SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION ANALYZED WITHIN VARIOUS THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS

Abstract

The expansion of education and the mass inclusion of generations in certain levels of education have not reduced inequality in education. There have still been numerous causes and forms of social inequality, with far-reaching consequences. The consequences of social inequalities in education are very complex and are manifested in the form of reproduction of social inequality, that is, the self-reproduction of social stratification and the reproduction of economic inequality. Scientists working in various fields deal with the clarification of the problems of social inequality in education and everyone can, from their own standpoint, attempt to discover the basic causes of these inequalities so as to overcome them. In paper we have shown four current theoretical approaches to the problem of social inequality in education: the functionalist theory, radical theory, theory of educational capital and theory of cultural deprivation. Every approach from its own standpoint tries to indicate the relationship between the educational system and social structure, as well as the possibility of overcoming certain social inequality. Based on the analysis of the basic tenets of various theoretical approaches to inequality in education conceptualized the initial hypotheses as the foundation for the functioning of the educational system in the future, based on the principles of meritocracy.