ΕΠΑ517: Cultural Differences, Social Inequalities and Bilingualism in Education

Module Purpose and Objectives

In this particular module we will study the educational role in the process of creating, maintaining and / or enhancing social and cultural classifications and inequalities. 

Module Content

This module covers the role of education in the process of creating, maintaining and / or enhancing social and cultural classifications and inequalities. More specifically, we will study the way in which the concept of difference is presented in education, in relation to the concepts of identity/ culture. At the same time, special emphasis is placed on thematic approaches of the sociology of education field. The main objective of this presentation are the social and educational differences towards education and the school mechanisms through which the differences are transformed into inequalities, thus legitimizing the exclusion processes. Also, the relation between the official language of the school with the social classification that affects the language, is examined. Moreover, based on information provided by the literature on bilingualism, the significant effects of the official language on the students’ performance who are speaking different language is presented. Finally, the modern scientific achievements that highlight the importance of the mother tongue as a cognitive background for learning other languages,  as well as the relation between language and identity, is presented.