The contemporary society comprises dynamic cultures as manifested in the urban schools. The increasing level of complication in the cultural aspects in the American urban school results from the increasing levels of immigration rates. Statistics has it that by the year 2020 two-thirds of the population of American schools will be Asian, Hispanics, African Americans, or natives (Grigorenko & Takanishi, 2010). However, several issues face the culturally diverse schools in terms of how to achieve classroom success. Experiences, needs, values, and attitudes related to the minority cultural groups are often ignored based on the socioeconomic status, and this affects the learning process of minority victims negatively. The paper analyses how urban schools in diverse American society manage cultural diversity and the implication of the diversity using the Functional Theory and Conflict Theory.
Explanation of Theories
Emile Durkheim’s Functional Theory focuses on presenting an explanation of the aspect of the world as a complex unit comprised of interrelated portions. The theory focuses on the interdependence of several facets in the contemporary society (Calhoun, 2012). Additionally, the sociologist views the society a machine that compels individuals to behave in a defined manner. The sociologist views learning institutions as tools for socializing students and sorting them into part of the socioeconomic structure, which complement their abilities (Calhoun, 2012). Above all, his belief that agreement is the state of normalcy in the contemporary society contradicts Marx’s postulation.
Marx Weber holds that the reason behind the social order is not collective agreement, but on the ability of dominant groups to inflict their demands on their juniors (Calhoun, 2012). Marx postulates that meritocracy disguises the power of dynamics that drives the society. The socialist perceives the power dynamics existing between groups based on the aspects of social class, economic class and race or ethnicity (Kivisto, 2011). Inequality stretch to the urban schools in a cultural diverse society. The paper outlines the connectedness of social stratification to the implication of cultural diversity in the urban schools as presented by the two theories.
Analysis
The experiences and the level of supply of basic needs to students take an interesting conformance to the claims postulated by the theorists. Children from cultural minority groups with low socioeconomic status lack basic needs such as medical care, proper housing, and adequate diet (Grigorenko & Takanishi, 2010). On the other hand, children of high socioeconomic status obtain all the basic needs and other auxiliary items that enable them to excel. The economic disparity existing amongst students of different races results to the inconsistency witnessed in the results of the students. Students who get all that they need are more likely to pass than the students from cultural minority groups, who struggle to strike a balance between learning in urban schools and surviving.
Emile’s functional theory explains the low status of the minority perfectly as it clarifies that the society can dictate the nature or outcome in an individual. The society deprived the minority groups of the basic materials for survival, and this explains the reason for the cases of deviance amongst them (Grigorenko & Takanishi, 2010). Again, Emile explains how the society is a perfect tool for integration of individual into various socioeconomic statuses. Even though, the extent of segregation is low in the contemporary schools, the aspect of social classes is still eminent. Children from minority groups know deep that their ethnic cocoons affect them in a given way. Ethnic ties to the minority community serve to discourage the children in learning institution because they lack strong role models and those whom to look up to from their communities (Grigorenko & Takanishi, 2010).
Power dynamics also explains certain aspects of the dismal conditions of the cultural minority groups. As Marx postulates, it is true that power dynamics has close conformance to the social and economic aspects. Children from the wealthy families whose parents are more optimistic are encouraged to be optimistic. Thus, they advance in their education. On the other hand, the impoverished family structures of students with low socioeconomic serve as an aspect of discouragement. The wealthy children are more likely to succeed and clinch power positions in the society than the poor students from the cultural minority groups. The wealthy classes will continue outshining the minority groups because they have the right card to play. On the contrary, the consensus that Emile recognizes as being a state of normality is an illusion in real life situations based on the conditions of learning in the urban (Calhoun, 2012). A state of disagreement exists in the contemporary society. The evidence exists in the urban learning institutions where the attitudes and values of the minority groups are not recognized (Calhoun, 2012). Instead, the policies of the dominant cultural groups prevail with them imposing some of their stringent rules on minority students.
In conclusion, the values, attitudes, needs, and experiences of the students from minority groups are often ignored, and this negatively influences the learning process of the minority groups in the urban institutions. The socioeconomic status of the individual is the basis of social stratification as Emile explains. Economic disparities existing amongst the students and the extent of sidelining the cultural views and attitudes of the minority students are substantial evidences for the role of the society in shaping students’ lives in institutions. Marx and Emilie’s theories explain the rationale behind the existing social organisation of students of various socioeconomic statuses in the urban schools in a culturally diverse society.
References
Calhoun, C. J. (2012). Classical sociological theory. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell.
Grigorenko, E. L., & Takanishi, R. (2010). Immigration, diversity, and education. New York: Routledge.
Kivisto, P. (2011). Social theory: roots and branches (4th Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
