Knowledge is fact, information, and skill acquired by a person through experience or education. This simple definition has many implications when defined from a sociological standpoint. When I attempt to define knowledge from that point of view, I find it inevitable but to associate it with social inequalities and differences. Another question that comes in mind is the extent of the legitimacy of the knowledge acquired by our students, and the equality--in terms of truthfulness, power, and organization--in distribution. I am swarmed with a multitude of questions when I attempt to define knowledge and how it is distributed. Examining knowledge from a conflict perspective, I found that some social groups attain better knowledge that others--not necessarily true--which in turn solidifies the stratification of our societies.
Knowledge is created in many ways and forms; to answer the question of how it is created, the relationship between social inequality, which is supported by power, must be examined. a persons place in the organization of knowledge is in turn a function of their place in social order. This indicates that knowledge is not distributed equally especially in our educational system. "Working class children, for instance, are held to be alienated by a narrow academic "middle class" curriculum, girls by androcentrism, and non-Western ethnic minorities by Eurocentrism."(Schools and Education,p 223-224) And those in the higher stratification of society can send their children to prestige schools providing them with higher knowledge, which in turn perpetuates the prosperous social order. Knowledge is created to serve those who can afford it, which in turn provides greater opportunities, wealth and statues to them. .
The knowledge that we obtain from the educational system is organized by power groups and presented to society where some might learns and others fail to learn.