Hegemony and Education
LaTricia Lawrrence

Hegemony is defined as the leadership, dominance, or great influence that one entity or group has over others (Ellis-Christensen). The theory that best contributes to our understanding of how society mis-educates in order to sustain nondemocratic power relations is ideological hegemony (Tozer/Senese/Violas, 2009). There are different types of hegemony. Hegemony is all around you. It is in politics, school systems, churches, as well as in the community that you live in. You have cultural hegemony, ideological hegemony, and the mass media.
You think of this when you think about men and women. Many times men have the upper hand in things in society. When you think of the effects of hegemony in the educational school setting, you see a difference in men and women. In the classroom, you see more women have the upper hand. There are more women doing the teaching part of the education. Although, there are more men in the classroom now than there have been in the past years, women still dominate in this area. Women have always been thought of as being the one who teaches the younger. Women, in earlier years, had to teach how to cook, clean, sew, etc., whereas now we teach all kinds of skills. Men who teach are mainly seen teaching things such as a science or history class, with the addition of being the coach of a sports activity. Men are mainly seen in the administration part. They are the Superintendents, Principals, Coaches, and sit on the school board. They are the ones who are making the rules for the school to be run by. Women have come a long way in this area too. You see more and more women who have come into power as being Principals and on the school board. I see this first hand, having a cousin who has been the Principal of the Alternative School for the past 3 years. In Dyer County where I live,