Sude Naz Karlı

B2301.010036

English Language Teaching

Küçükçekmece Anatolian High School

İstanbul

19

Female

1.According to the data above, what is the most important obstacle for children in our country
to recieve pre-school education?
As indicated by the data, the most important obstacle for children in our country to recieve
pre-school is the economic and financial barriers, especially fort he families with low-income.
Families with low-income have hard time to afford the costs of pre-school education and they
rioritize other expenses such as food. Financial inequality brings out the educational
inequality and result in lack of motor skills of children who did not recieve pre-school
education. All in all poor families and the economic disparities are the main obstacle for
children in Turkey to recieve pre-school education.
2.Which of the theories covered in the course (ther emust be three) do you associate these
barriers with and see them as parallel?
1-Conflict Theory enables us to see the economic diparities and social inequalities due to
societal structures and emphasizes the role of education in ensuring qualities to fit in the
social structures. By enabling us to see the indequalities in both economics and education and
emphasizing the role of education in social structures, conflict theory is parallel with the
barriers mentioned in the data.
2-Symbolic Interactionism which is a theory that focuses on interaction between
individuals and tries to understand the relitionships between how people interact with each
other and the society they have grown in or the society that they live in. This theory is parallel
with the barriers mentioned in the data because in the data we can see how children from poor
families are struggling to interact with children from wheltier families due to the educational
inequality between them.
3-Functionalist Theory is the third theory which supports the idea of the impact of
education in social institutions. Functionalist theory sees education as the server for the needs
of society and suggests that education prepares students for their future roles or functions in
society. Functionalist theory is parallel with the barriers mentioned in the data because i the
data we see that in their future educations, children who did not recieve pre-school education
lack in some parts of educational needs because they are not prepared enough for their
functions from the begining of their education.
3.What are the consequences of not getting pre-school education according to the data above?
According to the data above, the consequences of the absence of pre-school education has
impact on students both social and academicc lifes. Academically lack of motor skills and
lower succes rates in exams are the result of the absence of pre-school educatin. Socially
students who did not recieve pre-school education, due to economically disadvantaged
backgrounds, are less likely to develop their literacy skills and pre-school education has
lasting impact on students future professional life.
4.Interpret this situation by associating it with Basil Bersnstein’s concepts of “bounded speech
code” and “detailed speech code”. Summarize these two concepts in your own words before
interpreting.
Bonded speech code which is also called restricted speech code is the language that is
often used in informal situations and lower classes in social sturctures which is also called the
working class. Its language is very simple, depends on the context and ostly associated with
experiences rather then elaborated verbal expressions. On the contrary detailed speech code
which is also called elaborated speech code is more complex and have an elaborated
language. Elaborated speech code is often used by upper classes in society who are aducated.
To interpret the situation accosiating it with Basil Bernstein’s conccepts, Families from
lower classes and lower income are more likely to Express their situations in a concrete way
like Kıymet Sarı did in the data above. We can say that she is from the lower classes of
society by the language she used to describe her situation. The verbal expressions she used,
such as describing the pre-school education as luxury, are restricted. On the contrary, when
the experts discuss about the significance of pre-school education and its impacts they use
more formal language then those low income family members did. They tend to use statistic
data while emphasizing the eonomic inequalities in society. The verbal expressions they use
are formal and elaborated.
5.Bowles and Gintisi in their book Education in Capitalist America, argued that schools
perpetuate the division of labor in sociey. They also emphasized that schools maintain the
existing social class differences in the society. How can this approach relate to the data
presented in the news above?
In their book Education in Capitalist America, Bowles and Gintis suggest that schools
perpetuate the divisipon of labor in society and maintains social class differences. They argue
that schools play a role in reproduction of social inequalities. Their arguments are related with
the data presented in the news above indicating that economic disparities impacts individuals
educational opportunuties and causes the creation of social classes. Educational inequalities
effect individuals future workplace and it is also a factor that causes the social classes. People
from low-income families are forced to face with the challenges that not recieving pre-school
education and those who did not recieve pre-school education are those who have sturggle
with interacting with people from upper classes in the society. It Works like a cycle of
inequalities that creates social structures and social classes. By forcing individuals from lower
classes in the society to not recieve enough education to develop themselves and associate
with the upper class, schools in Turkey also prepetuate the division of labor in society and
maintain social classes. To sum it up, as Bowles and Gintis argued in their book called
Education in Capitalist America, educational systems and schools are the main factors that
limits individuals ability to function in the society and causes the social classes and
inequalities as in the data presented in the news above.