The Sociological Imagination, By Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King wrote the following in a campus newspaper, the Maroon Tiger 1947, â€Å"It seems to me that education has a two-fold function in the life of man and in society: the one is utility and the other is culture† (King, 1947). This essay will analyse via the sociological imagination, ‘whose interests does schooling serve and why?’ In addressing this question, one needs to discuss why is an education so valued in Australia today. Education has had three phases of development according, to Van Krieken, 2013. Each phase being associated with a set of beliefs about the nature and purpose of education. Firstly, the advent of the modern system from the mid-19th century to World War II, influenced chiefly by liberal humanist ideas. Secondly, post World War II expansion into the late 1970’s was influenced by social democratic beliefs. Finally, the increased marketisation of education which has been influenced by neoliberalism since the 1980’s (Krieken, 2013, p. 149). In Australia, post World War II the federal government began to take an increasing role over the states in education, as states were finding it increasingly difficult to fund higher education due in part to the baby boom post World War II and the requirement for more university trained teachers and by the late 1950’s. Furthermore, politically, grouwing desire among politicians to enable more potential students to enroll in higher education(Krieken, 2013, p. 150). Moving forward in time, a series of governmentShow MoreRelatedMichelle Alexander s The New Jim Crow1495 Words   |  6 Pagesfifth guideline is Expertise. Within her book, Michelle Alexander has stories from real people who have been through the process of the criminal justice system Jarvious Cotton and Drake are to name a couple. She also relies on the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who was imprisoned, for speaking out about the discrimination and leading the nation into Civil Rights Era. 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