effectively retained. He does not agree with teaching students via lectures about things children have no direct experience with and reliance on mere textbooks. He claims:
“An individual must actually try, in play or work, to do something with the material in carrying out his own impulsive activity and then note the interaction of his energy and that of the material employed. This is what happens when a child at first begins to build with blocks, and it is equally what happens when a scientific man in his laboratory begins to experiment with unfamiliar objects” (Dewey, 1916).
Therefore, Dewey advocates active learning to stimulate a student’s thinking on his own. Teachers cannot expect to be the main dispensers of knowledge to their students but should recognize and respect that children are capable of coming up with their own opinions, and conclusions and ideas.
“Ideas, as we have seen, whether they be humble guesses or dignified theories, are anticipations of possible solutions. They are anticipations of some continuity or connection of activity and a consequence that has not as yet shown itself. They are therefore tested by the operation of acting upon them. They are to guide and organize further observations, recollections, and experiments. They are intermediate in learning, not final. All educational reformers, as we have had occasion to remark, are given to attacking the passivity of traditional education” (Dewey, 1916)
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Allowing students to explore their own ideas gives them more power in the acquisition of learning. Using prior knowledge, they are encouraged to invent their own solutions and try out their own ideas and hypotheses with the able support of their teachers. This way, they can indulge in concrete experiences that focus on their interests. The process of searching for information, analysing data and reaching conclusions is considered more important than learning facts.
The educational philosophy and approach schools use may also foster educational inequality in terms of providing the appropriate curriculum and learning strategies for their students. Schools with a more traditional philosophy of feeding students information in the belief that they are “blank slates” to write on have vested power and authority on the teacher as the central figure in the learning process. Students are expected to comply with their teachers’ requirements and learn in the way their teachers expect them to and not given enough opportunity to set their own directions and pace in learning. More progressive schools, also known as constructivist schools, have given teachers more challenging roles as mentors and facilitators of learning.
“Teachers following a “developing” method sometimes tell children to think things out for themselves as if they could spin them out of their own heads. The material of thinking is not thoughts but actions, facts, events, and the relations of things. In other words, to think effectively, one must have had, or now have, experiences which will furnish him resources for coping with the difficulty at hand” (Dewey, 1916).
“Supplying students with answers is not the goal in a constructivist program; in fact, unanswered questions are important in terms of continued interest and continued learning.” (Brewer, 2001, p.59). Teachers are life-long learners themselves and should accept the challenge of furthering their knowledge if not a step ahead of their students, then at least, in step with them.
Educational Inequality may eventually diminish if effective and efficient teachers are allowed to teach in the way they should. Such teachers are able to discern which learning strategy would be most appropriate on a case-to-case basis. Embedded in these teachers are hidden agendas for making students reach their optimum learning potentials and, in effect, the development of healthy self-esteem. They are aware that they are just instruments in assisting the students to gain knowledge and not the source of knowledge themselves.
The bigger concern is the school’s conviction to pursue educational equality for all students regardless of race, socio-economic status, ability, faith, etc. The passion for providing quality education for all must be ignited and continue to burn forevermore.
If this is achieved, then imagine what a better world this would be for our children.
Works Cited
Allen-Meares, P. African American males: Their status, educational plight, and the possibilities for their future. In L. E. Davis (Ed.). Working with African American males: A guide to practice (pp. 117-128). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage,1999.
Barbarin, O. A., “Coping and resilience: Exploring the inner lives of African American children”. Journal of Black Psychology, 19, 478-492. 1993.
Brewer, J.A. Introduction to Early Childhood Education. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001.
Brown, L. & Valk, A. “Behind the Veil: Behind Brown”, OAH Magazine of History, 2004.
Butler, S. K., “Helping urban African American high school students to excel academically: the roles of school counselors”, High School Journal, Vol. 87, Issue 1, 2003.
Constantine, M. G., Erickson, C. D., Banks, R. W., & Timherlake, T. L., “Challenges to the career development of urban racial and ethnic minority youth: Implications for vocational intervention”. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 26, 83-95, 1998.
Constantine, M. G., & Blackmon, S. M., “Black adolescents’ racial socialization experiences: Their relations to home, school, and peer self-esteem”, Journal of Black Studies, 32, 322-335, 2002.
Dewey, J. Chapter 12: Thinking in Education, from Democracy & Education. The Macmillan Company, 1916.
Dryfoos, J. G, Adolescents at risk: Prevalence and prevention. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Fordham, S., & Ogbu, J. U. ,”Black students’ school success: Coping with the “burden of acting White.” Urban Review, 18, 176-206, 1986.
Halpern, R., “Poverty and early childhood parenting: Toward a framework for intervention”, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 60, 6-18, 1990.
Jones, J. M., & Carter, R. T, Racism and White racial identity: Merging realities. In B. P. Bowser & R. G. Hunt, Impacts of racism on White Americans (2nd ed., pp. 1-23). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1996.
Kozol, J., Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools. New York: Crown, 1991
Lasner, L.F, “Fighting Jim Crow”, Humanities, Vol. 23: 5, 2002.
Masten, A. S., Best, K. M., & Garmezy, N., “Resilience and development: Contributions from the study of children who overcame adversity”, Development and Psychopathology, 2, 425-444, 1990.
Spencer, M. B., Noll, E., Stoltzfus, J., & Harpalani, V., “Identity and school adjustment: Revisiting the “Acting White” assumption”, Educational Psychologist, 36, 21-30, 2001.
Steward, R. J., Han Ik J., Murray, D., Fitzgerald, W., Neil, D., Fear, F., Hill, M., “Psychological adjustment and coping styles of urban African American high school students” Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development, Vol. 26, Issue 2, 1998.
Ward, A. J., “Life stress and the development of violence in adolescent males”, Presentation at the 103rd American Psychological Association Annual Convention at New York City, 1995.
Werner, E. E. Protective factors and individual resilience. In S. J. Meisels & J. P. Shonkoff (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood education (pp. 225-256). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Wilson, M. N., Cooke, D. Y., & Arrington, E. G. “African-American adolescents and academic achievement: Family and peer influences”. In R. W. Taylor & M. C. Wang (Eds.), Social and emotional adjustment and family relations in ethnic minority families (pp. 145-155). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1997.
The objective of educational opportunity is to understand the relationship between education and society. This assignment discussed topics such as the comparison of two schools discrimination, education as an institution and its relations to other social institutions, the role of the school in social inequality. The Class activities will vary from school to school.
The main theme of this discussion is to analyze the educational systems that arising out from social inequality. It has been discussed the ways that education differentially allocates resources based on race, class, and gender. The social class discrimination attitude aggravates the existing educational inequalities by race and class.
This paper goes to discover the difference in school practices go ahead to variation in individual level learner’s outcomes. These distinct levels of analysis have organized separate focal point on an assortment of feature of the implementation of education in society. It has been paying attention on economic facet of education. This analysis depicts educational resource allocation among different ethnic group. The social process primarily needs to identify educational purpose, commitments and criteria of achievement (Wong, K. K. and Nicotera, A. C. 2004, pp.12-25)
Descriptions of the schools
Carroll County Public Schools
Carroll County Public Schools was founded in a formal partnership with the Baltimore Area Council Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of Central Maryland. Under the partnership agreement, the scouting organizations will provide several programs professionally developed for school-age students. The program will sustain schools and community pedestal organizations engaged in their efforts to make ready the youth to effectively handle the complexity of contemporary society.
Carroll High Schools (Public) has been selected to receive an award for the continuing efforts of the Character Education Discipline Committee from the Character Education Partnership (CEP).
The Character Education Partnership provides these annual awards for outstanding exemplary practices that encourage the ethical, social, and academic growth of students through character education. The CEP expects to recognize educators for their endeavor to learn for successful initiatives.
Carroll High Schools is being recognized for the ongoing endeavor of the Character Education. This committee is comprised of intelligentsia and administrators from elementary, middle, and high schools across the county. The committee hold dialogue several times throughout the year to review data, share best practices, and character education mechanism..
The objective of the committee is to promote the integration of character education and effective discipline practices into curriculum in order to yield a positive impact on student performance. The objective of Carroll High School (public) is to promote student excellence with a view to achieve their higher education goals
The.representatives from PNC Bank, the Carroll County Public Schools Education Foundation, as well as a number of donors play vital role in bringing dynamism in the administrative hierarchy of Carroll public High School. School Readiness Camps are being made possible by a donation of $20,000 by PNC Bank and an additional $5,000 donation by the Carroll County Public Schools Education Foundation.
The Carroll County Public Schools Education Foundation presented its second year of awards on Friday, May 9, 2008.. The good news is that their programs have been approved for funding. The Humane Society of Carroll County recently purchased and donated books to the Carroll County Public School libraries.
Carroll County Public Schools award degree on technology education programs in business, agro science, marketing, allied health, trade, industrial and technical education, family and consumer sciences. Carroll County public School students receive specialized career training and education, as well as earning credits toward high school graduation.. A special support service team is available to work with those disadvantaged and handicapped students who need additional assistance in order to be successful in their career
Bishop Dwenger High School
This is a coed Roman Catholic high school in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The school was founded in 1963. Bishop Dwenger had established this school on the life, woks and teachings of Jesus Christ. The school has too many success track records. The United States Department of Education acknowledged it with Excellence by means of the Blue Ribbon School Award for the During the year 2007-2008 school years. Recently the Bishop Dwenger High School holds an conscription of 1,062 students.
Bishop Dwenger is a large high school with just about 1,100 students as a concealed Diocese Catholic Institute. It heavily serves the students of all capability types as well as academic levels all around Fort Wayne. The schools enrollment has risen gradually over the very last 10 years as it was established in 1963. It really provides a family atmosphere stuck between teachers and learners that are exceptionally supportive both in personal and academic affiliations.
Bishop Dwenger Highs School having broken down to adjoin a 26,000 square foots of arts toting up to with the existing building. The fine arts division of the school would address at least three visual arts classrooms. At the same time separate verbal and influential music areas also accommodated here.
The band room would provide somewhere to stay up to 120 students and the choir room possesses facilities for 90 students.. Dwenger has already been produced almost $ 4 million including gifts and pledge aimed $7.75 million target.. The school is optimists that it will be able to begin construction of this 43,000 square foot academic purpose.
Bishop Dwenger High School recently announced approval of plans to carry forward with $7.75 million expansion of the school facilities in order to meet the growing demands for Catholic secondary education in northern Allen County. Dwenger has seen its enrollment increase from just over 700 students to a present enrollment of 1,055. Two years ago, the Bishop Dwenger School Board began work on a strategic plan designed to carry the school through the next several years.
Bishop Dwenger Principal J. Fred Tone said that the steady increase in enrollment along with an increased demand for fine arts courses makes this expansion the next logical step in Dwenger’s future.. Nearly 43 percent of Dwenger students are currently enrolled in either a visual or performing arts class.
Some 65 percent of Dwenger graduates are expected to earn the Indiana Academic Honors Diploma. The initial phase of the expansion project includes a 37,000-square-foot fine arts addition to the west of the existing music room. The existing music room will be converted into three art classrooms and will also provide space for photography and graphic arts. The construction costs for the fine arts wing are expected to run $4.7 million and include all site development and infrastructure costs.
There is a plan for 20,000-square-foot classroom addition that will house 13 new classrooms and a new faculty workroom.. Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne has been recognized According to U.S. Secretary of Education, Rod Paige added that no Child would leave at the back Blue Ribbon Schools program that would be familiar with the schools to make momentous progress where students accomplish at extremely high levels.
The following is a summary of equal opportunity of educational pedestal on the evaluation of the two schools.
Public Funds
The Public schools are the institutes that are leads by the state and federal governmental funding. In America, ninety percent of the kids of today grace with your presence public school. There are also provisions of numerous public schools that endow with education to American learners from their private corresponding.
The Carroll Public schools utilize governmental like local, state, and federal funds and infrequently they utilize funds from corporate bodies. The Bishop Dwengere High school almost fully depends on tuition fees of the learners and a partial funds rising from non-public resource like charitable donations, grants, endowments and religious organizations.
School Size
The Carroll Public schools is really a big sized institute. According to the US Department of Education’s data it is at least double the size of any private schools. The School dimension is associated to the populace of students’ density of that local area. Mostly the average students numbering the private school were 193 in 1999-2000.
At the same time the normal average students’ number in public school was 535 in that identical area. The negligible number of high schools possibly will not be gifted to offer sophisticated courses for the reason that they have too few learners for scarcity of competent teachers. The Larger schools are repeatedly positioned to support particular groups surrounded by their student populace
Academic Programs
The public schools are designed in a general program for all. These typically included English reading, writing, history, science, math and physical education. In accumulation, a lot of public schools put forward programs in music as well as art. Carroll County Public Schools award degree on technology education programs in business, agro science, marketing, allied health, trade, industrial and technical education, family and consumer sciences.
Nearly 43 percent of Dwenger students are currently enrolled in either a visual or performing arts class. Some 65 percent of Dwenger graduates are expected to earn the Indiana Academic Honors Diploma.
Sites
The Bishop Dwenger is a big sized high school in the midst of nearly 1,100 students. The school is optimists that it would be able to start on construction of the 43,000 square foot schooling purpose. Carroll County Public Schools was founded in a formal partnership with the Baltimore Area Council Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of Central Maryland.
Financial Allocation
School Readiness Camps are being made possible by a donation of $20,000 by PNC Bank and an additional $5,000 donation by the Carroll County Public Schools Education Foundation. PNC has a long history of enriching the student’s lives of Carroll Public School. Bishop Dwenger High School recently announced approval of plans to carry forward with $7.75 million expansion of the school facilities in order to meet the growing demands
Class Discrimination
Carroll Public School provides these annual awards for student’s outstanding performance irrespective of ethical, social, and racial class. There is no discrimination for alien and ethnic students in the Carroll Public School. The Bishop Dwenger High School is a coeducation provider Roman Catholic secondary institute at Fort Wayne in Indiana.
The school was bringing into being in 1963. Seventy seven percent of all private school learners were white in context of 63 percent among the public institute scholars provided as in 1999-2000. The Public disciplines were additionally expected than private schools to having any minority learners in 1999-2000 that had demonstrated more than 30 percent. There is numerous evidence of private schools that had a racially varied learner and amounted at 14 percent do not have any minority students.
Teacher’s Impact and Perception
In evolution it is found that the private school teachers are further more expected than public school teachers. It is also reported that the private school teachers having a lot of control on school policymaking. Bishop Dwenger High School’s said that they have a lot of power to establishing curriculum for students. On the other hand Carroll High School Teacher’s said that they have enough influence¸ power and control on setting the student performance standards (63 vs. 38%) and on student discipline policy (48 vs. 30%).
Quality of teachers
The teachers in Carroll public schools have received training that is offered by the state. In order to become a teacher, it is mandatory to hold college degrees by the state. It is necessary to say that Carroll Public schools cannot terminate the terms and conditions of their teachers suddenly. Teachers are granted tenure by state law, after completing a probationary period. Teachers of Bishop Dwenger High school may not be required to hold college certification, and often have specific subject area expertise. Bishop Dwenger schools can terminate the terms and conditions of their teachers abruptly.
Academic Expenses
The public schools are offered free of charge whereas the private schools charge tuition fees. The US Constitutions strongly prohibit the public schools from charging for residents to any form of tuition fees, including other fees for materials, textbooks or transportation. Bishop Dwenger High School does not receive tax revenues, however they are accepting funded through extra tuition fees, donations and private grants. As a result, private schools cost more higher than the public schools.
NAACP & Action in Education
There have been racial disparities in the annual number of minority students suspended from school. NAACP for action includes a requirement for the resources equity aimed to minority students. The undesirable collision of these inequities is a sign of racial disparities. This scenario has evidenced not only in academic arena but also in future job and poverty.
Present gross disparities in learning excellence have illustrated the necessities for local, state, and federal educational agencies to collaborate with community mediators. The partners would be obliged to develop strategies to get rid of racial disparities and get better quality of education in the district level as well as state and countrywide. (NAACP Education Department, 2002, pp. 7)
As “Figure 1” depicts an obvious and reliable racial disparities within Annual number of minority learners suspended from institutional education.
The proliferation of “zero tolerance” is having an overwhelmingly negative contact on different races. Recent surveys forecasts that virtually 100% of public schools have taken up various shape of a zero tolerance course of action. In some zones, the number of throwing out has twice over since the endorsement of zero tolerance policies.
In 1974 to 1998.87 the postponements have greater than before annually from 1.7 million to 3.2 million. Nationwide the rates for black students have accounted in support of 17% of the students which is 33% of the suspensions. This velocity of suspensions has amplified noticeably. These enhancements in suspension risk velocities for minority learners have displaced the enhancements in risk rates on behalf of white students. The research findings of 28 states have suspended at least 12 percent of their black students in 1998. (Bowles, S. and Gintis, H. 1976, pp.155)
As Figure 2 portray, there is a racial disparities in the midst of the annual number of minority learners that drop out from school education and indicates 37 states suspended other than 9% of black learners.
Coleman’s finding in Education Disparities
Coleman’s findings demonstrated that the Equality of Educational Opportunity has imbued decades of research on the public school effects, on the impact of socioeconomic status on ethnic and racial disparities in academic domain. It has been discussed that the implications and recommendations of his report and subsequent studies by Coleman for the debate over school preference.
We analyzed the comments about the implications of the Equality of Educational Opportunity and school effects research for the forecast of equal education opportunity in United Stated. Figure 1 showed the Social Sciences Citation Index (1966-81), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (1982-2005). In the late 1990s, citation counts rose again and have averaged over 56 citations per year since 2000. The contemporary scholars continue to reference Equality of Educational Opportunity as they pursue new work on schools for academic achievement1.
Equality of Educational Opportunity
The mentioned contribution of EEO is almost certainly debates and motivates about the comparative effects of school possessions and finally backdrop on achievement. However, this statement provided pioneering research in more than a few other areas including salience of school segmentation and dimension of white minority gaps in student achievement among the schools.
In this section, we discuss Coleman’s findings and recommendation in each of these three areas and evaluate the extent to which they try to remain transparent. Coleman identified that schools in the late 1950s to 1960s were highly segregated among all racial and ethnic groups. The students attending schools were 90-100% White.
The blacks were the most segregated with 70% of black among minority group. 1st-grade students who attending schools, were mostly Black. The EEO reported said that American public education still largely unequal in most state of the country though they government provide equal fundamental rights. (Coleman, J. S. 1966, pp. 11-27)
Conclusion
Education is the means in order to equalize opportunities among citizens intended for economic success. It’s obviously stated that opportunity equalization is implemented by the provision of equal the educational opportunity and resources to all communities. Educational finance has been allocated in the country that would equalize these opportunities for a measure of economic interests. During the last thirty years, public school systems have fundamentally increased spending per pupil in real terms.
The magnitude of educational reform equalizes opportunities across students from different backgrounds. The goal of paper is to provide the extent to which increasing spending per pupil contributes with the intention of creating equality of opportunity. The objective is to calculate the reallocation of educational spending required to equalize educational opportunities between the students for future earning capacity.
Bibliography:
Alexander, K. & Entwisle, D. (1996), Early Schooling and Inequality: Socioeconomic Disparities in Children’s Learning, In Falmer sociology series, ed. Coleman, J. S. London: Falmer Press, pp. 60-92.
Arum, R. & Beattie, I (1999), Structure of Schooling, Arum, 1st ed., McGraw-Hill, NY, ISBN 13: 9780767410700, pp. 78-91.
Arum, R. & Beattie, I (2000), The Structure of Schooling … Education, 3rd ed., Mountain View, Calif.: Mayfield Pub. Co., ISBN: 9780767410700, OCLC: 41211379, pp. 56-86.
Bowles, S. and Gintis, H. (1976), Schooling in Capitalist … Economic Life, New York: Basic Books, Inc., pp.132-178.
Carroll County Public Schools (2006), Bishop Dwenger High School. Web.
Coleman, J. S. (1966), Equality of Educational Opportunity…., Vol. 3, ICPSR06389, Office of National Center for Education Statistics, pp. 11-27.
Gebhart v Belton (Del. 1952), Southerland, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Delaware. Web.
Gamoran, A. Long, D. A. (2006), Equality of Educational Opportunity…, Working Paper No. 2006(9), WCER, University of Wisconsin-Madison, pp.43-59.
Heckman, J. & Neal, D. (1996), Coleman’s Contribution to Education: Theory and Research Styles and Empirical Research, Clark, J. & Coleman, J. S. (Ed.), Philadelphia: Falmer, pp. 93-105.
NAACP Education Department (2002), NAACP — Action in Education. Web.
Orefield, G. (2000), The Growth of Segregation: African Americans, Latinos, & Unequal Education, Arum, R. and Beattie, I. (Eds.), pp.111-128.
This is an analysis of impacts of the expansion of higher education on income inequality in China.
Introduction
Education is often an imperative predictor of a person’s future income (Lee 2006, 1). Basing on the Horace Mann tradition, Lee adds that education paces the society towards achieving a stable equality (1). Qian and Smyth note that the unraveling of the connection between education and income has attracted scholarly attention (3).
The need for the scholarly attention cannot be underestimated since an access to education is one of the basic human rights for everyone. From economic and social perspectives, quality education is one which facilitates an individual’s capability to increase income as well as general well-being.
In other words, education should cushion against widening income gap across the society. Qian and Smyth (2005) explain the empirical finding that irregular access to education across a populace impacts negatively income distribution and economic growth (2). Globally, China is the most populous nation. A World Bank assessment revealed that China contributes the largest portion of poverty to the world, especially those people living in the rural areas (Borooah et al. 2005, 2).
The pursuit to gain equality through education throughout the last century has had a fast diffusion of public education. In the contemporary society, education continues to be an undisputed tool for social mobility and expansion (Lee 2006 3; Wu 2007 3).
Nevertheless, the impact of education as a social bottom line can be likened to a double edged sword meaning that a scholar from a disadvantaged background can have a turnaround in regards to his/her future income. On the other hand, the turnaround depends on the investment made towards the attainment.
Arguably, this could be the underlying reason why the Chinese Government decided to adopt the Law on Nine-Year Compulsory Education in 1986 to make it possible for all children at school to have nine years of schooling (Lee 2006, 2). According to World Bank (2009) , the Education Gini coefficient based on gender and ethnicity, inequality pattern in China’s education had a positive trend from 0.57 in 1978 to 0.26 in 2004 (2).
Qian and Smyth (2005) state that in China the literacy levels among the adults rose from 60 percent within a period of 40 years to 85.5 percent in 2001 (3). In 1999, the student enrollment in primary schooling of 135 million and a teacher capacity staffing of 582 000 made China boast the largest primary school program.
China has diversified the secondary schooling to offer more than just general secondary education. Others include skilled labor, specialized, adult as well as vocational schooling (Qian and Smyth 2005, 3). At the tertiary level, the number of undergraduate enrollments and individual institutions in the year 2000 increased to 5.56 million and 1 770, respectively (Qian and Smyth 2005, 3).
By the turn of the millennia, China was experiencing an unprecedented and accelerated economic growth. However, this was paralleled by alarming disparities in income. Since the Mao era up to the early 1990s, income inequalities were on the decline, however, the 1990s decade experienced a reverse trend (Fleisher et al. 2008, 2).
Wu and Perloff pinpoint that economic growth in China grew by five times while the per capita income rose by four times, but disproportionately in the favor of the affluent and those in the urban areas (2004). Difficulties in demonstrating the income inequality have been aggravated by lack of consistent and reliable income dispersion data over time. The government has made limited attempts to provide Gini index.
In China, income inequality is fuelled by geographical factors, disparities in the access to education, the recurrent informal sector as well as barriers to employment and career progression for particular groups, especially rural migrants. Wu and Perloff (2004) argue that the income inequality is higher within the rural populace as well as between the rural and urban workers (4). Nevertheless, rural-urban migration has had a marginal impact on the status quo.
Wu and Perloff (2004) further explain that urban biased policies and institutions contribute markedly to such a situation and to the increase in urban-rural inequality (5). For instance, migrants to urban areas in search for income are discouraged from gaining urban residence status due to the strict residence registration system.
This discriminates them from welfare benefits as well as better pay commonly enjoyed by the urban residents. Wu and Perloff (2004) made an attempt to explain the scenario and generated inferences by the use of the Kuznets Curves and hypothesis (4). The scenario of growing inequality amid the migration restrictions becomes complicated with shifts in population trends.
Income inequality problems in China are related to imperfect labor market. The labor market experience the oversupply of partially educated graduates who crowd the large eastern cities like Beijing. Ning (2010) observes that the expansion of higher education has dismally contributed to the harmonization of regional income distribution (10).
China’s cities are yet to coalesce into a single common job market base that will fairly address the differences in regards to education. This explains why graduates across the country tend to work in the eastern cities even if those are not their hometowns.
Inconsistencies within the education sector are traced back to a failed rationale in the examination system as well as weaknesses in the quality screening. Quality differences within same study courses result in skill imbalances in the labor market. In order to better chances as a highly skilled individual, there is a need to invest more in education. Costs associated with skill screening discourage firms from investing.
Government Spending on Education
Compared to nations of relatively the same level of per capita income and economic robustness, China has historically scored dismally with regard to investment in human capital development particularly at post secondary level. In 2004, the national budgetary spending on education was 2.79 percent of the GDP, which had always remained below 3 percent since 1992.
This is lower relative to the average of 5.1 percent achieved by other countries in the developed world (Fleisher et al. 2008 2). There was a rise in the proportion of college graduates within the population in 1992 (at 1.7 percent) compared to 1982 (0.4 percent); nevertheless, this was marginal.
As from 1999, sharp rise in government spending on education resulted in a remarked steep increase in enrollment from 7.4 percent to 21.3 percent in 1997/98 and 1998/99, respectively. However, this did not translate to a sharp increase in the proportion of college graduate vis-a-vis the population, which was as low as 5.2 percent in 2003 (Fleisher et al. 2008 3).
Investing in Higher Education in China
Towards the start of the 1990s some universities in China passed some institutional policies that required students to pay a portion of tuition levy. This trend was popular until 1997 when fees were institutionalized as part of the higher education package that students had to meet.
Thereafter, higher education in China has had to be paid for by the student (Dong and Wan 2012, 2). Students have to pay for tuition even if it’s a subsidized charge. Over the time, the government made deliberate efforts to improve policies that support the paying of tuition levies. This has seen an annual rise in fees. Within the 1990s the annual per-student recurrent expenditure in public institutions of higher education rose by two-thirds to RMB 10 230 million (Levin and Xu 2005, 38).
The rise in expenditure was due to the tuition and research. Analysts forecast that making the costs of higher education lower will result in market efficacy and improved student learning. Dong and Wan (2012) observe that such measures may raise the inequality levels, however (2).
The development witnessed in higher education financing was motivated by the government’s desire to expand the sphere of education as well as domesticate the cost-sharing theory into education system (Dong and Wan 2012, 3). If the government insists on not interfering in the sphere of education as part of the expansion, then education will cease to be public; it will only be accessed by those from the upper class. This will not only result in educational inequality but also income inequality.
Decomposing the Impacts of Expansion of Higher Education on Income Inequality in China
Population Effect
The higher education expansion program was intended to enhance internal efficiency (Levin and Xu 2005, 52). Although China is expanding its education across the country, the ability to optimize the opportunity widely varies in different financial limits and regional areas.
Actually, the trend is exacerbated by a possible vicious cycle that exists between income inequality and education inequality (Ning 2010, 5). Trends in the access to higher education since the expansion of education reforms in 1989 signal a rise in inequality. The regional differences between the east and west better explain this. In the year 2007, college graduates in Qinghai province located in the Country’s west were 15 483, which is relatively lower than 242 617 in Beijing in the east (Ning 2010, 5).
Based on these figures, more employment opportunities will be allocated to those in the east than the west. Considering that labor migrations are in favor of flowing to the east than to the west, the west remains economically stagnated due to lower level of education attained by people, thus offering lower remunerated jobs.
Actually, this is highly evident and likely when subjected to the Kuznets Curve and hypothesis, where the peculiarities of various inequalities are better explained. Ning (2010) cites that China’s public education has hardly become efficient to foster economic growth as well as bridge wage gap (6).
Labor Choice Effect
Students from disadvantaged background particularly those discriminated through social stratification hardly benefit from expansion of higher education. Ning (2010) highlights that the poor were not beneficiaries of educational expansion even with the market approach rolled out in the 1990s (6).
This justifies the fact that the education choice is not an obvious cause. It is a necessity that students from poor background have to go to school in order to reverse their fate, but this is derailed by economic hurdles that deny any opportunity to maximize on that potential. Eventually, education inequality through social stratification further widens the economic and income inequalities.
Even though graduates from poor background have attained higher education, they may not succeed in getting jobs that are well remunerated because of the reduced social capital network. In order to avert this hurdle, these students opt for a higher degree of education to imply their professional competence.
In other words, they resort to over-education. Over-educated people are likely to originate from humble backgrounds, thus switching labor markets.
In fact, over educated students tend to migrate to affluent regions of China which suppresses in turn the growth of local human resource capital in such areas. Lee (2006) applies the classical human capital theory to explain the net impact of high education levels, the migration trends and the ultimate outcome (16).
Majors at universities, such as finance, for example, enroll more students not because of the ability to provide the students with innovative ideas, high rates, etc., but due to perceived skewed income distribution across the labor market. Based on this, there is no motivational fee for skilled workers within the technical or any other training, thus the standards of education in this type of higher education are average, if not substandard. In addition, the labor market experiences a shortfall of technical experts.
Besides, the job market is flooded with graduates in humanity studies and social sciences. In other words, the number of students that enter such departments to meet the demand of labour workers in corresponding fields leads to an across-the-board income differences. Levin and Xu (2005) note that at the turn of the millennia the national market supply for graduates with a degree in Philosophy was the highest (50).
Others that followed respectively were law, history, science, engineering and medicine. Employment opportunities for students of agriculture, education, economics and literature were hard to come by. In 2001, unemployment rates stood at 3.6 percent up from 2.3 percent in 1992 (Levin and Xu 2005, 50).
Although the literacy and higher education training requirements have been met for some labor segments even beyond market demand, this has come at an expense of not only other professions, but of the market as a whole. Ning (2010) implies that this state of affairs results in semi-skilled graduates being supplied to the market, who at the end may not be able to upgrade the technology (6). In other words, the skill competitiveness has been compromised.
In such a scenario, the productivity of the labor market becomes questionable and meeting the revenue generation target is impossible. This leads to inequality whereby those in the monopolized industries are better remunerated due to high monopoly rents.
Inasmuch as such industries do not obviously require highly trained or qualified employees, employers tend to set high academic requirements for recruits. In the end, the talent may not be rewarded since the employer focuses on the academic qualification as the yardstick, which may lock out those not privileged with better schooling opportunities especially from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Price (Return Rate) Effect
Ning (2010) explains the relationship between income inequalities and the level of higher education is attained via the convex return context (7). In such a context, the educational attainment is directly proportional to the return outcome. Previous empirical studies in Mexico show that changes in inequalities are driven by adjustment in earning across educational groups.
In the 1980s, the increase in inequality was as a result of convex return context. During this decade, income inequalities favored those with relatively higher education attainment across the population. With the expansion of higher education, China is experiencing an almost similar scenario.
This is exemplified in the return rates for schooling independently as well as along the different educational groups. Those with higher education attainment are being favored.
This skews the income distribution more when the higher education attainment is not readily translated into productivity resulting to possible exploitation of people with lower education levels. At the end, the return rates become pegged to academic rewards other than skills and productivity. Lower education attainment is rewarded through the absolute income increase.
It is likely that if poor students fail to achieve an adequate return on investment on schooling, then the income gaps will continue to increase. Often in developing countries, the occupation level will be dictated by education.
In a relational society where social network is necessary to penetrate government jobs, there is no guarantee that poor students with high education level will make it into the government sector. Ning (2010) states that the education level of parents influences the wage earnings of the children on the basis of human capital accumulation as well as possibilities to find a job (8).
Differences of one’s abilities, luck as well as adjustments during schooling may influence how individuals with the same education attainment experience income inequality. Increase in income pegged on education level favors candidates with unobservable characteristics that rank them well above within the conditional wage distribution, Ceteris paribus.
Ning (2010) cites that this revolves around the non-cognitive skill (9). This has close ties with the observation that students from disadvantaged background attain education, but their job prospects are not immediately promising.
Income inequality occurs when overeducated people have to contend with incommensurate wage. Ning (2010) observes that in the recent years graduates have not been unable to get jobs in China (9). Graduates had to switch to jobs below their educational background. To a greater extent, these inflicted their return on education. This disapproves that over-education is an end to the persisting income inequality.
Expansion of higher education makes income distribution susceptible to inequality outcomes when the quality of education translates to compromised returns to education. When college enrollment is not proportionate to schooling resources (education resource per capita), it is predictable that quality of education will decline. Ning (2010) observes that skill quality in the decade before education expansion scored better than thereafter (10).
The employer suffers expertise deficits translating to income losses due to unqualified graduates. Levin and Xu (2005) suggest some improvements that ought to accompany the expansion of higher education to sustain quality (37). There should be a national effort to devote and diversify resources and funding for higher education.
There is a need to put in place progressive regulations for higher education against which institutions can be evaluated as well as be held accountable. It should be demonstrated that quality of learning in higher education is dignified even with expansion in quantity. Levin and Xu (2005) observe that there is a perception that a fully fledged university in China offers almost every professional specialties (54). In other countries of equal magnitude to China like the USA, this is not usually so.
Levin and Xu (2005) regard Yale and Princeton as top universities that currently don’t offer some appealing majors, yet their reputation remains stable and intact attracting and training qualified graduates (54).
With reference to China, Ning (2010) analyzed the impact of education on the employees’ future income. It was revealed that when wage was a dependent variable, the rate of return to education was 7.9 percent (14). When the annual earning was the dependent variable, the return rate was higher at 11.3 percent (Ning 2010, 14).
Lastly, according to Lee (2006), implications of earning inequalities related to return rate effect as well as labor choice effect loom wider than population (23).
Conclusion
Initially, scholars argued that expansion of education would increase attendance rates of schooling in due course; consequently, this would result in a decline in disparities in educational opportunities since the attendance rates of children from disadvantaged backgrounds will grow considerably in regards to the upper class. However, this early belief has been disputed a lot by the modern day scholars. The planned expansion of education has been considered as a switch from the elitist to mass education.
It is evident that the level and distribution of education are key subsets of income distribution. Gregorio and Lee (2002) conclude that a rise in the average level of education among the population in China has a balancing effect on earning distribution (406). This has a Kuznets-inverted U relationship especially when the government economizes on the social expenditure.
Ning (2010) also states that the inverted U relationship between income and expansion of education in China has been demonstrated using macro-data (4). Lee (2006) explains that the Kuznets Curve scenario where the level of higher education rises with an expanding economy resulting in rise in education inequalities that stabilize in reaching the threshold (14).
Gregorio and Lee (2002) during their cross-country analysis of the relationship between education and income inequality note that policymakers perceive education spending as a powerful tool for addressing the income inequality, however, it is not that obvious (395).
Nevertheless, there remains a positive connection sand link between education inequality and income inequality, especially when education inequality is measured on the basis of schooling variance. Trends in the return rate on education will eventually dictate whether the impact of higher education attainment of income inequality is either positive or negative.
Considering the stratified nature of China’s society, the expansion of education may not necessarily have the same impact on populace equality as the distribution of educational opportunities will have. Wu (2007) observes that during the expansion of education in China, the Gini Coefficient (that assesses inequality across a populace) rose to 0.449 in 2005 from 0.317 in 1978 (5).
The approach of distribution of educational opportunities takes care of the distribution of scarce resources that are imperative for the education system, which allows for the equalizing of the other fundamentals of the social structure across the populace.
In the case of China, expansion of education impacted the distribution of educational opportunities by introducing the market approach into the education, thus widening the gap of inequality on the basis of access and distribution of economic resources.
Lee (2006) notes that the net impact of the expansion of education on income inequality follows the Classical Economic Theory (14). Furthermore, the expansion lacked a clarified equalizing impact through unevenly and unequally distributed opportunities. He further faults the market approach fronted through policy reforms as intended to widen the inter-provincial educational inequality in higher education.
In re-dressing the inequality issues, Lee (2006) suggests developing stratified collection and redistribution of educational resources strategy, as well as breaking down structural social barriers that would allow more mobility (15). He applies the Nee’s theory of transition economy to explain the inter-provincial inequalities that arise when the market is used for education expansion in China.
He further explains that the introduction of market approach into the expansion of education by the Chinese government was intended to bring on-board the efficiency of market mechanisms, as well as liberalize the redistribution of resources to individual level after the attempts of the central government to execute re-distribution modalities failed to a greater extent. This raises the worry on whether the government of China has abandoned the quest for ameliorating the inequality difference.
Levin and Xu (2005) observe that there has been no clear pattern from studies on the linkages that exist among China’s wage rates, expansion of higher education, current level of development as well as graduate employment (49).
In conclusion, Lee (2006) states that unless the impact of the expansion of education is clearly understood, it is difficult to forecast future trends of income inequality, thus formulate appropriate policy that will curb the negative growth (1). The consequences are huge, considering that policy implication is favoring the rise in tuition costs and fees for higher education, yet students anticipate having an ultimate return on investment from their education.
References
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Dong, Haiying, and Xuehong Wan. “Higher Education Tuition and Fees in China: Implications and Impacts on Affordability and Educational Equity.” Current Issues in Education 15, no. 1 (2012): 1-10.
Fleisher, Belton, Haizheng Li, and Min Qiang Zhao. “Human capital, economic growth, and regional inequality in China.” IZA Discussion Papers, Econstor, 2008.
Gregorio, Jose De, and Jong-Wha Lee. “Education and income inequality: New Evidence from Cross-Country Data.” Review of Income and Wealth 48, no. 3 (2002): 395-416. Web.
Lee, Min-Dong Paul. “Widening Gap of Educational Opportunity? A Longitudinal Study of Educational Inequality in China.” Research Paper, United Nations University, 2006. Web.
Levin, Henry, and Zeyu Xu. “Issues in the Expansion of Higher Education in the People’s Republic of China.” China Review, 5, no.1 (2005): 33-59. Web.
Ning, Guangjie. “Can Educational Expansion Improve Income Inequality in China? Evidences from the CHNS 1997 and 2006 Data.” IZA Discussion Papers, IZA, 2010. Web.
Qian, Xiaolei, and Russell Smyth. “Measuring Regional Inequality Of Education In China: Widening Coast-Inland Gap Or Widening Rural-Urban Gap?” ABERU Discussion Paper, Monash university, 2005. Web.
World Bank. “Literature Review on Equity and Access to Tertiary Education in the East Asia Region.” Literature Review, World Bank, 2009. Web.
Wu, Xiaogang. “Economic Transition, School Expansion, and Educational Inequality in China, 1990-2000.” Research Report, Population Studies Center, 2007. Web.
Wu, Ximing, and Jeffrey Perloff. “China’s Income Distribution and Inequality.” Repec, 2004. Web.
Issues of equality in learning cut across the entire social divide. They involve concerns on how factors like poverty, social status, gender, individual liberty, democracy, ethnicity and race contribute to inequality in education. Diversity exists because people share some common attributes and differences that make them a unique group. People belong to different cultures, languages, and religions. Learners, teachers and other professionals involved in the provision of education need to be aware on how these factors affect inclusive learning. When there is diversity among learners and those facilitating the learning process, people are able to learn about themselves and the value of appreciating cross cultural differences among them. Inclusive learning is one way to encourage diversity. This paper briefs on the various issues on equality in learning and then provides some strategies than can used in order to promote inclusive learning and equality.
Perspectives on equality and inclusive education
Roemer (1) explains that there two views of equality of opportunity today. The first one call on the nondiscrimination principle, this principle states that in the competition for positions in the society, individuals should be judged by attributes that are related to performance whereas personal attributes like race or sex should not be important considerations. The second view supports and encourages the society to ensure a level playing ground for all people so that everyone can benefit from the existing opportunities. Therefore those inequalities exist in education because the society has not been able to apply these principles in a manner that makes learning environments accommodative to learners who share different cross cultural heritage. Roemer (1)
Inclusive education has many facets, generally it is meant to provide all learners with equitable opportunities to enable them receive effective educational services. This also includes learners who have various disabilities. Inclusive learning in part involves providing the necessary teaching and learning aids together with offering support services that are helpful in preparing the learners to be full productive members of the society. Daniels and Garner (2).The major goal of inclusive learning is to value the diversity of the human community and also ensure that there is equity in the provision of education to all groups of people, such that not a single will be underrepresented in any way.
Inequality concerns in education
Inequality in education has had one major impact which is limiting access to and attainment of the same educational standard by a particular group of people because of the social status and class.
Educational inequalities between people from different social classes have been both a political and social concern for a long time. For example there was great focus on educational inequalities in Great Britain before the start of the Second World War. This continued to 1960s and 1970s.It was observed that these inequalities were between the sexes and also between the majority and minority racial groups. Foster, Gomm, and Hammersly (3)
In the United States, great differences exist in the ability of different states to finance educational programs adequately. It has also been established that educational opportunities and attainment continue to differ by social class, states, regions, and between urban and rural communities as well. Newton (4). When governments are unable to provide enough finances for educational projects fairly through out the country, then there will be various inequalities which will be noted within the education system.
Another important factor that contributes to inequality in education is poverty and the level of income which varies greatly within families. It is known that well off families are able to afford what is perceived by the many to be quality education for their children compared to poor families which have to send their children to low cost public schools. Poverty extends to include exclusion of advantages in housing and health as well.
The physical condition of the learners also continues to feature prominently on the equality debate. These physical factors relate to the learner’s ability to hear, see, or other forms of physical disability that some people constantly perceive to limit the learners’ ability to learn in a normal learning environment.
Proponents of inclusive education argue that it’s possible to integrate learners with various forms of physical disabilities in normal learning institutions as it is an important way to reduce stigmatization and segregation of disabled learners. They also continue to base their argument on lack of strong evidence that could support the widely held notion that specific categories of students learn differently. Those opposing inclusive education strongly advocate for the creation of special learning facilities for people with various disabilities.
Gender and patriarchy are also known to have a great influence in perpetuating the existence of educational inequality. This can be best seen in many African countries where education of the male children is held with high importance than that of the female children. Owing to this, women for a long time have had poor access to educational opportunities. Gender equity in Africa has been an area of focus by civil rights organizations and non governmental organizations for last two decades. Nafziger (5) notes that since colonial days in African states, education has been an important vehicle for upward social mobility.
He explains that the educated were able to occupy administrative positions in the government bureaucracies of the time and this enabled them to use education to transmit class status to their children. This group consisted of mainly men, the reproduction of the class system through education therefore led to a situation where men had higher educational attainment compared to women.
Democracy and racism are linked to equality in terms of human rights and societal development. Many immigrant groups were segregated and denied educational opportunities until the abolition of Jim Crow rules which led to equal opportunities for both the dominant white population and the minorities’. Countries undergoing civil wars and other forms of internal conflicts have poor records of good governance.under such circumstances, the ruling class has often violated the rights of the ordinary people. This consequently leads to the widespread inequalities that are seen when such countries are compared to those which have peace and democratic leadership.
Strategies to avoid inequality and promote equality and diversity
A commitment to addressing the challenge of ensuring equal opportunity as well as non discrimination is important in ensuring that inclusive education becomes a practical reality. Towards this end, it would involve actions that are based on proper needs identification. These needs for example could be those of learners with some disability, those of learners who do not speak the dominant teaching language or learners who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and who often encounter difficulties in their learning.
An excellent example for this is offering scholarships to international students and work-study programs for needy students which would enable them to meet their living costs especially in higher learning institutions. This is one way of encouraging equality and diversity. Needs assessment also relates to building the competence of new teachers who have little exposure to multicultural learning environments. This would for example involve encouraging such teachers to bilingual bearing in mind the context of the situation.
Planning for multicultural classrooms should take note of the staffing needs to ensure that the teaching and support staff are sensitive to the cultural diversity in the school. This is important in making every learner to feel that they belong together. The staff should interact more with learners who appear withdrawn and hardly noticeable in the school. Designing of the school curriculum should take into consideration the concerns of minority groups and ensure that their issues are addressed within the taught curriculum. A common mistake made by tutors in multicultural classrooms is ignoring, disapproving or showing open sarcasm to the customs of and traditions of learners with whom they have little ties in terms of cultural heritage. Gill, Mayor, and Blair (6).
Facilitating cultural exchange initiatives among the learners can also play an important role in integrating the diverse groups of learners into a cohesive unit.
Educational planners should facilitate and evaluate the professional development of staffs in multicultural learning centers. Planners should also evaluate educational policies both at the national and local level levels to ensure that discriminative policies are not enforced. This would is important in sustaining gains made should old staff members move out.Assessing whether there are conflicting issues among members of the school is important as it is possible to address them before they escalate to heightened levels. Performance evaluation among staff and earners as well should be based on the ability and not on individual attributes like color, race and ethnicity.
Conclusion
Inequalities in education disadvantage groups of people from access and attainment of education similar to others due to social status. The answer to educational inequalities lies in upholding the principle of nondiscrimination and ensuring a level playing field in order for all people to enjoy equitable opportunities.
Reference
Roemer, J E. Equality of opportunity. U.S.A. Harvard university press; 1998.
Daniels H, Garner P. Inclusive education: supporting inclusion in education systems. London.Routledge; 2000.
Foster, P, Gomm, R, Hammersley, M. Constructing educational inequality: An assessment of research on school
Newton, E. Problems of equality of opportunity in education.Jstor: review of educational research, vol.16, No.1 (1946) pp 46-49.Cited 2010.
Nafziger, E W. Inequality in Africa: political elites, proletariat, peasants, and the poor. Cambridge.CUP Archive; 1988.
Gill, D, Mayor, M.B, Blair, M. Racism and education: structures and strategies. London. Sage Publications;2002.
Schools were once unimportant educational centers that served small groups of people. However, today, they have grown to become hubs of knowledge exchange and cultural innovation (Brandes and Ginnis, 2001; Bell, Bolam and Cubillo, 2002). This evolution has permeated different levels of learning and primary school education in the UK is no exception. Past efforts aimed at improving the efficacy of school systems focused on expanding access to educational opportunities but today, similar initiatives strive for opportunities to make them more effective and inclusive for all groups of learners.
The current debate on improvement of learning outcomes in the UK strives to examine how educational standards can be raised and inequality tackled at the same time. This goal is alive despite some observers making admissions that a single policy cannot be used to address both challenges at the same time (Kerr and West, 2010). Subject to this acknowledgement, technology has emerged as one of the most promising tools for addressing some of the above-mentioned problems because it is linked to improved educational outcomes and reduced levels of inequality. This is why it is depicted in this study as a basis for making changes in the education structure by making it more inclusive and responsive to the needs of underprivileged learners.
Research Aim
To find out how to minimize inequality in UK primary schools through inclusion.
Research Questions
What is the nature of the relationship between inequalities in the UK primary school education system and its administrative structures?
To what extent can technology improve the effectiveness of school structures to minimize inequalities?
Importance of Study
School improvements have come a long way since the early 1960s when there was skepticism regarding the importance of learning institutions in the first place. This cynicism was informed by the use of Marxist ideologies in designing education systems to realize social and economic growth (Hopkins, Ainscow, and West, 1994). Relative to this view, some people argued that socioeconomic progress should be domiciled in societies and not schools, while others believed that schools created a group of workers trained to accept things as they are, thereby promoting existing unequal systems (Leithwood, Jantzi and Steinbach, 1999). However, over time, a lot of progress has been in appreciating the importance of education.
The 21st century has seen the emergence of new challenges in learning because of the realization that poor educational outcomes and socioeconomic inequality have been entrenched in current educational systems, thereby disenfranchising students from minority and low socioeconomic groups. These issues dominate current discussions regarding education inequality in the 21st century learning environment and how new and more innovative methods of improving school systems could alleviate the growing problem.
Context of Study
The context of this research is the primary school education system in the UK. This stage of education involves children who are between 5 and 11 years receiving basic education.
Reason for Choosing Topic
Class differences in the society and their effects on educational achievement have caused inequalities in education. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem because concerns abound regarding the role that online education will play in crystalizing learning gaps that exist among privileged and disenfranchised children. A recent survey to sample teachers’ views regarding the impact of the health crisis on students’ learning outcomes showed that education practitioners are worried about the role of virtual education in entrenching inequalities among the aforementioned groups of students as schools transition to online learning (Jain, Lall and Singh, 2021). Researchers also opine that economically weaker students will become hard to reach, thereby making teachers incapable of providing them with education services (Jain, Lall and Singh, 2021). Therefore, technology-based solutions aimed at alleviating the crisis have been criticized for being ineffective when employed in hard-to-reach communities. Therefore, it is pertinent to understand how existing education structures propagate these inequalities and the role that technology could play in alleviating the problem.
Scope of the Literature Review
The literature review process was undertaken by searching for books and journals from reputable online databases. The keywords used to perform the analysis included “inequality” “primary school” and “UK.” The initial research process generated 6,708 articles from three journal databases – Sage Journals, Emerald Insight, and Elsevier, while books were obtained from Google Scholar and Google Books. Afterward, the materials were scrutinized for their relevance to the research topic with an emphasis on finding articles that talked about primary education in the UK in particular. Additionally, books and journals that discussed inclusivity were prioritized over those that did not and the number of articles available for review reduced to 30.
Critical Analysis of the Literature
Researchers have investigated the relationship between negative student learning outcomes and socioeconomic backgrounds with varied outcomes. Key sections of this literature review describe the relationship between students’ socioeconomic backgrounds and educational outcomes as well as the impact that school structures have on education inequalities. The analysis is later contextualized within the UK primary school education setting and inferences are drawn to known theories underpinning learning development in formative years of education.
Theoretical Foundation
Researchers have come up with different theories to explain varying levels of academic achievement and understand the role that students’ socioeconomic backgrounds play in predicting this outcome. As a result, four schools of thought have emerged with varying perspectives regarding the impact of education on an individual’s life. Functionalism is one of them and it suggests that education is meant to help people become functional members of society (Chapman et al., 2012). Conflict theories propose a different ideology because they are based on the belief that education is designed to promote social inequality (Hirsch, 2016). Their view largely explains the educational challenges witnessed in the UK primary school environment because widening achievement gaps have created socioeconomic equality for a long time.
Researchers have gone a step further to understand varied forms of inequality in the education system and found out that feminism is one of its subtle manifestations and it is rooted in sexist ideologies ingrained in the school system by creating inequalities in gender achievement gaps (Bansal, 2018; Coe, 2009). This school of thought demonstrates that inequalities do not only exist among minorities or students who hail from families with lower socioeconomic status but also across the gender spectrum. Consequently, it is imperative to view inequalities in the education sector from a broader perspective involving gender and socioeconomic variables.
Several studies have tried to adopt a holistic strategy in investigating learning gaps among students from low-income communities and those of privileged backgrounds. For example, in an investigation conducted by Kustatscher (2017) in Scottish primary schools, it was established that social class differences impacted intergenerational interactions among children aged 5 and seven years. It was also affirmed that these class divisions intersected with gender, race, and ethnic strata in society (Kustatscher, 2017). Consequently, there is a need to understand the process of tackling inequality in the education system holistically and involve young people in discussions about the same issue.
Symbolic interactionism is also another school of thought that has emerged from studies that have investigated the role of the school environment in influencing students’ achievement levels. Associated research studies point to the need to strengthen student-teacher relationships to improve educational outcomes. In this context, inclusivity is expected to be achieved through strong teacher-student bonds.
Relationship between Students’ Socioeconomic Background and Educational Outcomes
Studies have shown that social factors influence educational outcomes and, by extension, people’s wealth and ability to prosper. This statement has been supported by anecdotal evidence showing the psychosocial link between non-economic factors affecting wealth creation, such as people’s attitudes, beliefs, ethos and socioeconomic background, and educational outcomes (Cebolla-Boado, Radl and Salazar, 2017). This relationship has been characterized by the presence of positive environmental stimuli for students who have access to resources, improved educational outcomes, and better standards of living.
Relative to the above assertion, one notable scholar, Pierre Bourdieu, suggested that students tend to conform to dominant ideologies through psychological and behavioral influences harbored by societies (Griffiths, 2018). The relationship between these moderating factors and educational outcomes has been juxtaposed against the opportunities offered by learning in promoting learners’ progress in life with the dominant assertion being that education seeks to promote equality by expecting students to have that which it does not give – cultural competency. Without it, it is difficult for students to attain high levels of educational achievement. Furthermore, but they can only be transmitted through family structures and community influences, which vary across the spectrum of students’ backgrounds.
Impact of School Structures on Education Inequalities
School structures affect learning outcomes and teaching methodologies in various education settings. For example, admission policies have been linked with inclusive practices in the UK education sector (Rayner, 2017). Policy discourses have also shown the difficulty of separating the quest to improve educational outcomes with inequality in schools (Elmore, 2008). Additionally, studies show that school policies are often formulated within a sociocultural setting, thereby highlighting the role of regional differences in defining school outcomes (Evers and Kneyber, 2016). For example, school ethos and values have been associated with policy discourses and teaching practices (Rayner, 2017). While these insights are relevant in understanding how sociocultural factors play an important role in influencing school outcomes, the link has mostly been established in studies that involve secondary school teachers and students (Rayner, 2017). This means that there is inadequate research done in the primary school education context to determine whether the same link between raising education standards and tackling inequality is valid.
To understand the impact of school structures on learning outcomes, researchers have investigated strategies adopted by education institutions to minimize gaps in achievement between students who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds and those who hail from privileged backgrounds (Glickman, 2003). For example, Sierens et al. (2020) surveyed 1,741 pupils who were in fourth grade to find out whether pre-schooling helped to promote equity in education. It was established that the duration of education did not have an impact on their attainment levels. However, this finding was found to be true for certain subject areas, such as sciences and mathematics, but not in humanities.
Relative to the above findings Woldehanna (2016) conducted a similar study to investigate the relationship between inequality, pre-school education, and cognitive development in Ethiopia among students aged between five and eight years and found out that pre-school attendance mediated about a third of the effects of family background on students’ educational outcomes. Limited public investment in pre-primary school education exacerbated these inequalities, thus highlighting the need for government involvement in mitigating educational gaps.
The focus on duration and attendance of pre-school education in managing learning gaps has created a greater interest in this subject area with newer studies focusing on understanding the extent that pre-school education could help to minimize the effects of socio-cultural backgrounds on learning outcomes. In one such study, Cebolla-Boado, Radl, and Salazar (2017) obtained data from 119,008 respondents spread across 28 developing countries and found that pre-school education helped to minimize the negative effects of low socioeconomic backgrounds on learners’ attainment levels. However, this effect was weaker for students who had highly educated parents. Therefore, it was recognized that parental involvement in children’s education helped to alleviate the effects of low socioeconomic backgrounds on student’s learning.
Inequality in the UK
The structure of the primary school education system in the UK has changed since the late 1960s because of several policies and education reforms that have been instituted since then. The most instrumental piece of law that has been introduced from the time includes The 1988 Education Reform Act, which encouraged learning institutions to be competitive as a precondition for improving their performance. Additionally, changes in the age of starting school, school size, types of primary schools, roles of local authorities, and formations of federations have contributed to additional changes to the structure of the primary school education system (Ainscow and West, 2006). At the same time, collaboration, changes in the provision of early childhood education and care services have further helped policymakers to examine the structure of school holistically.
For more than 20 years, the official government policy on the improvement of education standards in the UK has focused on promoting social justice. Part of the attention has been on tackling inequality and raising education standards for all cadres of learners (Bush, Bell and Middlewood, 2019). Stakeholders have adopted these measures after analyzing recent research evidence revealing that poorly performing schools reinforce inequality in educational attainment (Ainscow et al., 2011; Ainscow et al., 2012). Indeed, some existing policy structures governing teaching and learning activities have entrenched school failure, especially among underprivileged learners.
Regardless of the aforementioned policy changes and reforms, education inequality rates in the UK are higher among major western countries. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) recently surveyed to assess education inequality among 41 countries and found that it affected student educational outcomes at the primary school education level and subsequent opportunities that affect a person’s socioeconomic outcomes after childhood (Bryk et al., 2015). Education inequality in the UK is only a manifestation of a greater problem of social inequity in society, which has affected different sectors of society. Several reasons have been advanced to explain gaps that have caused this phenomenon.
Researchers such as Parker et al. (2016) have done a comparative analysis of countries and found that educational differentials were greater in countries that have high levels of curricular stratification. The researchers also established that primary effects influencing educational outcomes, such as socioeconomic status, were more impactful in countries that had a higher curriculum track record (Bryk et al., 2015). Therefore, the efficiency that education stakeholders evaluated, or reviewed, their curricula affected learning gaps. Relative to this assertion, Parker et al. (2016) say that highly stratified countries have a higher probability of pegging educational expectations on achievement outcomes relative to those that have a weaker social stratification framework. These findings suggest that the structural makeup of a society has an impact on its educational outcomes.
Summary
This literature review shows an emerging trend where researchers are affirming the inefficiencies and weaknesses of current educational systems and their inability to address systemic weaknesses that have disadvantaged students from underprivileged backgrounds. However, most of the articles analyzed are descriptive in the sense that they only identify and define the scope of the problem with little understanding of how to develop innovative and holistic solutions, especially those of a technological nature, which would appeal to the multifaceted nature of the research issue.
Reference List
Ainscow, M. and West, M. (eds.) (2006) Improving urban schools: leadership and collaboration. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Ainscow, M. et al. (2011) Social inequality: can schools narrow the gap? Macclesfield: British Educational Research Association.
Ainscow, M. et al. (2012) Developing equitable education systems. London: Routledge.
Bansal, D. (2018) ‘Science education in India and feminist critiques of science’, Contemporary Education Dialogue, 15(2), pp. 164-186.
Bell, L., Bolam, R. and Cubillo, L. (2002) A systematic review of the impact of school leadership and management on student outcomes. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education.
Brandes, D. and Ginnis, P. (2001) A guide to student-centered learning. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.
Bryk, A. S. et al. (2015) Learning to improve: how America’s schools can get better at getting better. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.
Bush, T., Bell, L. and Middlewood, D. (eds.) (2019) Principles of educational leadership and management. 3rd edn. London: SAGE.
Cebolla-Boado, H., Radl, J. and Salazar, L. (2017) ‘Preschool education as the great equalizer? A cross-country study into the sources of inequality in reading competence’, Acta Sociologica, 60(1), pp. 41-60.
Chapman, C. et al. (2012) School effectiveness and improvement research, policy and practice. Abingdon: Routledge.
Coe, R. (2009) ‘School improvement: reality and illusion’, British Journal of Educational Studies, 57(4), pp. 363-379.
Elmore, R. F. (2008) School reform from the inside out. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.
Evers, J. and Kneyber, R. (eds.) (2016) Flip the system: changing education from the ground up. Abingdon: Routledge.
Glickman, C. (2003) Holding sacred ground: pretending not to know what we know. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Gorard, S. (2010) ‘Serious doubts about school effectiveness’, British Educational Research Journal, 36(5), pp. 645-766.
Griffiths, A. (2018) ‘Using exploratory factor analysis and Bourdieu’s concept of the illusion to examine inequality in an English school’, Power and Education, 10(1), pp. 40-57.
Harber, C. and Davies, L. (2001) School management and effectiveness in developing countries. London: Continuum.
Harris, A. and Bennett, N. (eds.) (2001) School effectiveness and improvement: alternate perspectives. New York: Continuum.
Hirsch, E. D. (2016) Why knowledge matters: rescuing our children from failed educational theories. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.
Hopkins, D., Ainscow, M. and West, M. (1994) School improvement in an era of change. London: Cassell.
Jain, S., Lall, M. and Singh, A. (2021) ‘Teachers’ voices on the impact of COVID-19 on school education: are Ed-tech companies really the panacea?’, Contemporary Education Dialogue, 18(1), pp. 58-89.
Kellock, A. (2020) ‘Children’s well-being in the primary school: a capability approach and community psychology perspective’, Childhood, 27(2), pp. 220-237.
Kerr, K. and West, M. (eds.) (2010) Insight 2 – social inequality: can schools narrow the gap? Macclesfield: British Educational Research Association.
Kustatscher, M. (2017) ‘Young children’s social class identities in everyday life at primary school: the importance of naming and challenging complex inequalities’, Childhood, 24(3), pp. 381-395.
Leithwood, K., Jantzi, D. and Steinbach, R. (1999) Changing leadership for changing times. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Medwell, J. and Wray, D. (2019) ‘Primary homework in England: the beliefs and practices of teachers in primary schools’, Education, 47(2), pp. 191-204.
Parker, P. D. et al. (2016) ‘A multination study of socioeconomic inequality in expectations for progression to higher education: the role of between-school tracking and ability stratification’, American Educational Research Journal, 53(1), pp. 6-32.
Rayner, M. S. (2017) ‘Admissions policies and risks to equity and educational inclusion in the context of school reform in England’, Management in Education, 31(1), pp. 27-32.
Sierens, S. et al. (2020) ‘Does pre-schooling contribute to equity in education? Participation in universal pre-school and fourth-grade academic achievement’, European Educational Research Journal, 19(6), pp. 564-586.
Woldehanna, T. (2016) ‘Inequality, preschool education and cognitive development in Ethiopia: implication for public investment in pre-primary education’, International Journal of Behavioral Development, 40(6), pp. 509-516.
Gender-sensitive education is very important in the current society. In order to achieve this, researchers have a pivotal role to play in the process of promoting education justice. Researchers have made it clear that the battle for educational justice should involve all stakeholders. All stakeholders must be involved in this fight in order to achieve the expected outcome in this war, because if any form of resistance were to be met in this war, then it would probably come from the stakeholders who are ignored. By involving them, the rate of resistance is reduced. In fact, this scholar says that their involvement in this war would turn the resistance into support for educational justice. It is important to ensure that researchers remain active in this field as policymakers. This is because they are in the best position to determine the level of success that has been achieved, and what could be impeding the achievement of this equality. They are also able to recommend some of the best approaches that can be taken to eliminate some of the challenges met in the quest for educational justice. The following two articles talk about gender-sensitive education.
Summary of the articles
The need to have gender-sensitive education and gender equality has been in existence for some time now. According to Raewyn (2010), this can be traced back to several years ago when a number of women came out strongly to fight for their rights, and the need to offer them equal opportunities in education. This article talks about Kartini, a young Indonesian woman who tried to push for girl-child education about 100 years ago. Kartini was living in an Islamic society where men were largely considered as being superior to women. During this time, Indonesia was under the colonial rule of the Netherlands. The colonial government had offered an opportunity for the locals to go to a few colonial schools that were established to help the locals know how to read, write, and speak the foreign language. However, most parents were keen on taking their sons to school other than their daughters. Girls would stay at home to attend to household chores. They would then be married at a tender age, making them inferior to their husbands. In her quest to fight this vice, Kartini wrote a number of letters to her friend Stella, explaining the importance of rethinking gender education in this country. She decided to start a school, but she got no support from the colonial government. She was married but unfortunately died while giving birth to her first child. However, her letters have been used to fight stigmatization towards girl child education.
Raewyn (2010) says that it is a pleasant fact that governments around the world have come to appreciate the importance of girl child education. They have realized that it is a part of Millennium Development Goals and that it should be achieved for the growth of the welfare of the society to be realized. Kartini was denied the opportunity to start schools where girls would get equal opportunity as their male counterparts in acquiring education. However, many governments around the world have come to appreciate her concept, and are now using it to enhance gender-sensitive education.
In the quest to achieve gender-sensitive education in the society, there have been policies put in place to help achieve this objective. However, a number of assumptions have been made that affect the course of achieving this equality. One such assumption is that policies on gender always put girls and women against boys and men. There has been a massive interpretation that when talking about the need for equality, the focus is on empowering women and girls over men and boys. This wrong notion has been propelled by some individuals in various countries, who are responsible for the implementation of policies meant to create gender balance in education. This has created some form of resistance from men and boys who feel that they may be the victims of this policy if they do not come out and fight for their rights.
Another assumption that has been made is that education is good, and it empowers people. For this reason, implementers of policies meant to empower women and girls have overemphasized the provision of education for women and children. They have ignored other means of empowering women other than offering them education. The third assumption has been that men and boys are the measuring rod against which policy implementers can gauge success in empowering women. This means that in the process of empowering women, these policymakers use men as a measuring rod, and not as people who should be getting similar treatment as women in the quest to gain a good education. This has affected the process of achieving the desired goals in educating the girl child. Although gender-sensitive education has become globally recognized as being important, in many countries around the world girls are still trailing boys in accessing quality education.
While conceptualizing gender on a world scale, this scholar appreciates that there are some facts that have been ignored. For instance, people have considered globalization to mean the world society is universal. They assume that what is taking place in the United States would be the same as the activities taking place in the Indian community. This is not true. World societies have different societal structure, and in different countries, women’s position in the society differs. For instance, in Saudi Arabia, women are still restricted from undertaking some activities without express permission from their husbands or fathers. The Saudi Arabian women who want to seek further education abroad would need to seek permission to travel from their husbands, their fathers, or even their first-born sons. This gives a clear picture of the position of women in this country. This is very different from what is happening in the United States, the United Kingdom, and various other Western countries where women have as many rights and freedom as men.
Raewyn (2010) gives an example of the report given by Fortune Magazine in 2007 about the leading world chief executives. This scholar notes that about 98% of the leading chief executives in the world are men. This means that the war against male dominance in the society that was started over 100 years ago is yet to achieve the expected goals. This scholar says that a number of feminist theories have been developed to help explain the need to promote girl child education. This scholar notes that a number of theories have been developed, but most of them have failed in giving a conceptualized framework under which girls can attain the much-needed education. For this reason, there is a need to understand that these theories can no longer be held as a monologue. The stakeholders in this field must come to understand the context under which feminism can be promoted without making it appear to be a fight against male dominance. This should be made to appear as a struggle to achieve equality for all. Both men and women should have access to quality education without emphasizing on their gender difference.
The path towards achieving justice in education may take long. However, with good approaches taken by the policy implementers and goodwill from the responsible stakeholders, this is something that can be achieved. A good education should be just and not that which favors one group while ignoring another group. It is also important to note that achieving quality education that is gender-sensitive can only be realized if the outcome of that education system translates to equal opportunities in life. This means that emphasis should not be overexerted on the need to ensure that women get an education. However, it should focus on education that would lead to equitable opportunities in life after schools. This means that the Fortune Magazine should not have 98% of its leading chief executives in the world being men. Women should also find their position in the corporate world. That is when it will be considered that gender-equal education has been achieved.
Kellie (2008) focuses on issues about globalization, imagination, and some of the emerging models of ‘girl citizen’. This scholar says that around the globe, there has been a strong movement to achieve a gender-sensitive society. Kellie says, “‘Equality’ was not achieved through policies that held the state responsible (economically and/ ideologically) for social injustices, but rather through the implementation of policies, and practices that defined the state as the great equalizer of economic opportunities.” (p. 344). This statement was made in reference to the perceived relatively better girl child educational achievements in the Western countries. This scholar says that those who are fighting for achieving gender equality should stop focusing on pressurizing the government. This scholar says that this will make little or no effort in achieving gender-sensitive education because most governments around the world have learned the art of ignoring such pressures. These governments are concerned about various other issues considered more basic. Putting hopes on such governments to lead this fight would be risking the fight towards achieving a gender-sensitive education. On the contrary, the focus should be on policies that would give both genders equal opportunity towards attaining education. This brought the massive change that has been experienced in the developed world.
Kellie (2008) talks about the neoliberal reforms and the power of imagination in enhancing girl-child education. The neoliberal reforms have focused on promoting achievements of all genders not only in school but also in the social life after school. A culture of equality should be inculcated in the society right from the time a person is taken to school until he or she comes out to look for opportunities in life. This scholar brings in the power of imagination as a tool for empowering women in the corporate world. This scholar says that men have outsmarted women in the corporate world, because of their power of imagination. In management, imagination is the main technology that will differentiate a successful firm from a poorly performing one. In order for a firm to manage the market competition, there is a need to come up with creative ideas, and this can only be achieved through imagination. Girls should use this mind tool to assert themselves as an authority in various fields and in education.
They should not wait for affirmative action or other policies that are meant to favor them in order to achieve what they need in life. They should come out strongly using the power of imagination and demonstrate to the world that they have the capacity to change the world through their policies. This scholar believes that women lost their position to men through imagination. He believes that as evolution was taking place, men became more powerful through their strong imagination capacity. It is through this image that women were dismissed as being inferior to men. If women are to gain a prestigious position in the global society just as their male counterparts, then they have to use the same tool that was used to bring them down. They have to use the power of imagination. They must be creative in their activities, and be able to come up with policies that would gain them the much-needed attention. They must take an active role in the global world as agents of positive change. Constantly using state powers to gain favor would not help in this fight for justice in education.
The scholar also focuses on globalization as one of the forums through which some activists have used to attain gender-sensitive education. However, this scholar warns that globalization has very little to offer to the fight against gender inequality. Globalization only brings what is already in existence, and unless the responsible players appreciate their role in bringing this much-needed change, it may be difficult to achieve this change in the end. Kellie (2008) argues that in every society in the current world there is equal opportunity for all people irrespective of gender. Both girls and boys are offered the opportunity to go to school, and they are exposed to a similar learning environment. This scholar, therefore, wonders why the performance of boys should surpass that of girls. In real-life scenarios, various opportunities exist, and it always depends on the creativity of an individual in order to be able to achieve the much-needed objectives in life. It is not about making a lot of fuss about the need to bring equality in all sectors of the economy. It is about the individual stakeholders making a conscious move towards achieving this equality.
Theory of homogeneity in the globalized world has been perceived as a force that tries to impose the Western culture into other parts of the world. The concept of a global village has always been considered as having a world where people have similar cultural practices, economic opportunities, and are able to speak a universal language. Although some consider this as a possibility that will soon be achieved, others have been skeptical towards it, saying that the possibility of achieving this homogeneity may take centuries to be realized. However, both the proponents and critics of this homogeneity theory agree that there has been a rapid rise of a borderless world where people can easily interact with others from different parts of the world and share cultural practices. There has been a massive immigration from third world countries to the first world countries, because of the general belief that they have better opportunities to offer.
This borderless world has had a massive impact on the cultural practices of various people around the world. It has helped redefine the position of women in the society. It has helped various stakeholders in various countries realize that women can be important in helping in the development of the society. This is what this scholar describes as globalization governance. This means that as the world is globalized, there has been an increasing concern that some of the practices in some parts of the world are retrogressive. Allowing a borderless society and avoiding oppressive culture against women is the best way of achieving economic freedom in the society in order to create an environment where both men and women can develop together. It is important to note that this is not a process of enabling women to fight men in whichever forum. It is the process of enabling women to develop alongside men in a society where discrimination against women does not exist. Again, this scholar emphasizes on the fact that women should not seek special support from men or government in order to achieve what they want in life. This will be an appreciation of the fact that they are inferior to men, and therefore have to be protected if they are to achieve their goals.
Critique of the articles
The article by Raewyn has managed to demonstrate the need for equality in the society irrespective of gender differences. The use of the story of Kartini, a young Indonesian girl who fought against discrimination of girls in education, helps to bring out the point. The message is even more powerful when Kartini dies based on her being a woman. This is revolutionary. It calls for action to be taken to achieve this equality. This article also gives statistics that help in understanding the current situation. This will help implementers of these policies avoid some of the rigid approaches they take towards achieving gender equality in education. However, the scholar failed to give a detailed count of the role of religion in achieving the much-converted justice in education. It is a fact that religion plays a big role in defining positions of men and women in the society.
The article by Kellie focused on how to become a global-girl citizen. It emphasized the need for the women to struggle on their own without any support from other forces to achieve the equality that they need. This argument is very true given that women have not been able to use their inner-self’s capacity to achieve this equality. I agree with the fact that the more protection women get from the government, the weaker they will become. I also agree with this article in its argument that it is through imagination that women became a weaker gender, and therefore, it will be through this image that women will become stronger. The article has, however, given the limited focus on how men should participate in the process of ensuring gender equality in the society.
Recommendations
The issue of gender education should receive a completely new shift from what it is perceived to be today. The following are some of the recommendations that I propose when dealing with gender in education.
Stakeholders should not make gender-sensitive education appear to be a fight for women against men.
It is important to appreciate the fact that women have the capacity to achieve their desires in life just as men.
Women should not depend on affirmative action to be able to rise in the corporate ladder. This is because overprotection makes them even weaker.
The focus of gender education should not just be on getting formal education. It should also look at ways of molding both men and women who are able to succeed in life after school.
Women should use their power of imagination to achieve equality in the social and corporate life.
Conclusion
Becoming a global girl citizen has been the focus of some of the champions of justice in education as a way of empowering women. In this forum, the focus is on empowering women to become more responsible and powerful people in the world. The focus is on how to make a girl-child change from being a naive girl during her early education to being active and responsible women ready to take leadership in the society once they complete their education. To achieve this, the focus has been on nurturing leadership skills, entrepreneurial capabilities, and people who are self-sufficient economically, and flexible towards various issues in life. This can be achieved by empowering their ability to imagine.
References
Kellie, B. (2008). Imagining the global, rethinking gender in education. Discourse, Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 29(3), 343-357.
Raewyn, C. (2010). Kartini’s children: on the need for thinking gender and education together on a world scale. Gender And Education, 22(6), 603-615.
Development involves integration of modern advances in technology, democracy, social organizations, values, as well as, ethics into a single humanitarian project of making the world a better place to live. In the strongest sense, development involves using the resources of a country to improve the living standards of the poorest citizens.
In the weakest sense, development can be described as the use of a country’s productive resources for the benefit of a few individuals. Economic development refers to “a multi-dimensional process that not only involves economic growth but also a re-organization of the entire economic system alongside the social, political and economic spheres”.
Consequently, development involves both economic growth and change. In this context, change means attainment of specific ideals of modernization which include increase in productivity, modern knowledge, social/ economic equality, as well as, improved institutions. In strict economic sense, development has traditionally been associated with an increase in the production capacity of a country as measured by its GDP.
However, GDP is not a good measure of development since it does not take into account issues such as, health, urbanization, equality, external dependence and institutional development. A more effective measure of development is the human development index (HDI).
Using the HDI involves assessing a country’s level of poverty, unemployment, delivery of basic services, as well as, inequality. This paper focuses on development by assessing the level of inequality in Saudi Arabia. The distribution of national income and delivery of basic services will be discussed.
Overview of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is the second largest Arab country in the world and the largest in western Asia. Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan, as well as, Iraq in the north. It is also bordered by Kuwait, Qatar, as well as, United Arab Emirates in the east.
The Red sea borders the country in the west while Oman and Yemen lay to the east of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia covers a land area of approximately 2.2 million km2. The country has a population of approximately 27 million people.
Since its inception in 1932, Saudi Arabia operates under an absolute monarchy system of government. The king performs legislative, executive, as well as, judicial functions. The king also serves as the country’s prime minister. Consequently, he leads the council of ministers with the aid of two deputy prime ministers. Key positions in the government are held by the members of the royal family.
Islam is the official religion in Saudi Arabia. The social, political and even economic policies are based on Islamic principles such as Islamic banking system. Saudi Arabia has a relatively stable political environment as compared to other Arab countries. It also enjoys strong political ties with foreign countries. However, Saudi Arabia has recently been associated with terrorist activities.
This has negatively impacted its relationship with western countries, especially, the United States of America. Saudi Arabia possesses the second largest oil reserve in the world. Thus, it is also the second largest exporter of oil in the world. Currently, the oil industry accounts for nearly 90% of the country’s exports. The government of Saudi Arabia derives 75% of its revenue from oil exports.
Inequality and Economic Growth in Saudi Arabia
In development, inequality refers to the disparities or differences in the distribution of income and economic resources of a country. It also includes disparities in the provision of basic services. Thus, inequality can be witnessed among citizens (vertical inequality) and between different regions in the country (horizontal inequality).
In 2010, Saudi Arabia’s economic growth (GDP) was estimated to be 6.4%. Through years of investments and increased oil exports, Saudi Arabia has always experienced steady economic growth. The rapid economic growth stimulated development in various sectors of the country. However, the development resulting from the rapid economic growth varies from region to region and from sector to sector.
To begin with, the government has always focused on developing the public sector at the expense of the private sector. Oil as the main source of revenue in Saudi Arabia is considered a national resource. The oil industry contributes up to 45% of the country’s gross domestic product. The private sector, on the other hand, contributes only 40% of the gross domestic product.
Given the significance of oil in the country’s economic growth, the government channels most of its funds towards the development of the oil industry. However, the public sector where the oil industry is classified is mainly dominated by the royal family.
The royal family has great control over the companies that drill and market the country’s oil. Thus, a large percentage of the oil and gas resources are controlled by the royal family and a few influential business men who account for less than five percent of the country’s population. Additionally, massive investments in the public sector in terms of jobs and salary increments have only benefited a few.
This is because majority of Saudi Arabians are employed in the private sector. In light of these disparities, the government through its fourth development plan began to encourage private enterprise in 1950s.
The government supported private investments by offering financial assistance and economic incentives to promote the growth of private firms. Consequently, the contribution of the private sector to non-oil GDP rose to 70%. However, the growth in the private sector has since been realized only in the agriculture, banking, as well as, construction industries. The oil industry is still dominated by the royal family.
The first two development plans that were implemented in Saudi Arabia focused on building infrastructure. Consequently, the road network and electricity generation expanded three fold. However, infrastructure development was mainly undertaken in the cities/ urban areas and the oil mining centers.
The rural areas where the poorest and minority groups live still lack adequate infrastructure in terms of roads, railways and electricity. Regional development in Saudi Arabia is relatively fair compared to other Arab countries. The government promotes development in all regions in order to ensure equality.
For instance, the government has announced plans to build six new industrialized cities by 2020. The cities will be spread across the country and will increase per capita income in each region to $33, 500 by 2020.
Income Distribution
Income distribution describes the manner in which a country’s GDP is shared among its population. In 2010, Saudi Arabia’s per capita income was $24,200, which was among the highest in the world. However, per capita income is not a good measure of income distribution since the actual funds might not necessarily reach the poorest citizens. The high poverty rate in Saudi Arabia is an indication of the inequality in income distribution.
The number of Saudi Arabians who can not afford food and decent housing continues to rise annually. However, the government denies claims of high poverty rates and hardly issues data on the country’s poverty levels. In 2010, over 11% of Saudi Arabians were not employed. The unemployment rate is likely to be higher since women are never included in Saudi Arabia’s statistics.
The royal family that comprises approximately 6,000 individuals controls over $400 billion of the country’s currency. In general, 90% of the country’s income benefits only one third of the population. The royal family is the upper class, and approximately 20 million out of 27 million citizens belong to the lower and lower-middle class.
Following the decline in economic growth in 1950s, and rising discontent among the citizens, the government decided to improve distribution of the country’s wealth. Thus, in the fourth development plan, the government embarked on privatization of state owned corporations. Additionally, the private sector was allowed to participate in the telecommunication and energy industries.
The aim was to increase the private sector’s ownership of state enterprises to 70%. Through privatization, many Saudi Arabians have had a chance to own state corporations and share the income generated by such corporations.
However, not all citizens are able to participate in the privatization due to the high poverty levels. Additionally, corruption in the government limits the citizens’ chances of owning state corporations through privatization.
In most countries, the tax system is used to influence the distribution of national income. Governments often use progressive taxes to redistribute income from the rich to the poor. Tax rebates and subsidies are often given to the poor in order to improve their disposable incomes. As a planned economy, Saudi Arabia focuses on equal income distribution through fair taxes.
The government does not levy taxes on incomes earned through employment. Additionally, individuals who are not involved in any business activity are exempted from interest and dividend taxes. However, only residents of Saudi enjoy the income tax relief. Saudi nationals who operate businesses involving commercial goods within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are subject to an Islamic tax.
The tax is referred to as Zakat and is charged at a flat rate of 2.5% on both property and income. Corporations and individuals who engage in business activities pay an income interest of 20%. In this context, business activities include financial services, professional activity and trading activities. Employed Saudi Arabians are expected to contribute 9% of their income to the national social security fund.
The fund caters for old age, disability, and death. However, civil servants, farmers and domestic savants are exempted from these contributions. The tax system is fair since it leaves citizens with high disposable income. However, it promotes inequality since it can not redistribute income from the high income earners to the low income earners. Additionally, only the employed citizens are able to benefit from the tax reliefs.
Provision of Basic Needs
A country is considered to be developing if its citizens are able to access basic services such as education, health care and security. In most countries, the basic services are defined as public goods. Consequently, they are provided by the government in order to reduce inequality in accessing them.
The commitment of the government of Saudi Arabia to provide basic services and social safety nets to its citizens can be illustrated by the country’s development plans. Saudi’s third development plan which was implemented from 1980 to 1985 promoted development of infrastructure in education, health, as well as, social services. The fifth development plan was implemented between 1990 and 1995.
The plan led to the improvement of the country’s internal security. It also led to efficiency improvements in the provision of social services, as well as, regional development. Between 1996 and 2000, the government implemented the sixth development plan. The sixth plan focused on reducing the cost of providing basic services without reducing the number of services provided by the government.
From 2005 to 2010, the government implemented the eighth plan which focused on education and empowerment of women. The plan led to construction of new universities and collages.
The current plan focuses on expansion of education, health and housing sectors. The objectives of the current development plan will be achieved by 2014. In the context of equality, the effectiveness of these development plans can be explained as follows.
Education
The government of Saudi Arabia has taken cognizance of the importance of education in development. Consequently, free education is provided by the government in order to enhance access. Enrollment in Saudi’s primary schools is at 98.1%. In order to proceed from primary to intermediate level, students must qualify by passing an exam. This leads to a reduction in enrollment at the intermediate level to 95.9%.
At the secondary level, the enrolment further drops to 91.8%. In general, these percentages indicate that there is equality in accessing basic education. Additionally, the literacy rate is above 90%. Even though access to basic education is high, the quality is still low.
In particular, the curricular is dominated by religious teachings and rote learning. Consequently, most high school and collage students lack technical skills that are needed at the workplace. Access to high quality education remains the preserve of the rich who are able to send their children to overseas universities.
Health Care
Health care services are financed by the government. However, the medical services are delivered by both the government and the private sector. The ministry of health oversees the provision of preventive, curative, as well as, rehabilitative health care services. The services are provided through a network of over 1900 public medical centers. There are also 220 public referral hospitals that offer specialized treatment.
The ministry of education provides health care to students while the ministry of labor and social affairs provides rehabilitation health care. Overall, good access, as well as, effective care has been reported for services such as immunization, maternal care, as well as, disease control. The high access rate is an indication of equality. However, the poor access to treatment for chronic diseases is an indication of inequality.
Water
Water is a very important commodity due to its scarcity in Saudi Arabia. In order to increase access to clean water, the government has invested heavily in water distribution, treatment of waste water and desalination. Additionally, the government finances the provision of water for domestic use. However, majority of Saudi Arabians can not access clean water on a regular basis.
For instance, statistics for 2011 indicates that residents of Riyadh, Saudi’s capital, were able to access water only once in every three days. In Jeddah, the citizens were able to access clean water only once in every nine days. It is only the rich, especially, the royal family who can access clean water on a daily basis.
Human Rights
The socio-cultural norms and the Islamic laws that govern Saudi Arabia restrict the freedom of women. Such restrictions are reflected in women’s participation in economic activities and the political process. The law in Saudi Arabia grants women the right to own land, property, as well as, to enter financial contracts. However, women’s rights to ownership can hardly be exercised due to social norms and other laws.
For instance, women who intend to operate a business must employ male managers before receiving licenses for their businesses. Additionally, women are legally under the guardianship of their male counterparts.
This limits women’s ability to independently own property or a business. Apart from access to economic resources, the inequality between men and women also exists in education. For instance, the literacy rate for men is 95% while that for women is 89%.
Saudi Arabia’s Relationship with the World
Globalization is an integral aspect of every country’s development. As economies embark on economic growth, they must also search for new markets for their surplus produce. This has necessitated international trade and globalization. For a country to effectively participate in international trade, it must have good foreign relations with its trading partners.
In light of this requirement, the government of Saudi Arabia has focused on fostering strong political and economic ties with the rest of the world. This can be illustrated by the country’s membership in world organizations. In 1945, Saudi Arabia became a member of the United Nations (UN).
Saudi Arabia is also a “member of the Arab League, Gulf Cooperation Council, Muslim World League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference”. As a leading oil producer, Saudi Arabia belongs to the OPEC group of countries.
Saudi Arabia plays a key role in the formulation of OPEC’s pricing policy. Generally, the country focuses on stabilization of international oil prices through OPEC in order to protect the interest of Western economies. Saudi Arabia is also a member of the World Trade Order (WTO).
From 1970s to 2002, the government of Saudi Arabia spent over $70 billion in foreign aid. The funds were used to support development projects in various countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. However, Saudi Arabia’s generous foreign aid has been associated with promotion of Wahhabism. Wahhabism is an Islamic sect that is linked to terrorist attacks and intolerance to non-Muslims.
Most Arab countries consider Saudi Arabia to be a close ally of western countries, especially, America. For instance, in 1991, Saudi Arabia assisted the US in the Gulf War by hosting the latter’s troops. Saudi Arabia’s association with America has always been opposed by other Arab countries and some Saudi nationals.
Consequently, Saudi Arabia has since limited its association with America. The relationship between Saudi Arabia and America suffered a major setback when the latter associated the former with the Al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorist groups.
In the Arab world, Saudi plays an important role in promoting peace. For instance, the country supports America’s inversion of Iran in order to destroy Iranian nuclear program. Saudi Arabia has also helped to mediate peace between Palestine and Israel. Currently, the main trading partners of Saudi Arabia include USA, Japan, China, as well as, South Korea.
Overall, Saudi Arabia has a good relationship with the rest of the world. This has promoted equality in Saudi Arabia by enabling its citizens to benefit from globalization. For instance, Saudi nationals are able to access higher education in foreign countries. Additionally, the country’s citizens can access foreign goods and markets.
Causes of Inequality in Saudi Arabia
Political system
The monarchy system of governance is partly blamed for the escalation of inequality in Saudi Arabia. To begin with, non- royal family members have been locked-out of the leadership of the country. The democratic space is limited and views that contradict the perspectives of the ruling class are never tolerated. Additionally, formulation of economic policy is dominated by the ruling class.
Lack of public participation in policy formulation has resulted into implementation of policies that promote inequality instead of reducing it. Lack of democracy also promotes corruption within the royal family and government cycles.
The ruling class takes advantage of their positions to enrich themselves with the country’s oil and gas resources at the expense of the citizens. Expenditure by the royal family, for instance, accounts for a large portion of the country’s budget. Corrupt government officials also illegally acquire resources that are meant to benefit the most vulnerable groups.
Wealth Concentration
Less than a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s population controls more than three quarters of the country’s wealth. In particular, the royal family and a few business men control most of the country’s wealth. Concentration of wealth in the hands of a few is partly promoted by the tax system.
The government charges a fixed income tax for all income groups and businesses. Since the tax is not progressive, income can not be redistricted from the rich to the poor. The tax system has significantly contributed to the development of an extremely rich class and an extremely poor class in the same economy. The middle class is consistently reducing in size.
Development Patterns
Empirical studies reveal that countries experiencing slow development have relatively low levels of inequality. However, as a country begins to experience rapid growth, more wealth is generated and owned by the owners of capital, thereby causing inequality. As a rapidly growing economy, Saudi Arabia has been able to generate a lot of wealth in the last decade.
The government’s commitment to expand the private sector has promoted capitalism and ownership of private property. Consequently, the balk of the country’s income is controlled by the owners of capital. Inequality is perpetuated by the lack of effective social welfare programs to reverse the inequality in wealth distribution.
Responses to Inequality
The government of Saudi Arabia can consider the following recommendations to reduce both vertical and horizontal inequality in the country. First, equity can be achieved by dispensing the revenues accruing from oil and gas directly to the citizens. In this case, the uniform transfer of cash to citizens will act as a progressive tax. Thus, it will help in reducing the rich to poor disposable income ratio, thereby reducing vertical inequality.
Second, in order to prevent widening of the gap between the rich citizens and their poor counterparts, the government should promote productivity, as well as, export growth in the manufacturing and agricultural sector. The government can also create jobs in the public sector for the citizens rendered jobless in the private sector.
Pro-poor policies can also be adopted by the government to improve the socio-economic status of the poor groups. Third, horizontal inequality can be reduced through equitable sharing of revenue between the central government and the local governments. In a nutshell, the oil revenue should be decentralized.
Conclusion
Saudi Arabia is one of the richest and fastest growing economies in the Arab world. The country derives over 75% of its revenues from its vast oil reserves. Despite having a lot of wealth, inequality and poverty still exist in Saudi Arabia. High levels of inequality exist in the distribution of the country’s income.
Most of the financial and other economic resources are controlled by the royal family and a few business men who account for less than one quarter of the population. Even though basic services are provided with relatively high levels of equality, the quality of most services such as education and health is still poor.
The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world remains strong. The main causes of inequality in Saudi Arabia include the political system, wealth concentration and development patterns. The inequalities can be addressed through equitable distribution of national income and implementation of pro-poor policies.
Works Cited
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The peculiar features of every country’s development should be discussed from the point of the character of the economic relations within the country and from the point of the country’s position within the global economic environment. Thus, one of the main criteria according to which it is possible to analyze international relations theories in their connection with the sphere of economy is the notion of income inequality.
Such theories as Marxism, Structuralism, Neoliberalism, and Dependency Theory discuss the notion of economic inequality according to their specific concepts which differ from each other and have a lot of variations. That is why inequality in the sphere of economy is a multidimensional concept which can be analyzed in various contexts with references to different international relations theories.
The Institutionalisation of Inequality in the Context of Marxism
Examining the economic inequality as the main criterion to determine the major aspects of Marxism, it is important to pay attention to the fact that in the case of Marxism the inequality is discussed at the country’s level. The distribution of the necessary means among the population in the Marxist’s society is based on the individuals’ needs1.
This principle of distribution makes people be rather equal in their economic status within the society. However, the opposite approach to the distribution of means is the base of the Capitalist’s society where class relations function. Thus, the economic inequality is the main condition for the development of the class relations. The ideas of Marxists were further developed by Structuralists with determining the additional categories.
Structuralism and the Aspects of Economy
Basing on the Marxist’s ideas on the class relations as the key factor of the domestic economic development, Structuralists focus on the global economic progress and make accents on the position of the country within the world context. From this point, the world is divided into the developed and developing countries, and there are definite relations of dependency among them which are connected with the issue of class relations2.
The developed countries have the fundament of their economic progress in following the principles of capitalism which is based on the economic inequality of classes and individuals. The income inequality as the economic injustice is the main characteristic feature of the Capitalistic society.
The distribution of the world resources between the developed and developing countries is unequal and contributes to the progress of the economic polarization within the global market. That is why it is possible to state that according to the principles of Structuralism the world relations are based on the rather unjust rules provided by the Capitalistic countries which impose the relations of inequality at the global arena. Such relations provoke the dependency of the developing countries on the economic state of the developed countries. This aspect becomes the key one for working out the Dependency Theory.
Dependency Theory and the Factor of the Economic Inequality
Dependency Theory operates the notion of the economic inequality at the world level and discusses it as the global inequality which is realized in the unequal relations between the developed and developing countries3. According to the Dependency Theory, it is almost impossible to speak about the notion of justice in the relations between the classes within states and between the definite countries because there are always dominant countries and the dependent ones.
In this situation the relations of dependency are based on the fact that the developed countries are inclined to enrich their potentials using the developing countries with the high level of poverty which emphasizes the notion of global inequality4.
Neoliberalism as the New Approach to the Economic Inequality
The principles of Neoliberalism are often discussed as the possible measures to restrict the level of the poverty in the developing countries5. Thus, Neoliberalism argues any governmental restrictions and barriers between the countries as the ways to limit the economic possibilities of the individuals and states6.
That is why the only way to the economic progress is the establishment of the free markets and free trade between the countries. It is the first step to the globalization when the low income of the societies of the developing countries can be explained by the fact of the existing barriers which separate these countries from the global market7.
Economic inequality is the category which determines the peculiarities of the development of the countries as an independent state and the part of the global market. In spite of the fact the notion is characteristic for all the international relations theories in connection with the sphere of economy the approaches to its discussion are rather different.
Reference List
Devetak, R, J George & M Weber, ‘Marxism and critical theory’ in R Devetak, A Burke & J George (eds.), An introduction to international relations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012, pp. 62-75.
Gill, S, ‘Globalisation, market civilisation and disciplinary neoliberalism’ Millennium: Journal of International Studies, vol. 24, no. 3, 1995, pp.399-423.
Pasha, MK, ‘How can we end poverty?’ in J Edkins & M Zehfuss (eds.), Global politics: A new introduction, Routledge, London, 2008, pp. 320-344.
Steans, J, L Pettiford & T Diez, ‘Structuralism’ in International relations: Perspectives and themes, Longman, London, 2005, pp. 75-102.
Wade, RH ‘What strategies are viable for developing countries today? The World Trade Organization and the shrinking of development space’, Review of International Political Economy, vol. 10, no.4, 2003, pp. 621-644.
Williams, M ‘Global economic institutions’ in R Devetak, A Burke & J George (eds.), An introduction to international relations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012, pp. 336-347.
Footnotes
1 R Devetak, J George & M Weber, ‘Marxism and critical theory’ in R Devetak, A Burke & J George (eds.), An introduction to international relations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012, pp. 62-75.
2 J Steans, L Pettiford & T Diez, ‘Structuralism’ in International relations: Perspectives and themes, Longman, London, 2005, pp. 75-102.
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