RUSANGU UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF CURRICULUM AND TEACHING

SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

LESSON 1: THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

It is of paramount importance to define sociology before defining sociology of education. This is

because sociology is related to sociology of education.

Sociology as a field of discipline is generic and umbrella in nature as it deals with the totality of
human interactions and examination. It is a systematic study of social behaviours and human
groups.

Giddens (1991) reports that Auguste Comte was the first man to come up with the term
sociology, which means “the study of society”. A society is where a group of people live as a
community. A society could be a village, a school, a rest house, a college or a university.

Auguste Comte elaborates that “sociology is a study of social order or stability and change or
progress of the society and its social systems or institutions”. Comte looks at interaction and
interdependent among social institutions and society. He referred to institutions which exist such
as education, economic, political, cultural and legal

Anderson and Taylor (2009) explain that another sociologist Emile Durkheim looked at
sociology as the “study of social facts which must be regarded as things, and that these social
facts have influence on individuals”.

To Durkheim, these facts are external to any particular biological individual. Social facts could
be things a human being encounters throughout his life and could also be external forces.
External forces are things which influence an individual such as school, the church, peers and
many others.

Generally, sociology is a “study of sociesty or a scientific study of human interactions” sociology

is the branch of science that studies behavior in groups. Sociologists are most interested in
knowing how these people interact with each other. They want to know how groups influence
individuals and how the individuals influence the group. Sociologists have discovered that
human beings do not know themselves until they are in groups.

Importance of Sociology
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 • It assists in the analysis and clarification of different types of relationships within the
society which produce such social institutions and associations which the behaviour of
individuals are organised and controlled.

• Sociology exposes members of the society to how authority and power are derived within
society and why certain values, customs, beliefs and practices are up-held.

• Sociology also attempts to establish the links between the different sub-systems in the
society. It studies the relationship, between the political systems or the relationship
between the educational system and the political system.

• Sociology intimates individuals with the changes within the society and the effects of
such changes on human existence. Through sociology, it is revealed that the society is
dynamic and transitory.

• Sociology examines human background and various forms of orientation within the
society. This will assist in tolerating and accommodating others with differences in
cultural background and orientation.

• Sociology sets it upon itself to identify various human needs in the society and explains
how those needs are met and satisfied. Sociology teaches people to only aspire to meet
and satisfy those necessities of life that will assist in living decent and meaningful life. It
explains the danger in daring, aggressive and unwholesome approach to satisfy one’s
needs.

Concept of Education

Education is a social institution that prepares young people for entry into society and is thus a
form of socialization. This includes teaching formal knowledge such as reading, writing, and
arithmetic, as well as teaching other things such as morals, values, and ethics.

It is understood by many to be a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater equality and

acquiring wealth and social status.

Education is perceived as a place where children can develop according to their unique needs
and potential. It is also perceived as one of the best means of achieving greater social equality.

Many would say that the purpose of education should be to develop every individual to their full
potential and give them a chance to achieve as much in life as their natural abilities allow
(Schofield, 1999).

What is Sociology of Education?

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 • Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) who is regarded as the ‘father’ of sociology of education
clearly defines sociology of education as “a systematic study of education from the
sociological perspective”.

• This definition of sociology of education is suitable because it speaks much of what goes
on in education system. It clearly states that it is important to know sociology before
knowing what sociology of education is. This is because sociology is related to sociology
of education.

• Sociology of Education may be defined as the scientific analysis of the social processes
and social patterns involved in the educational system.

• The sociology of education is the study of how public institutions and individual
experiences affect education and its outcomes.

• The central insight of the sociology of education is that schools are socially embedded
institutions that are crucially shaped by their social environment and crucially shape it.

• It is concerned with the relationships, activities and reactions of the teachers and students
in the classroom. It emphasizes sociological problems in the realm of education

• Giddens (1991) explains that sociology of education stresses upon the social importance
of education. The social importance of education is widely recognised today, especially in
modern industrialised societies. In such societies education has become one of the means
of acquiring social and technical skills. Education has become to be not only a way of
training people to work in different fields but also a qualification for jobs in certain fields.
It fits people for increasingly specialised roles

Scope of Sociology of Education

The scope of sociology of education is vast.

• It is concerned with such general concepts such as society itself, culture, community,
class, environment, socialization, internalization, accommodation, assimilation, cultural
lag, sub-culture, status, role and so forth.

• It is further involved in cases of education and social class, state, and cultural change,
selection, and the organization of learning, streaming, curriculum and so forth.

• It deals with analysis of educational situations in various geographical and ethnological

contexts. Eg. Educational situations in rural, urban and tribal areas, in different parts of
the country/world, with the background of different races, cultures etc.

• It helps us to understand the effectiveness of different educational methods in teaching

students with different kinds of intelligences.
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 • It studies the effect of economy upon the type of education provided to the students.

• It helps us to understand the effect of various social agencies like family, school on the
students.

• It studies the relationship between social class, culture, language, parental education,
occupation and the achievement of the students.

• It studies the role and structure of school, peer group on the personality of the students.

• It provides an understanding of the problems such as racism, communalism, gender

discrimination etc.

• It studies the role of schools in socialization of the students.

• It suggests ways to develop national integration, international understanding, the spirit of

scientific temper, globalization among the students.

• It promotes research studies related to planning, organization and application of various

theories in education.

All these are the concerns of education and sociology as inseparable discipline focusing on the
problems of the society.

Difference Between Educational Sociology and Sociology Of Education

Educational sociology is a branch of discipline of sociology which studies the problems of

relationship between society and education. It evolved as a discipline designed to prepare
educators for their future tasks. It uses the results of sociological researches in planning
educational activities and in developing effective methods of realizing these plans.

The main aim of educational sociology was to study social interaction. Francis Brown
considered that, ―All education proceeds by the participation of the individual in the social
consciousness of the race. He defined educational sociology as that discipline which applied the
general principles and findings of sociology to the process of education. Educational sociology
is by definition a discipline which studies education sociologically, with the premise that it
recognizes education as a social fact, a process and an institution, having a social function and
being determined socially. It is the application of sociological principles and methods to the
solution of problems in an educational system.

Educational Sociology threw light on the importance of the interactions of different elements of
the society with an individual. It emphasized the progress of the society through the medium of
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education. The problems of schooling and instructions were looked upon as problems of the
society. The educational sociology tried to answer the questions -- as to what type of education
should be given? What should be the curriculum? Why children become delinquent? It threw
light on those institutions and organizations and on those social interactions that were important
in educational process. It used educational interactions that helped in the development of the
personality of the individual so that he becomes a better social being. It was realized that though
educational sociology made everyone realize the social nature of education, formulated ideals by
which educational planning was guided, used the theoretical knowledge gathered by researches
conducted by either sociologists or educational sociologists, there appeared to be confusion as to
what the proper dimensions of educational sociology should be. There were differences of
opinion regarding what types of researches are to be classified under the head of educational
sociology. This led to the thinking that there should be a separate branch of knowledge which
can be designated as sociology of education. Soon educational sociology became a historical
phenomenon. In 1963, the Journal of Educational Sociology became the Journal of Sociology of
Education.

Further Readings

Anderson, M. L. and Taylor, H. F. (2009). Sociology: The Essentials. Belmont, CA: Thomson
Wadsworth.

Brookover, W. B. and Erickson, E. L. (1975). Sociology of Education. London: The Dorsey

Press.

Burton, R. C. (1973). Development of the Sociology of Higher Education. Sociology of

Education 46 No. 1, 2-14

Daramola, C. O. (2002). Introduction to Sociology of Education. Lagos: Raytel

Communications Limited.

Giddens, A. (1991) Introduction to Sociology. New York: W. W. Norton & Company

Morrish, I (1978). The Sociology of Education: An Introduction (2nd Ed.) London: George
Allen and Unwin.

LESSON 2: THE DEVELOPMENT AND FOCUS OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

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In our attempt to understand the study of sociology of education, we should try to do so by
looking at the field from four perspectives:

(a) The historical perspective – what the founders of the field have said it was

(b) The empirical perspective – what contemporary sociologists of education say the field is

(c) Analytical perspective – what reason tells us is the field of sociology of education, and

(d) (d) The open systems approach – looking at all parts of the education system as a whole
unit.

1. The Historical Perspective: Durkheim’s Ideas of Sociology of Education

Durkheim’s view of education was that the duty of education was make responsible and reliable
citizens out of school children. This in turn would make society in which members shared
common goals and supported the culture’s moral standards. He saw education as crucial to the
integration of society, believing that the state should control education, and in that way, train
children to support the system

Sociologists of education have generally agreed that Emile Durkheim is the ‘father of sociology
of education. He was the first man to come up with the idea that education should be studied
from the sociological perspective.

Durkheim saw education as a 'social thing'. He observed that society can survive only if there
exists among its members a sufficient degree of homogeneity and education perpetuates and
reinforces this homogeneity by fixing in the child, from the beginning, the essential similarities
that collective life demands. For him education was a means of organizing the individual self and
the social self, the I and We. Some of the issues he addressed were:

Durkheim’s sociology of education had four explicit areas of interest, the areas which should be
concerns of sociologists of education.

To him, sociology of education was:

• A cross cultural and comparative studies of different types educational systems.

• An analysis of the relationships between education on one hand, and social institutions,
society and social and cultural change on the other.

• A study of social facts/phenomena of education and their social functions.

• A study of the school and classroom and social systems – the structure and the process of
these systems.

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 2. The Empirical Perspective (what contemporary sociologists of education say the
field is)

An examination of some of the works which were done at the beginning of the 20 th century
shows various views of educational sociology, as it was known until 1924 when the name
changed to sociology of education.

(i) Social reform – one of the most prominent views of educational sociology among
early writers was that of social reform. The school it was thought could successfully
teach people to exercise social control in a way that the society’s culture would the
highest level (Brookover and Gattlieb, 1964).

(ii) Applied Science – It was viewed that educational sociology could not be regarded as
pure science, but could be applied to the control of education. in this respect the
discipline was viewed as a technology or a tool, not as a science, which society could
use to help solve problems. The idea was that an educational sociologist made use of
the knowledge gained from sociology and from education and brought this
knowledge together in a new science by applying sociological principles to the
process of education (Brookover and Gottlieb, 1964)

(iii) Analysis of Socialisation Process – some sociologists like Brown were of the view
that the educational sociology was specifically interested in finding out how to make
use of the educational process to achieve an acceptable personality.

Payne and Zeleny, among others, saw educational sociology as a discipline that would
make teachers and other workers in the education system understand education and
become better workers (Brookover and Gottlieb, 1964)
(iv) Analysis of the place of Education in Society - Cook focused on the function of the
educational institutions in the community as well as on the relationship between the
school and other institutions in the community. Warner, Hollingshead and Stendler
looked at analysing the function of the school in the status structure of the local
community, stressing the analysis of the community and society with reference to the
function of education (Brookover and Gottlieb, 1964)

For Brookover and Gottlieb (1964), sociology of education embraces three major areas, a view
commonly held in recent years. These are: the relationship of educational system to other
institutions, the school as a social system, and the school and the community

(i) Relationship of educational system to other institutions or systems.

This area has a number of sub-themes

- Education and social stratification

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 - Education and social control and power

- Functions of education in society

(ii) The School as a Social System

This is the analysis of the school as an ongoing social system. In this area, sociologists of
education try to analyse the school subculture as it may differ from the culture of the
community or as it may reflect the community’s culture. They also analyse the pattern of
social interactions or the structure of the school- looking at the various positions in the
school, the relationships among the members of the school, teachers’ leadership styles,
teachers’ and pupils’ roles etc.

(iii) The School and the Community

In this area, patterns of interactions between the school and other social groups in the
immediate environment are analysed. These issues and others are the concerns of the
field of sociology of education and can be grouped under the following themes by some
sociologists of education:
 The impact of the demographic and environmental factors of the neighbourhood
on the organisation of the school
 The relationship between the school and the community in the functions of
education, and
 The type of community as it affects the structure of the school

3. Analytical Perspective: Sociology of Education from our Experience or what Reason

Tells Us

Having looked at the various works in sociology of education in a historical perspective, from
the founding fathers to the contemporary sociologists of education, it is important to ask
ourselves whether we agree or disagree with these definitions of sociology of education, what
could be the themes of sociology education in Zambia. This is analytical perspective – what
does reason or our experience tells us sociology of education is?

We may depart very far from the ideas and views of the founders of the discipline or the views of
the contemporary sociologist. Their ideas form the basis of what we know as sociology of
education. Their major issues are the same which concern our schools or our educational system
in Zambia. But, there may be some differences in the sense that their time and societies are
different from us.

4. Open Systems Approach: Further Understanding of Sociology of Education

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The open system approach will help us further in our understanding of sociology of education. In
sociology of education the focus is on the institution of education – the structure and process,
interaction patterns within it and its relationship with other institutions and society.

Further Readings

Ballantine, J. H. (1985). The Sociology of Education: A Systematic Analysis

Brookover, W. B. and Erickson, E. L. (1975). Sociology of Education. London: The Dorsey

Press.

Burton, R. C. (1973). Development of the Sociology of Higher Education. Sociology of

Education 46 No. 1, 2-14

Daramola, C. O. (2002). Introduction to Sociology of Education. Lagos: Raytel

Communications Limited.

Morrish, I (1978). The Sociology of Education: An Introduction (2nd Ed.) London: George
Allen and Unwin.

LESSON 3: THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

Theory means different things to different people. It could be defined as a conceptual scheme
designed to explain observed regularities or relationships between two or more variables.
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Theoretical perspectives are used to provide logical explanation for why things happen the way
they do. There are always various interpretations of events in our everyday life. Similarly there
are several sociological perspectives on why things happen the way they do in society. These
theories result in different interpretations of the same information because they focus on different
aspects. In the behavioral sciences, no theory is absolutely true. No theory is a final formulation
because new knowledge keeps on modifying or even repudiates existing theories. A theory is not
judged productive solely in terms of the answers it gives; but equally in the number of questions
it raises.

FUNCTIONALISM

One of the core perspectives of sociology is functionalism, consensus or equilibrium theory. A

sociologist using this approach assumes that in society everything (even crime), no matter how
seemingly strange, out of place, or harmful, serves a purpose. Functionalism views society as a
self-regulating system of interrelated elements with structured social relationships and observed
regularities.

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), is considered to be the first person to recommend that a

sociological approach be used in the study of education. He said that society can survive only if
there exists among its members a sufficient degree of homogeneity. Education perpetuates and
reinforces this homogeneity by fixing in the child, from the beginning, the essential similarities
that collective life demands.
 Durkheim attempted to understand why education took the forms it did, rather than judge
those forms.
 He points out that, ―Education is the influence exercised by adult generations on those
that are not yet ready for social life. Its object is to arouse and to develop in the child a
certain number of physical, intellectual and moral states which are demanded of him by
both the political society as a whole and the special milieu for which he is specifically
destined----.
 Durkheim observed that education takes different forms at different times and places
showing that we cannot separate the educational system from the society for they reflect
each other.
 He stressed that in every time and place education is closely related to other institutions
and to current values and beliefs.
 Durkheim outlined his beliefs about the functions of schools and their relationship to
society.

Durkheim argued that education has many functions:

11. To reinforce social solidarity

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History: Learning about individuals who have done good things for the many makes an
individual feel insignificant.
Pledging allegiance: Makes individuals feel part of a group and therefore less likely to break
rules.
12. To maintain social role - School is a society in miniature. It has a similar
hierarchy, rules, expectations to the "outside world." It trains young people to
fulfill roles.
2. To maintain division of labour - School sorts students into skill groups, encouraging
students to take up employment in fields best suited to their abilities. According to him,
moral values are the foundations of the social order and society is perpetuated through its
educational institutions. Any change in society reflects a change in education and vice
versa. In fact education plays an active role in the process of change.

Durkheim was interested in the way that education could be used to provide French citizens the
sort of shared, secular background that would be necessary to prevent anomie in modern
societies. He equated classrooms to small societies or agents of socialization.

The school acts as an intermediary between the affective morality of the family and the rigorous
morality of the life in society.
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2Durkheim spoke about issues which are real even today- the needs of different segments of
society with respect to education, discipline in schools, the role of schools in preparing
young people for society, the relationship of education to social change, cross-cultural
research and the social system of school and classroom.

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISTS

Structural functionalists believe that society leans towards equilibrium and social order. They see
society like a human body, in which each part plays a role and all are dependent on each other for
survival. Institutions such as education are like important organs that keep the society/body
healthy and well. Social health means the same as social order, and is guaranteed when nearly
everyone accepts the general moral values of their society.

Structural functionalists believe the aim of key institutions, such as education, is to socialize
children and teenagers. Socialization is the process by which the new generation learns the
knowledge, attitudes and values that they will need as productive citizens.

Although this aim is stated in the formal curriculum, it is mainly achieved through "the hidden
curriculum", a subtler, but nonetheless powerful, indoctrination of the norms and values of the
wider society. Students learn these values because their behaviour at school is regulated until
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they gradually internalize and accept them.

Education must, however perform another function. As various jobs become vacant, they must be
filled with the appropriate people. Therefore the other purpose of education is to sort and rank
individuals for placement in the labour market. Those with high achievement will be trained for
the most important jobs and in reward, be given the highest incomes. Those who achieve the
least, will be given the least demanding (intellectually at any rate, if not physically) jobs, and
hence the least income.

CONFLICT THEORY

The perspective of conflict theory, contrary to the structural functionalist perspective, believes
that society is full of social groups with different aspirations, different access to life chances and
gain different social rewards. Relations in society, in this view, are mainly based on exploitation,
oppression, domination and subordination.

The several social theories that emphasize social conflict have roots in the ideas of Karl Marx
(1818-1883), the great German theorist and political activist. The Marxist conflict approach
emphasizes a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical method of analysis, a critical
stance toward existing social arrangements, and a political program of revolution or, at least,
reform.

Conflict theories draw attention to power differentials, such as class conflict, and generally
contrast traditional or historically-dominant ideologies. Conflict theory is most commonly
associated with Marxism, but as a reaction to functionalism and positivist methods may also be
associated with critical theory, feminist theory, queer theory, postmodern theory, post-structural
theory, postcolonial theory, and a variety of other perspectives.

Some conflict theorists like Max Weber (1864-1920) believe education is controlled by the state
which is controlled by the powerful, and its purpose is to reproduce existing inequalities, as well
as legitimize acceptable ideas which actually work to reinforce the privileged positions of the
dominant group. Connell and White state that the education system is as much an arbiter of
social privilege as a transmitter of knowledge. Education achieves its purpose by maintaining
the status quo, where lower-class children become lower class adults, and middle and upper class
children become middle and upper-class adults.

McLeod argues that teachers treat lower-class kids like less competent students, placing them in
lower tracks because they have generally had fewer opportunities to develop language, critical
thinking, and social skills prior to entering school than middle and upper class kids. When placed
in lower tracks, lower-class kids are trained for blue-collar jobs by an emphasis on obedience and
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following rules rather than autonomy, higher-order thinking, and self-expression.

Conflict theorists believe this social reproduction continues to occur because the whole education
system is overlain with ideology provided by the dominant group. In effect, they perpetuate the
myth that education is available to all to provide a means of achieving wealth and status. Anyone
who fails to achieve this goal, according to the myth, has only themselves to blame. Wright
agrees, stating that ―the effect of the myth is to…stop them from seeing that their personal
troubles are part of major social issues. The duplicity is so successful that many parents endure
appalling jobs for many years, believing that this sacrifice will enable their children to have
opportunities in life that they did not have themselves. These people who are poor and
disadvantaged are victims of a societal confidence trick. They have been encouraged to believe
that a major goal of schooling is to strengthen equality while, in reality, schools reflect society‘s
intention to maintain the previous unequal distribution of status and power

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

Symbolic interactionism, or interactionism for short, is one of the major theoretical perspectives
in sociology. This perspective has a long intellectual history, beginning with the German
sociologist and economist, Max Weber (1864-1920) and the American philosopher, George H.
Mead (1863-1931), both of whom emphasized the subjective meaning of human behaviour, the
social process, and pragmatism. Herbert Blumer, who studied with Mead at the University of
Chicago, is responsible for coining the term, "symbolic interactionism," as well as for
formulating the most prominent version of the theory.

Interactionists focus on the subjective aspects of social life, rather than on objective, macro-
structural aspects of social systems. One reason for this focus is that interactionists base their
theoretical perspective on their image of humans, rather than on their image of society (as the
functionalists do).

For the interactionists, society consists of organized and patterned interactions among
individuals. For interactionists negotiation among members of society creates temporary,
socially constructed relations which remain in constant flux, despite relative stability in the basic
framework governing those relations.

For interactionists, humans are pragmatic actors who continually must adjust their behavior to
the actions of other actors. We can adjust to these actions only because we are able to interpret
them,

This approach focuses attention on interactions between groups – peers, teacher-student, teacher-
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principal, on student attitudes and achievement, on students ‘values, on their self –concepts and
their effect on aspirations and the relationship between students‘ socio-economic status and their
achievement.

Two interaction theories are of great importance in sociology of education. They are labelling
theory and exchange theory. The labelling theory is concerned with how the self-identity and
behaviour of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or
classify them, and is associated with the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping. If
a child is repeatedly told that s/he is stupid or lazy, s/he will make the ‘label’ a part of her/his self
concept and behave accordingly. Students almost always fulfil teachers’ expectations.

Exchange theory emphasizes the idea that social action is the result of personal choices made by
considering relative benefits and costs. The theory of social exchange predicts that people will
make choices with the intention of maximizing benefits. A key component of this theory is the
postulation of the "comparison level of alternatives", which is the actor's sense of the best
possible alternative (i.e., the choice with the highest benefits relative to costs)based on the
assumption that there are costs and rewards involved in our interactions.

OPEN SYSTEM THEORY

Open system theory was initially developed by Ludwig von Bertanlanffy (1956), a biologist, but
it was immediately applicable across all disciplines. It defines the concept of a system, where "all
systems are characterized by an assemblage or combination of parts whose relations make them
interdependent".

Systems approach is the process of understanding how things influence one another within a
whole. In nature systems approach examples include ecosystems in which various elements such
as air, water, movement, plant and animals work together to survive or perish. In organizations,
systems consist of people, structures, and processes that work together to make an organization
healthy or unhealthy.

A systems thinking has been defined as an approach to problem solving, by viewing "problems"
as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific part, outcomes or events and
potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences. Systems approach
is not one thing but a set of habits or practices within a framework that is based on the belief that
the component parts of a system can best be understood in the context of relationships with each
other and with other systems, rather than in isolation. Systems approach focuses on cyclical
rather than linear cause and effect.

LESSON 3: SOCIALISATION OF THE FAMILY AND SCHOOL

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3.1: Concept of Socialisation

Sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists as well as educationalist and politicians use

the word socialization in reference to the process through which an individual inherits the norms,
customs and ideologies of the social order they live in.

Socialization is a learning process that begins shortly after birth. Human infants are born without
any culture. They must be transformed by their parents, teachers, and others into cultural and
socially adept animals.

Early childhood is the period of the most intense and the most crucial socialization. It is then
that we acquire language and learn the fundamentals of our culture. It is also when much of our
personality takes shape. However, we continue to be socialized throughout our lives. As we age,
we enter new statuses and need to learn the appropriate roles for them. We also have experiences
that teach us lessons and potentially lead us to alter our expectations, beliefs, and personality.
For instance, the experience of being raped is likely to cause a woman to be distrustful of others.

The process of socialization is very important as it teaches one to behave in a society. Without
socialization, one would not be able to learn the accepted customs, norms, symbols, languages
and behavior. Socialization helps one develop and shape ones place in society by learning social
skills. As a person moves through society, he or she needs to alter his or her behavior according
to the individuals and agents of society.

During socialization, we learn the language of the culture we are born into as well as the roles we
are to play in life. For instance, girls learn how to be daughters, sisters, friends, wives, and
mothers. In addition, they learn about the occupational roles that their society has in store for
them.

We also learn and usually adopt our culture's norms through the socialization process. Norms
are the conceptions of appropriate and expected behavior that are held by most members of the
society. While socialization refers to the general process of acquiring culture, anthropologists
use the term enculturation for the process of being socialized to a particular culture. You were
enculturated to your specific culture by your parents and the other people who raised you.

Socialization is important in the process of personality formation. While much of human

personality is the result of our genes, the socialization process can mold it in particular
directions by encouraging specific beliefs and attitudes as well as selectively providing
experiences.

Successful socialization can result in uniformity within a society. If all children receive the same
socialization, it is likely that they will share the same beliefs and expectations. This fact has

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been a strong motivation for national governments around the world to standardize education and
make it compulsory for all children. Deciding what things will be taught and how they are
taught is a powerful political tool for controlling people. Those who internalize the norms of
society are less likely to break the law or to want radical social changes. In all societies,
however, there are individuals who do not conform to culturally defined standards of normalcy
because they were "abnormally" socialized, which is to say that they have not internalized the
norms of society. These people are usually labeled by their society as deviant or even mentally
ill.

3.2: Socialisation Process

occurs when infants and youngsters explore, play and discover the
Natural socialization
social world around them.

occurs when other people take actions designed to teach or train

Planned socialization
others -- from infancy on. Natural socialization is easily seen when looking at the
young of almost any mammalian species (and some birds). Planned socialization is
mostly a human phenomenon; and all through history, people have been making plans
for teaching or training others. Both natural and planned socialization can have good
and bad features: It is wise to learn the best features of both natural and planned
socialization and weave them into our lives.

is the type of social learning that is based on pleasurable and

Positive socialization
exciting experiences. We tend to like the people who fill our social learning processes
with positive motivation, loving care, and rewarding opportunities.

occurs when others use punishment, harsh criticisms or anger to

Negative socialization
try to "teach us a lesson;" and often we come to dislike both negative socialization and
the people who impose it on us.

3.3: What are the Agents of Socialization?

According to the definition, it is the people like parents, peers, social institutions like schools and
religious institutions that help in integration of an individual with society. The four major agents
of socialization in society are family, school, community culture and peers (friends). The other
agents include mass media, gender and work. These agents are divided into socialization groups.
These socialization groupings are as follows:

Primary Agents

16
The primary agents of socialization include those people who are closest to an individual. These
primary agents include family and friends. The most important primary agent of socialization,
family, plays an important role in shaping the life and behavior of an individual within the
society.

Secondary Agents
The secondary agents of socialization are those institutions or places that help an individual find
his or her place within the society. These include religious institutions, schools, work places, etc.
The secondary agent of socialization like the school helps a child in improving social skills that
helps the individual in integrating well with the society around him or her.

Influence of Agents of Socialization

The individual responds differently to different socialization patterns. The following paragraphs
will help to explain the influences of socialization on an individual.

Family
The most important agent of socialization, family helps mold an individual. The family values,
beliefs, religious inclinations and political views shape an individual's outlook towards society.
Parents are the biggest influence for the social development in children.

Schools
After family, schools are probably the most important influence on an individual. Schools help
pass on knowledge, create awareness and inculcate the feelings of tolerance in individuals. The
second step to socialization is schools where a child meets different children and learns to make
out the right and wrong in society.

Community and Culture

Community and culture help pass on the religious views and cultural traditions in an individual.
A community is the group where an individual meets people with similar ideologies and interact
for personal and community growth.

Peers
Meeting like-minded people, making friends and hanging out together may seem like a teenagers
life. But in fact, each and every individual in society loves to have social contact. Peers have
great impact on an individual's thoughts and line of thinking. An individual learns to behave in a
manner that they think will be acceptable to their peers. Peer acceptance is an important part of
socialization.

Mass Media

17
In today's world, mass media is one of important ways of socialization. People are influenced by
the social norms portrayed by the mass media. Political, religious and social views are enforced
in a hard way through the repeated exposure and arguments put forth by the agents of mass
media.

Taken from Canadian Society: a Changing Tapestry, 1994, 36

Through the above explanation, you will understand, that agents of socialization play an
important role in an individual's life. The different positive attributes fed by these agents create

18
harmony in an individual that makes him feel confident and respect social etiquette. Without the
norms and rules of a society, humans would have nothing to differentiate themselves from animal
groups.

LESSON 4: EDUCATION AS SOCIAL INSTITUTION

Man is endowed with some basic qualities or potentials which are embedded in him. However,
for such qualities to be useful to the individual and the society at large there is need for the
members of the society to be led out of ignorance, predicament, confusion and misconception
about the world around them. Education can be explained as the nourishment of an individual to
attain the natural capacity of life. This could be done through the training, rearing and upbringing
of such individuals in the traditional and modern ways to become acceptable members of the
society in which they live.

The analysis of educational systems falls into 2 main areas: process and structure. Processes
are the action parts of the system bringing structure alive. Examples of processes include
teaching, learning, communication and decision making as well as those formal and informal
activities that socialize students into their place in school and later life roles. These are dynamic
parts of the education system.

Therefore, education is a complex social institution. The complexity of the discipline is

necessitated by the functions education has to perform in society as one of its institutions. Ezewu
(1988) observes that because education is a complex discipline and an institution with complex
responsibilities, it has not been a simple task trying to give a comprehensive view of the concept
of education.

Education plays the role of preparing or nurturing individuals to live in society and thus being
able to perform specific functions for society. It is because of these functions that education has
been recognised as an institution of society.

According to Ezewu (1988), education serves society in the following ways:

 Education prepares the right type of personality required for living in society;
 It equips the individual with knowledge, skills and values of the past that are cherished
and valued by the given society, so that they can be preserved from generation to another;
19
  Education equips an individual with skills, attitudes and values which will make him or
her function properly in that society;

 Education enables individuals to bring about useful changes in society.

From the above account of functions of education in society, one is tempted to assert that without
education there is no society. It is the duty of the institution of education to fit the individual to
his or her society and it is only then that a society can be a living one. Fredrick Froebel (1782-
1852) noted that: ‘no community can progress in its development while the individual who is a
member of it remains behind; the individual who is a member of the whole body, cannot progress
in his or her development while the community remains behind.’

Further Readings

Ballantine, J. H. (1985). The Sociology of Education: A Systematic Analysis

Brookover, W. B. and Erickson, E. L. (1975). Sociology of Education. London: The Dorsey

Press.

Daramola, C. O. (2002). Introduction to Sociology of Education. Lagos: Raytel

Communications Limited.

Morrish, I (1978). The Sociology of Education: An Introduction (2nd Ed.) London: George
Allen and Unwin.

Ezewu, E. (1969). The Sociology of Education. London : Longman Group Ltd.

Musgrave, P.W. (1979). The sociology of Education. London : Methuen

and Co. Ltd.

20
LESSON 4: THE SCHOOL AS A SOCIAL INSTITUTION

4.1 Functions of the School

The responsibility of training individuals in the society is primarily vested on the parents at home
and the teachers in schools. The beneficiaries are nurtured to acquire requisite skills and
knowledge to live successfully in society.

The school and the home help in the analysis of transmission of the cultural heritage. The school
is a place where the child develops socially desirable behaviours that assist him or her to make
progress in the society in an acceptable manner. In other words, the school gives much to the
society by training the young members of society to acquire necessary skills and knowledge
which enable them contribute their quota to the overall development of the society.

School prepares an individual for life, making him or her liberal minded. So, the school is the
intermediate stage between the child’s domestic life and the larger society. Dewey viewed the
school as primarily a social institution. Education being a social process, the school is simply
that form of community life in which all agencies are concentrated that will be most effective in
bring the child share in the inherited resources of the race to use power for social ends.

Schools are expected to perform a number of tasks on behalf of the society. Among these tasks
include:
 Preparing the young for the world of work – schools are supposed to equip learners with
skills and knowledge which will enable them to carry out the duties and jobs required of
them by society.
 Creation of social equality – schools are thought to be anti-poverty agencies; they are
supposed to teach children from all walks of life and teach then so well that in the end,
they become affluent members of society. Schools are supposed to be instruments of
creation of greater social equality instead of being instruments of social stratification.

21
  Problem-solving – schools are supposed to help in solving economic and social problems.
If men and women were educated, we could have a healthy and productive nation.
 Socialization of the young – in the past, young people were socialized by their
communities. In the modern society, there is a multiplicity and complexity of roles which
have made the families inadequate to socialize their children
 National building - those in power use schools to transmit a common culture to the young
generation thereby contributing to national unity. Society can survive only if there exist
among its members a sufficient degree of homogeneity. Education perpetuates and
reinforces this homogeneity (Bellantine, 1985).
4.2: Network of Relationships that Exist in a School

In a school there is a relationship between components which involve:

(a) Patterns of social interaction: how are the teachers expected to interact with the
headteacher on one hand and the learners on the other?
(b) The frequency and duration of contacts between members
(c) The direction of influence or authority of members. In a school, authority flows
downwards from the headteacher, through teachers, to learners
(d) Sentiments towards one another, which involve feelings of attraction, respect or hostility
by members.

The network of relationships within the school system includes:

 Headteacher/teacher
 Headteacher/non-academic staff,
 Teacher/teacher
 Teacher/learners, and
 Learner/learner relationships

4.3: Structure and Organisation of the School

A school is an integrated system of interdependent structures and functions consisting of groups

of people who should work in harmony. Each person in the group should know what others are
doing. Information should reach everyone. Every school should have goals and a vision, which is
its mental image of a possible and desirable future state.

In a school:

 Organisational tasks are distributed among the various positions as official duties.
 The positions of statuses are organised into hierarchical authority structure. The hierarchy
takes a shape of a pyramid in most cases

22
  There are formally established systems of rules and regulations which regulate decisions
and actions
 Officials are expected to assume an impersonal orientation in their contacts with clients
and with other officials. In the school system, the actions of the headteacher or teachers
are expected to conform to the existing rules and regulations.
 Employment in the organisation constitutes a career for the officials.

The quality of an organisation’s structure will affect how well these requirements are met.

 A good school structure encourages good and willing participation of the workforce.
 It enhances good productivity and economic efficiency.
 It enables specialization

Authority in a school is ordered downwards from the headteacher to the lowest positions in the
hierarchy and the headteacher legitimately expects his or her teachers and other staff to fulfill
certain obligations, while the subordinate officials expect the head teacher to provide an effective
leadership in the school.

The following conclusions and generalisations are important in schools:

 Teachers tend to have a strong feeling of prestige, job satisfaction and participation in
decision making in the flat structured schools, that is, in schools where the headteacher
interacts directly with subject teachers rather than through hierarchy;
 The more involved a teacher in administration of his or her school, the more he or she
develops the feeling of prestige within the school system;
 The more involved a teacher in administration of his or her school, the happier he or she
becomes and consequently the more satisfied he or she is with his or her job in the
school;
 The more involved a teacher in the decision-making process of his or her school, the
more likely he or she is to take initiatives in the discharge of his or her duties and
consequently the more creative and efficient he or she is.

Reflection!!

Have schools failed or succeeded in carrying out these tasks?

4.4: Effective Schools

Hopkins (1999) explains that the goal of effective schools is simple: Learning for all - whatever
it takes. The beliefs behind Effective Schools are that all children can learn, that it is the
responsibility of teachers, administrators, and other school staff to help make that happen; and

23
that data about individual student performance can be used to make sure that reaching and
teaching every student is made possible.

The essential elements of Effective Schools are:

 Clear and focused mission;

 High expectations for all students;
 Strong headteacher and teacher leadership;
 Frequent monitoring of student progress;
 Opportunity to learn and student time on task;
 Safe and orderly learning climate;
 Parent and community involvement.

A Clear and Focused Mission - In the Effective School, there is a clearly stated school mission
through which the staff shares an understanding of and commitment to the instructional goals,
priorities, assessment procedures, and accountability.

 The school staff knows and understands the primary mission of their school;
 Student learning is the most important criteria used in making decisions;
 State level standards are incorporated in and aligned with the local curriculum;
 The instructional program is standardized and focused on academic content.

High Expectations - In the Effective School, there is a climate of expectation in which the staff
believes and demonstrates that all students can attain mastery of essential school skills and that
they, the staff, have the ability to help all students do so.

 Teachers believe that all of their students can achieve and expect their students to
achieve, and their behaviours communicate this to the students;
 Attention is distributed equally between low and high achieving students;
 Students know what is expected of them, and teachers provided opportunities for students
to experience success;
 Teachers provide opportunities for student responsibility and leadership.

Strong Headteacher and Teacher Leadership - In the Effective School, the headteacher is the
instructional leader who shares leadership with the rest of the staff. He or she is a leader of
leaders.

 The headteacher, with the rest of the staff, emphasizes that the purpose of the school is
learning.
 The headteacher and teachers are active and involved with all aspects of the school. They
are resourceful, bold, supportive, and dedicated to the mission of the school;
 The headteacher and teachers convey high expectations for student, staff, and
administrator performance;

24
  Both headteacher and teachers collaborate to strengthen the instructional programs and
monitor progress of students.

Frequent Monitoring of Student Progress - In the Effective School, student academic progress
is measured frequently. A variety of assessment procedures are used and the results of the
assessments are used to improve individual students' performance and to improve the
instructional program.

Opportunity to Learn and Student Time on Task - In the Effective School, teachers allocate a
significant amount of classroom time to instruction in the essential skills.

 The time allocated for instruction in content areas is specified.

 The amount of time allocated to instruction in a particular content area is positively
associated with learning;
 Teachers reduce the number of digressions and focus on instruction to be learned;
 Teachers clearly communicate the purpose or goal of each lesson;
 The student success rate, in achieving standards, is 80-85% to insure productive learning.
This is accomplished by teachers monitoring the quality of their lessons, revising and re-
teaching and differentiating student assignments for the same objective.

Safe and Orderly Environment - In the Effective Schools, there is an orderly, purposeful
business-like atmosphere which is free from threat of physical harm.

 The school climate is conducive to teaching and learning.

 The school staff believes, and their behaviour demonstrates, that consistency across the
staff is key to a positive climate;
 The school staff accepts the proposition that they are on duty at all times and everywhere
while at school;

 There is a positive climate for students. Good behaviour, achievement, efforts and
attributes are rewarded;
 Well-kept interiors and administrative attention to the school's appearance are important.

Parent and Community Involvement - In the Effective School, parents understand and support
the school's mission and are given the opportunity to play an important role in helping the school
to achieve the mission.

 Parents have a clear understanding of school goals and curriculum standards through
frequent communication;
 Parents are given information on how to help their children at home;
 Parents are given complete information on their child's progress, including results in
state-wide tests and whether or not the child is achieving at, below, or above grade level.
25
A Commitment to Continuous Improvement - Essential to an Effective School is the
systematic processes that must engage each member of the organization in an ongoing cycle of:

 Gathering evidence of current levels of student learning;

 Developing strategies and ideas to build on strengths and address weaknesses in that
learning;
 Implementing those strategies and ideas;
 Analyzing the impact of the changes to discover what was effective and what was not;
 Applying new knowledge in the next cycle of continuous improvement.

The goal is to create the condition of perpetual learning for staff and students. Continuous
learning (improvement) is a way of doing business on a day-to-day basis forever. Participation
in this process is not reserved for those designate as leaders; it is the responsibility of every
member of the organization.

Building a Collaborative Culture - The very essence of an effective school is a focus and
commitment to the learning of each student. In order to achieve this purpose, teachers and
administrators must be guided by a clear and compelling vision of what must be done in order to
help all students learn. In the Schools each teacher and administrator should be part of
collaborative teams. These teams make collective to create and use results-oriented goals to
mark their progress. Members work together to clarify exactly what each student must learn,
monitor each students' learning on a timely basis, provide systematic interventions that ensure
students receive additional time and support for learning when they struggle, and extend and
enrich learning when students have already mastered the intended outcomes. The belief is that if
the organization is to become more effective in helping all students learn, the adults in the
organization must also be continually learning. Therefore, structures should be created to ensure
staff members engage in job-embedded learning as part of their routine work practices.

Communication - For students to succeed, they must have a clear picture of where they are
going. In schools, this means that teachers should specifically communicate what students know
and be able to do at the end of each lesson.

In addition, parents should be able to ask what the students will know and be able to do by the
end of each lesson or unit. Of course, teachers must be able to communicate to students and
families so they are better able to support their students at home.

26
4.5: School Culture

The culture of the school is viewed as the existence of interplay between three factors:

 the attitudes and beliefs of persons both inside the school and in the external
environment,
 the cultural norms of the school, and

 the relationships between persons in the school.

The effect of school culture on school improvement efforts is significant. The attitudes and
beliefs of persons in the school shape that culture. Many times innovations are not put into
practice because they conflict with deeply held internal images of how the world works. The
attitudes and beliefs of those in the school create mental models of what schooling is and how
others in the school should and will respond to events and actions. It is from these attitudes and
beliefs that the culture of the school is created.

The culture of the school reflects the local culture in many ways. When schools seek to improve,
a focus on the values, beliefs, and norms of both the school and the environment outside the
school is necessary (Sarason, 1982; Deal and Peterson, 1990).

Patterson, Purkey, and Parker (1986) summarize the general knowledge base regarding school
culture:

 School culture does affect the behaviour and achievement of elementary and secondary school
students (though the effect of classroom and student variables remains greater).
 School culture does not fall from the sky; it is created and thus can be manipulated by people
within the school.

 School cultures are unique; whatever their commonalities, no two schools will be exactly alike --
nor should they be.

 To the extent that it provides a focus and clear purpose for the school, culture becomes the
cohesion that bonds the school together as it goes about its mission.

 Though we concentrate on its beneficial nature, culture can be counterproductive and an obstacle
to educational success; culture can also be oppressive and discriminatory for various subgroups
within the school.

 Lasting fundamental change (e.g. changes in teaching practices or the decision making structure)
requires understanding and, often, altering the school's culture; cultural change is a slow process.

Just as the attitudes and beliefs of persons both inside and outside the school affect academic
achievement and the norms of the school, relationships between persons and groups of persons
27
are part of the school culture that can either facilitate or impede academic achievement. The
relationships teachers have with each other, their students, and the community affects academic
achievement. In like manner, the relationships between students and their peers, teachers, and the
school as a whole can help or hinder school improvement efforts.

Cultural Norms that Facilitate School Improvement

Collaboration - Developing collaborative work cultures helps reduce the professional isolation of
teachers, allows the sharing of successful practices and provides support. Collaboration raises
morale, enthusiasm, and the teachers' sense of efficacy and makes teachers more receptive to
new ideas (Fullan, 1991; Simpson, 1990; Smith & Scott, 1990).

Collegiality - Little (1981) describes collegiality as a norm exhibited through four specific
behaviors: Adults in schools who have a collegial relationship talk about practice. They also
observe each other engaged in the practice of teaching and administration. Colleagues engage
together in work on curriculum by planning, designing, researching, and evaluating it. Finally,
collegiality is exhibited when adults teach each other what they know about teaching, learning,
and leading.

A school context that forms a sense of community is necessary to promote the cognitive and
emotional growth of students. This context is noncompetitive and emphasizes a personal and
caring relationship with teachers who are empathetic to students.

A widely shared vision - A norm of protecting what is important evolves from a shared vision of
what things are important. Numerous researchers have found that sharing a common vision
increases the likelihood that school improvement efforts will succeed. Without a shared vision,
students, teachers, administrators, and parents do not know what is expected of them (Smey-
Richman, 1991). A shared vision helps point out what is important to develop and protect in the
school.

Norms of continuous improvement - Similar to the introspective attitude associated with a

norm of critical inquiry, a norm of continuous improvement suggests that when problems
surface, the information, resources and training will be provided to address the problems. Use of
the knowledge base supposes an expectation for staff development to occur as a cultural norm
that facilitates change.

Norms of continuous critical inquiry - Saphier and King (1985) note that good schools have a
wide-spread belief that any school has areas of strength and weakness. This belief creates

28
openness to dealing with imperfections, suggesting that the school has high expectations for
itself and its ability to improve.

A norm of involvement in making decisions - Many researchers have found that participation
in decision making by those affected directly or indirectly by the school improvement effort is
essential to successful implementation and institutionalization. A cultural norm supporting the
involvement of teachers in decisions or plans that will affect them heightens the possibility that
changes will be appropriate in a particular setting. Involvement makes it more likely that
responsibility will be assumed and not be attributed to others (Sarason, 1982).

Student culture

Like other cultures, the school culture consists of a dominant culture and subcultures of various
groups. The student culture is one of these subcultures. Attention must be paid to the peer
culture of students, especially in secondary schools, The extent to which the student culture
values academic success or willingly complies with school rules, will affect their achievement.
Since student peer culture influences student performance, school staff members must [know]
whether the dominant peer culture adds to or detracts from the school's mission (Patterson,
Purkey, & Parker, 1986, p. 101). Staff members need to examine the dominant student culture
and look for ways to help students internalize elements of the school culture that will make
students supportive of the school's mission.

5.6: School Climate

School climate refers to factors that contribute to the tone and attitudes of staff and students in
school. Positive school climate is associated with well-managed classrooms and common areas,
high and clearly stated expectations concerning individual responsibility, feeling safe at school,
and teachers and staff that consistently acknowledge all students and fairly address their
behavior.

School climate refers to the quality and character of school life as it relates to norms and values,
interpersonal relations and social interactions, and organizational processes and structures.
School climate sets the tone for all the learning and teaching done in the school environment and,
as research proves, it is predictive of students’ ability to learn and develop in healthy ways.

School Climate refers to the different factors that contribute to one’s experience at school. It
includes how classrooms and common areas of a school are managed, expectations that students
have for themselves and what they think the expectations are of adults towards them, feeling safe
at school, and teachers and staff that consistently acknowledge and fairly address student

29
behavior. Connected to school climate, is how connected students feel with others at their school
and in their community.

Why is school climate important?

Research proves that a positive school climate directly impacts telling indicators of success such
as increased teacher retention, lower dropout rates, decreased incidences of violence, and higher
student achievement.

There is a growing body of research, including that shows an association between positive school
climate and connectedness and academic achievement and reduced risk behaviors. When
students feel safe, connected and engaged in their schools, they are more successful and effective
learners, and exhibit fewer risk behaviors.

5.7 Classroom Dynamics

What Are Classroom Dynamics?

Classroom dynamics are different in every classroom. Classroom dynamics involves the
interaction between students and teachers in a classroom community. The purpose of studying
classroom dynamics is to learn how to set up a positive classroom atmosphere where students
feel comfortable learning and communicating with other students and with the teacher. Good
classroom dynamics consist in the engagement of everybody in the classroom. This is not a
completely natural situation, so it must be set up according to a plan.

Discipline - Every classroom needs a behavioral code to maintain order. Students will never feel
comfortable to express themselves in a classroom without rules. Teachers should inform students
from the beginning of the class what their behavioral expectations are for them. It helps if they
also have a discussion to get feedback from the students about the rules and to clarify any
confusion. When a student breaks a rule, it is important that the teachers follow through with the
predetermined consequences.

Motivation - Some students are not naturally motivated to learn within the constraints of a
classroom. Every classroom must out of necessity have slightly different dynamics because they
all consist of different students. Each student has his own interests and talents, so each classroom
should be flexible enough to accommodate the individuality of its students. Students are more
motivated when they feel that the classroom dynamics focus on their goals and interests.

30
 Gender - Some classes isolate, embarrass or exclude a particular gender from the classroom by
the activities or by the discussions. For instance, a medical student named Julie Switzer was
listening to a lecture on muscle contractions of the uterus and then addressed a classroom saying,
"You may never feel this, but your wife will." The teacher was isolating half of her class who
were women by addressing the men in the class. The male gender is similarly isolated or
excluded in classrooms. Proper classroom dynamics will include both genders and be mindful of
their different needs.

Participation - Good classroom dynamics will include all students in its activities and
discussions. Teachers must show an interest in every individual student and encourage her to
participate in the classroom. Classroom participation is not, however, only about the students.
The teacher has to be willing to participate fully in class discussions and activities to create lively
and dynamic classroom dynamics. A teacher that merely goes on teaching the material without
noticing whether the students are understanding it has a major problem with classroom
dynamics.

In the classroom there are many factors to ensuring that students apply themselves and do
the best possible in their exams. These factors include things such as the teaching methods,
the students’ aims and behaviour, and the overall class dynamic. The atmosphere in a
classroom can have a huge impact on how everyone, from the teacher to the students,
performs.

Ideally, Classroom Dynamics will be positive so that the teacher feels like they can get
their students to engage in the material, and students feel both supported by their teacher
and interested in the topic at hand because of the teacher’s effective relaying of the
information. These kinds of factors go towards creating an environment where students can
learn and perform to their full potential while feeling supported by each other and the
teacher.

The classroom dynamic is something which, once established, can have a large impact on
how future classes will be conducted and how the students regard the teacher and each
other. If students can feel that they are in an environment where their ideas will be
accepted and help will be constructive then they are more likely to take bigger steps with
their learning and enjoy it more. In environments where the dynamic rests on competition,
solely achieving high results, and pressure, these factors can sometimes impinge on
students’ development.

When a good dynamic has been established in a classroom then teachers can proceed to
impart what they know about a topic to their students and get them to engage personally
with that issue. When students feel comfortable in a class and can engage with material in
this way, learning becomes easy and fun.
31
References

Barth, R.S. (1990). Improving schools from within. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Brookover, W. B. and Erickson, E. L. (1975). Sociology of Education. London: The Dorsey

Press.

Daramola, C. O. (2002). Introduction to Sociology of Education. Lagos: Raytel

Communications Limited.

Ezewu, E. (1969). The Sociology of Education. London : Longman Group Ltd.

Gonder, P.O., & Hymes, D. (1994). Improving school climate and culture (AASA Critical
Issues Report No. 27). Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators.
Hopkins, M.S. (1999). Effective school practices: What works. Paper presented at the
International Conference on Effective Schools. (Houston, TX).

Johnston, J.A., Bickel, W.E., & Wallace, Jr., R.C. (1990). Building and sustaining change in
the culture of secondary schools. Educational Leadership, 47(8), pp. 46-48.

Morrish, I (1978). The Sociology of Education: An Introduction (2nd Ed.) London: George
Allen and Unwin.

Mullen, B. (1994). Collaborative leadership for promoting effective school change. NASSP
Practitioner; v21, n1, Oct. 1994.

Musgrave, P.W. (1979). The sociology of Education. London: Methuen

and Co. Ltd

32
LESSON 6: EDUCATION AND CULTURE

6.1: The Concept of Culture

By culture we mean the system of norms and standards that a society develops over the course of
many generations and which profoundly influence the everyday behaviour of people in that
society. In more simple terms, culture is as people do. It is that complete whole which includes
knowledge, beliefs, customs, art, morals, law and any other capabilities and habits acquired by
man as a member of the society.

The purpose of culture is to give the society by conscious process of learning and experience,
patterns of behaviour which are found useful for harmonious existence and smooth functioning
in all occupations and interactions and thereby individual and group survival and perpetuation. It
is the integrated social, biological, and ethnic, modes of behaviour of a group or a society. It is
implied that even the possession of ideas, attitude, values, etc. form culture.

Invisible and Visible Culture

Visible and invisible culture is otherwise called explicit / implicit or overt /covert culture. Much
of culture is not only held outside conscious awareness but is also learned and taught outside
awareness, hence, neither the cultural insiders nor the newcomers are aware that certain aspects
of their culture exist. In multicultural education and in discussions of cultural diversity more
generally, the focus has been on visible, explicit aspects of culture, such as language, dress, food
habits, religion, and aesthetic conventions. While important, these visible aspects of culture,
which are taught deliberately or learned consciously, are only the tip of the iceberg of culture.

Implicit and invisible aspects of culture are also important. How long in clock time one can be
late before being impolite, how one conceives or experiences emotional or physical pain, how
one displays such pain behaviourally, what topics should be avoided at the beginning of a
conversation, how one shows interest or attention through listening behaviour, how loud is too
loud or not loud enough in speaking, how one shows that one would like the speaker to move on
to the next point – these are all aspects of culture that we learn and use without realizing it. When
we meet other people whose invisible cultural assumptions and patterns of action differ from
those we have learned and expect implicitly, we usually do not recognize what they are doing as
cultural in origin. Rather we see them as rude or un-co-operative. We may apply clinical labels to
the other people-passive-aggressive or suffering from low esteem. Differences in invisible
culture can be troublesome in circumstances of intergroup conflict. The difficulty lies in our
inability to recognize others‘ differences in ways of acting as cultural rather than personal. Often
33
we blame them – attributing intentions, judging competence- without realizing that we are
experiencing culture rather than nature.

Kinds of Culture
According to the subject there are four types of culture.

11. Individual culture: Each individual has some personal traits and qualities which guide his
habits of thinking and behaving in all fields of human activities. These personal likes and
dislikes, interests, modes of thinking and patterns social behaviour constitute his personal
culture.

12. Communal culture: As in the case of individual culture, different communities exhibit their
distinct traits of life styles comprising specific modes of community beliefs and life styles. All
the members of different communities show different traits known as community culture.

13. National culture: Similarly, each nation has some distinct national traits and attributes of
character which condition its national patterns of ideals, values, modes of thought and behaviour.
Such national traits are known as national culture.

14. World culture: Due to the rapid rise in the means of transport and communication, the world
has shrunk into a small unit with the result that different nations of the world live together as
members of a world community having common values, namely co-operation, sympathy, social
service, social awakening and social sensitiveness etc. there by constituting a world culture.

Types of Culture

According to contents there are two types of culture in each society:

11. Material Culture: Material culture includes all those man-made things and objects which
human society has created for its physical welfare in times of peace and war. Items such as
clothes, utensils, homes, roads, ornaments, T.V., radio, various machines, gadgets and various
means of transport and communication are some examples of material culture.

12. Non-material Culture: Non-material culture includes all those ideals, attitudes and values
which modify the behaviour of man, language, literature, art, music, religion, customs, traditions
etc. are some of the examples of non-material culture.

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Cultural Norms - A cultural norm is an established standard of what a group expects in terms of
thought and conduct. These expectations and resultant behaviours often vary from one culture to
the next. They are also in different forms like values, folkways and morals. In every society there
is reinforcement of morals like rape, murder and robbery with punishment sanctions by the laws
for members to obey and respect them.

Ideal Culture - Ideal culture consists of officially approved behaviour patterns while real culture
consist of what people actually do in their day to day practices without due consideration to their
official status like cheating, lying, fighting and so forth.

6.2 Relationship Between Education and Culture

Education and culture are intimately and integrally connected. The cultural pattern of a society
conditions its educational pattern. For example, if a society has a spiritual pattern of culture, then
its educational procedures will emphasize the achievement of moral and eternal values of life.
On the other hand, if the cultural pattern of a society is materialistic, then naturally its
educational pattern will be shaped for the attainment of material values which promote pleasures
of senses and material comforts. A society devoid of any culture will have no definite educational
organization. Hence the culture of a country has a very powerful impact on its educational
pattern. The ultimate relationship between culture and education is evident from the fact that one
of the major aims education is to impact to the child his cultural heritage. In any human group,
the various elements and parts of culture evolve after thousands of years of the experience, and
these are handed down as a whole to the succeeding generations. Hence every individual is born
into a particular culture which provide him definite patterns of behaviour and values which guide
his conduct in different walks of life.

Impact of Culture on Education

As mentioned above, culture and education have a give and take relationship. Both compliments
and supplements each other in various aspects. The following are some of the influences of
culture on education.

11. The aims and ideals of education are mostly determined by the values and patterns of
society.
2
32. Curriculum is conditioned according to the culture of society. It is framed according to the
ideals and needs of the society to realize the cultural values.

35
4
53. Methods of teaching and culture are intimately connected. The changing cultural patterns of
a society exert powerful influence upon the methods of teaching also. The shift from the old
teacher centred teaching to child centred education is an example. Socialized methods like
project method, seminar, symposium, discussion, etc. are widely used in the teaching learning
process because of the influence of culture.
6
74. Discipline is also influenced by the cultural values. The present cultural patterns of thinking
and living are directly linked to our concept of discipline. The concept of repressive discipline of
ancient and Middle Ages has been replaced by the modern values of life.

8
95. Text books which are written according to the formulated curriculum and promote and foster
cultural ideals and values are welcomed.
10
116. Teacher who has imbibed the cultural ideals and values of the society only can achieve his
mission successfully. Only such teacher is able to infuse higher ideals and moral values in
children.

127. School is a miniature of society. The total activities and programmes of the school are
organized according to the cultural ideals and values of society. Hence school is the centre of
promoting, moulding, reforming and developing the cultural patterns of the society.

The Influence of Education on Culture

Wherever there are human groups there is culture. Wherever there is culture, it is diffused and
transmitted to succeeding generations by education. Since human beings live in groups, we
might say that wherever there are human beings there is culture and education in various forms.
School education is limited mainly to literate cultures. The role of education is much smaller in
non-literate groups. Just as culture influences education, much is the same way education also
exerts a powerful influence upon the culture of a country.

Following are the various ways by which education influences the culture of country:

11. Preservation of culture: Each country believes and flaunts the superiority of its own culture
over the rest. Hence it tries to preserve its culture in its original form. Education is the only
means to complete this task. Thus education preserves the culture of the society.
2
32. Transmission of culture: the process of preservation includes the process of transmission as
well. Transmission of culture from one generation to another is the best guarantee of its
36
preservation. In other words, the function of education is to transmit the social values and ideals
to the young and capable members of the society.

13. Development of culture: The function of education is to bring about the needed and
desirable changes in the cultural ideals and values for the progress and continued development of
society, without which social progress will stratify and come to a naught. Education accultures
individuals, modifies cultural processes by research and deeper investigations into all areas of
human requirements.

14. Continuity of culture: Culture is the life blood of society. Without culture a society is bound
to decay and die sooner or later. Education upholds the continuity of culture through its diverse
activities and programmes.
2
15. Development of personality: Education employs diverse cultural patterns of thinking,
behaviour and items of cultural values so that children are physically, mentally, socially and
emotionally developed to the maximum extent. Thus education aims at developing the
personality of the child.

16. Removing cultural lag: Material culture develops at a fast pace due to scientific researches
and innovations, whereas non-material culture consisting of ideals, values and norms lags behind
creating a gulf between the two. Education is the only means to bridge this cultural lag by its
activities and programmes of development.
2
37. Attaining unity: For the unity of mankind, there should be diffusion of culture of various
groups in the world. The cultural isolation should go, and there should be no iron curtain
between one culture and another.

18. Correction of cultural ills: Education is corrective for the cultural ills. By explaining the
dimensions of culture, education corrects egoism and false individuation. Educational
enlightenment does not imply only aesthetic appreciation of art and beauty, it also means having
kind and generous heart and soul. Culture liberates the mind. Literacy and moral education and
education in arts constitutes real techniques for realization of the cultural values.

19. Education and racial prejudices and antagonism: Education reduces racial prejudices and
antagonism, which result from ideas about other cultures. Imbibing of one‘s own culture, taking
pride in it and preserving the same is a patriotic act. But resisting any change in it shutting doors
to the entry of other cultural patterns and maintaining a strong iron curtain to preserve one‘s

37
culture shows jingoism. It is not conducive to the cultural growth. Cultural diffusion is good for
the individual cultural group, and for the humanity as a whole.

110. Human culture as a whole: Too much of emphasis on one‘s own culture will lead to
disunity and lack of international understanding which is one of the tasks of education This is
possible by bringing about diffusion of various cultures. Education should treat human culture as
whole, ―like a flower with different petals, and each petal representing one cultural group.

111. Function of school: A school is the simplified environment to explain the present culture of
the society and the school education makes the child imbibe the same and even makes its own
contribution. The school (in its broader meaning) determines the quality of culture with a view to
play the role of cultural construction-agent. Education, being the absorber and reflector of
culture, is the best medium for the initiation of the rising generation into the cultural norms and
process of the society. Due to the concerted efforts of the government and other agencies in the
area of education people have come to realize the importance of education. More and more
people are taking interest in education. Parents want to send their children to schools. Of late
there is an enhanced demand for English education. More and more English medium schools
International Schools, ICSE, CBSE, and State Board Schools are opened and they all get enough
and more students. This is a clear indication of the trend in motion. This is the result of renewed
demand for quality education. This has been accelerated by the impact of Globalization also. Co-
education, now a days, receive better acceptance by the society. The intensity of resistance
against sex education in schools now faces less opposition. All these can be considered as the
positive results of education.

112. Inter-cultural understanding: Education can promote inter-cultural understanding among

various cultures. Inter-cultural understanding refers to the development of that insight and
attitude in the individuals who, rising above their own selfish and narrow interest, find out the
really valuable items in all other cultures, besides their own. It is now realised by educational
planners and educationists alike that we should provide such educational experiences and
programmes which develop this understanding of other‘s culture and that development of such
understanding will promote co-operation and through a process of give and take, a cultural
synthesis will take place.
2
113. Education of culture and for culture: Culture enables a person to appreciate good ideas
and art. It enlivens human interests and social efficiency. A cultured person is neither too
assertive nor too dogmatic and aggressive. He or she does not manifest extremes of passions or
violence of feelings or extravagance of language. Education plays a crucial role in the making of
such persons.

38
114. Flux in the traditional culture: Culture is in constant flux. It changes as society changes.
No nation has had constant cultural traditions. India is no exception to it. Every generation adds
something new and modifies something old.
.

Summary

Education has tremendous scope as an instrument of social and cultural change. One should bear
in mind that through education not only knowledge is imparted, but skills, interests, attitudes,
aspirations and values are developed, social and cultural progress is facilitated, and at the same
time social and cultural level of the people is raised. Education brings cultural changes which
may result in many transitions and alterations in the society in many forms. This may be
observed in every aspects human culture like variations in norms of values and thinking modes,
changes in material culture, ideas, family relations, political culture, patterns of administration at
the local, state, regional and national level, involvement in social activities, change in abilities
and attitudes of personnel; in short in every aspects of human activity.

References

Murty, S.K., (1982) Contemporary Problems and Current Trends in Education. Ludhiana:
Prakash Brothers Educational Publishers.

Safaya, Shahida and Shukla, (2008) Teacher in Emerging Indian Society. New Delhi: Dhanpat
Rai Publishing Company..

Sharma, S.P., (2004) Basic Principles of Education. New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers,
Distributors.

Taneja, V.R., (1987) Socio-Philosophical Approach to Education. New Delhi: Atlantic publishers
& Distributors.

LESSON 9: EDUCATION AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

In Sociology and Anthropology, social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of

individuals into social classes, castes and divisions within a society. These hierarchies, which
may be overtly or covertly preset, or not present at all in some societies, are quite common in
state-level societies. In our society we rank people according to the scarce resources they control.

39
Money and property are scarce resources in our society and those who own a great deal of
money and property, wealthy people, can use this resource to gain power.

The ranking of people according to their wealth, prestige or party position is known as Social
Stratification. Stratification separates the rich from the poor, the powerful from the powerless.
Those who possess scarce resources have a high rank and those who do not possess them have a
low rank. Our place in the stratification system influences every part of our lives; where we live,
go to school and work; what we eat how we vote and whom we marry. Our sexual behaviour,
sports, hobbies and health are all affected by the rank society gives us. Therefore social
stratification is an area of great interest to sociologists.

Features of Social Stratification

The main features of social stratification are;

11. It is a social and economic categorization of individuals within a societal framework.
12. It is based on Caste, Class, and Status & Power of a Community or Section of People within
the framework of a society.
13. Social Stratification exists because of natural differences in peoples abilities.
14. Due to Social Stratification societies tend to be stable and are held together through
consensus.
15. It lessens conflicts & provides structure.
16. Social Stratification is a natural & voluntary separation according to race, social &
economic status.

Categories of Social Stratification

The categories of social stratification are; social class, gender, race and ethnicity and age and
disability. Some indicative features of these categories are as follows:

a) Social Class
- Distinction between wealth and income and their distribution in society.
- Social mobility and the link between class and life chances.
- Changing nature of class and its relationship to the economy and occupational structure.

b) Gender
- Difference between biological notion of sex and the socially constructed notion of gender.
- Nature and consequences of gender-role socialisation.
- Gender inequalities in terms of occupation, family and social roles and expectations.

c) Race and Ethnicity

40
 - Nature, size and distribution of different racial and ethnic groups in modern society.
- Inequality relating to race and ethnicity; in particular, discrimination in education,
employment and on life chances.
d) Age
- Social construction of the concept of age, including awareness of different notions of
childhood, adolescence and old age in different societies.
- Inequalities as a result of age, such as employment, unemployment, low pay, access to
benefits and restrictions on social behaviour.
- Implications of changes in the age structure of modern society.

e) Disability
- Social construction of disability.
- Inequality relating to disability; in particular, discrimination in education, employment
and on life chances.

Causes of Social Stratification

There are five basic points which gives clear idea about the causes of social stratification:

- Inequality – Inequality exists because of natural differences in people‘s abilities.

- Conflict – Stratification occurs due to conflict between different classes, with the upper
classes using superior power to take a larger share of the social resources.

- Power – Power influences one‘s definition of self and the importance of ideas in defining
social situations.

- Wealth – Difference in the wealth is also one of the causes of social stratification.

- Instability – Instability in the society being the cause of social stratification enhances
stability and induces members of the society to work hard.

The Process of Stratification

People‘s differing ranks in society are based on class and status. Class rankings are based on
wealth, income, and life chances to acquire wealth and income. Status comes from the honour
and respect people receive from others. Class and status are sources of power, and they are the
criteria used to rank people in a system of stratification.

Structural functionalists believe that systems of stratification develop because societies need

41
scarce leadership skills and reward to those who are willing to assume the responsibility of
leadership.

Conflict theorists contend that stratification develops because certain groups gain a monopoly of
the scarce resources through inheritance or conflict and use those resources to maintain their high
positions. Research indicates that Stratification becomes more pronounced as wealth and the
division of labour increase.

There are several types of stratification systems. In a caste system, positions assigned of birth
according to the position of the caste, and a person‘s caste is fixed for life.
The class system is found only in industrial societies and allows movement into higher or lower
strata through the accumulation or loss of wealth and status. The differences are especially
profound between the rich and the poor, and the most important ones are found in housing,
health care, and educational opportunity. It is these variations that affect life chances.

Types of Social Stratification

1Caste: Caste can be defined as a hereditary intermarrying group which determines the
individual‘s status in the social stratification by his occupation, etc. e.g. Brahmin has the
highest place in the social stratification of castes in India.

Class: Social stratification is also based on Class. Class is a status group and in only society the
social status of one group always differs from that of another. Class is also a person‘s economic
position in a society. However, as per Weber, Class is not a supreme factor in stratification. He
noted that how Managers of corporations or industries control firms they do not own.

1 Status: Status is a person‘s prestige, social honour, or popularity in a society. Social

stratification is also based on status of a person. Weber noted that political power was not
rooted in capital value society, but also in one‘s individual status. Poets or saints can
possess immense influence on society with often little economic growth.

Power: A person‘s ability to get their way despite the resistance of others. For example,
individuals in state jobs may hold little property or status but they still hold immense power.

Major Explanations of Stratification

Why are societies stratified? This question was widely debated by early sociologists, and their
different viewpoints have shaped current debates on the subject. Spencer believed that superior
people would educate themselves and become leaders, whereas inferior people would remain in

42
the bottom ranks of society. However Marx contended that the poor would become aware of their
plight and would revolt. The theories of those early writers have had a strong influence on the
two prevailing modern theories of stratification, structural functionalism and conflict theory.

Structural functionalists have refined Spencer‘s nation that society, like any other organism, is
self-regulating and self-maintaining and that it consists of interrelated parts that serve a function
in maintaining the system as a whole. According to this view, stratification is necessary for
society to function. Complex industrial system needs to be centralized, and power is place in the
hands of people who are capable of being leaders. Leadership requires advanced learning, hard
work, and the ability to assume responsibility. Society rewards those who serve as leaders by
giving them wealth. Wealth and status, both scarce resources, provide power, so those who serve
society by providing scarce skills became the powerful people. Thus, inequality is created by the
needs of the society, to by the desires and needs of the individuals. If society had an equal need
for all types of work, then all its members would be equal.

Conflict Theory of Stratification

Conflict theorists reject the functional viewpoint, arguing that inequality develops as a result of
people‘s desire for scarce resources, and close-knit groups compete with one another to gain
possession of these resources. According to this view, resources are not rewards for talent or for
assuming difficult tasks but are acquired through inheritance, coercion, or exploitation.
Inequality results when one group acquires more resources than other group. Once the
dominant group gets power, it tries to make its power appear legitimate by using propaganda to
appeal to the masses through education, the mass media, religion, and politics. If the masses are
influenced by the propaganda of the upper class, they are said to have what Marx called ‘false
consciousness‘, a belief that the upper class is superior and has the right to rule, If, on the other
hand, the masses reject the propaganda of the upper classes and are aware that they are being
exploited, they are said to have ‘Class Consciousness‘. Regardless of their consciousness, there
is little conflict if the masses have jobs and can live lives they find satisfactory. Serious conflicts
develop only when the masses are severely exploited and possess class consciousness..

STRATIFICATION AND EQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

1. Equality of Educational Opportunity

Equality is said to exist only when inequality has been removed. But in reality inequality is not
totally eliminated. Whatever measures may be taken to ensure equality, inequality will exist to
some degree.

43
Modern society views education as an important societal resource and a means of achieving the
goal of egalitarianism. Education is looked upon as a means of raising the social status of an
individual in various ways. It is accepted as a basic human need to have a desirable quality of
life. Given equal opportunity for general, vocational, technical and professional education most
citizens have equal status in the society. Education is often considered as an equalizer. Equality
of educational opportunities means that an individual has equal access to education. Equality of
educational opportunities is one of the goals of the ideology of Egalitarianism. However,
inequality of educational opportunities exists throughout the world and more so in Zambia.
Children from poor families receive education in substandard institutions which are not properly
equipped with teachers, teaching aids and apparatus. Usually urban schools and colleges are of
better standard than rural schools and colleges. Differences in the standard of educational
institutions ultimately cause inequality in the standard of students.

Problems concerning equality of opportunities in education

Education helps in establishing equality and ensuring social justice but the system of education
itself can add to the existing inequalities or at least perpetuate the same. Inequalities of
educational opportunities arise due to:
 Poverty as the poor cannot afford to meet the expenses of education.
 Children studying in the rural schools have to compete with the children in urban areas
where there are well-equipped schools.
 In the places where no primary, secondary or collegiate educational institutions exist
children do not get the same opportunity as those who have all these in their
neighborhood.
 Wide inequalities also arise from differences in home environments. A child from a rural
household or slum does not have the same opportunity as a child from an upper class
home with educated parents.
 There is wide sex disparity in Zambia. Here girl‘s education is not given the same
encouragement as boys.

LESSON 10 – THE ROLE OF A TEACHER IN SCHOOL

A (social) role is the expected behaviour of an individual in relation to his or her position.
Therefore, a role does not occur in vacuum/isolation but is always related to one’s position, e.g.
being a teacher, pastor, parent etc.

When we talk about the teacher’s roles, it is important to note that the teacher’s role is more
diffuse than specific. The following are the categories of roles:

(a) Multiple/multiplicity of roles – these are roles you play by virtue of your being an
individual social human being. Very often these roles are not related to each other. For
example, a teacher can be farmer, pastor, husband/wife, politician etc.
44
 (b) Role set – these are roles attached to the teacher by virtue of him or her being a teacher.
These roles in most cases are related to each other, for example, a teacher can be teacher,
head teacher, DEBS, PEO.

Roles in the School

An anonymous author once wrote: “A good teacher is like a candle which consumes itself to
light the way for others.”

Teachers play vital roles in the lives of the students in their classrooms. Teachers are best known
for the role of educating the students that are placed in their care. Beyond that, teachers serve
many other roles in the classroom. Teachers set the tone of their classrooms, build a warm
environment, mentor and nurture students, become role models, and listen and look for signs of
trouble.

(a) Teaching Knowledge - The most common role a teacher plays in the classroom is to
teach knowledge to children. Teachers are given a curriculum they must follow that
meets state guidelines. This curriculum is followed by the teacher so that throughout
the year, all pertinent knowledge is dispensed to the students. Teachers teach in many
ways including lectures, small group activities and hands-on learning activities.

(b) Creating Classroom Environment - Teachers also play an important role in the
classroom when it comes to the environment. Students often mimic a teacher's
actions. If the teacher prepares a warm, happy environment, students are more likely
to be happy. An environment set by the teacher can be either positive or negative. If
students sense the teacher is angry, students may react negatively to that and therefore
learning can be impaired. Teachers are responsible for the social behavior in their
classrooms. This behavior is primarily a reflection of the teacher's actions and the
environment she sets.

(c) Role Modeling - Teachers have the qualities to be or become role models for
students. Why? Because most teachers respect, love, care, instruct, and guide their
students to become a successful person. Students view teachers as being wise,
therefore, they look up for them. Students know that if they need something they just
need to ask them. Teachers typically do not think of themselves as role models,
however, inadvertently they are. Students spend a great deal of time with their teacher
and therefore, the teacher becomes a role model to them. This can be a positive or
negative effect depending on the teacher. Teachers are there not only to teach the
children, but also to love and care for them. Teachers are typically highly respected
by people in the community and therefore become a role model to students and
parents.

45
(d) Mentoring - Mentoring is a natural role taken on by teachers, whether it is intentional
or not. This again can have positive or negative effects on children. Mentoring is a
way a teacher encourages students to strive to be the best they can. This also includes
encouraging students to enjoy learning. Part of mentoring consists of listening to
students. By taking time to listen to what students say, teachers impart to students a
sense of ownership in the classroom. This helps build their confidence and helps them
want to be successful.

(e) Signs of Trouble - Another role played by teachers is a protector role. Teachers are
taught to look for signs of trouble in the students. When students' behaviors change or
physical signs of abuse are noticed, teachers are required to look into the problem.
Teachers must follow faculty procedures when it comes to following up on all signs
of trouble.

(f) Student Interaction - Teachers are responsible for providing sound instruction for
students within a circumscribed curriculum. This means that, by the time a semester
or school year ends, students should have gained a working and usable knowledge of
what they have been taught within the state standards. Teachers are also responsible
for maintaining a good rapport with students and providing a safe place for students
to come with questions or problems. Additionally, a teacher may choose to take on the
role of a mentor to students who show an interest in a subject that goes beyond what
is taught in class.

(g) School Support - Teachers are responsible for supporting the school's goals. This
may mean going beyond regular classroom hours and putting in additional time to be
available for staff meetings, school board meetings or curriculum development.
Because teachers are the ones that work each day, directly, with students, it is
important that they contribute to enhancing education, adjusting teaching methods
and planning. Outside of this, a teacher may choose to take on the role of a volunteer
to assist with school activities, such as theater, sports or band.

(h) Education Advancement - Because educational policies and practices evolve over
time, with changes in society, the needs of students and even changing laws, teachers
are responsible for staying current with the latest technology, methods, research and
trends in the subject matter to provide students with an education that is relevant to
the real world. Depending on a school's budget, a teacher may not always be able to
purchase items with school funds to support this goal, he may decide to take on the
role of provider -- purchasing classroom materials -- or as an advocate -- pushing for
more funds to help with buying class supplies.

(i) Leadership - All teachers bear the responsibility of leadership. As teachers, they are
naturally leaders of the students in their classes and must maintain order, enforce
46
 school regulations and policies, conduct parent-teacher conferences and lead by
example, demonstrating good communication and interpersonal skills. Aside from
these responsibilities, a teacher may decide to parlay that leadership into a voluntary
role in the school, sitting on committees, initiating community projects, fighting for
changes in the school or district and standing up for the needs or rights of one student
or even many.

Redefining the Role of the Teacher: It is a Multifaceted Profession

Instruction does not consist primarily of lecturing to students who sit in rows at desks, dutifully
listening and recording what they hear, but, rather, offers every child a rich, rewarding, and
unique learning experience. The educational environment is not confined to the classroom but,
instead, extends into the home and the community and around the world. Information isn't bound
primarily in books; it's available everywhere in bits and bytes.

Students are not consumers of facts. They are active creators of knowledge. Schools are not just
brick-and-mortar structures – they are centres of lifelong learning. And, most important, teaching
is recognized as one of the most challenging and respected career choices, absolutely vital to the
social, cultural, and economic health of our nation.

Today, the seeds of such a dramatic transformation in education are being planted. Prompted by
massive revolutions in knowledge, information technology, and public demand for better
learning, schools nationwide are slowly but surely restructuring themselves.

Leading the way are thousands of teachers who are rethinking every part of their jobs -- their
relationship with students, colleagues, and the community; the tools and techniques they employ;
their rights and responsibilities; the form and content of curriculum; what standards to set and
how to assess whether they are being met; their preparation as teachers and their ongoing
professional development; and the very structure of the schools in which they work. In short,
teachers are reinventing themselves and their occupation to better serve schools and students.

New Relationships and Practices

Traditionally, teaching was a combination of information-dispensing, custodial child care and

sorting out academically inclined students from others. The underlying model for schools was an
education factory in which adults, paid hourly or daily wages, kept like-aged youngsters sitting
still for standardized lessons and tests.

Teachers were told what, when, and how to teach. They were required to educate every student in
exactly the same way and were not held responsible when many failed to learn. They were
47
expected to teach using the same methods as past generations, and any deviation from traditional
practices was discouraged by supervisors or prohibited by myriad education laws and
regulations. Thus, many teachers simply stood in front of the class and delivered the same
lessons year after year, growing gray and weary of not being allowed to change what they were
doing.

Many teachers today, however, are encouraged to adapt and adopt new practices that
acknowledge both the art and science of learning. They understand that the essence of education
is a close relationship between a knowledgeable, caring adult and a secure, motivated child. They
grasp that their most important role is to get to know each student as an individual in order to
comprehend his or her unique needs, learning style, social and cultural background, interests, and
abilities.

This attention to personal qualities is all the more important as America continues to become the
most pluralistic nation on Earth. Teachers have to be committed to relating to youngsters of
many cultures, including those young people who, with traditional teaching, might have dropped
out -- or have been forced out -- of the education system.

Their job is to counsel students as they grow and mature -- helping them integrate their social,
emotional, and intellectual growth -- so the union of these sometimes separate dimensions yields
the abilities to seek, understand, and use knowledge; to make better decisions in their personal
lives; and to value contributing to society.

They must be prepared and permitted to intervene at any time and in any way to make sure
learning occurs. Rather than see themselves solely as masters of subject matter such as history,
math, or science, teachers increasingly understand that they must also inspire a love of learning.

In practice, this new relationship between teachers and students takes the form of a different
concept of instruction. Tuning in to how students really learn prompts many teachers to reject
teaching that is primarily lecture based in favour of instruction that challenges students to take an
active role in learning.

They no longer see their primary role as being the king or queen of the classroom, a benevolent
dictator deciding what's best for the powerless underlings in their care. They've found they
accomplish more if they adopt the role of educational guides, facilitators, and co-learners.

The most respected teachers have discovered how to make students passionate participants in the
instructional process by providing project-based, participatory, educational adventures. They
know that in order to get students to truly take responsibility for their own education, the
curriculum must relate to their lives, learning activities must engage their natural curiosity, and
assessments must measure real accomplishments and be an integral part of learning.

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Students work harder when teachers give them a role in determining the form and content of
their schooling -- helping them create their own learning plans and deciding the ways in which
they will demonstrate that they have, in fact, learned what they agreed to learn.

The day-to-day job of a teacher, rather than broadcasting content, is becoming one of designing
and guiding students through engaging learning opportunities. An educator's most important
responsibility is to search out and construct meaningful educational experiences that allow
students to solve real-world problems and show they have learned the big ideas, powerful skills,
and habits of mind and heart that meet agreed-on educational standards. The result is that the
abstract, inert knowledge that students used to memorize from dusty textbooks comes alive as
they participate in the creation and extension of new knowledge.

New Tools and Environments

One of the most powerful forces changing teachers' and students' roles in education is new
technology. The old model of instruction was predicated on information scarcity. Teachers and
their books were information oracles, spreading knowledge to a population with few other ways
to get it.

But today's world is awash in information from a multitude of print and electronic sources. The
fundamental job of teaching is no longer to distribute facts but to help children learn how to use
them by developing their abilities to think critically, solve problems, make informed judgments,
and create knowledge that benefits both the students and society. Freed from the responsibility of
being primary information providers, teachers have more time to spend working one-on-one or
with small groups of students.

Recasting the relationship between students and teachers demands that the structure of school
changes as well. Though it is still the norm in many places to isolate teachers in cinderblock
rooms with age-graded pupils who rotate through classes every hour throughout a semester -- or
every year, in the case of elementary school -- this paradigm is being abandoned in more and
more schools that want to give teachers the time, space, and support to do their jobs.

Extended instructional periods and school days, as well as reorganized yearly schedules, are all
being tried as ways to avoid chopping learning into often arbitrary chunks based on limited time.
Also, rather than inflexibly group students in grades by age, many schools feature mixed-aged
classes in which students spend two or more years with the same teachers.

In addition, ability groups, from which those judged less talented can rarely break free, are being
challenged by a recognition that current standardized tests do not measure many abilities or take
into account the different ways people learn best.

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One of the most important innovations in instructional organization is team teaching, in which
two or more educators share responsibility for a group of students. This means that an individual
teacher no longer has to be all things to all students. This approach allows teachers to apply their
strengths, interests, skills, and abilities to the greatest effect, knowing that children won't suffer
from their weaknesses, because there's someone with a different set of abilities to back them up.

To truly professionalize teaching, in fact, we need to further differentiate the roles a teacher
might fill. Just as a good law firm has a mix of associates, junior partners, and senior partners,
schools should have a greater mix of teachers who have appropriate levels of responsibility based
on their abilities and experience levels. Also, just as much of a lawyer's work occurs outside the
courtroom, so, too, should we recognize that much of a teacher's work is done outside the
classroom.

New Professional Responsibilities

Aside from rethinking their primary responsibility as directors of student learning, teachers are
also taking on other roles in schools and in their profession. They are working with colleagues,
family members, politicians, academics, community members, employers, and others to set clear
and obtainable standards for the knowledge, skills, and values that children should acquire. They
are participating in day-to-day decision making in schools, working side-by-side to set priorities,
and dealing with organizational problems that affect their students' learning.

Many teachers also spend time researching various questions of educational effectiveness that
expand the understanding of the dynamics of learning. And more teachers are spending time
mentoring new members of their profession, making sure that education school graduates are
truly ready for the complex challenges of today's classrooms.

Reinventing the role of teachers inside and outside the classroom can result in significantly better
schools and better-educated students. But though the roots of such improvement are taking hold
in today's schools, they need continued nurturing to grow and truly transform America's learning
landscape. The rest of us -- politicians and parents, superintendents and school board members,
employers and education school faculty -- must also be willing to rethink our roles in education
to give teachers the support, freedom, and trust they need to do the essential job of educating our
children.

REFERENCES

Anderson, C.A. (1968). Education and Society. New York : Macmillan.

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Banks, O. (1968). The Sociology of Education. London : Batfered

Ezewu, E. (1988). The Sociology of Education. London : Longman Group

Ltd

Huyte, E. (1969). The Role of the Teacher. London : RKP.

Musgrave, P.W. (1979). The sociology of Education. London : Methuen

and Co. Ltd.

Peter, S. (1974). Education Development in Northern Rhodesia 1883

Lusaka : Kenneth Kaunda Foundation.
http://sitwe.wordpress.com/, http://sitwe.blog.com/, http://bmsitwe.blog.com

QUESTIONS

1. Identify any briefly explain any two agents of socialisation. [2 marks]

2. Give any two functions of education according Durkheim. [2 marks]
3. Briefly describe the empirical perspective of sociology of education. [2 marks]
4. Differentiate between an ideal culture and a sub-culture [1 mark]
5. List and briefly explain any two agents [3] agents of social stratification. [2 marks]
6. What is the relationship between poverty and development? [2 marks]
7. What is an environment as regards to the open systems approach? [1 mark]
8. Show how sex disparities cause social stratification. [2 marks]
9. How do high expectations contribute to school effectiveness? [2 marks]
10. Why is education said to be human capital? [2 marks]
11. Differentiate between ascribed status and achieved status. [2 marks]
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12. Explain the meaning and scope of Sociology of Education.
13. Discuss the relevance of family background to learners’ educational aspirations.
14. Culture is a dynamic ongoing process. Justify.
15. Argue for or against the assertion that social class is responsible for the students’
education attainment.
16.Do you agree that education is better than ignorance? Discuss.

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