Sociological Understanding for Improving Education in Australia

This document discusses the importance of sociological understanding in improving education in Australia. It explores the impact of social economic status, politics of education, and culture and ethnic differences on education. The document also provides insights into pedagogical approaches that can help address these issues.

Discuss how a sociological
understanding of each of the
following topics might be
useful for secondary school
teachers in Australia in
improving education

TABLE OF CONTENT
SOCIAL ECONOMIC STATUS ....................................................................................................1
POLITICS OF EDUACTION ........................................................................................................2
CULTURE AND/ ETHNIC DIFFERENCES ................................................................................4
GENDER.........................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCE LIST 1......................................................................................................................7
REFERENCE LIST 2......................................................................................................................9

SOCIAL ECONOMIC STATUS
Association between social economic status and education
Socio-economic status refers to the position of a individual in socio-economical scale
which calculates factors such as education, income, types of job profession, residency places and
attribute & religions etc. For example an individual person's class in society is basically
dependent on his income which demonstrate socio-economical status. Social and economical
condition gives negative impact on student education. Australian teachers are unable to give
proper education due to socio-economic gaps among children. For example on the basis of Child
Social Exclusion Index, some students of Australia doesn't get computer based study that leads
negative impact in student's eduction (Motoi, 2018). On the basis of parental income and
parental occupation, some students are unable to take digital education, thus economical factor
impacts education. Separation of society on the basis of socio-economical status such as upper,
upper middle, middle class, working and lower class etc. affect eduction system. For example
upper class students gets academic achievement in early year of schooling and are more focused
in learning task while lower class students may not have equal opportunities of academic
achievement due to economical condition.
Social class and inequality
Social class is defined as the social division on the basis of economic and societal status
such as on the basis of race, origin or religion. According to Gay, G. (2018) deficit theory the
learners who belongs to low or poor socio-economic environment have limited linguistic sources
which restrict their abilities and potential to achieve success. The theory also states that these
social and economic deficiencies in home environment affect skills, behavioural and knowledge
level of individual learners contributing in poor school performance. For instance if children
have crisis for food or safe living environment then they may fail to concentrate on studies and it
will be impossible for them to think of additional educational resources to enhance learning.
The socio-economic conditions of students affect the aim of achieving equitable
outcomes within classrooms. Along with the schooling there is need to align the strategies to
alleviate the racism, poverty and other social injustice. The students from disadvantage groups
does not have access to fair opportunities of learning and exploring their knowledge. The quality
and supportive classrooms may be supported by cross curriculums and their application.
However such approaches may not be able to specific subject contents such as in mathematics.
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Pedagogies from sociological perspective
Productive pedagogies refers classroom planning that teachers exercises to monitor and
improve students intelligence. It is influenced by intellectual quality, connectedness, supportive
classroom environment, valuing and working with different ways. Thus use of effective
pedagogical framework will help me to develop a classroom environment which delivers quality
education to all the students irrespective of their social class and background (David, 2016).
During my teaching practices I must assure that subjects must be promoted from different
perspectives so that individual students from various social background can affirm their worth of
diverse social background.
This pedagogical model assist in promoting high quality education for lower class student
in Australia. Primary goal of this model is to remove social class differences among Australian
students and supports of classroom for approaching high level outcomes for students (Stephens
and et.al., (2015). This framework can use in sociological perspective like intellectual quality,
connectedness, supportive classroom environment and valuing and working with different ways
which can help to overcome some issues like social class and deficit thinking for example low
income, minority of students lack of learning process (e.g. lack of motivation, homeless
condition and limited intelligence). For example during my teaching practices I used to
encourage students to gain as much as knowledge as possible. For this I used to provide them
classroom notes and internet access within schools. It helps all learners to receive in-depth
learning irrespective of the fact that if they can afford internet or not.
Intellectual quality: It is a structure of productive pedagogy's framework which is important for
social class of students and their academic ability. It represents intellectual challenging work. It
assists secondary class students who belong to low socio-economic background. Australian
teachers organizes many structural practices in schools (Tsiplakides, 2017). For example I used
to give challenging work which is important for all student. Such kind practices helpful to
enhance student outcome and remove differences in social class.
Connectedness: It is second dimension of productive pedagogy. Through this aspect I used to
focuses on developing student through making discipline in class because active learning can
come with the discipline. This concept is specially designed to fulfil needs of low learning
outcome of students. It leads self-esteem and production of idea in students.
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Supportive classroom environment: It is most improving factor for academic outcomes. I
always try to provide an intellectual challenging classroom to student where student gets proper
supportive to enhance skills in learning. It assist in reducing social issues regarding classes.
Valuing and working with differences: It is especially designed for student and gives
motivation and knowledge so that socio-economic issues between students can be eliminated and
quality learning can be sustained.
POLITICS OF EDUACTION
Neo-liberalism and hegemony within educational policies
The concepts such as hegemonic power and neo-liberalism influences the self regulated
learning outcomes. Thus for improving the quality of education system and institutions these
political aspects must be taken into account. Hegemony is defined as the dominance or
leadership of one social group over other. Thus it can influence the classroom environment as
well as the learning opportunities available for the students. The groups which are usually
dominated by others socially tend to have fewer opportunities to access the learning tools and
thus their educational attainment may be lower as compare to the other learners (Leonard,
2018). Such students may also face discriminatory behaviour from teachers as well as other
classmates. Similarly the concept of neo-liberalism affect the approaches in which professional
educators are prepared. With increasing role of neo-liberalism in education process teachers have
to face great pressure in producing teacher preparation programs and strategies which bypass the
traditional requirements.
Education policies
The education policies not only affect the curriculum but also have crucial impact upon
the teaching methods, qualification and training of teachers, classroom requirements as well as
learning opportunities to various social groups (Burke, Crozier & Misiaszek, 2016). These
policies can greatly affect the extent up to which minority or socially backward groups can
receive the benefits of education. For instance privatisation in education, distant learning
programs has created a huge and completely new market which provide training to educators for
charter schools. The education premises, concepts and methods of higher education, corporate
schooling and multi-purpose education systems have been improved and modified on the basis of
new educational laws. The government education laws emphasis upon the equality among all
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social groups thus they tend to suppress the idea of hegemony (Vale & et.al., 2016). The
education policies may affect the educators, labour groups, parents, educational institutes and
students so that public education system can be protected from dismantling process.
Pedagogy to overcome issues related to neo-liberalism and hegemony
The pedagogy for self regulated learning and policies is associated with the factors such
as liberalisation, democratic participation, educational empowerment and freedom. The self
regulated learning in the teaching process must transform the social reality with the aim to
mitigate discrimination and inequality. The educational policies must emphasis upon bringing
effective changes in social configuration which aligns with the logical integration or adaptation.
The self regulated learning (SRL) pedagogy aims at brining personal changes so that individuals
can be changed to bring modifications in existing social orders. The perspective of this approach
is to ensure that all individuals can have fair chance of receiving education. In my classroom I
gave all students an equal opportunity to interact with me and to explore the learning tools. For
instance for special or physically disabled children me and my teaching institute used to integrate
teaching methods which promote inclusive education. My teaching strategies and methods aims
at preparing and teaching students in a way so that they can self regulate their learning in
alignment with the neo-liberal logic. Thus it helps in producing learners which have responsible,
adaptable and self interested nature which makes them compatible in the learning environment
characterised by personalised learning, competition and choice (Burke, 2017). When classrooms
promote healthy competition among learners then it gave learners a valuable chance to explore
their knowledge and abilities without restricting themselves to boundaries of educational
curriculum. This approach is also helpful in promoting the learners who are capable to self
regulate themselves. The political framework in the education system also bind me to follow a
specific approach for teaching students. Thus in class I always promote equality and a positive
classroom environment without any discrimination or biased attitude. It ensures that all learners
in various educational institutes receives the same quality and level of education. The
educational policies also regulate that the ability and knowledge of students is not affected by
ability of teachers or the services and facilities available in a particular educational institute.
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CULTURE AND/ ETHNIC DIFFERENCES
Impact of culture and power in education
The culture of power is defined as the societal system in which a particular social class
maintain control over the others and positioned themselves as controlling group for values,
people and money (King, 2015). Thus certain groups are elevated unevenly and unfairly. The
culture of power affects the ways in which an individual is allowed to access educational
resources. For instance some people are restricted to enter in high standard educational institutes
which is dominated by other cultural groups. Thus it can deprive them from exploring learning
and growth opportunities. Similarly the cultural values of a student can also affect their
perception and beliefs and thus they may not accept or learn the knowledge which they assumed
to be different from their cultural beliefs.
The cultural aspects such as raced consciousness, linguistic barriers and cultural
stereotypes affects the classroom environment and learning abilities of individuals (King, 2015).
Thus it is required for the teachers to have cultural responsiveness so education attainment level,
perceptions and language aspects of the students can be shaped. The racial and cultural diversity
among learners affect their perspective in gaining knowledge as well as their response towards
cultural responsive teaching. In addition to the students the racial aspects of teachers can also
have significant impact upon on the response and cultural competencies. The curriculum and
teaching methodologies must incorporate the ethnic and cultural differences into account.
Cultural differences and identity
If educational institutes are dominated by a specific racial groups then learners from other
cultural groups may feel neglected and lack of effective policies can also result in violation of
their interest. For instance African students in Australian or American university may feel
marginalised and thus white students may hesitate to participate in an open discussion on racial
issues. All students have raced consciousness which integrates with the way in which they
positioned themselves within classrooms. Such type of awareness also helps learners to
understand the way in which their personality and individuality is read by other individuals or
class members (Gay, 2018). In most of the literature white identity is represented as power and
thus the authority and existence of other racial groups may also be denied in the classrooms
(Blair & et.al., 2017). Thus for providing quality education to the learners it is the responsibility
of the teachers to assure that such cultural aspects does not act as barrier in the classrooms.
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Cultural pedagogy
The most effective pedagogy which I used to address the cultural differences in their
teaching is cultural responsive pedagogy (CRP). The cultural differences and racial elements
affects my teaching methodologies as well as students (Gadotti, 2017). The effectiveness of this
strategy can be measured by evaluating the way in which teachers respond to work of all
students and the way in which response of learners is affected by raced consciousness. It has
been observed that some particular racial groups are more conscious of academic achievement.
Instructors or teachers must give attention to racially inflected positions. Due to this reason I
used to identify the way and extent up to which racial consciousness of learners as well as my
teaching pattern affect the curriculum, responsiveness towards assignment and acceptance of
cultural diversity within classrooms (Francis & et.al., 2017). The cultural awareness also shape
my students to take suitable positioning in their assignments as well as in processing the cultural
responsiveness. Hence it is necessary for me as well as for my educational institute that we must
acknowledge and respect the experience of cultural diversity. One of the key challenge in
adopting cultural responsiveness is that teachers as well as students may find it hard to accept the
diversity and cultural values of others. In my opinion individuals may face challenge in viewing
others “in their own light'. Thus I always emphasis on creating classroom environment in which
culture is considered as an integral element of the teaching and learning process. I always try to
include teaching approaches which are able to challenge the common and unjustified stereotypes
in the society (Sen & et.al., 2017). On many occasions linguistic barriers and prejudices
regarding some specific racial groups prevent me from using specific teaching method or topic
in the curriculum. However in such situations I use a wide range of tools and methods so that
learners can accept the racial and cultural variations. There is also need to design curriculum in a
way such that it does not establish or promote the racial prejudices or stereotypes instead it gave
an opportunity to teachers and students so that they can challenge and modify these barriers in
education (Gallagher & Rodricks, 2017). For enhancing the learning outcomes and quality of
education linguistic gaps and cultural differences in learning and teaching methodologies must
be addressed.
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GENDER
Intersectionality, feminism and other gender aspects within education
Feminism is defined as the advocacy of rights of women on the basis or sexual equality.
It aims at establishing sexual equality in all political, economic, social and personal aspect. On
the other hand intersectionality is defined as interconnection of gender and social categoirsations
like social class or race. It creates an interdependent system of disadvantage and discrimination
for a particular groups. Internationalist can also be refereed as branch of the feminism proclaim
how all other prospect of political and social personalities such as class, sexuality gender etc.
and discrimination overlap. For example racial as well as gender discrimination both are faced
by a black woman which represents a form of internationalist or inter-sectional feminism.
Class , age , creed gender and sexual orientation are the form of the social stratification. The goal
of the internationalist is to determine how extending categories of identity affect institute and
individual. Internationalist is relevant to the phrase triple oppression(Case., 2016). Feminism and
intersectionality have strong influence on education. There are various groups which are not
provided equal treatment and learning environment on the basis of gender. For instance some
women in specific social classes are not assumed or allowed to opt for a particular subject or
teaching method because it is predominantly occupied by male members of society.
Gender considerations in education
For the secondary teachers it has been great challenge to integrate the gender into
academic disciplines. The in depth knowledge of gender can have strong influence on the
stereotypical notions which are carried by the students. Thus many students may become
uncomfortable when specific emphasis is put upon some common gender related notions. Some
learners may show resistance in terms of accepting the new knowledge while for some learning
process may act as driver to break their resistance (Canetto, 2019). It greatly depends upon the
teachers that how they make their subject domain invisible to learners on the basis of gender
stereotypes. Hence there is need of adopting specific pedagogy by teachers so that the issues
related to intersectionality and feminism can be addressed. The goal of the education feminism is
to determine gender inequalities in the society, anti discrimination legislation was employed
only partially successful in relevant to gender and race inequalities in education.
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Pedagogy to solve intersectionality and feminism issues
Inter-sectional gender pedagogy goal is to increase the knowledge of power relevant in
relation in interplay of eliminate norms and classroom differences. An inter-sectional gender
pedagogy inspire me to develop an instrument which aims at counteracting processes which
make exclusion instrument which treat difference constructively(Hellawell., 2017). The word
internationalist originate from the American English word intersection which mean a type of
road junction. The intention of the feminism pedagogy is to make a new standard in the
classroom, feminism pedagogy creates a new method or technique of teaching, the knowledge
extended to the whole society not just only to the classroom. Gender pedagogy criticize meaning
of gender in the classrooms inter-sectional gender pedagogy concentrate on the power ,
inequality and difference. In my teaching I used to employ inter-sectional gender pedagogy as a
sociological perspective to improve or overcome some problems about the feminism and
internationalist. Inter-sectional gender pedagogy reflect or echo on how awareness and
intelligence of the inter sectional gender used in term to improve communication in class rooms.
Students are in homogeneous group in classrooms and inter-sectional pedagogy concentrate on
critically making separation which create inequality and exclusion. Transversal dialogues refers
to an instrument of the inter-sectional gender pedagogy is used in sociological perspective to
overcome some problems . Transversality is relevant to the crossing boundaries and
overcoming the separation between groups who are in different position. For instance in my
classroom I used to adopt inter-sectional gender pedagogy to address issues related to the black
feminism and other intersectionality issues (Schreiber., 2018). The ambition of the Transversal
dialogue instrument is that all members work toward moving between different position. In my
teaching I also concentrate on the fact of conflict related to inter-sectional differences. In my
teaching approach transversal dialogue instrument is also used to reform and adjust the
composition of the students instead of forcing them for excessively large compromises on shared
project. Transversal pedagogy instrument of the inter-sectional gender pedagogy is related to the
creating knowledge of separation power inequalities and legitimating norms in the classrooms it
is not related to the creating new norms through forced consensus.
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REFERENCE LIST 1
Books and Journals
Blair, E. E. & et.al., (2017). Undergraduate STEM instructors' teacher identities and discourses
on student gender expression and equity. Journal of Engineering Education. 106(1). 14-
43.
Burke, P. J. (2017). Difference in higher education pedagogies: gender, emotion and
shame. Gender and education. 29(4). 430-444.
Burke, P. J., Crozier, G., & Misiaszek, L. I. (2016). Changing pedagogical spaces in higher
education: Diversity, inequalities and misrecognition. Routledge.
Canetto, S. S. (2019). Teaching about women and gender from a transnational and intersectional
feminist perspective. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice,
Consultation. 8(3). 144.
Case, K.A., 2016. Toward an intersectional pedagogy model: Engaged learning for social justice.
In Intersectional pedagogy (pp. 1-24). Routledge.
David, M. E. (2016). Feminism, gender and universities: Politics, passion and pedagogies.
Routledge.
Francis, B. & et.al., (2017). Exploring the relative lack of impact of research on ‘ability
grouping’in England: A discourse analytic account. Cambridge Journal of
Education. 47(1). 1-17.
Gadotti, M. (2017). The global impact of Freire's pedagogy. New Directions for
Evaluation. 2017(155). 17-30.
Gallagher, K., & Rodricks, D. J. (2017). Hope despite hopelessness: Race, gender, and the
pedagogies of drama/applied theatre as a relational ethic in neoliberal times. Youth
Theatre Journal. 31(2). 114-128.
Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers
College Press.
Hellawell, S., 2017. Feminism, Pacifism and Internationalism: The Women’s International
League, 1915–1935 (Doctoral dissertation, Northumbria University).
King, J. E. (2015). Dysconscious racism: Ideology, identity, and the miseducation of teachers.
In Dysconscious Racism, Afrocentric Praxis, and Education for Human Freedom:
Through the Years I Keep on Toiling (pp. 125-139). Routledge.
Leonard, J. (2018). Culturally specific pedagogy in the mathematics classroom: Strategies for
teachers and students. Routledge.
Motoi, G. (2018). The Role Of The Social Class And The Family In The Formation Of Values In
The Context Of The Democratisation Of Education. Social Sciences and Education
Research Review. 5(1). 136-147.
Schreiber, R., 2018. A women’s war against war: The socialist-feminist pacifism of Four Lights:
An Adventure in Internationalism. Radical Americas. 3(17). pp.1-16.
Sen, S. & et.al., (2017). Diversity and social justice in planning education: A synthesis of topics,
pedagogical approaches, and educational goals in planning syllabi. Journal of Planning
Education and Research. 37(3). 347-358.
Stephens, N. M. and et.al., (2015). Feeling at home in college: Fortifying school‐relevant selves
to reduce social class disparities in higher education. Social issues and policy review.
9(1). 1-24.
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Tsiplakides, I. (2017). Social class, performance in university entrance examinations and choice
of studies in Greek higher education. European Journal of Social Sciences Studies.
Vale, C. & et.al., (2016). Equity, social justice and ethics in mathematics education. In Research
in Mathematics Education in Australasia 2012-2015(pp. 97-118). Springer, Singapore.
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REFERENCE LIST 2
Journals
Gere, A. R., Buehler, J., Dallavis, C., & Haviland, V. S. (2009). A visibility project: Learning to
see how preservice teachers take up culturally responsive pedagogy.
Lundberg, A., & Werner, A. (2013). Gender Studies Education and Pedagogy. Nationella
sekretariatet för genusforskning.
Mills, M., Goos, M., Keddie, A., Honan, E., Pendergast, D., Gilbert, R., ... & Wright, T. (2009).
Productive pedagogies: A redefined methodology for analysing quality teacher
practice. The Australian Educational Researcher. 36(3). 67-87.
Vassallo, S., 2012. Critical pedagogy and neoliberalism: Concerns with teaching self regulated
learning.. Springer science business media Dordrecht.
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