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Unit 4 Social Institutions
Section 3
Conflict Perspective
Key Terms
• meritocracy
• competition
• educational equality
• cognitive ability
• cultural bias
• school desegregation
• multicultural education
• compensatory education
Section
Section
Meritocracy
Conflict theorists attempt to show that popular conceptions about the re- lationship between schools and society are not entirely accurate. Schools and society often touch each other in complicated and unobvious ways. In a meritocracy, social status is based on ability and achievement rather
than social-class background or parental status. In theory, all individuals in a meritocracy have an equal chance to develop their abilities for the benefit of themselves and their society. A meritocracy, then, gives everyone an equal chance to succeed. It is free of barriers that prevent individuals from devel- oping their talents.
Meritocracy is based on competition. For this rea- son, sport is seen as the ultimate meritocracy. Although some sports have glar- ing shortcomings in this regard (see Chapter 15), sport does fit very closely with the def- inition of competition. For sociologists, competition is a social process that oc- curs when rewards are given to people on the basis of how their per- formance compares with the performance of oth- ers doing the same task or participating in the same event (Coakley,
1998).
Is America really a meritocracy? Although America claims to be a mer-
itocracy, sociologists have identified barriers to true merit- based achievement, such as gender, race, and ethnicity. An example (greatly simplified) is how the edu-
Preview
Preview
In theory, America is a meri- tocracy in which social sta- tus is achieved. Proponents
of the conflict perspective identify flaws in this model by pointing to inequality in our schools. Methods and programs aimed at promot- ing educational equality have been developed.
meritocracy
a society in which social status is based on ability and achievement
competition
system in which rewards are based on relative performance
Participating in academic contests, such as building rockets, is one way teachers can find those students who merit special recognition.