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LAIG3HEAD UNIVERSITY A SOCIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF "THE SIMPSONS" WITH RESPECT TO THE INSTITUTION OF EDUCATION BY ALBERT NIEMI@ A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO FALL, 1997 National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, nie Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L 'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence dowing the exclusive permettant à la National Lïbrary of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in ~crofom, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fïlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otheMnse de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Operating £rom the prernise that episodic television comedy The Sim~sonsis perceived more as a living culture than as a symbolic artifact, this thesis uses a qualitative approach to examine the program's education system and compare it to those of contemporary western industrialized nations with respect to intents, means and outcomes. This is achieved by melding sociological theory and substantive pedagogical studies to explore two interweaving dualisms: organizational efficiency versus social variability and a functionalist perspective compared with a critical viewpoint. The data suggest that the consumeristic individualism of the Simpsonian culture and the authoritarian mode of its education system are antagonistic to its socialization role. The educational bureaucracy does not fulfil its organizational mandate of service and accountabiiity to the maximal benefit of society. As well, teachers do not fulfil their ethical responsibilities to students, independent of administrative goals. The equitable treatrnent of students is precluded by the existence of a hidden curriculum by which students are tacitly judged by their congruence with and acquiescence to the dominant cultural perspective. Other than hope-inspiring indications that positive social change is occurring though the actualization of feminist ideas in the locus of the working class family, the data present a grim portrayal of a traditionalist culture, one in which the education system serves to rigidify class and gender relations into preexisting socioeconomic categories. i CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .................................................... i CHAPTER ONE : THE NATURE OF THE QUEST Introduction ........................................... 1 LiteratureReview ...................................... 3 Conclusion ............................................ 13 CHAPTER TWO: THE SPRINGFIELD SITE: DATA SAMPLING. ANALYSIS. AND OVERVIFd Introduction ........................................... 14 Research Design: Data Sampling, Analysis, and Limitations ................................... 14 Site Overview: Physical, Economic and Cultural Indicators ........................................ 18 Site Overview: Family and School Environments .......... 19 Conclusion . ......................................... 21 CHAPTER T-E: EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION Introduction ........................................... 23 The Arnerican Educational System ........................ 25 Administrative Accountability .......................... 30 The Principle of Impartial Universality ................ 33 Expansion of Organizational Control .................... 36 Administration as Buffer to Teachers ................... 40 Conclusion . ........................................ 42 CHAPTER FOUR: TEACHER PROFESSIONALISM Introducïion ........................................... 44 Expansion of Education Since the 1960s ................. 48 Pedagogical Traditionalism in Springfield .............. 51 Teacher ~rofessionalism:Knowledqe . and Accountability .................................... 54 Constraints against Universakàtic Noms ............... 58 Conclusion ........................................... 63 CHAPTER FIVE: MERITOCRACY. SCIENCE AND THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM Introduction ........................................... 66 The Hidden Curriculum: Its Ranking Function ............ 67 Meritocracy and Streaming ........................ ....... 69 The Science of Testinq. ................................. 75 Conclusion ............................................. 81 CHAPTER SIX: MERITOCRACY DENLED: REPRODUCTION. RESISTANCE AND DEVIATION Introduction ........................................... 83 The Alienation of Work and the Failure O£ the Reward System ..................................... 84 Rewards: Structural Constraints ........................ 89 Deviancy cum Resistance ................................ 94 Authority and School: The Metaphor of the "Total Institution" ...................................... 100 Conclusion ............................................. 107 SPRINGFIELD DATA : MERITOCRACY ' S FAILINGS Introduction ........................................... 109 Meritocracy ......................................... 110 Fear as Mode of Social Controi ......................... 115 Curriculum as Mode of Social Control ................... 117 Resistance and Deviation ............................... 122 Streaming .............................................. 126 Conclusion ............................................ 131 CHAPTER EIGHT: SPRINGFIELD DATA: SOCIAL REPRODUCTION Introduction ............................................ 133 Reproduction in Gender Roles ........................... 135 Reproduction in Class and Work ......................... 144 Correspondence Principle ............................... 151 Conclusion ........................................... 154 CHAPTER NINE: CONCLUSION Introduction .......................................... 156 Responses to Hypotheses ................................ 156 Connections to Pedagogical Theory ...................... 162 Closing Rernarks, Future Considerations ................. 165 NOTES ....................................................... 167 REFERENCES .................................................. 177 TABLES Table 1. Gender Composition of Educational Hierarchy in the U.S., 1982-1992 ............................. 187 APPENDICES A . Citations of The Simpsons: Individual Episodes ..... 188 B . Cultural and Economic Resources in Springfield and Surrounding Area ............................... 190 iii This thesis would not have been accomplished without the support of many individuals . Foremost, 1 would like to thank my advisor, Doctor Randle Nelsen. 1 would also like to note my appreciation for the comments and suggestions of committee members Doctor Gerd Schroeter and Doctor James Stafford. Thanks is also extended to Doctor Norene Pupo who graciously agreed to serve as external examiner. Finally, a special thanks goes to the librarians and staff of the Chancellor Paterson and Education Libraries at Lakehead University for their inestimable aid. CHAPTER ONE: TfIE NATURE OF !M3E QUEST Introduction There is evidence of widespread interest in the television situation comedy The Sim~sons. In both print media and Internet chat files it appears to be experienced more as a living culture than the artifact that it is. Although the life style of its main protagonis ts has been seen as representative of a Keynesian economic ethos of immediate satisfaction (The Economist, 1992), the programme is most frequently compared to contemporary society £rom the perspective of the values and attitudes of the nuclear family (Zoglin, 1990; Ehrenreich, 1994). Just as television renditions of historical events compete in the public mind with actual events, with the former frequently winning due to the entertainment factor (Boorstin, 1961) , so too is it with fictional representations. President Bush addressed the cultural ethos of The Sim~sonsby stating that he wanted an America t'hat looks a lot more "like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons" (Cited in Kakutani, 1992 :Cl). An immediate reply that "like the Waltons welrewaiting for the Depression to end too" was later followed up by a representational evisceration of Bush, portraying him as inherently violent, with a bloated sense of self- importance ( "Two Bad Neighbours") . When cons idering the market -driven nature of television, perhaps the cornedic form of the programme is the only way that 2 serious concerns about society cm be addressed. However, while the laughter it generates may serve as cathartic release £rom situational tensions, it still leaves the of fending social premises unresolved. Given that the programme is a representation of contemporary America as seen through a glass darkly, a socio- cultural analysis of it is of value in order to understand the consequences of following certain seemingly preordained paths of social policy. This is especially true in the area of education in schools because of that institution's role as socialization agent and its inextricable connections to the political and economic spheres. Education has been