Sociology of Education
Parents always wish that their kids excel in schools, especially the primary so that at a later date they would get enrollment into a better elementary school, which in most cases promises them a chance to the university (Henderson et al., 2020). Overall school performance is attributed to good management of the school, teacher kid closeness, and the learning environment. This paper presents a situation where Karla has a stressful experience, which she needs to critically think of before she makes the decision. Karla, born in a multicultural working-class neighborhood environment, is forced to do her elementary learning in an overcrowded and under-resourced school, in this institution she struggles to learn how to read (Marlow, 2010). Years later they get an assignment letter for their young daughter Maya to Newbury School, a poorly underperforming school. The dismal performance force the district to replace the principal, with a young energetic leader, who would help turn the school into a better learning place.
Although, the replacement was done and the new principal has been doing better in another school, to turn around tables and get a good institution will take some time. This is because the institution needs renovation, new teachers, which cannot be achieved in a fortnight. Karla is scared of the delay and thus opts to take her daughter to a private school, which has been doing well in recent years, and their 6th graders earning admissions to schools, later feeding the selective universities. Karla should share this with Maya to make sure that she is also willing to find herself in the new school, without which her efforts might go unrewarded.
Perhaps, if Maya leaves the local school for the private one, there is a problem with those without option but study in the Newbury School. These students are affected psychologically and when they see other students leave they might even force their parents to seek transfers as well since the old school seems no longer the best for most of the students. However, the parents might not be capable to meets the educational desires of their children, due to the existing social condition, thus they must cope with the condition in this local school. In case the performance does not improve or takes couples of years then the students come out disadvantaged and might even miss a chance to higher levels of education it is for this reason that those belonging to the poor social class would get low quality education, while those from higher social class have potential to attend prestigious schools, giving them more opportunities to receive higher education (Reay, 2010).
However, for the wellbeing of other students Karla, Mother to Maya, and her husband would have decided to stay in this local school. Now, after the stay, they join hands as the community to work towards supporting the new leadership, develop the school amenities for the greatness of the entire group of students who cannot afford private institutions. This effort would help minimize the inequalities between the educational system and social class, which is a major issue affecting the sociology of education (Reay, 2010). Although this effort might work, it is not guaranteed that other parents are willing to support this development, despite the promise for improvement in academic affairs.
In general, the education obligation for every child belongs to individual parent efforts. They have to ensure that their children study in the best schools, achieve the best grades, and earn a good living in the future. Thus the decision of transfer should be based on academic success and not on the community's ideas. Although community participation is good, parents should take charge of their kids take them to the best schools of their choice and give back to the community. More so, it would not be pleasing to Maya if at a later date other parents decide to withdraw their kids from this local school. It would affect her performance and eventually her entire life.
References
Henderson, M., Anders, J., Green, F., & Henseke, G. (2020). Private schooling, subject choice, upper secondary attainment and progression to university. Oxford Review of Education, 46(3), 295-312.
Marlow, M. L. (2010). The influence of private school enrollment on public school performance. Applied Economics, 42(1), 11-22.
Reay, D. (2010). Sociology, social class and education. The Routledge international handbook of the sociology of education, 396-404.
