Educational Institutions and ProcessesMarginality - Essay Example

The societal structure is more concerned with such human elements as religion, demography, social structure and culture. In addition, the structure is also concerned with the connection between politics and economics with regard to group or individual access to resources. As such, the societal framework tends to stress on the consideration of those fundamental causes of inequality, exclusion, social injustice, as well as the spatial isolation of the populace (Brodwin, 2003). On the other hand, the spatial element of marginality is chiefly based on physical setting and space from centre of development, lying at the periphery of a poorly incorporated society (Larsen, 2002).

With this notion, it is anticipated that an insight into the physical locations and space on individuals and groups livelihoods shall be gained.From these meanings, one can undoubtedly observe that marginality is a progression that emerges and evolves gradually in a variety of scales and types under geo-political and socio-economical settings. As such, marginality supports and replicates that state of marginalization to a large extent. It is worth noting that the interpretation of societal marginality stems from social conditions.

The apparent disparities in a social institution such as a school will often be as a result of exclusion from the 'mainstream'. At this point, the state and scale of economic, social, and political inequalities linking the mainstream and the marginalized ought to be assessed from the perspective of legitimate and equitable access to decision making procedures and resources. By and large, educational marginality is often revealed by the underlying state of people. The state could as well be represented by such poor living options as a lack of opportunities, resources, and skills.

Further, such a state can also be reflected by either a limited or reduced contribution in the making of public decisions, and low self esteem (Brodwin, 2003). In the educational institutions, marginalized students are normally stigmatized, singled out, ignored and mostly repressed on age, gender, culture, race, ethnicity, religion, occupation, economy, and education basis by the mainstream (Larsen, 2002). Marginalized groups in existing schools situationsMcCready (2004) has suggested a multidimensional structure that considers the multiple forms and differences of oppression , with a view to understanding and suggesting possible options for gay as well as for the gender non-conforming African American male students attending urban schools.

The author has indicated that such students experience a certain kind of marginalization, and which is almost recognized by almost everybody who knows about the sexual orientation of this group. In addition, the author has also indicated that in a majority of the cases, such gay students have feelings that they are usually being marginalized by the mainstream society in school. The sad situation that this book brings out is that in certain instances, such students will normally experience marginalization, yet they fail to admit it.

It has often been argued that from a school perspective, marginalization tends to be a multifaceted and complex process. For this reason, it is important that the