A Relational Approach To Educational Inequality

In her research R. Nazlı Somel focuses on the topic of educational inequality, both from a theoretical perspective and through an empirical analysis. After a review of prominent approaches to educational inequality and their criticism, she offers a novel strategy to study the issue based on Relational Sociology and using the relational approaches of Charles Tilly and Pierre Bourdieu. Three relational characteristics of educational inequality are identified that are its relativity, cumulativeness, and being an organized practice. The author then applies this relational perspective to an in-depth study on an Istanbul primary school, analyses students, teachers and school organization in relation to each other and to Turkish education system and society.

Organizations are the dominant social invention for generating resources and distributing them. Relational Inequalities develops a general sociological and organizational analysis of inequality, exploring the processes that generate inequalities in access to respect, resources, and rewards. Framing their analysis through a relational account of social and economic life, Donald Tomaskovic-Devey and Dustin Avent-Holt explain how resources are generated and distributed both within and between organizations. They show that inequalities are produced through generic processes that occur in all social relationships: categorization and their resulting status hierarchies, organizational resource pooling, exploitation, social closure, and claims-making. Drawing on a wide range of case studies, Tomaskovic-Devey and Avent-Holt focus on the workplace as the primary organization for generating inequality and provide a series of global goals to advance both a comparative organizational research model and to challenge troubling inequalities.

This book discusses the factors behind the inequalities embedded within our social, economic and political systems. Social inequalities are especially seen in the service sectors – in the differences of access to healthcare, education, social protection, housing systems, childcare, elderly care etc. Cultural inequality, which segregates people from the mainstream based on recognition problems with a specific groups’ social status, language, religion, customs and norms, is another widespread issue. This book tries to present an accurate picture of these issues with cases studies from various countries. Mostly, when we talk about inequality, the focus is on economic inequality; however, much inequality persists, especially discrimination due to gender, age, origin, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, class, and religion. To end this situation there is a need for social, economic, and political reform. Until or unless the marginalized groups are empowered, the inequality issue cannot be solved or even minimized. On the basis of various case studies, this book encourages us to rethink societal development through the lens of growing inequalities and disparities. The book presents new insights for evaluating the progress on social development. The book highlights the current challenges of social inequality. In combination this collection of edited papers gives an integrated understanding of the question of “why is society unequal”? This book is aimed at those stakeholders, who want to make or contribute to change and build an undivided, socially inclusive society, and to those who want to contribute to empowering society in the Twenty-First century.

This book examines the ‘English mania phenomenon’ and the complex circumstances of adopting English Medium Instruction (EMI) by South Asian education systems and the effect of an uneven distribution of resources on the already under-resourced countries in the region. Chapters explore linguistic, social, and economic injustices by using an analytic-critical approach to examinations of the place, role, provisions, and practices of EMI in specific English language teaching (ELT) contexts. The book consequently advocates for the wholescale reform of a system, which, the authors argue, is unjust. Ultimately, the book explores socio-cultural, poststructuralist, and English linguistic imperialism theories to contribute a South Asian perspective on the controversy surrounding EMI and examine its role within a wider global discourse on equity and social justice. Critically examining the spread of English in South Asia, this book will be of relevance to researchers, scholars, and postgraduate students in applied linguistics, language education, TESOL, and sociolinguistics.

The issue of educational opportunity has long been of public concern and a major focus for eduational research. As a result, there is now a substantial body of research findings in this field, both quantitative and qualitative.; This work relates to various levels of the educational system and to different categories of student, but particularly social class, gender, ethnicity and race. The central trend has been to find persisting inequalities despite reform at system, institutional and classroom levels. Furthermore, the educational system is frequently portrayed as playing a key role in reproducing wider social and economic inequalities.; This book examines the status of educational inequality as a social problem, explores the conceptual issues surrounding it, assesses a representative sample of recent research, and seeks to clarify the relevant methodological ground rules, thereby laying the basis for future research in the field.

Education, Inequality and Social Class provides a comprehensive discussion of the empirical evidence for persistent inequality in educational attainment. It explores the most important theoretical perspectives that have been developed to understand class-based inequality and frame further research. With clear explanations of essential concepts, this book draws on empirical data from the UK and other countries to illustrate the nature and scale of inequalities according to social background, discussing the interactions of class-based inequalities with those according to race and gender. The book relates aspects of inequality to the features of educational systems, showing how policy choices impact on the life chances of children from different class backgrounds. The relationship between education and social mobility is also explored, using the concepts of social closure, positionality and social congestion. The book also provides detailed discussions of the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Basil Bernstein, two important theorists whose contributions have generated thriving research traditions much used in contemporary educational research. Education, Inequality and Social Class will be essential reading for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students engaged in the study of education, childhood studies and sociology. It will also be of great interest to academics, researchers and teachers in training.

The issue of educational opportunity has long been of public concern and a major focus for eduational research. This work relates to various levels of the educational system and to different categories of student.