Deck 12: B: Education

Question 1

Explain the differences between anti-racism and multiculturalism.

Answer 1

Multiculturalism promotes Canada as a culturally diverse space but as an ideology works to promote sameness of humanity and tends to ignore or minimize instances of inequalities.It depoliticizes race and promotes "tolerance" of diversity.Anti-racism sees "race and racism as central to how we claim,occupy and defend spaces." Those engaged in this work seek to identify and change the values and structures that perpetrate systemic racism and other forms of oppression.

Question 2

Briefly discuss how gendered patterns of interaction continue to play out in Canadian schools.

Answer 2

Boys have more classroom interaction with teachers than do girls.Boys are also more likely to call out Answer:Answers in class without raising their hands,and teachers typically accept this behaviour.When girls engage in the same practice,teachers tend to correct them and tell them that their behaviour is inappropriate.Gendered patterns are also seen in curricular materials where boys and men are depicted as active subjects while women and girls are depicted as passive objects.In some subjects,such as history,women's contributions are all but ignored.

Question 3

Discuss the symbolic interactionist research that found a positive aspect of the self-fulfilling prophesy.Do you agree with the findings? Why or why not?

Answer 3

This study explored identity formation as students transitioned to their first year of university.The researchers found that since students were expected to learn more independently in university,they had to take greater personal responsibility for their learning.Students also often felt a loss of continuity since they now needed to develop identities as university students,characterized,for example,by different forms of social interaction with their professors than they were used to with their high school teachers.As well,the number and diversity of students at first contributed to feelings of anonymity.However,such feelings soon subsided,and interaction with this new network of people became critical to the students' identity formation.Students began to rely on each other,rather than on their professors,to navigate their way through their first year of university.Responses will vary by student.

Question 4

Discuss how mass education during the early twentieth century in Canada reinforced gender roles.Are such gender divisions in education still seen?

Question 5

According to a recent study,how prevalent is academic dishonesty in Canadian postsecondary institutions.Discuss the reasons for this.

Question 6

What is "credential inflation" and how does it contribute to inequality in Canadian society?

Question 7

Drawing on Parsons's functionalism,identify two ways that educational institutions are said to maintain the equilibrium of the social system.

Question 8

Discuss the meaning of the term chilly climate and its consequences in higher education.

Question 9

What does "gendered enrolment" mean and what are the consequences of these trends in the workforce?

Question 10

Give three examples of the McDonalization of higher education institutions.What are some possible negative effects of this trend?

Question 11

Discuss the major assumptions held by those in positions of authority during the nineteenth century that led to and justified residential schools and the abusive treatment of Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

Question 12

What is the "hidden curriculum" and how does it operate to maintain the social system? Give an example of how the hidden curriculum operates in your educational institution.

Question 13

If you were to become Minister of Education,what three educational processes would you investigate? In your investigation of said educational processes,what forms of change would you implement and what theoretical reasoning would you use?

Question 14

Discuss the debate over exclusivity contracts that many schools have signed with soft-drink manufacturers,such as Pepsi.Which side do you agree with and why?

Question 15

Using examples,discuss the steps anti-racist pedagogy advises educators to take in order to address issues of racism in the classroom.