Provide examples to support my explanation of the concept of privilege relative to nationality, gender, ability, social class and race.
Privilege as a concept is not only inclined on race and gender but rather on almost all facets of social life that deal with different power dynamics. It is worth appreciating that privilege operates in a distinct manner but is often associated with discrimination in a given society where it is experienced. Therefore, in the explanation on an individual's participation in either privilege or discrimination, it is worth understanding the different groups that one belongs to. Different kinds of privilege exist in every society and regardless of their nature, it worth acknowledging that the privileged group is always the one that is often treated as the baseline against which all other groups are judged or else compared (Sugiman, 2001). The privileged group, therefore, is taken as the ordinary, and different kinds of privileges exist in the modern society based on many issues.
Ability
Ability, as will be used in the above study, indicates someone who is able-bodied and without any form of mental disability whatsoever. For example, in acting, people with disability are privileged to be offered to perform roles that meet their description. However, for the case of fully enabled individuals, they can still be requested to play roles that imitate those with disabilities, but disabled individuals cannot be offered a chance to play the role of fully enabled individuals. It is, therefore, worth mentioning that people who are mentally fit are not often used to justify criminal behavior in film television but those with some mental disability are used.
In the society, people are classified into different classes based on some issues and are therefore privileged to gain access to various forms of benefits in the community. For instance, a class can be identified due to the economic status of an individual or the social class that one belongs. Social class as used in the above study indicates the different privileges that one gets access to due to association with particular groups (Black & Stone, 2008). For example, due to the social class of an individual, one is privileged to get an opportunity to participate in politics, gain access to free education in a given institution or other types of opportunities presented to them. Therefore, the fact that people belong to different social classes is indicates the ability of individuals to gain access to various types of privileges in the society.
Gender
Gender is an area of contention as far as access to various privileges is concerned in any society as will be outlined shortly. In almost every society, especially in the African culture, masculine individuals have more privileges over their female counterparts. It is a common thing in the media to see men with more authority over women, an indication of the privilege of leadership (Benson, 2015). Despite efforts to embrace aspects of globalization, it is evident that men lead most global corporates. Another good example to indicate access to privilege in society because of gender is in many African societies. Only Men are privileged with the opportunity of inheriting land except for some few states that are enlightened on aspects to deal with inheritance.
Race
This is another area of contention as far as accesses to different privileges are concerned in various parts of the world. For instance, in the West, white individuals are often associated with power, lots of money and therefore enjoy a lot of privileges in such societies. Concerning racial privilege, a system is structured that allows one group to enjoy more rights over others in the society because of their race. For instance, the India race discriminates against marrying individuals from other race, and the society actually neglects those that engage in such behaviors.
Nationality
As evidenced by the study, different forms of privileges exist in the society, and to a great extent, nationality of an individual plays a significant role. Because of belonging to a given country either by birth or registration, one is privileged to enjoy some opportunities over the foreigners in a country. For example, an individual may qualify for a certain job in a country but because of nationality, will not be offered an opportunity to work in that position if it specifically requires an individual from the said nationality.
Explain efforts occurring to promote change towards a more pluralistic perspective on our Federal Government and Higher Education, what obstacles to such efforts still exist?
It is worth acknowledging that higher education is a partnership amid the federal government, local government among other relevant stakeholders. Every stakeholder plays a crucial role in helping students gain access to education. To be specific, the federal government makes people gain access to better education through the provision of financial aid and development of proper policies. For sustainability of the future generation, the federal government supports higher education programs through different scholarships schemes that are funded by it. The objective is backed by the diverse strategies employed by the government in supporting the process such as embracement of contextualized learning models among others (Sam & Sijde, 2014).
In the recent past, the Federal Government has committed itself to support the transformation of the higher education to embrace diversity. The structural change involved of education pluralism supports a system that engages diverse commitment and the desire for the society to nurture students for sustainability of the future generation. The pluralism recognizes different values associated with education and accommodates the different beliefs and opinion installed by the democratic government. It is worth appreciating that some critics are concerned that pluralism will create more harm to the education system as it will encourage more division. However, different stakeholders fear that pluralism will result in superior civic and improved academic result than for the current case. With education pluralism, the providers will be informed of the purpose of education, identify the particular individuals that require it, the role of teachers and family in creating an efficient atmosphere to support education. Education serves different functions to the society and it is the one that makes an individual to be productive in a given society.
While the traditionalist model views the child as recipient of knowledge and should be introduced into the curriculum to enjoy the diverse opportunities of education, the progressive model takes a different approach. According to it, a child is considered as the creator of knowledge and not the recipient and is against the use of curriculum indicating that the approach makes students develop well socially and be innovative.
With education pluralism, the education providers will understand the efficient models to use so as to overcome the different obstacles to education in the country. With the pluralistic approach, no particular model is privileged over the other but leaves educators or rather schools to choose to use either traditional or progressive approach based on their wish. Pluralism, therefore, offers parents and students with opportunities to choose from a variety of choices based on their pedagogical needs (Altbach et al., 2011). The above system of pluralism, therefore, creates a democratic atmosphere that offers correct and formational type of education. This is made possible by utilization of different approaches based on satisfaction of the different needs in the society.
The pluralists view education as a public good with an intention to balance parental commitments in achieving a common set of standards and goals. The government of the US is one of the obstacles that hinder employment of pluralism as it privileges its model of education over others. Moreover, the fact that different stakeholders have a varied understanding of the concept has contributed to reluctance transforming the education system in the country.
References
Altbach, P. G., Gumport, P. J., &Berdahi, R. O. (2011). American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Social, Political, and Economic Challenges (Third Edition). World Future Review (World Future Society), 3(2), 96-100.
Benson, M. C. (2015). Class, race, privilege: structuring the lifestyle migrant experience in Boquete, Panama. Journal of Latin American Geography, 14(1), 19-37.
Black, L. L., & Stone, D. (2008). Expanding the definition of privilege: The concept of social privilege. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 33(4), 243–255.
Sam, C., & Sijde, P. (2014). Understanding the concept of the entrepreneurial university from the perspective of higher education models. Higher Education, 68(6), 891-908.
Sugiman, P. (2001). Privilege and oppression: The configuration of race, gender, and class in southern Ontario auto plants, 1939 to 1949. Labour/Le Travail, 83-113.
