Culture is what controls our interaction as individuals in society. It is a set of social patterns, more specifically, it is made of rules, beliefs, and values. All of us living in this society share its culture. We have many values which our culture dictates, some of which hold greater importance than others. Values such as private property, free market, and free speech seem to be dominant over others, of which we will focus on teaching. Teaching in our country is beginning to be viewed by many as inadequate; the reason for this being that it's not exactly the value which holds the most weight in our culture. Even the plans that are being put forth to improve education are not being received with great colors by the critics. One important thing one should give some thought to, is that any great reform of our education system is highly unlikely, because it is an institution which keeps our society the way it is.
Any capitalist system would be most influenced by those with the highest wealth in society. Inequality is part of any functioning society, it is impossible to have complete equality in society, because that would prevent an organization of its members. An influential sociologist, Robert Michaels, has stated the "Iron Law of Oligarchy," which means that whenever there is a certain system setup there will always be people who have power in relation to others. Once one gains this high position, one has the means to protect oneself. "Once a society develops a system of inequality, the prevailing institutions tend to work in such a way that the inequality is maintained or even increased." (Charon) Every social institution that is setup in turn is greatly influenced by the "elite" of the society, including teaching.
As related before, if there are any significant changes to be made to our education system, they would have to be compliant with the goals of the elite. This is very evident in the current efforts of our government to improve education.
