Social network processes and dynamics

Stanton-Salazar reflects on the state of the educational system and the role of marginalization in preventing some children, regardless of racial or ethnic background, from a successful path throughout the school career and later in life. To explain his social capital framework, the author uses concepts such as institutional agents, institutional support and social support. The last of the three concepts is enjoyed by all children in the form of family and peer groups. Institutional agents and support however are mainly found within the boundaries of the school. They also tend to focus on the dominant social group, currently the White middle classes. Thus the system within which these systems operate are focused on a very single-minded way of education. The cultural barrier then prevents children from minority and oppressed cultures from access to the same resources as children from the middle classes. This is so because middle class children instinctively understand the system focused upon them, while children from other cultures have to make a significant effort.

I believe that Stanton Salazar's concepts provide great insight into how education can be improved. Currently education fails to meet the demands of a widely diverse country. Only one group of people are truly accommodated, while others are left to fend for themselves in a confusing and discouraging system. The identification of problems related to social capital rather than individual motivation and achievement is perhaps a step towards a better and more equal education for all. This in turn will more effectively address the issue of equal opportunities for job seekers leaving school. The education system should therefore make a greater effort to acknowledge cultural difference rather than enforce a single culture to the exclusion of the rest. The United States can only become truly democratic of these issues of inequality be eliminated at its roots: the education of our children. Children with equal opportunities in school will become responsible citizens with equal opportunities in the country.