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sed-2601-notes-and-assignment-answers., What is Sociology of Education?
Sociology of Education includes two disciplines: Sociology and Education.
Sociology is a discipline (a large body of work, research) which tries to explain society (human
interactions, groups, institutions, our relationship with the environment) and how society works.
Education is a system or an institution which is part of society. In South Africa, education is, in
general, formal. That is, children go to schools and follow a specific curriculum. There are state
schools and private schools in the South African Education system.
So: Sociology of Education combines the study of society and schools and looks at how schools in
society work or function. Sociology is the ‘umbrella’ theory. The other 3 theories (functionalism,
conflict theory and symbolic interactionism) all fall under the Sociology of Education. It might help
you to draw this. Draw an umbrella labelled Sociology of Education and put the 3 theories under
it.
Now work systematically through the 3 theories. Work with Chapters 1 and 2 in your text book for
now.
Functionalism:
Functionalist theory tries to explain how schools function or work in society. Functionalism argues
that society is made up of different parts, however, all the parts are connected (are related) and
have to work together for society to function/to work. This is similar to how a body works: if one
arm of the body does not work then the whole body is affected. The argument is that the school
works in conjunction with (together with), for example, the economy and they both have to ‘work’
(be healthy) for society to function properly. Hence, schools teach learners to become part of the
workforce by providing skills such as computer skills and the ability to work with and interact with
strangers in a classroom, not just with their own families. Public schools also have a relationship
with the state: through curriculum development, funding, providing resources etc.
Functionalism also argues all learners are equal when they start school (they have the same
uniforms, teachers, curriculum opportunities). They become less ‘equal’ as they progress through
the school system in that some learners work harder than others and do better academically. Think
of an athletics race. All the runners line up at the same starting- line but some runners are faster
than others and they come first and others, sadly, come last.
NB: Try not to get too bogged down by all the different theorists at this stage, such as Durkheim and
Parsons. Try to work out what the main argument is in relation to functionalism. In a nutshell: What
does functionalism say about schools in a society?
,Conflict Theory
Conflict theory is influenced by Marxist theory which is critical of the inequalities found in society.
Conflict theorists argue that society is deeply unequal and divided (so it is always in conflict). Schools,
as an important part of society, are also unequal in terms of access to schooling (who goes to which
school), resources, funding etc. So, schools are not in fact ‘the same’ in that they do not have the
same resources and working class schools are less equipped than privileged, fee -paying middle class
schools.
You will have noticed that conflict theory provides a critique or criticism of functionalism. Why?
Because functionalists argue that all schools as fundamentally equal and all children have equal
access to schools. Marxists respond to this claim by arguing that schools are not all the same and
that access is based on the social class of the child.
What is meant by social class according to conflict theorists?
In capitalist societies like South Africa broadly speaking we have middle class people (the
bourgeoisie) who own factories, businesses, are professionals and 'white collar' office workers. We
also have working class people who ‘sell’ their labour for salaries and wages. So a factory boss would
be member of the wealthy middle class and a factory worker a member of the, often poorly paid,
working class.
Wealthy middle class people often have more status in society and have more power because they
have access to e.g. better schools, universities, the legal system and so on. Think about who has
more money, education and status in society: a medical specialist or a manual worker?
To get back to schools:
Conflict theorists argue that schools reflect unequal societies and reproduce inequalities.
If you come from a working class family you will go to a working class school and you will end up in a
working class job.
If you come from a middle class family you will go to a middle class school and end up in a middle
class job.
Conflict theorists argue that this perpetuates (keeps going) inequalities in society and perpetuates
unfair, discriminatory practices in society. They argue it is unfair for working class children to go to
badly equipped schools just because of their impoverished position. So they argue strongly for social
justice and for the social system to change.
Of course, it is not as simple as this. In South Africa not all learners are ‘trapped’ in their social class.
For example, working class learners can and do move into the middle class. So there is some social
mobility. This issue will be returned to in the section on symbolic interactionism.
Draw a diagram of the different social classes currently in South Africa. How would schools
fit into this diagram?
, Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic interactionism is a theory which brings the ‘self’ (the individual) into sociological analysis.
Functionalism and conflict theory tend to look at the bigger picture. That is, they focus on ‘macro’
issues. Symbolic interactionism focuses on ‘micro’ or small interactions between people. So they are
interested in the ‘small’ engagements between, for example, the teacher and the learner in the
classroom.
Symbolic interactionism examines the self or the individual within the context of society and they
provide an important perspective in sociology. They also provide a critique of, for example, conflict
theory. Conflict theory tends to look at social classes and not the individual within those classes.
Symbolic interactionists argue that individuals are not unthinking, passive recipients of their class
position. It is possible for working class people, for example, to move into the more privileged
middles classes through their agency. Agency means that people think about and act on their
environments. A good example would be the issue of the natural environment: activists (people
exercising their agency) have played an important role in fighting pollution, encouraging water
conservation and so on. So, people can change situations.
Symbolic interactionism emphasises the self (or the individual) and how that individual thinks,
makes meaning and interprets events. A vital component of this is the idea of ‘interactionism’. We
interpret and make meaning because we interact with other people through communicating with
them. We also have a social context. The context depends on who you are , where you are in the
school or what situation you find yourself in. So the teacher in the classroom (where she is
powerful) has a different context from her context in the staff room (where she might have less
power, or she might be relaxing). Likewise, the learner has a different context when she is in the
playground during break. In the classroom the learner’s language generally will be more formal and
they are expected to be silent or to talk quietly during group work (this is their context). In addition,
learners are very good at interpreting the teacher’s mood. They interpret her expression, what she
is wearing and conclude that she is in a good or bad a mood before she has even uttered a word.
What does the ‘symbolic’ part of the theory mean? Symbols are viewed in a broad way by symbolic
interactionism and they include language (words are symbols for ‘things’) and symbols such as
national flags, school crests, uniforms etc. Language is crucial for us to make meaning of a situation
and helps us to interpret a situation and how to behave in a certain context.
Interacting with others through language and interpreting symbols is an important part of
socialisation. Think of gender roles in society. They are interpreted by children from a very young
age through their interactions with family, shops, peers, teachers. So a girl starts learning what it is
to be ‘feminine’ when, for example, her parents dress her in a pink skirt, or expect her to do certain
household tasks. The girl is socialised into a gender role through interacting with her parents and
interpreting (and absorbing) certain ‘symbols’ such as the pink skirt. So, the pink skirt becomes the
‘right’ thing to wear.
Read pages 19-23 and 46-49.
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