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I am a 14 year old female, Christian Mexican American. Both of my parents are Mexican and were born in the US. My dad knows how to speak Spanish because his mom is an immigrant from Mexico and doesn't know any English. My dad never taught me how to speak Spanish and it does make me a bit frustrated but I am taking Spanish classes so I can communicate with my grandma. I think it is also good to know another language because then traveling around the world would be easier. It's also important to know your own language from where your family originates from.

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Spanish is the most spoken language in Mexico. Over 400 million people speak Spanish in the whole world and it is the 2nd most spoken language. Spanish is not just one separate language it can be spoken differently in Spain and in Mexico. Mexican food is my favorite I think it is so good and I love spicy food. I grew up on Mexican food because of my grandma and dad. I always loved spicy food because I started to eat it at a young age. The food you eat in Mexico depends on what region you travel to. In Northern Mexico the people there usually eat goat meat and beef. In Southern Mexico people eat poultry products and in the coastal cities of Mexico you are able to find fish and sea food. Some common Mexican food are frijoles, guacamole, nachos, salsa, tacos, tamales, tortillas, and quesadillas. The traditional music in Mexico is Mariachi. This genre best represents Mexico because of its sound and how they sing. The men also wear traditional clothing called Charro Suits and Sombreros. Mariachi bands are usually played at weddings, parties or Quinceañeras. A Quinceañera is a celebration of 15 year old girls becoming a woman in Latin Culture. Some traditional clothing is the huipil a blouse, a rebozo a scarf/shawl and a sarape which is a poncho. These clothing items represent our Spanish and Mayan roots. Important days to celebrate is Mexican independence day are Día De Los Muertos. Mexican Independence Day is celebrating Mexico's Independence from Spain in 1810 of the Mexican War. Día De Los Muertos celebrates life and death on November 1st and 2nd. Families put offerings on a ofernda for family members who have passed away. The offerings are for the dead to join the living and celebrate.

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Updated: Aug 10, 2022

"I'm Mexican. No, I'm not spicy. Or fiesty. Or exotic. I'm just not bland. Because my culture is too rich. Because my hips give in to the beats of a drum. And my tongue rolls with a passion. Because I come from vibrant colors. And full skirts. And intricate patterns in my gene pool. Warrior and conqueror. Because I have to quiero y te amo. While you've gotta stick to I love you. Because I come from women with rifles and food that excites you. And the very hands that harvest this land, hold the very hearts that harvested me."-J. Arceo Hispanic refers to a person whose cultural origin is based in Spanish-speaking countries such as Mexico, Spain, Cuba, Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, and so on. These places are associated with vivid colors, warm textures, interesting clothes, energetic dances, and music. Every year, between September 15 and October 15, National Hispanic Heritage Month takes place. It is a big celebration to honor their culture and history. There are many appealing aspects of Hispanic cultures. If you are interested, especially in Mexican culture, and willing to learn more about it, you've come to the right place! 1. Language In Mexico, there is no official language, but Spanish is the most widely spoken. Across the country, 68 national languages, out of which 63 are native, are recognized and spoken. In 31 countries, Spanish is the official language. Over 400 million people speak Spanish, which makes it the second most spoken language after Chinese. Even though Spanish is spoken by many people all over the world, how people use and speak Spanish varies by country and region. For instance, there is a difference between Spanish used in Spain and Spanish used in Mexico. The use of language may differ in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. If one day you want to travel Mexico and explore the country with your own eyes, you may need to keep these differences in mind. According to experts, you can gain professional proficiency in Spanish within 24 weeks. Actually, for professional proficiency in any language, two years is not a long time. Indeed, we believe we can make learning Spanish easier for you! Here at ReDefiners World Languages, we offer many Spanish classes and programs for students of all ages who want to enrich their lives by learning a new language. We have a wide variety of class types to fit with your schedule. Along with Spanish, if you come across someone speaking Nahuatl in Mexico, do not be surprised. Here is why: Nahuatl is the most commonly used indigenous language, and approximately 1,376,026 people speak this language, mostly in Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. It is also possible to hear many other indigenous languages, different dialects, and variations of other languages.

2. Food Food is an important cultural element of Mexico. It carries both religious and philosophical meaning. Mexican cuisine consists of spicy foods, and it is known for the diversity of corn, chili peppers, and beans.

Tomatoes, winter pears, pumpkins, rice, and garlic are among the most commonly used ingredients, along with corn, peppers, and beans. Many foreigners are already familiar with several Mexican foods made by these ingredients because they are everywhere. So, if you have not tried any Mexican food before, you can experience these foods in your hometown. I promise you will never regret trying it!

Burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, frijole (beans), guacamole, nachos, salsa, tacos, tamales, tortillas, and quesadillas are among the most famous foods of Mexico. If you can get a chance to try these delicious foods, maybe you want to have a soup with them, because Mexico cuisine offers a wide variety of soups, too! You can even eat cold soups in the summer and hot soups in the winter.

As an example, whenever Mexicans pass by church or altar, many of them make the "Sign of the Cross" with their hands. Likewise, Catholic sacraments, such as baptism or marriage, mark many of their lives. Religion even influences their language. As in other languages, there are phrases such as Si Dios quiere (God willing) and Dios te bendiga (God bless you).

Painting is an inseparable component of the Mexican culture. One can feel the importance of art for the Mexican society as soon as they step into the country. All of the art forms are protected, and Mexicans always praise their artists. Important names such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and José Clemente Orozco are sources of pride for them since they are famous worldwide for their art.

Paintings that are painted directly on the wall are called murals. There are two important places in which murals were discovered and preserved very well: Bonampak and Cacatlax archaeological sites. Street art is still substantial in Mexico, and this is what keeps the country sparkling and alive!

5.Traditional Music, Clothes, and Dance Some music may carry a special meaning for us, and we can enjoy listening to them, but for Mexicans, music is even more special! It is a big part of their identity.Mariachi music is the best known traditional genre of Mexico. Indeed, many people claim that this genre is the best representative music of Mexican culture. This music is played at weddings, on women's birthdays, girls' 15th birthday parties (known as quiñceaneras), and on Mother's Day. However, it is possible to encounter this genre at any celebration. Here is a video of Mariachi music:

Traditional clothes and costumes have an important place in Mexican history. Even though these are not used in everyday life, many native people wear them on special days. For instance, when performing mariachi, men wear Charro Suit s and s. There are many other traditional clothing items, such as the (a blouse for women), the (a scarf-like shawl), the (a Poncho), and so on. All of these traditional clothes and costumes represent their Spanish and Mayan roots.

Likewise, traditional dances are indispensable cultural elements of Mexico. There are different types of traditional dancings in distinct regions. For example, in Jalisco, known as the birthplace of mariachi, these dances are based on courtship behaviors. However, in Veracruz, the oldest city located on the east of the Gulf of Mexico, these dances carry more flamenco characteristics. The most famous traditional dance in Mexico is Jarabe Tapatio, also known as the Mexican Hat Dance. Seen as a national dance of Mexico, Jarabe Tapatio still maintains its importance. Many Mexican people learn how to dance in their childhood and continue to dance in festivals, celebrations, and birthday parties. Here is a video of Jarabe Tapatio:

6. National Holidays and Festivals Music, parades, costumes, dances, street foods, and joy come together to make the most flamboyant festivals and national holidays in Mexico! Such celebrations are important in Mexican culture, and even the smallest villages celebrate them.

Another holiday as famous as Mexican Independence Day is the Day of the Dead (Día De Los Muertos). It is an annual celebration of both life and death on November 1 and 2. Families create offerings (or ofrendas) for the deceased family members. These offerings are believed to encourage departed souls to join in the celebrations. On the day of celebration, many Mexicans put on funky make-up, wear crawly costumes, dance, hold parades, and sing. Day of the Dead originated within the practices of Aztec, Toltec, and other Nahua people who believe mourning the dead was disrespectful. In 2008, this unique celebration was recognized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and added to the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.

With over 129 million people, Mexico is the 10th most populous country in the world! It falls behind Russia and precedes Japan by population.

Mexico is the 13th largest country by size and the second-largest Spanish-speaking country after Argentina.

Contrary to what is commonly known, Mexico's official name is United Mexican States (Estados Unidades Mexicanos).

Jaguars, the largest wildcats in North America, can be found in the southern jungles of Mexico.

Chihuahuas, the smallest known dog breed, first originated in the state of Chihuahua. The dogs were named after the state.

To praise and appease the sun god, Aztecs sacrificed nearly 1% of their population every year.

Mexico ranks fourth in biodiversity. It is home to over 200,000 different species of fauna and flora.

There is a massive dependence on tourism in Mexico. It is the 7th most visited country, and it has the 15th highest income from tourism in the world.

Caesar Salads were invented in Mexico. The country also introduced many popular foods, such as avocados, tomatoes, and vanilla.

Mexico is home to the world's smallest volcano, called Cuexcomat, and the largest pyramid, known as the Great Pyramid of Cholula ( Tlachihualtepetl, meaning made-by-hand mountain).

Now that you know basic facts about Mexican culture, do you find yourself wanting to learn more? Join our Spanish classes and programs! By joining, you not only learn a new language, but you also get exposed to a new culture. For more information, please visit the ReDefiners website or email us at info@redefinerswl.org.

These lines are for my dear grandfather Ilyas Kilicarslan who passed away due to COVID-19 last month. Even if you are not here anymore, you are always in my mind and forever in my heart. I am so proud of being your granddaughter, and I am trying so hard to be worthy of you. I hope you are at peace where you are.

"May the winds of heaven blow softly and whisper in your ear how much we love and miss you."

"I'm Mexican. No, I'm not spicy. Or fiesty. Or exotic. I'm just not bland. Because my culture is too rich. Because my hips give in to the beats of a drum. And my tongue rolls with a passion. Because I come from vibrant colors. And full skirts. And intricate patterns in my gene pool. Warrior and conqueror. Because I have to quiero y te amo. While you've gotta stick to I love you. Because I come from women with rifles and food that excites you. And the very hands that harvest this land, hold the very hearts that harvested me."-J. Arceo Hispanic refers to a person whose cultural origin is based in Spanish-speaking countries such as Mexico, Spain, Cuba, Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, and so on. These places are associated with vivid colors, warm textures, interesting clothes, energetic dances, and music. Every year, between September 15 and October 15, National Hispanic Heritage Month takes place. It is a big celebration to honor their culture and history. There are many appealing aspects of Hispanic cultures. If you are interested, especially in Mexican culture, and willing to learn more about it, you've come to the right place! 1. Language In Mexico, there is no official language, but Spanish is the most widely spoken. Across the country, 68 national languages, out of which 63 are native, are recognized and spoken. In 31 countries, Spanish is the official language. Over 400 million people speak Spanish, which makes it the second most spoken language after Chinese. Even though Spanish is spoken by many people all over the world, how people use and speak Spanish varies by country and region. For instance, there is a difference between Spanish used in Spain and Spanish used in Mexico. The use of language may differ in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. If one day you want to travel Mexico and explore the country with your own eyes, you may need to keep these differences in mind. According to experts, you can gain professional proficiency in Spanish within 24 weeks. Actually, for professional proficiency in any language, two years is not a long time. Indeed, we believe we can make learning Spanish easier for you! Here at ReDefiners World Languages, we offer many Spanish classes and programs for students of all ages who want to enrich their lives by learning a new language. We have a wide variety of class types to fit with your schedule. Along with Spanish, if you come across someone speaking Nahuatl in Mexico, do not be surprised. Here is why: Nahuatl is the most commonly used indigenous language, and approximately 1,376,026 people speak this language, mostly in Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. It is also possible to hear many other indigenous languages, different dialects, and variations of other languages.

2. Food Food is an important cultural element of Mexico. It carries both religious and philosophical meaning. Mexican cuisine consists of spicy foods, and it is known for the diversity of corn, chili peppers, and beans.

Tomatoes, winter pears, pumpkins, rice, and garlic are among the most commonly used ingredients, along with corn, peppers, and beans. Many foreigners are already familiar with several Mexican foods made by these ingredients because they are everywhere. So, if you have not tried any Mexican food before, you can experience these foods in your hometown. I promise you will never regret trying it!

Burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, frijole (beans), guacamole, nachos, salsa, tacos, tamales, tortillas, and quesadillas are among the most famous foods of Mexico. If you can get a chance to try these delicious foods, maybe you want to have a soup with them, because Mexico cuisine offers a wide variety of soups, too! You can even eat cold soups in the summer and hot soups in the winter.

As an example, whenever Mexicans pass by church or altar, many of them make the "Sign of the Cross" with their hands. Likewise, Catholic sacraments, such as baptism or marriage, mark many of their lives. Religion even influences their language. As in other languages, there are phrases such as Si Dios quiere (God willing) and Dios te bendiga (God bless you).

Painting is an inseparable component of the Mexican culture. One can feel the importance of art for the Mexican society as soon as they step into the country. All of the art forms are protected, and Mexicans always praise their artists. Important names such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and José Clemente Orozco are sources of pride for them since they are famous worldwide for their art.

Paintings that are painted directly on the wall are called murals. There are two important places in which murals were discovered and preserved very well: Bonampak and Cacatlax archaeological sites. Street art is still substantial in Mexico, and this is what keeps the country sparkling and alive!

5.Traditional Music, Clothes, and Dance Some music may carry a special meaning for us, and we can enjoy listening to them, but for Mexicans, music is even more special! It is a big part of their identity.Mariachi music is the best known traditional genre of Mexico. Indeed, many people claim that this genre is the best representative music of Mexican culture. This music is played at weddings, on women's birthdays, girls' 15th birthday parties (known as quiñceaneras), and on Mother's Day. However, it is possible to encounter this genre at any celebration. Here is a video of Mariachi music:

Traditional clothes and costumes have an important place in Mexican history. Even though these are not used in everyday life, many native people wear them on special days. For instance, when performing mariachi, men wear Charro Suit s and s. There are many other traditional clothing items, such as the (a blouse for women), the (a scarf-like shawl), the (a Poncho), and so on. All of these traditional clothes and costumes represent their Spanish and Mayan roots.

Likewise, traditional dances are indispensable cultural elements of Mexico. There are different types of traditional dancings in distinct regions. For example, in Jalisco, known as the birthplace of mariachi, these dances are based on courtship behaviors. However, in Veracruz, the oldest city located on the east of the Gulf of Mexico, these dances carry more flamenco characteristics. The most famous traditional dance in Mexico is Jarabe Tapatio, also known as the Mexican Hat Dance. Seen as a national dance of Mexico, Jarabe Tapatio still maintains its importance. Many Mexican people learn how to dance in their childhood and continue to dance in festivals, celebrations, and birthday parties. Here is a video of Jarabe Tapatio:

6. National Holidays and Festivals Music, parades, costumes, dances, street foods, and joy come together to make the most flamboyant festivals and national holidays in Mexico! Such celebrations are important in Mexican culture, and even the smallest villages celebrate them.

Another holiday as famous as Mexican Independence Day is the Day of the Dead (Día De Los Muertos). It is an annual celebration of both life and death on November 1 and 2. Families create offerings (or ofrendas) for the deceased family members. These offerings are believed to encourage departed souls to join in the celebrations. On the day of celebration, many Mexicans put on funky make-up, wear crawly costumes, dance, hold parades, and sing. Day of the Dead originated within the practices of Aztec, Toltec, and other Nahua people who believe mourning the dead was disrespectful. In 2008, this unique celebration was recognized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and added to the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.

With over 129 million people, Mexico is the 10th most populous country in the world! It falls behind Russia and precedes Japan by population.

Mexico is the 13th largest country by size and the second-largest Spanish-speaking country after Argentina.

Contrary to what is commonly known, Mexico's official name is United Mexican States (Estados Unidades Mexicanos).

Jaguars, the largest wildcats in North America, can be found in the southern jungles of Mexico.

Chihuahuas, the smallest known dog breed, first originated in the state of Chihuahua. The dogs were named after the state.

To praise and appease the sun god, Aztecs sacrificed nearly 1% of their population every year.

Mexico ranks fourth in biodiversity. It is home to over 200,000 different species of fauna and flora.

There is a massive dependence on tourism in Mexico. It is the 7th most visited country, and it has the 15th highest income from tourism in the world.

Caesar Salads were invented in Mexico. The country also introduced many popular foods, such as avocados, tomatoes, and vanilla.

Mexico is home to the world's smallest volcano, called Cuexcomat, and the largest pyramid, known as the Great Pyramid of Cholula ( Tlachihualtepetl, meaning made-by-hand mountain).

Now that you know basic facts about Mexican culture, do you find yourself wanting to learn more? Join our Spanish classes and programs! By joining, you not only learn a new language, but you also get exposed to a new culture. For more information, please visit the ReDefiners website or email us at info@redefinerswl.org.

These lines are for my dear grandfather Ilyas Kilicarslan who passed away due to COVID-19 last month. Even if you are not here anymore, you are always in my mind and forever in my heart. I am so proud of being your granddaughter, and I am trying so hard to be worthy of you. I hope you are at peace where you are.

"May the winds of heaven blow softly and whisper in your ear how much we love and miss you."

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Hispanic Cultures: Everything You Need to Know About Mexican Culture

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"I'm Mexican. No, I'm not spicy. Or fiesty. Or exotic. I'm just not bland. Because my culture is too rich. Because my hips give in to the beats of a drum. And my tongue rolls with a passion. Because I come from vibrant colors. And full skirts.

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A form of art is music. Music has impacted my life a lot and has helped me through hard times.  I love to listen to music in school while I work, when i'm alone, at home, studying, or doing chores. I can do anything while listening to Music it helps me focus better. Music also helps me connect with people and be able to bond with them. Most of my friends all have similar music tastes and it helps us feel closer together. Me and my dad both like rock and metal music. My dad likes to show me many different bands and it's really fun to listen to music together. This helped me create a closer bond with my dad. One of my favorite artists is Bruno Mars. My favorite albums are Doo-woops & Hooligans and An Evening with Silk Sonic with Anderson Park and Silk Sonic. My favorite Bruno Mars song is Our First Time. I love the beat in the music and Bruno's voice is very calming. My favorite band right now is Stone Temple Piolets. I love the song Big Empty in the album Purple. My favorite part of the song is the beginning. In the beginning the acoustic guitar just makes noise I've never heard before and I really like it. I also like the album Core and my favorite song is Creep. it kinda has a similar beginning to Big Empty and that's why I like it.

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On a daily basis I use my phone, TV, and Ipad. On my phone I am usually on TikTok, Snapchat, messages, Spotify, and FaceTime. Games I play are PocketLove, Dream House Decor, and I like to play Evil Apples with my friends. I also use shopping apps like Amazon, SHEIN, Sephora, Ulta beauty, and H&M. Whenever I go on trips on planes or car rides I like to go on Netflix, HboMax, Hulu, or Disney+. I like to watch movies or shows to keep myself distracted and waste time.  I usually like being on my phone because it gives me something to do and I can also talk to my friends who don't live near me. Sometimes when im on my phone too much I don't like it because it gets me from doing stuff like going outside or hanging out with friends. There are many positives about technology and there are negatives.

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Power is the ability to make others do what you want them to do. Power is everywhere and it can be associated with many people, different environments or any form of authority in your life. Power must be taken seriously and is not something to think lightly of. Sometimes people who talk about power or want power can come off as greedy, evil or dirty. Power is neither good nor bad. The government can have a lot of Power and it could be uncontrollable. Power can come off as many things and if the wrong person has a lot of power they could make negative decisions for the community or the people they are leading. If someone with the right intentions has power they could possibly make decisions that could make positive changes. If you want the ability to change the world and be a leader you need power. In order to have power you need personal qualities to gain it. Some of these qualities are ambition, confidence and empathy. In order to want power you need ambition. If you don't have the effort to want power you wont get any. You need to have a drive in you that is pushing you forward to be successful. Confidence helps others believe you know what you are doing and know how to help them. Confidence helps others want to believe you and guide people to your beliefs. In confidence you also need a lot of energy to help persuade others and bring their energy up. Lastly empathy is a quality you need. In order to be a powerful successful leader you need to not worry about what others think. To be successful you will get your work done so others will depend on you. All these qualities are needed to be a successful and powerful leader. When I grow older and age into adulthood I will increase my power as a leader in sports and in school. In sports I will be more confident and communicate with teammates more. In school I will talk more and in group projects I will be more confident. In general I will make smart decisions and lead people who need help.

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If You Want to Change the World, You Need Power: Part 1

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There are lots of positive effects of technology. Some of those are new education for students at home, more sources for students to learn from, job opportunities, entertainment, more information, ways to contact people, etc. The link gives you many more ways how technology is affecting people in positive ways. Many people use technology in their daily lives. People like to shop online, students are on their computers, adults work online, entertainment, hear news, communicate, learn and more. Websites like google and safari help people learn more and allow people to search up anything they need to know. Overall technology brings new information to people and is needed for peoples lives.

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Tech Boot Camps Linked to Higher Pay, STEM Jobs

A Gallup-2U study of graduates of 2U tech boot camps shows graduates reported earning higher salaries one year after graduation and ending up in STEM jobs, regardless of their race or ethnicity, gender or age.

Study Shows 2U Tech Boot Camp Grads See Quick ROI

Participants in a recent Gallup-2U study of graduates of 2U boot camps reported earning substantially higher salaries one year after graduation, offsetting more than half of the sticker price of their programs.

Nearly Half of U.S. Parents Want More Noncollege Paths

A new study from Carnegie Corporation and Gallup finds 46% of parents of U.S. children aged 11 to 25 say they would prefer that their child pursue something other than four years of college immediately after high school.

Women in Tech -- Starting Young(er)

Although demand for computer scientists remains high, women remain significantly underrepresented in the field. Early exposure to CS education is critical to improving the rate of girls who consider it as an academic and career path.

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Technology is also very negative to a lot of people who use it. A lot of people have started to depend on technology because it has become so advanced that you are able to do anything. When kids get home usually they are on their phone or any device they like. Technology keeps students inside not active. Most teenagers are glued to their phones and it has affected their education at school. In school students will be on their phones during class and will not pay attention. Big Technology companies have turned into monopolists and it gives off a negative view of technology. The companies just care about making more money and taking down their competitors. Small tech companies are struggling to stay up because of the bigger competitors taking them down.

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From online businesses to individual living necessities to politics, U.S. tech superpowers continue to branch out their influence over small businesses, consumers, and politicians. Stocks of Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook make up over 20% of the entire U.S. stock market's value. Since the emergence of the Internet, U.S. industries have become more monopolized. The winner-take-all market - a market in which the best performers capture a disproportionately large share of the rewards, earning a lot more than their competitors - now shapes the U.S. technology economy. Emerging online small businesses lose competition against big tech companies, and end up fading away. The COVID-19 pandemic gave way to the largest annual revenue increase since 2010 for all of the Big Five, while nearly one-third of small businesses have closed .

Advocates for breaking up large tech companies argue that these entities hold too much power and influence and that the government should regulate their market monopoly. Opponents say that the government should not intervene in economic affairs, specifically as tech companies contribute to society by developing economic infrastructures, creating jobs, or supporting academic institutions.

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Should the government break up large tech companies?

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From online businesses to individual living necessities to politics, U.S. tech superpowers continue to branch out their influence over small businesses, consumers, and politicians. Stocks of Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook make up over 20% of the entire U.S. stock market's value. Since the emergence of the Internet, U.S.

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Most of my family is Christian but some believe more than others. My mom is serious about believing in Christianity more than me, my siblings and my dad. I think family and living areas impact what you believe a lot because of the people around you. You believe what your parents believe because you are living with them and from a young age your parents have you participate in what they believe in. My parents have always taken me to church ever since I was born so I grew up around people who believe in God. When I lived in Chicago I went to a Catholic school and we would pray in the morning, before we ate, and after school. In school we had religion class and went to church every Friday. This affected my beliefs and who I was friends with. I live in Chicago and 71% of the people who live in Chicago are Christian. I see many churches whenever I am in the car driving places. In Chicago Christianity is the biggest religion people participate in.

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Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project

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Explore the geographic distribution and demographics of America's major religious groups.

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I first went to a private Catholic school. Most of my friends were Catholic and have been baptized but they're not super committed to the religion. When I transferred to a public school I met many new people who are in different religions. I have Muslim friends from many different places. I have a friend who is a Hispanic Muslim and I never knew anyone who believed in a different religion. My friends also have unique names and I've never heard different names from American names. I think it is very important to have friends or people you know who participate in different religions from you. It is a fun learning experience and I enjoy learning more about my friends religions.

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I think social media can affect what you want to believe and what you see. I think this is because many people post their beliefs. For example a church community could post daily verses or try to get more people to join their church. By doing this it can influence other people to want to join their church. Another example is the LGBTQ+ community. There could be a queer couple on Instagram or TikTok and they could be talking about their relationship. By doing this it shows people that Queer couples are happy together and convince other people to think it is normal for Queer couples to date or get married. I believe it is okay for Queer couples to be together but some people could disagree and not like it. Social Media could also be a bad place for religions because someone who thinks their religion is the superior religion would disagree with the other religion and could possibly cause conflict between the two religions. The media could also influence kids or teenagers to do something that they might think is okay but it is not right to do. This could cause kids to get the wrong idea about something.

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Learning Objectives

1. Identify five agents of socialization.

2. Describe positive and negative aspects of the socialization these agents produce.

Several institutional and other sources of socialization exist and are called agents of socialization. The first of these, the family, is certainly the most important agent of socialization for infants and young children.

The Family

Should parents get the credit when their children turn out to be good kids and even go on to accomplish great things in life? Should they get the blame if their children turn out to be bad? No parent deserves all the credit or blame for their children's successes and failures in life, but the evidence indicates that our parents do affect us profoundly. In many ways, we even end up resembling our parents in more than just appearance.

Sociology Making a Difference

Understanding Racial Socialization

In a society that is still racially prejudiced, African American parents continue to find it necessary to teach their children about African American culture and to prepare them for the bias and discrimination they can expect to encounter. Scholars in sociology and other disciplines have studied this process of racial socialization. One of their most interesting findings is that African American parents differ in the degree of racial socialization they practice: some parents emphasize African American identity and racial prejudice to a considerable degree, while other parents mention these topics to their children only minimally. The reasons for these differences have remained unclear.

Sociologist Jason E. Shelton (2008) analyzed data from a national random sample of African Americans to determine these reasons, in what he called "one of the most comprehensive analyses to date of racial socialization strategies among African Americans" (p. 237). Among other questions, respondents were asked whether "in raising your children, have you done or told them things to help them know what it means to be Black." They were also asked whether "there are any other things you've done or told your children to help them know how to get along with White people."

In his major results, Shelton found that respondents were more likely to practice racial socialization if they were older, female, and living outside the South; if they perceived that racial discrimination was a growing problem and were members of civil rights or other organization aimed at helping African Americans; and if they had higher incomes.

These results led Shelton to conclude that "African Americans are not a culturally monolithic group," as they differ in "the parental lessons they impart to their children about race relations" (2008, p. 253). Further, the parents who do practice racial socialization "do so in order to demystify and empower their offspring to seize opportunities in the larger society" (p. 253).

Shelton's study helps us to understand the factors accounting for differences in racial socialization by African American parents, and it also helps us understand that the parents who do attempt to make their children aware of U.S. race relations are merely trying, as most parents do, to help their children get ahead in life. By increasing our understanding of these matters, Shelton's research has helped make a difference.

The reason we turn out much like our parents, for better or worse, is that our families are such an important part of our socialization process. When we are born, our primary caregivers are almost always one or both of our parents. For several years we have more contact with them than with any other adults. Because this contact occurs in our most formative years, our parents' interaction with us and the messages they teach us can have a profound impact throughout our lives, as indicated by the stories of Sarah Patton Boyle and Lillian Smith presented earlier.

The ways in which our parents socialize us depend on many factors, two of the most important of which are our parents' social class and our own biological sex. Melvin Kohn (1965, 1977) found that working-class and middle-class parents tend to socialize their children very differently. Kohn reasoned that working-class parents tend to hold factory and other jobs in which they have little autonomy and instead are told what to do and how to do it. In such jobs, obedience is an important value, lest the workers be punished for not doing their jobs correctly. Working-class parents, Kohn thought, should thus emphasize obedience and respect for authority as they raise their children, and they should favor spanking as a primary way of disciplining their kids when they disobey. In contrast, middle-class parents tend to hold white-collar jobs where autonomy and independent judgment are valued and workers get ahead by being creative. These parents should emphasize independence as they raise their children and should be less likely than working-class parents to spank their kids when they disobey.

If parents' social class influences how they raise their children, it is also true that the sex of their children affects how they are socialized by their parents. Many studies find that parents raise their daughters and sons quite differently as they interact with them from birth. We will explore this further in Chapter 11 "Gender and Gender Inequality", but suffice it to say here that parents help their girls learn how to act and think "like girls," and they help their boys learn how to act and think "like boys." That is, they help their daughters and sons learn their gender (Wood, 2009). For example, they are gentler with their daughters and rougher with their sons. They give their girls dolls to play with, and their boys guns. Girls may be made of "sugar and spice and everything nice" and boys something quite different, but their parents help them greatly, for better or worse, turn out that way. To the extent this is true, our gender stems much more from socialization than from biological differences between the sexes, or so most sociologists probably assume. To return to a question posed earlier, if Gilligan is right that boys and girls reach moral judgments differently, socialization matters more than biology for how they reach these judgments.

As the "Learning From Other Societies" box illustrates, various cultures socialize their children differently. We can also examine cross-cultural variation in socialization with data from the World Values Survey, which was administered to almost six dozen nations. Figure 4.1 "Percentage Believing That Obedience Is Especially Important for a Child to Learn" shows the percentage of people in several countries who think it is "especially important for children to learn obedience at home." Here we see some striking differences in the value placed on obedience, with the United States falling somewhat in between the nations in the figure.

Learning From Other Societies

Children and Socialization in Japan

This chapter ends with the observation that American children need to be socialized with certain values in order for our society to be able to address many of the social issues, including hate crimes and violence against women, facing it. As we consider the socialization of American children, the experience of Japan offers a valuable lesson.

Recall from Chapter 2 "Eye on Society: Doing Sociological Research" that Japan's culture emphasizes harmony, cooperation, and respect for authority. Socialization in Japan is highly oriented toward the teaching of the values just listed, with much of it stressing the importance of belonging to a group and dependence, instead of individual autonomy and independence. This is especially true in Japanese schools, which, as two sociologists write, "stress the similarity of all children, and the importance of the group" (Schneider & Silverman, 2010, p. 24). Let's see how this happens (Hendry, 1987; Schwalb & Schwalb, 1996).

From the time they begin school, Japanese children learn to value their membership in their homeroom, or kumi, and they spend several years in the same kumi. Each kumi treats its classroom as a "home away from home," as the children arrange the classroom furniture, bring in plants and other things from their own homes, and clean the classroom every day. At recess one kumi will play against another. In an interesting difference from standard practice in the United States, a kumi in junior high school will stay in its classroom while the teachers for, say, math and social science move from one classroom to another. In the United States, of course, the opposite is true: teachers stay in their classrooms, and students move from one room to another.

Other practices in Japanese schools further the learning of Japanese values. Young schoolchildren wear the same uniforms. Japanese teachers use constant drills to teach them how to bow, and they have the children repeatedly stand up and sit down as a group. These practices help students learn respect for authority and help enhance the sense of group belonging that the kumi represents. Whereas teachers in the United States routinely call on individual students to answer a question, Japanese teachers rarely do this. Rather than competing with each other for a good grade, Japanese schoolchildren are evaluated according to the performance of the kumi as a whole. Because decision making within the kumi is done by consensus, the children learn the need to compromise and to respect each other's feelings.

Because the members of a kumi spend so much time together for so many years, they develop extremely close friendships and think of themselves more as members of the kumi than as individuals. They become very loyal to the kumi and put its interests above their own individual interests. In these and other ways, socialization in Japanese schools helps the children and adolescents there learn the Japanese values of harmony, group loyalty, and respect for authority. If American children learned these values to a greater degree, it would be easier to address violence and other issues facing the United States.

Schools

Schools socialize children in several ways. First, students learn a formal curriculum, informally called the "three Rs": reading, writing, and arithmetic. This phase of their socialization is necessary for them to become productive members of their society. Second, because students interact every day at school with their peers, they ideally strengthen their social interaction skills. Third, they interact with authority figures, their teachers, who are not their parents. For children who have not had any preschooling, their teachers are often the first authority figures they have had other than their parents. The learning they gain in relating to these authority figures is yet another important component of their socialization.

Functional theorists cite all these aspects of school socialization, but conflict theorists instead emphasize that schools in the United States also impart a hidden curriculum by socializing children to accept the cultural values of the society in which the schools are found. To be more specific, children learn primarily positive things about the country's past and present; they learn the importance of being neat, patient, and obedient; and they learn to compete for good grades and other rewards. In this manner, they learn to love America and not to recognize its faults, and they learn traits that prepare them for jobs and careers that will bolster the capitalist economy. Children are also socialized to believe that failure, such as earning poor grades, stems from not studying hard enough and, more generally, from not trying hard enough (Booher-Jennings, 2008; Bowles & Gintis, 1976). This process reinforces the blaming-the-victim ideology discussed in Chapter 1 "Sociology and the Sociological Perspective". Schools are also a significant source of gender socialization, as even in this modern day, teachers and curricula send out various messages that reinforce the qualities traditionally ascribed to females and males, and students engage in recess and other extracurricular activities that do the same thing (Booher-Jennings, 2008; Thorne, 1993).

Peers

When you were a 16-year-old, how many times did you complain to your parent(s), "All of my friends are [doing so and so]. Why can't I? It isn't fair!" As this all-too-common example indicates, our friends play a very important role in our lives. This is especially true during adolescence, when peers influence our tastes in music, clothes, and so many other aspects of our lives, as the now-common image of the teenager always on a cell phone reminds us. But friends are important during other parts of the life course as well. We rely on them for fun, for emotional comfort and support, and for companionship. That is the upside of friendships.

The downside of friendships is called peer pressure, with which you are undoubtedly familiar. Suppose it is Friday night, and you are studying for a big exam on Monday. Your friends come by and ask you to go with them to get a pizza and a drink. You would probably agree to go with them, partly because you really dislike studying on a Friday night, but also because there is at least some subtle pressure on you to do so. As this example indicates, our friends can influence us in many ways. During adolescence, their interests can affect our own interests in film, music, and other aspects of popular culture. More ominously, adolescent peer influences have been implicated in underage drinking, drug use, delinquency, and hate crimes, such as the killing of Charlie Howard, recounted at the beginning of this chapter (Agnew, 2007) (see Chapter 5 "Social Structure and Social Interaction").

After we reach our 20s and 30s, our peers become less important in our lives, especially if we get married. Yet even then our peers do not lose all their importance, as married couples with young children still manage to get out with friends now and then. Scholars have also begun to emphasize the importance of friendships with coworkers for emotional and practical support and for our continuing socialization (Elsesser & Peplau, 2006; Marks, 1994).

The Mass Media

The mass media are another agent of socialization. Television shows, movies, popular music, magazines, Web sites, and other aspects of the mass media influence our political views; our tastes in popular culture; our views of women, people of color, and gays; and many other beliefs and practices.

In an ongoing controversy, the mass media are often blamed for youth violence and many other of our society's ills. The average child sees thousands of acts of violence on television and in the movies before reaching young adulthood. Rap lyrics often seemingly extol very ugly violence, including violence against women. Commercials can greatly influence our choice of soda, shoes, and countless other products. The mass media also reinforce racial and gender stereotypes, including the belief that women are sex objects and suitable targets of male violence. In the General Social Survey (GSS), about 28% of respondents said that they watch four or more hours of television every day, while another 46% watch two to three hours daily (see Figure 4.2 "Average Number of Hours of Television Watched Daily"). The mass media certainly are an important source of socialization unimaginable a half-century ago.

As the mass media socialize children, adolescents, and even adults, a key question is the extent to which media violence causes violence in our society (Surette, 2011). Studies consistently uncover a strong correlation between watching violent television shows and movies and committing violence. However, this does not necessarily mean that watching the violence actually causes violent behavior: perhaps people watch violence because they are already interested in it and perhaps even committing it. Scholars continue to debate the effect of media violence on youth violence. In a free society, this question is especially important, as the belief in this effect has prompted calls for monitoring the media and the banning of certain acts of violence. Civil libertarians argue that such calls smack of censorship that violates the First Amendment to the Constitution, whole others argue that they fall within the First Amendment and would make for a safer society. Certainly the concern and debate over mass media violence will continue for years to come.

Religion

One final agent of socialization is religion, discussed further in Chapter 12 "Aging and the Elderly". Although religion is arguably less important in people's lives now than it was a few generations ago, it still continues to exert considerable influence on our beliefs, values, and behaviors.

Here we should distinguish between religious preference (e.g., Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish) and religiosity (e.g., how often people pray or attend religious services). Both these aspects of religion can affect your values and beliefs on religious and nonreligious issues alike, but their particular effects vary from issue to issue. To illustrate this, consider the emotionally charged issue of abortion. People hold very strong views on abortion, and many of their views stem from their religious beliefs. Yet which aspect of religion matters the most, religious preference or religiosity? General Social Survey data help us answer this question ( Figure 4.3 "Religious Preference, Religiosity, and Belief That Abortion Should Be Legal for Any Reason"). It turns out that religious preference, if we limit it for the sake of this discussion to Catholics versus Protestants, does not matter at all: Catholics and Protestants in the GSS exhibit roughly equal beliefs on the abortion issue, as about one-third of each group thinks abortion should be allowed for any reason. (The slight difference shown in the table is not statistically significant.) However, religiosity matters a lot: GSS respondents who pray daily are only about half as likely as those who rarely or never pray to think abortion should be allowed.

Key Takeaways

The ways in which parents socialize children depend in part on the parents' social class and on their child's biological sex.

Schools socialize children by teaching them both the formal curriculum and a hidden curriculum.

Peers are an important source of emotional support and companionship, but peer pressure can induce individuals to behave in ways they might ordinarily regard as wrong.

The mass media are another important agent of socialization, and scholars debate the effect the media have on violence in society.

In considering the effects of religion on socialization, we need to distinguish between religious preference and religiosity.

For Your Review

1. Describe one important value or attitude you have that is the result of socialization by your parent(s).

2. Do you agree that there is a hidden curriculum in secondary schools? Explain your answer.

3. Briefly describe one example of how peers influenced you or someone you know in a way that you now regard as negative.

References

Agnew, R. (2007). Pressured into crime: An overview of general strain theory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Booher-Jennings, J. (2008). Learning to label: Socialisation, gender, and the hidden curriculum of high-stakes testing. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 29, 149-160.

Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in capitalist America: Educational reforms and the contradictions of economic life. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Elsesser, K., & Peplau, L. A. (2006). The glass partition: Obstacles to cross-sex friendships at work. Human Relations, 59, 1077-1100.

Hendry, J. (1987). Understanding Japanese society. London, England: Croom Helm.

Kohn, M. (1977). Class and conformity. Homewood, IL: Dorsey.

Kohn, M. (1965). Social class and parent-child relationships: An interpretation. American Journal of Sociology, 68, 471-480.

Marks, S. R. (1994). Intimacy in the public realm: The case of co-workers. Social Forces, 72, 843-858.

Schneider, L., & Silverman, A. (2010). Global sociology: Introducing five contemporary societies (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Schwalb, D. W., & Schwalb, B. J. (Eds.). (1996). Japanese childrearing: Two generations of scholarship. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Shelton, J. E. (2008). The investment in blackness hypothesis: Toward greater understanding of who teaches what during racial socialization. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 5(2), 235-257.

Surette, R. (2011). Media, crime, and criminal justice: Images, realities, and policies (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Thorne, B. (1993). Gender play: Girls and boys in school. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Wood, J. T. (2009). Gendered lives: Communication, gender, and culture. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Identify five agents of socialization. Describe positive and negative aspects of the socialization these agents produce. Several institutional and other sources of socialization exist and are called agents of socialization. The first of these, the family, is certainly the most important agent of socialization for infants and young children.

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In my family both my mom and dad have power in the house. My parents both decide on the important decisions that have to be made. They talk things over with each other and finalize decisions together. Some decisions my parents make are on trips, payment, school, what to do when we are in trouble, etc. My parents have the power to make us listen to them and respect them. If my mom or dad asks me to clean or get something for them I have to listen. If I don't listen I will get in trouble. I have to treat them with respect and if I don't they would be very mad at me. When my parents aren't home I am the new leader. Since I am the oldest I have the power to make decisions and tell my siblings what to do. If they do not listen or give me a difficult time they will get in trouble. Usually my parents have chores for us so I lead my brothers and tell them what they have to clean and I will do what I have to clean. This is how authority works in my house.

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In Schools everyone has a boss. The students have to listen to the teachers, the teachers have to listen to the principal and the principal has to listen to a superintendent. Teachers are in charge of students and have full responsibility over them. If students are acting difficult or making trouble for the teacher the teachers have the power to give them a punishment. It could be detention, suspension or calling their parents. Teachers are like parents to the students. The principal is in charge of Teachers and students They make sure the teachers are doing their jobs and doing everything right. Principals have the power to Fire teachers and decide if they should stay and teach. The principal can tell students what to do or they will get in trouble. They can also decide what to do when students get in trouble. The superintendent is in charge of the principal. They make sure the principal is keeping the school in line and it is a good community. In schools all the adults have power.

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Open access peer-reviewed chapter

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.76483

From the Edited Volume

Edited by Yehudith Weinberger and Zipora Libman

Abstract

This chapter sets out to discuss the tenants of power and empowerment as features of teachers' professional knowledge. At the root of empowerment is power and this power works to shape the experiences of every individual within the school institution. While teachers may not have the ability to control some aspects of how power is operationalized within the school institution, teachers do have control over how they perceive and operationalize power in the classroom. As such, it is argued that the effective and conscious operationalization of this power is a key aspect of the professional development of teachers. This chapter explores the concepts of power and empowerment, their various conceptualizations and their implications on classroom teaching and learning processes. Through embracing empowerment as an educational philosophy, an account of how teachers can generate empowering learning environments for their students will be provided.

Keywords

empowerment

power

teacher education

classroom management

student learning

Aishling Flaherty*

University of Limerick, Ireland

*Address all correspondence to: aishling.flaherty@ul.ie

1. Introduction

Power and empowerment are intricately connected, yet, complex concepts which can have profound implications on the experiences of both teachers and students in the classroom. Being recognized as authoritative individuals with expertise in subject areas qualifies teachers to assume a power. A crucial aspect of teachers' professional knowledge is perceiving and operationalizing their power in a manner that does not oppress or inhibit students' creativity, critical thinking or independent thought but rather, they use their power to empower students. Beginning with a brief exploration of the concept of power in terms of its various conceptualizations and influences on school life, an account of how teachers can embrace their power in classrooms to empower students will be offered.

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2. Power

At the root of empowerment is power and according to Nyberg, "The idea of power has lain more completely neglected in education studies than in any other discipline that is of fundamental social interest" ([ 1], p. 63). Tauber contends that if teachers desire to educate students to the degree which they are capable of successfully coping with an ever-changing and demanding world, they must exercise their power effectively [ 2]. However, the effective use of power is widely misunderstood by educators [ 3]. In order to begin to consider the effective use of power, educators need to firstly understand the concept of power but as Common informs, we all know perfectly well what power is-until someone asks us [ 4]. As a multi-faceted concept that is fundamental to understanding people, their motives, their goals and their actions [ 4], many scholars have postulated the meaning of power. According to Lukes, having power means that one has the ability to make a difference to the world [ 5]. Many other conceptualizations of power allude to the ability it affords an individual to have an influence on agenda setting and decision making [ 6, 7]. Ashcroft considers power as a fundamental personal construct that "develops or stagnates in a social environment, and it functions in a social as well as a personal sphere; yet it is fundamentally a personal construct" ([ 8], p. 148). Here, power is deemed to be intrinsic to individuals however, Arendt contends that "Power is never the property of an individual, it belongs to a group and remains in existence only so long as the group keeps together" ([ 9], p. 44). This follows on from interpretations of how power exists and functions in society. Foucault considers power as an inherently latent phenomenon that sees "individuals circulate between its threads; they are always in the position of simultaneously undergoing and exercising this power. They are not only its inert or consenting target; they are always also the elements of its articulation" ([ 10], p. 98). Foucault presents power as a mysterious system that ebbs and flows among individuals who are perceived as vehicles of power. As vehicles of power, these individual fuels the ebbs and flows of power. In stark contrast, Giddens interprets power to be intrinsic to human agency. Giddens ([ 11], p. 9) describes the concept of agency in concerning "events of which an individual is the perpetrator, in the sense that the individual could, at any phase in a given sequence of conduct, have acted differently. Whatever happened would not have happened if that individual had not intervened". As such, for an individual to have power, they would have the capability to act in a way that would "'make a difference". An individual who ceases or loses this capability to "make a difference" nullifies their agency and ability to exercise power. Unlike Foucault who considers power as an all-inclusive but latent phenomenon, Giddens acknowledges individuals as conscious and knowledgeable beings with the ability to create, influence, and limit power [ 11]. In the context of the school institution, if teachers and students akin are viewed as conscious and knowledgeable beings with the agency to act within their own desires, it is essential for teachers to understand how power manifests to influence teaching and learning experiences in their classrooms.

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3. Power in schools

Power exists and functions in different ways in schools, both inside and outside the classroom. Outside the classroom, research describes how principals influence teachers through their use of power [ 12]. By granting authority to principals, due to either their ability to distribute rewards or because of their knowledge and expertise, teachers qualify the power of principals [ 12]. While teachers may not have full control of how principals operationalize their power, teachers have full control of the power that they operationalize in their classrooms. Being recognized as authoritative individuals with expert knowledge and expertise in the classroom qualifies teachers' power. However, since gaining and exerting power is considered as a basic human need and within the classroom, this can implicate the learning environment [ 13]. For example, conflict can arise if needs for power by either teachers or students are unmet [ 14]. Teachers can exercise their power in different ways as described throughout Tauber's five bases of teacher power. Tauber [ 2] adapted the five bases of power conceived within the business world by French et al. [ 15] to purport the five bases of power that teachers wield in the classroom. These five bases of power include (i) coercive power, (ii) reward power, (iii) legitimate power, (iv) referent power and (v) expert power.

Coercive power derives from the student belief that the teacher possesses the ability to punish or refrain from punishing. Some of the characteristics of this type of power include continuous and exhaustive teacher monitoring, emphasizing compliance rather than cooperation, student rebellion, retaliation, lying, cheating and withdrawing from learning.

Reward power derives from the student belief that the teacher possesses the ability to distribute or withhold rewards not obtainable elsewhere. Such reward power involves introducing stimulants that students perceive to be pleasant such as recognition and privileges as well as removing stimulants that students perceive to be unpleasant.

Legitimate power derives from the student belief that the teacher has the right to prescribe behavior given the status of their position. Here, teachers have the legitimate power to tell students what to do such as assigning homework and generally students accepts this assignment through respect for the status of the teachers' position.

Referent power is a personal power that stems from students' identification with the teacher and their desire to be liked by their teacher. This power extends beyond the classroom as the student, in the less powerful position, bids to emulate the personal characteristics of teacher who wields referent power.

Expert power derives from the student belief that the teacher possesses some special knowledge or expertise which is important for achieving a particular task they are presented with. Exercising theses power bases effectively is a professional obligation for teachers [ 2].

Although teachers' power may operationalize throughout these five power bases, detrimental consequences may arise if teachers operationalize their power in a manner that oppresses or inhibits students' creativity, critical thinking or independent thought. Educator and philosopher, Freire provides an account of how teachers can negatively use their power to oppress students by embracing the banking concept of education [ 16]. Here, this banking concept of education portrays education as a pursuit that is characterized by teachers depositing information into the minds of their students who go on to store this information. In this regard, students are passive in their acceptance of the information being deposited in their minds. By annulling students' creative power, their passive acceptance of information imbues habits of mind that leads students to passively accepting the status quo of their existence in the world. As opposed to depositing information in students' minds, posing problems to students that encourages them to critically reflect on societal and power structures and how they influence students' life's "can develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they find themselves; they come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation" ([ 16], p. 83). However, it is within the interests of teachers to embrace the banking model of education because in its fulfillment, teachers retain their power [ 16]. Relinquishing their power by providing students with a space to critically reflect and question such influential structures may risk or threaten teachers' status and power. However, Freire encourages teachers not to exercise their power over students, but rather they should use it with students their journey of learning. The process of relinquishing power, as such, giving power to individuals is characteristic of an endeavor to empower [ 17]. Therefore, towards the generation of empowering learning environments, it is necessary for teachers to identify the power dynamics that establishes in their classrooms while enacting on such dynamics to relinquish some of their power to empower students.

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4. Empowerment

Similar to the multi-faceted nature of the concept of power, empowerment is also a nebulous concept that carries with it many different interpretations and definitions. Rappaport considers empowerment as "a belief in the power of people to be both the masters of their own fate and involved in the life of their several communities" ([ 18], p. 142). Unlike this perception of empowerment as a belief [ 19], considers empowerment as a process seeking to nurture efficacy; "enhancing feelings of self-efficacy among organizational members through the identification of conditions that foster powerlessness and through their removal by both formal organizational practices and informal techniques of providing efficacy information" (p. 474). Zimmerman also considers empowerment as a process that is characterized by the affordance of opportunities for people to control their own destiny and to influence the decisions that affect their lives [ 20]. Similarly, Lightfoot perceives the opportunistic facet of empowerment involving the affordance of opportunities people have for autonomy, responsibility, choice and authority [ 21]. According to Kieffer, not only should empowerment involve acquiring new practical skills, it should also involve individuals being afforded opportunities to reconstruct and deeply engrained personal systems of social relations [ 22].

Within an educational context, Ashcroft objects to words typically associated with definitions of empowerment such as "motivating", "supporting", "freeing" and "enabling" [ 8]. According to Ashcroft, "motivating" is solely the act of a teacher and as such, neglects the powers within the students themselves. "Supporting" infers weakness, inadequacy or impoverishment in students. "Freeing" suggests a directionless and laissez-faire teaching role while "enabling" does not tend to exude the potency and the positive impetus to action better which is characteristic to empowerment. In critically evaluating the concept of empowerment in education and its associated definitions, Ashcroft [ 8] purports that to empower is to "nurture belief in capability and competence" (p. 145) whereby capability refers to one's ability/capacity to act and competence refers to sufficient/appropriate/effective action. Therefore, according to Ashcroft, an empowered person is someone who believes in their ability/capacity to act in a sufficient/appropriate/effective manner.

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5. Empowerment in schools

Just as power exists and functions in different ways in schools, both inside and outside the classroom, empowerment can also exist and function in different ways both inside and outside the classroom. However, much empowerment-based research that has taken place in an educational context has focused on the empowerment of teachers. With respect to teacher empowerment, it is conceptualized by Short, to manifest in six dimensions that includes; (i) decision making, (ii) teacher impact, (iii) teacher status, (iv) autonomy, (v) professional growth and (vi) teacher self-efficacy [ 23]. The decision making dimension of teacher empowerment relates to teachers' participation in making critical decisions that directly affects their work such as budgets, teacher selection, scheduling and curricula. The teacher impact dimension of teacher empowerment refers to teachers' perceptions that they have an influence on aspects of school life. Teachers' perceptions that their colleagues respect and admire them professionally are characteristic to the teacher status dimension of teacher empowerment. Teachers' beliefs that they can control aspects of school life such as scheduling, materials and instructional planning is characteristic to the autonomy dimension of teacher empowerment. The professional growth dimension refers to teachers' perceptions of the opportunities they are afforded by their institution to grow and develop professionally and enhance their skill set during a continuous learning endeavor. For teachers to believe that they have skills and ability to help students learn and that they can effectively instruct and compile programs that are successful in promoting student learning is characteristic to the teacher self-efficacy dimension of teacher empowerment [ 23]. Following on from this conceptualization of teacher empowerment, there has been considerable attention devoted to the exploration of various processes of teacher empowerment as well as investigating their impact on school life.

5.1. Processes of teacher empowerment

Apart from the characteristic dimensions of teacher empowerment, many have set out to describe processes that promote the empowerment of teachers. The affordance of decision making opportunities and promotion of increased responsibilities are factors that dominate conceptualizations of teacher empowerment processes. For example, Bolin considers teacher empowerment to involve "Investing in teachers the right to participate in the determination of school goals and policies and the right to exercise professional judgment about the content of the curriculum and means of instruction" ([ 24], p. 83). Similarly, Bredeson conceives teacher empowerment as "a systematic process by which teachers would assume greater responsibility in their professional work life is rooted in a large body of research in the areas of participatory decision making, professional development, job enrichment, as well as in the areas of professional autonomy and teacher efficacy" ([ 25], p. 2). According to Melenyzer, true teacher empowerment "leads to increased professionalism as teachers assume responsibility for and an involvement in the decision making process" ([ 26], p. 16). Perceiving empowerment as a process is also echoed by Short et al. who defines empowerment as "a process whereby school participants develop the competence to take charge of their own growth and resolve their own problems" ([ 27], p. 38). Unlike these conceptualizations of teacher empowerment, Carl places the enhancement of students' learning experiences as a core function and outcome of teacher empowerment; "Empowerment does not mean unrestrained and unstructured actions, but rather increasing the learning outcomes and other experiences which may flow from it, thereby contributing towards developing the learner's potential. A teaching environment within which teaching may occur optimally can only be created through effective empowerment" ([ 28], p. xi).

5.2. The impact of teacher empowerment on school life

The impact of teacher empowerment can implicate school experiences for both teachers and students. The empowerment of teachers is linked to a number of desirable outcomes such as heightened teacher self-esteem [ 29] and job satisfaction [ 30, 31, 32, 33] as well as enhanced organizational and professional commitment [ 32, 34, 35] and reduced dysfunctional resistance [ 36]. Teacher empowerment is also linked to enhanced middle school effectiveness [ 37] and the establishment of positive school climates [ 29]. Bogler and Somech [ 34] claims that principals should establish the conditions necessary for teachers to perceive their competency and status such as affording teachers with opportunities to grow professionally. However, Spreitzer [ 38] claims that individuals must be psychologically receptive if such empowering conditions are to be fully realized.

The impact of teacher empowerment on student learning is less than straight forward on the other hand. Although one study describes how teacher empowerment is a significant independent predictor of student achievement in standardized proficiency tests in reading and mathematics [ 37], two separate studies report no direct relationship between teacher empowerment and student academic achievement [ 39, 40]. According to the findings of Marks and Louis [ 39], the conditions that are necessary for teacher empowerment to positively influence student performance are understood to involve the affordance of decision making opportunities relating to teaching and learning decisions [ 37] in a professional teaching community that has collective responsibility for student learning [ 39]. It is conceived that teacher empowerment encourages teachers to improve how they teach, to instill a belief that student achievement is linked to their own teaching effort as well as promoting the communication and collaboration among teachers in exchanging of information about teaching effectiveness [ 39]. While considerable empowerment research that has taken place within the educational context has investigated the collective empowerment of teachers on an institutional level from external sources such as principals or board of management [ 37], less focus has investigated the empowerment of individual teachers [ 29, 35, 41] and even less attention has been devoted to investigating the empowerment of individual students.

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6. Professional teacher knowledge for student empowerment

A crucial aspect of teachers' professional knowledge is perceiving and operationalizing their power in a manner that does not oppress or inhibit students' creativity, critical thinking or independent thought but rather, they use their power to empower students. Some important factors to consider towards the generation of empowering learning environments include the establishment of strong teacher-student rapports, developing a theoretically sound conceptualization of what it means "to empower" while setting out to promote equitable power dynamics in the classroom.

6.1. Empowering teacher-student rapports

A profound precursor to the generation of empowering learning environments is the establishment of strong rapports between individual teachers and individual students. According to Hattie's meta-analysis of what influences student achievement, what teacher's know, do and care is the greatest source of variance among differences in student achievement [ 42]. The relationship between a teacher and their student is considered to be an interpersonal relationship [ 43, 44] with students' relational goals and motives implicating this relationship [ 45, 46]. Among students' relational goals is the need for them to be liked by their teachers [ 45]. Teachers can help students to achieve these relational goals by ensuring students know they care for them. For students to develop an enhanced sense of empowerment, feeling cared for is vital. The extent to which a teacher cares for their students may be expressed by their immediacy, disclosure, assertiveness, responsiveness, and attractiveness [ 47]. Teachers need to be realizing just how important it is to express such behaviors given their influence on students' affective learning experiences, to the extent that their cognitive learning is enhanced [ 47]. Expressing care may be reciprocated, whereby the care that teachers express to their students is reflected in how students will care for their teacher. Providing strong rapports between individual teachers and individual students are established on a foundation of care, teachers can then begin to conceptualize and embrace what it means to empower.

6.2. Conceptualizing empowerment

6.2.1. Nurturing belief in capability

Following a comprehensive analysis of the concept of empowerment in education as well as a critique of stated definitions of empowerment, Ashcroft [ 8] encapsulates the fundamental pursuit of empowerment that is characterized by the nurture of "belief in capability and competence" (p. 145). A belief stems from personal knowledge or understandings that are antecedents of attitudes and subjective norms; they establish behavioral intentions [ 48, 49]. Elbow contends that "Belief is the source of a child's power" and new belief stems from success and the infusion of new power it brings for students [ 50]. Therefore, towards the nurture of student empowerment, teachers are challenged to instill a sense of belief in individual students of their ability/capacity to act in a sufficient/appropriate/effective manner. When seeking to nurture students' beliefs in their capabilities, teachers may firstly consider identifying the factors that suppress such beliefs. Once these factors have been identified, teachers should proceed to promote students' sense of efficacy in completing tasks which they may once have believed as being too complex. Overcoming such limiting pre-existing beliefs towards the positive advancement of students' personal efficacy may be achieved by issuing explicit and compelling feedback [ 51].

6.2.2. Transforming potential energy into human power

Ashcroft [ 8] portrays a useful analogy for teachers to assist in developing a conceptualization of empowerment. This analogy aligns human capability with potential energy while considering the Law of Conservation of Energy. According to the law of thermodynamics, energy can neither be created nor be destroyed, only transferred from one form to another. Therefore, it would infer that human capability, as potential energy, cannot be created or destroyed but it can be "transformed, changed, altered, and developed into countless forms of human power" ([ 8], p. 149). This analogy can inform the founding of empowerment philosophy of education for teachers, whereby the utmost purpose of their role in the life's of their students is to transform students' incredible and limitless potential energy into human power. Such human power will be different for each student. For some, it may manifest as the ignition of a passion or the development of new and enhanced confidence or sense of belonging. If the very premise of an empowerment process is "to give power to" ([ 17], p. 667), then, unleashing students' potential energy as human power is in essence, the act of student empowerment. Unleashing students' potential energy as human power is not necessarily restricted to learning that is characterized by the acquisition of new knowledge. As the saying goes, "Knowledge is Power", but learning to feel a sense of safety, security and belonging can also be a source of empowerment for students since "Most young people alone can exercise little power... A student's power springs from the collective strength, talent, knowledge and dedication of all team members" ([ 14], p. 185).

6.3. Promoting equitable power dynamics

The equitable use of power by teachers implicates intrapersonal student empowerment [ 52]. Teachers should be conscious of how power dynamics establishes in their classrooms and how they can embrace such dynamics to empower, as opposed to oppress students' creativity, independent, and critical thinking. Providing a safe space for students to voice their thoughts, ideas and opinions as well as including them in decision making processes pertaining to everyday classroom issues such as subject topics, coursework and classroom logistics can promote students to develop their own sense of empowerment as their individuality is recognized, listened to and valued. Students should be encouraged to develop a sense of responsibility and connectedness that comes from the teacher trusting them to make such contributions. Teachers should seek to emphasize the importance of students' contribution to everyday classroom life as well as the importance of the teachers' role in the lives of their students, while it may be assumed that it is primarily the role of the teacher to see to the generation of empowering learning environments in the classroom, it should be noted that students also play a role in the generation of such environments. Since, student behavior can influence the experiences of teachers [ 53], teachers need to also be conscious of how such behavior may have inherent implications to the teachers' efforts to promote the generation of empowering learning environments.

6.4. Empowering students to empower teachers

Ken Macrorie's "Uptaught" changed how writing was taught in America in the 1970's. Macrorie envisioned writing as a fundamental pursuit of human empowerment that teachers should seek to facilitate. Macrorie encouraged teachers to "set up an arrangement which allows the majority of students in a class to find their own powers and to increase them. Making others powerful makes the teacher feel powerful. And the power of both is a fact" ([ 54], p. 88). Here it is explained how teachers' efforts to facilitate the empowerment of students may serve to indirectly empower teachers themselves. Therefore, a potentially potent means of developing an enhanced sense of teacher empowerment is through the embrace of the inherent ability and control that teachers have to empower individual students.

There is a tendency for descriptions of teacher empowerment processes to feature as a collective process involving all teachers that unfolds on an institutional level that is initiated and sustained by an external source such as principals or board of management. However, teachers may develop their own sense of empowerment by seeking to enhance the sense of empowerment experienced by their own students. Further, it is also important for teachers to consider how they can control and perceive the six dimensions of teacher empowerment as described by Short [ 23]. It may be assumed that the extent of which teachers believe they can make decisions, have an impact on school life, have status and autonomy as a teacher, to grow professionally or feel efficacious is dependent on external factors such as the influence of principals or boards of management. However, every teacher has the inherent power to make a decision about how they operationalize their power in the classroom. Every teacher has the inherent power to have a positive impact on the everyday school experiences of individual students. Every teacher has the inherent power to recognize and embrace their status as professionals with autonomy over how they act in the classroom. Every teacher has the inherent power to decide to grow professionally by creating or choosing to engage in professional development activities. Every teacher has the inherent power to feel efficacious in their abilities and capacities to unleash students' potential energy as human power as a function of their endeavors to empower their students.

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7. When power and empowerment gets difficult

As nebulous and intricately complex concepts that have profound implications to the experiences of teachers and students, aspects and applications of power and empowerment can prove difficult for teachers. Contemplating the relinquishment of power, in any capacity, is a prospect that may be perceived as threatening to the status of an individual who has power. As aforementioned, it is desirable for teachers to embrace the banking model of education because in its fulfillment, teachers retain their power [ 16]. Teachers may hesitate to relinquish their power to empower students through the affordance of spaces for students to exercise creativity, independent thought and critical reflection of structures and norms that shapes their lives through a possible fear that their status or power may be undermined or questioned. Not only is the prospect of relinquishing power to students a potentially fearful prospect for teachers, but it also calls for those in power to be comfortable and flexible in a number of situations that deal with their expertise and authority [ 55]. For example, teachers need to be comfortable in appropriately addressing questions that students may ask them, responding to the development of students' critical thinking and dealing with students' developing understanding of how the wider society works to ultimately implicate every aspect of their lives. Within the context of the empowerment of teachers from a principal's point of view, principals may hesitate to promote the empowerment of teachers as it may threaten their status and power. However, Gonzales and Short [ 12] refutes that the empowerment of teachers may threaten the status of principals claiming that empowering teachers will further teachers' recognition of the principals' expertise when in the process of promoting effective change.

Regardless of whether it is principals seeking to empower teachers or teachers seeking to empower students, the relinquishment of power demands critical thought, attention and time. However, it must be emphasized the full relinquishment of power might not always be possible. Certain hierarchies must be preserved within schools for their effective management. Principals must retain some power to make and enact on decisions made to see to the progress of the school. Similarly, teachers must retain some power to reward and prescribe behavior towards ensuring student growth. Achieving the establishment of equitable power dynamics that simultaneously negates oppression but nurtures the growth of every individual within schools is a vital component of teachers' professional knowledge. Principals and teachers must therefore be conscious of their power, to perceive how much power they could relinquish towards the empowerment of students but understand how much power they should retain in order to nurture growth.

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8. Conclusion

Power works to shape the experiences of every individual within the school institution. Recognized as authoritative individuals with expert knowledge and expertise in the classroom, teachers assume power that can function to implicate their students' learning experiences. Teachers have a professional obligation to be conscious of the power that they assume in the classroom and how they operationalize this power. Without careful consideration of how they use their power, teachers may unknowingly oppress students, stifling their creativity and independent thought. Teachers must be encouraged to perceive their role and capacity to empower students by nurturing their sense of belief in their ability and capacity to act in a desired manner. In doing so, the act of student empowerment by teachers is perceived as an endeavor to unleash students' potential energy as human power. This human power will manifest differently in each individual student such as the ignition of a passion or the development of new and enhanced confidence or sense of belonging. While the relinquishment of power may be refuted by those who retain power as a means of preserving their power, teachers must be conscious of the consequences of how they use their power.

References

1. 26. Melenyzer BJ. Teacher empowerment: The discourse, meanings and social actions of teachers. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Council of States on Inservice Education 1990. Orlando, Florida; November 16-20, 1990. Available from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED327496.pdf [Accessed: Jan 3, 2018]

2. 40. Martin BN, Crossland B, Johnson JA. Is there a connection: Teacher empowerment, teachers' sense of responsibility, and student success? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association (Arkansas, November, 2001). 2001. Available from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED460116.pdf [Accessed: Jan 8, 2018]

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This chapter sets out to discuss the tenants of power and empowerment as features of teachers' professional knowledge. At the root of empowerment is power and this power works to shape the experiences of every individual within the school institution.

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I grew up near Chicago in Garfield Ridge. It was the middle class of Chicago and the houses weren't small or big they were a decent size. I would say I am middle class or near upper middle class. My parents were able to afford to pay for school, sports, food, technology, and trips. We never struggled to take care of ourselves. When I lived in Garfield Ridge I went to Divine Providence a Catholic in La Grange. The school was very far from my house. I attended that school because my mom's work office was near. It was easier for her to pick us up and be close to us. I attended that school from preschool to third grade. I left in third grade because my mom's work office was moving closer to Chicago. While my mom was waiting for the new office to get built she was a stay at home mom. We transferred  schools and started to attend St. Daniel The Prophet. This school was more expensive especially for three kids. I stayed at the school from fourth grade to seventh. My parents moved to the suburbs because it was less expensive and my parents could not afford to pay for high school in Chicago. We moved to Darien and I live in Carriage Greens residence. The houses are bigger than the ones in Chicago. I started to go to Cass jr. high school which is a public school. My parents took us to public schools because they had a better education system than public schools in Chicago. It was also less expensive than private schools. I graduated from Cass and I attend Hinsdale South High School.

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I first lived in Garfield Ridge for most of my life until I moved. Most of my family live near the neighborhood so it was easy to see each other. Garfield Ridge isn't big but it's a decent size. The median home value is 242,606 dollars. The neighborhood is located in the far southwest of Chicago. The neighborhood was middle class but living there got expensive because of inflation, so my family wanted to move to somewhere that wont be as expensive. I think the neighborhood is an okay place to live in. When I moved to Darien I realized it wasn't the best place to live in. The main street is very busy and traffic can get bad. The safety in the neighborhood is good but from time to time there will be robbery or sometimes shootings. The crime rate in the city isn't bad but isn't great. The crime rate of burglary is 416.1 and assault is 334.6. (https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/n/garfield-ridge-chicago-il/) Now that I have moved Darien is a much nicer place to live than Garfield Ridge.

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Garfield Ridge is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois with a population of 35,370. Garfield Ridge is in Cook County. Living in Garfield Ridge offers residents a sparse suburban feel and most residents own their homes. In Garfield Ridge there are a lot of bars, coffee shops, and parks. Many families and young professionals live in Garfield Ridge and residents tend to be liberal. The public schools in Garfield Ridge are above average.

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I have been living in Garfield Ridge for about nine to ten years. I feel safe and welcomed in the neighborhood. I have some close relatives and friends living near me which helps me to communicate and go out with them. I have public transportation near me and a few retail stores and restaurants. Garfield Ridge is a calm, peaceful, and clean neighborhood. Its family friendly. Midway airport is in the area which is helpful for everyone to who can travel nearby.

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Very quite and safe neighborhood. Everyone looks out for one another and a lot of close things around as well! Local restaurants and business are great just wish they added a few more. Aside from that it's a great neighborhood to raise small children. Close to I55 so making it very easy to get places!

Garfield Ridge is one of the 77 community areas in Chicago located southwest from downtown. The public schools in this area are excellent, not only are the facilities well managed, but the students that compromise them are always excelling. This neighborhood sees little violence and crime in the span of a year. Another bonus to living here is that there's a variety of small businesses selling everything from bakery items, restaurants, bike shops, etc. One thing that can catch you off guard in this neighborhood is the vast amount of noise pollution produced by the jets taking off/landing at the airport nearby.

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Garfield Ridge is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois with a population of 35,370. Garfield Ridge is in Cook County. Living in Garfield Ridge offers residents a sparse suburban feel and most residents own their homes. In Garfield Ridge there are a lot of bars, coffee shops, and parks.

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I moved to Darien in the summer of 2021. Darien is a city in DuPage County and southwester suburb of Chicago. The high school of Darien is Hinsdale South High School. When I moved to Darien it was very different from Garfield Ridge. The houses in Darien are bigger and the nearby stores are also nicer. The Median home value is 343,100. I think it is more colorful in Darien than it is in Garfield Ridge. In Garfield Ridge it is darker and not as nice as Darien. I live in the Carriage Greens community and attended Cass Jr High for eighth grade and graduated. The difference between the crime rates for Darien and Garfield Ridge is huge. Darien has 9.3 for assault and 129.7 for burglary. Garfield Ridge has 334.6 for assault and 416.1 for burglary. (https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/darien-dupage-il/) (https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/n/garfield-ridge-chicago-il/) There is a big difference between both neighborhoods and overall Darien is a much nicer place than where I used to live.

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Darien is a suburb of Chicago with a population of 21,884. Darien is in DuPage County and is one of the best places to live in Illinois. Living in Darien offers residents a dense suburban feel and most residents own their homes. In Darien there are a lot of parks.

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I attend Hinsdale South High School and graduate in 2026. This is my second year attending public school in the suburbs. The high school is small and has 1,299 students. I'd say the school is somewhat diverse. 56.7% is white, 14.3% black, 14.9 Hispanic, 11.2 Asian, and 2.6% two or more. (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/School.aspx?source=studentcharacteristics&Schoolid=190220860170002) Hinsdale Souths diversity is bigger than Hinsdale Centrals. Central has 2,490 students and 65.8% white, 2.5% black, 8.4 Hispanic, 21.2 Asian and 1.2% two or more. 96% of freshmen are close to being on track and likely to graduate. The graduation rate of Hinsdale is 88%. Hinsdale Central has 99% of Freshman on track and 93% of students graduating. (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/School.aspx?source=studentcharacteristics&Schoolid=190220860170001)

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Go beyond test scores and get a snapshot of every Illinois public school.

About the Illinois Report Card

IllinoisReportCard.com is the state's official source for information about public schools across Illinois. The information here will help you act as an informed partner in the education of our children.

Families, researchers, policy makers, and community members can use the site to find school data, including academic performance, school environment, educators, students, and highlights provided by principals.

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Illinois' new online school report card goes beyond test scores to present a complete view of your schools. The information here will help you to work with your child's school

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My favorite song from this Album is Our First Time

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Bruno Mars - An Evening With Silk Sonic 

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My favorite songs are After Last Night and Smokin Out the Window

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Religion can affect what people believe is right or wrong. An example of this is that Christians strongly do not believe abortion is okay. They disagree with this act and believe it should be illegal because it goes against what the lord says. This shows how religion affects your beliefs.

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Learning Objectives

1. Identify five agents of socialization.

2. Describe positive and negative aspects of the socialization these agents produce.

Several institutional and other sources of socialization exist and are called agents of socialization. The first of these, the family, is certainly the most important agent of socialization for infants and young children.

The Family

Should parents get the credit when their children turn out to be good kids and even go on to accomplish great things in life? Should they get the blame if their children turn out to be bad? No parent deserves all the credit or blame for their children's successes and failures in life, but the evidence indicates that our parents do affect us profoundly. In many ways, we even end up resembling our parents in more than just appearance.

Sociology Making a Difference

Understanding Racial Socialization

In a society that is still racially prejudiced, African American parents continue to find it necessary to teach their children about African American culture and to prepare them for the bias and discrimination they can expect to encounter. Scholars in sociology and other disciplines have studied this process of racial socialization. One of their most interesting findings is that African American parents differ in the degree of racial socialization they practice: some parents emphasize African American identity and racial prejudice to a considerable degree, while other parents mention these topics to their children only minimally. The reasons for these differences have remained unclear.

Sociologist Jason E. Shelton (2008) analyzed data from a national random sample of African Americans to determine these reasons, in what he called "one of the most comprehensive analyses to date of racial socialization strategies among African Americans" (p. 237). Among other questions, respondents were asked whether "in raising your children, have you done or told them things to help them know what it means to be Black." They were also asked whether "there are any other things you've done or told your children to help them know how to get along with White people."

In his major results, Shelton found that respondents were more likely to practice racial socialization if they were older, female, and living outside the South; if they perceived that racial discrimination was a growing problem and were members of civil rights or other organization aimed at helping African Americans; and if they had higher incomes.

These results led Shelton to conclude that "African Americans are not a culturally monolithic group," as they differ in "the parental lessons they impart to their children about race relations" (2008, p. 253). Further, the parents who do practice racial socialization "do so in order to demystify and empower their offspring to seize opportunities in the larger society" (p. 253).

Shelton's study helps us to understand the factors accounting for differences in racial socialization by African American parents, and it also helps us understand that the parents who do attempt to make their children aware of U.S. race relations are merely trying, as most parents do, to help their children get ahead in life. By increasing our understanding of these matters, Shelton's research has helped make a difference.

The reason we turn out much like our parents, for better or worse, is that our families are such an important part of our socialization process. When we are born, our primary caregivers are almost always one or both of our parents. For several years we have more contact with them than with any other adults. Because this contact occurs in our most formative years, our parents' interaction with us and the messages they teach us can have a profound impact throughout our lives, as indicated by the stories of Sarah Patton Boyle and Lillian Smith presented earlier.

The ways in which our parents socialize us depend on many factors, two of the most important of which are our parents' social class and our own biological sex. Melvin Kohn (1965, 1977) found that working-class and middle-class parents tend to socialize their children very differently. Kohn reasoned that working-class parents tend to hold factory and other jobs in which they have little autonomy and instead are told what to do and how to do it. In such jobs, obedience is an important value, lest the workers be punished for not doing their jobs correctly. Working-class parents, Kohn thought, should thus emphasize obedience and respect for authority as they raise their children, and they should favor spanking as a primary way of disciplining their kids when they disobey. In contrast, middle-class parents tend to hold white-collar jobs where autonomy and independent judgment are valued and workers get ahead by being creative. These parents should emphasize independence as they raise their children and should be less likely than working-class parents to spank their kids when they disobey.

If parents' social class influences how they raise their children, it is also true that the sex of their children affects how they are socialized by their parents. Many studies find that parents raise their daughters and sons quite differently as they interact with them from birth. We will explore this further in Chapter 11 "Gender and Gender Inequality", but suffice it to say here that parents help their girls learn how to act and think "like girls," and they help their boys learn how to act and think "like boys." That is, they help their daughters and sons learn their gender (Wood, 2009). For example, they are gentler with their daughters and rougher with their sons. They give their girls dolls to play with, and their boys guns. Girls may be made of "sugar and spice and everything nice" and boys something quite different, but their parents help them greatly, for better or worse, turn out that way. To the extent this is true, our gender stems much more from socialization than from biological differences between the sexes, or so most sociologists probably assume. To return to a question posed earlier, if Gilligan is right that boys and girls reach moral judgments differently, socialization matters more than biology for how they reach these judgments.

As the "Learning From Other Societies" box illustrates, various cultures socialize their children differently. We can also examine cross-cultural variation in socialization with data from the World Values Survey, which was administered to almost six dozen nations. Figure 4.1 "Percentage Believing That Obedience Is Especially Important for a Child to Learn" shows the percentage of people in several countries who think it is "especially important for children to learn obedience at home." Here we see some striking differences in the value placed on obedience, with the United States falling somewhat in between the nations in the figure.

Learning From Other Societies

Children and Socialization in Japan

This chapter ends with the observation that American children need to be socialized with certain values in order for our society to be able to address many of the social issues, including hate crimes and violence against women, facing it. As we consider the socialization of American children, the experience of Japan offers a valuable lesson.

Recall from Chapter 2 "Eye on Society: Doing Sociological Research" that Japan's culture emphasizes harmony, cooperation, and respect for authority. Socialization in Japan is highly oriented toward the teaching of the values just listed, with much of it stressing the importance of belonging to a group and dependence, instead of individual autonomy and independence. This is especially true in Japanese schools, which, as two sociologists write, "stress the similarity of all children, and the importance of the group" (Schneider & Silverman, 2010, p. 24). Let's see how this happens (Hendry, 1987; Schwalb & Schwalb, 1996).

From the time they begin school, Japanese children learn to value their membership in their homeroom, or kumi, and they spend several years in the same kumi. Each kumi treats its classroom as a "home away from home," as the children arrange the classroom furniture, bring in plants and other things from their own homes, and clean the classroom every day. At recess one kumi will play against another. In an interesting difference from standard practice in the United States, a kumi in junior high school will stay in its classroom while the teachers for, say, math and social science move from one classroom to another. In the United States, of course, the opposite is true: teachers stay in their classrooms, and students move from one room to another.

Other practices in Japanese schools further the learning of Japanese values. Young schoolchildren wear the same uniforms. Japanese teachers use constant drills to teach them how to bow, and they have the children repeatedly stand up and sit down as a group. These practices help students learn respect for authority and help enhance the sense of group belonging that the kumi represents. Whereas teachers in the United States routinely call on individual students to answer a question, Japanese teachers rarely do this. Rather than competing with each other for a good grade, Japanese schoolchildren are evaluated according to the performance of the kumi as a whole. Because decision making within the kumi is done by consensus, the children learn the need to compromise and to respect each other's feelings.

Because the members of a kumi spend so much time together for so many years, they develop extremely close friendships and think of themselves more as members of the kumi than as individuals. They become very loyal to the kumi and put its interests above their own individual interests. In these and other ways, socialization in Japanese schools helps the children and adolescents there learn the Japanese values of harmony, group loyalty, and respect for authority. If American children learned these values to a greater degree, it would be easier to address violence and other issues facing the United States.

Schools

Schools socialize children in several ways. First, students learn a formal curriculum, informally called the "three Rs": reading, writing, and arithmetic. This phase of their socialization is necessary for them to become productive members of their society. Second, because students interact every day at school with their peers, they ideally strengthen their social interaction skills. Third, they interact with authority figures, their teachers, who are not their parents. For children who have not had any preschooling, their teachers are often the first authority figures they have had other than their parents. The learning they gain in relating to these authority figures is yet another important component of their socialization.

Functional theorists cite all these aspects of school socialization, but conflict theorists instead emphasize that schools in the United States also impart a hidden curriculum by socializing children to accept the cultural values of the society in which the schools are found. To be more specific, children learn primarily positive things about the country's past and present; they learn the importance of being neat, patient, and obedient; and they learn to compete for good grades and other rewards. In this manner, they learn to love America and not to recognize its faults, and they learn traits that prepare them for jobs and careers that will bolster the capitalist economy. Children are also socialized to believe that failure, such as earning poor grades, stems from not studying hard enough and, more generally, from not trying hard enough (Booher-Jennings, 2008; Bowles & Gintis, 1976). This process reinforces the blaming-the-victim ideology discussed in Chapter 1 "Sociology and the Sociological Perspective". Schools are also a significant source of gender socialization, as even in this modern day, teachers and curricula send out various messages that reinforce the qualities traditionally ascribed to females and males, and students engage in recess and other extracurricular activities that do the same thing (Booher-Jennings, 2008; Thorne, 1993).

Peers

When you were a 16-year-old, how many times did you complain to your parent(s), "All of my friends are [doing so and so]. Why can't I? It isn't fair!" As this all-too-common example indicates, our friends play a very important role in our lives. This is especially true during adolescence, when peers influence our tastes in music, clothes, and so many other aspects of our lives, as the now-common image of the teenager always on a cell phone reminds us. But friends are important during other parts of the life course as well. We rely on them for fun, for emotional comfort and support, and for companionship. That is the upside of friendships.

The downside of friendships is called peer pressure, with which you are undoubtedly familiar. Suppose it is Friday night, and you are studying for a big exam on Monday. Your friends come by and ask you to go with them to get a pizza and a drink. You would probably agree to go with them, partly because you really dislike studying on a Friday night, but also because there is at least some subtle pressure on you to do so. As this example indicates, our friends can influence us in many ways. During adolescence, their interests can affect our own interests in film, music, and other aspects of popular culture. More ominously, adolescent peer influences have been implicated in underage drinking, drug use, delinquency, and hate crimes, such as the killing of Charlie Howard, recounted at the beginning of this chapter (Agnew, 2007) (see Chapter 5 "Social Structure and Social Interaction").

After we reach our 20s and 30s, our peers become less important in our lives, especially if we get married. Yet even then our peers do not lose all their importance, as married couples with young children still manage to get out with friends now and then. Scholars have also begun to emphasize the importance of friendships with coworkers for emotional and practical support and for our continuing socialization (Elsesser & Peplau, 2006; Marks, 1994).

The Mass Media

The mass media are another agent of socialization. Television shows, movies, popular music, magazines, Web sites, and other aspects of the mass media influence our political views; our tastes in popular culture; our views of women, people of color, and gays; and many other beliefs and practices.

In an ongoing controversy, the mass media are often blamed for youth violence and many other of our society's ills. The average child sees thousands of acts of violence on television and in the movies before reaching young adulthood. Rap lyrics often seemingly extol very ugly violence, including violence against women. Commercials can greatly influence our choice of soda, shoes, and countless other products. The mass media also reinforce racial and gender stereotypes, including the belief that women are sex objects and suitable targets of male violence. In the General Social Survey (GSS), about 28% of respondents said that they watch four or more hours of television every day, while another 46% watch two to three hours daily (see Figure 4.2 "Average Number of Hours of Television Watched Daily"). The mass media certainly are an important source of socialization unimaginable a half-century ago.

As the mass media socialize children, adolescents, and even adults, a key question is the extent to which media violence causes violence in our society (Surette, 2011). Studies consistently uncover a strong correlation between watching violent television shows and movies and committing violence. However, this does not necessarily mean that watching the violence actually causes violent behavior: perhaps people watch violence because they are already interested in it and perhaps even committing it. Scholars continue to debate the effect of media violence on youth violence. In a free society, this question is especially important, as the belief in this effect has prompted calls for monitoring the media and the banning of certain acts of violence. Civil libertarians argue that such calls smack of censorship that violates the First Amendment to the Constitution, whole others argue that they fall within the First Amendment and would make for a safer society. Certainly the concern and debate over mass media violence will continue for years to come.

Religion

One final agent of socialization is religion, discussed further in Chapter 12 "Aging and the Elderly". Although religion is arguably less important in people's lives now than it was a few generations ago, it still continues to exert considerable influence on our beliefs, values, and behaviors.

Here we should distinguish between religious preference (e.g., Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish) and religiosity (e.g., how often people pray or attend religious services). Both these aspects of religion can affect your values and beliefs on religious and nonreligious issues alike, but their particular effects vary from issue to issue. To illustrate this, consider the emotionally charged issue of abortion. People hold very strong views on abortion, and many of their views stem from their religious beliefs. Yet which aspect of religion matters the most, religious preference or religiosity? General Social Survey data help us answer this question ( Figure 4.3 "Religious Preference, Religiosity, and Belief That Abortion Should Be Legal for Any Reason"). It turns out that religious preference, if we limit it for the sake of this discussion to Catholics versus Protestants, does not matter at all: Catholics and Protestants in the GSS exhibit roughly equal beliefs on the abortion issue, as about one-third of each group thinks abortion should be allowed for any reason. (The slight difference shown in the table is not statistically significant.) However, religiosity matters a lot: GSS respondents who pray daily are only about half as likely as those who rarely or never pray to think abortion should be allowed.

Key Takeaways

The ways in which parents socialize children depend in part on the parents' social class and on their child's biological sex.

Schools socialize children by teaching them both the formal curriculum and a hidden curriculum.

Peers are an important source of emotional support and companionship, but peer pressure can induce individuals to behave in ways they might ordinarily regard as wrong.

The mass media are another important agent of socialization, and scholars debate the effect the media have on violence in society.

In considering the effects of religion on socialization, we need to distinguish between religious preference and religiosity.

For Your Review

1. Describe one important value or attitude you have that is the result of socialization by your parent(s).

2. Do you agree that there is a hidden curriculum in secondary schools? Explain your answer.

3. Briefly describe one example of how peers influenced you or someone you know in a way that you now regard as negative.

References

Agnew, R. (2007). Pressured into crime: An overview of general strain theory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Booher-Jennings, J. (2008). Learning to label: Socialisation, gender, and the hidden curriculum of high-stakes testing. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 29, 149-160.

Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in capitalist America: Educational reforms and the contradictions of economic life. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Elsesser, K., & Peplau, L. A. (2006). The glass partition: Obstacles to cross-sex friendships at work. Human Relations, 59, 1077-1100.

Hendry, J. (1987). Understanding Japanese society. London, England: Croom Helm.

Kohn, M. (1977). Class and conformity. Homewood, IL: Dorsey.

Kohn, M. (1965). Social class and parent-child relationships: An interpretation. American Journal of Sociology, 68, 471-480.

Marks, S. R. (1994). Intimacy in the public realm: The case of co-workers. Social Forces, 72, 843-858.

Schneider, L., & Silverman, A. (2010). Global sociology: Introducing five contemporary societies (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Schwalb, D. W., & Schwalb, B. J. (Eds.). (1996). Japanese childrearing: Two generations of scholarship. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Shelton, J. E. (2008). The investment in blackness hypothesis: Toward greater understanding of who teaches what during racial socialization. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 5(2), 235-257.

Surette, R. (2011). Media, crime, and criminal justice: Images, realities, and policies (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Thorne, B. (1993). Gender play: Girls and boys in school. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Wood, J. T. (2009). Gendered lives: Communication, gender, and culture. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

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Identify five agents of socialization. Describe positive and negative aspects of the socialization these agents produce. Several institutional and other sources of socialization exist and are called agents of socialization. The first of these, the family, is certainly the most important agent of socialization for infants and young children.

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My Favorite song from this album is Big Empty

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My favorite song is Creep