Social context and forces of education

There are many different social factors that shape students’ experiences and outcomes in relation to their education. Factors such as class and culture play a role in a student’s education within Australia.

- CLASS

A person’s social class within society plays a critical role in relation to their or their childs education. The wealth or status of a family can determine the type of education their child receives.

During the 20^th century State schools were the institution attended by the large majority of children. State schools accept children from all classes, cultural backgrounds and geographic location and in turn provide opportunity to everyone in society regardless of their social status or class. While this provides all students with access to the education, there is still at times a large gap between the education for children in State schools and the education of children attending wealthy private schools. (Bentley. I, 2012)

Students’ from a high social status family are more likely to attend a private school, which often charge large fees per annum for students’ to attend and/or accept students whose parents have also attended the school or hold a high place in society.

These high fees help private schools to provide top of the range resources such as computers, extensive library resources and theatre rooms. They also provide a range of extra curricular activities and accelerated learning programs for their students to participate in and excel in their chosen discipline. As well as the cost to attend a private school there are often a number of other fees throughout the school year such as uniforms, excursions and overseas school trips, which can often only be afforded by those of a higher class in society. With all these additional resources and programs students that attend a private school often experience a different form of education to students attending a State school and for over a century this has resulted in private schools producing a large number of leaders in society in comparison to state schools. This shows the social inequality caused by social class that can affect a persons education within Australia.

- CULTURE

Culture is a factor that affects a person’s educational experience, based on the level of importance that is placed on education. In Australia education is considered as not only compulsory but also an essential aspect of an individuals life and these days there is an increasing importance placed on finishing school. Completing school in Australia has become more important in recent years, these days completing school increases job prospects and ones chances of continuing on to further education, providing more options for the future.

“Some facts:

•       Higher educational attainment leads to significantly better wages, with each additional year of schooling being associated with around a 10 per cent increase in earnings.

•       Research shows that young people who complete Year 12 are approximately six times more likely to make a smooth transition to post-school activities than those who leave before completing senior schooling.

•       In Australia, 20–24 year olds are more likely to be unemployed if they didn’t complete senior schooling than those who did complete.” (Youth Attainment and Transitions; Australian Government, accessed 28/09/12)

Years ago it was common for people to drop out and not complete their secondary education as their were more low-skilled jobs available that did not require higher education qualifications. The Australian Government supports this culture of completing higher education to obtain more employment opportunities and set the target that by 2010 90% of young people will complete their year 12 educations or its equivalent. 

Table 1: Percentage of 19-year-olds who have completed Year 12 or an equivalent, 1999 to 2007

	1999 (%)	2000 (%)	2001 (%)	2002 (%)	2003 (%)	2004 (%)	2005 (%)	2006 (%)	2007 (%)	Change 1999 to 2007
Metropolitan	75.0	76.0	77.5	77.7	79.5	80.5	79.1	80.2	79.3	+ 4.3 % points
Non-Metropolitan	70.3	70.6	71.4	71.5	74.9	74.8	72.6	74.4	73.5	+ 3.2 % points
Victoria	73.6	74.4	75.7	75.8	78.4	78.8	77.2	78.5	77.6	+ 4.0 % points

(Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, accessed 28/09/12)

This culture of the increasing importance to complete secondary school also places a higher level of expectations on schools and teachers within the Australian education sector and therefore also contributes to political factors of education.

REFERENCES

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/researchinnovation/vcams/children/16-2completingyear12.htm accessed 28/09/12

Attainment and Transitions; Australian Government;

http://transitions.youth.gov.au/sites/transitions/thebigpicture/pages/whyisyear12important accessed 28/09/12

Bentley. I, “EDU4CCE Changing Contexts in Education 2E,” Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd, 2012.