Assignment #6
Choose one or more of the key (italicized) terms introduced in the Introduction to Education and Social Change and describe how you have seen evidence of it in your own life. These terms include globalization, urbanization, human capital, social capital, cultural capital, equity and ideology. (200 words or more)
Kitty Lui
Technology has played a big role in this generation and has bloomed a lot. Only about 20 years ago, there were only computers that ran really slow and had flip phones. Now, we have laptops that run really fast and even things like iPad. Cell phones have even advanced to touch screens, and nearly everyone in the world has one. We’re in this new technological era, in which our whole life basically revolves around it. We’re constantly on our phones to take care of business and also socialize with the people around us. Technology has come a long way in which we don’t even need to physically bring our credit cards, but if we had our phones we’ll be able to pay for whatever we need through that. We can also make a transaction on a cellphone as well. In restaurants, instead of using paper and pen to take someone’s order, they use iPads to send the orders into the kitchen.
It has also made an impact in the educational field, in which, college classes can be taken purely online. One doesn’t even know how their professor looks like. Many K-12 schools are starting to integrate into using iPads as their means to doing assignments and some schools are even giving each student their own iPad to do these assignments. Many kids growing up in this generation is surrounded by so much technology, that sometimes it feels like they don’t know how to live without it. At a young age, some parents are already using the apps on a phone or tablet to keep their young ones occupied. Technology has grown so much and is such an essential to our lives that sometimes it feels that we can’t really live without it.
Nancy Lu
There are several aspects that plays a significant role in people’s lives. I believe that urbanization and social capital are evident not only in my life, but others as well. These two factors play hand in hand. Urbanization is a huge phenomenon and as the years pass by, there is a huge increase in population. In terms of education and attending universities, each year, there are thousands more applicants being turned in. Attending college, class sizes increases, older buildings become more overcrowded, and there is an increase in maintenance. One-room school attended by children have decreased because the population continues to increase. When I was younger, I remember school having less people, but now there are several students attending school.
Social capital also plays a pivotal role. As students get to meet new people and create bonds with one another. I got the opportunity to meet several new people and have resources all around me through the friendships that I’ve made. Everyday, I am creating new friendships and meeting new people wherever I go. Family, school, and the community are so important in allowing one to become successful in life.
Omar Sarreal
Human capital as define by Wikipedia are “habits, social and personality attributes, including creativity, embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value.” Human capital can be built through different means. Examples from my life may include small things like learning to swim or play music. While learning to playing music I gained skills like confidence and creativity that I could use to get a job in the future. Many parents enroll their children into extra curricular activity. Extra curricular activities and even pre-school heavily influence how well a child will do in school or later on in the future. Sadly, only families with high socioeconomic status are able to afford these activities for their children, thus creating an achievement gap, which is evident till this day.
Cultural capital “refers to non-financial social assets that promote social mobility beyond economic means”. Examples of cultural capital in my life are the way I dress, speak, physical appearance, and education. These are all things that will help people to better participate in socializing. They can translate to a person’s etiquette or how effective a person writes or speaks. The way my parents raised me, I was always taught to respect my elders calling people sir, and mam. This knowledge helps me show reverence is a social situation.
Aliyah Deiz
My experience going to college, being away from home has showed me that having an education can only get you so far in life. I’m sure everyone is familiar with the saying, “It’s not about what you know, it’s who you know.” And while it's very true that networking is an effective way of becoming a successful person, having knowledge about certain things can open give you a better opportunity when mingling with successful people. Having this knowledge is called social capital, it is a capital because it has something of value. For example, when I went to a luncheon with professionals they was a lot of talk about the food we were eating. To me it was just a fancy mexican-style dish, but for others sitting at the table it engaged a conversation about what kind of cheese was used and where it originated from. Then this conversation went off into a tangent about the places they traveled to and what airline was the best. Those who engaged in this conversation became more noticed, and more likeable. So even though networking is important, a key to having successful networking relationship is having the right talking points to carry the conversation.
Angel Moreno
The particular aspect of definition of ideology that I would like to discuss pertains to the beliefs that people use to guide their actions. This term can be described and shown in my very own household. More specifically, my father’s ideology can sometimes be hard to understand but it cannot be overruled by me or my siblings. In my household, we have to listen to my father all the time and do things in the manner that he wants. For example, we are assigned chores at times, but we have to complete them in his way because his way is the easiest, fastest, and smartest way. In addition, we can sometimes get into an argument with my father about a particular issue, but his philosophy or way of thinking is right. Ultimately, I strongly believe that my father is the way that he is because of the culture that he grew up in. He was taught to have control of the household and always be in service to his ideal of manhood. I think that all Mexican families share this characteristic among fathers. It is a tradition and part of the culture that has been passed on from generation to generation.
SUMMARY
All in all, factors such as globalization, ideology, human capital, social capital, cultural capital and equity are always evident in one another's life. Every aspect around us is vital to our lives and makes such a huge impact. As the years pass by, things are constantly changing and the population continues to increase. As things are becoming more advanced, so is technology, which is a huge impact to society. Everything around us are constantly becoming different and our culture around us changes as well.