Exam notes for SED2601. Valuable notes on theories, ecological systems, diversity (gender,race and class), citizenship in education etc. Please study glossary pg 95 to 102 as well and work through assignments.
Social order: Is a system of linked/related social structures which include institutions
such as schools; customs; values and practices. All these structures conserve,
maintain and enforce social patterns. The emphasis is on the ‘social’ (society) and
the ‘order’ (as in keeping order)in a society so that it functions/works effectively.
The interdependence of different parts of society: Functionalists argue that different
parts of society such as schools, the economy, the state are all dependent on each
other. So, schools cannot function properly in society unless, for example, they have
a connection with the economy, if the economy demands that we become computer
literate then schools should provide computer courses and have computer
centres.Hence the different parts of society needs each other to keep modern
society functioning.
Manifest functions: These are functions that can be seen, they are obvious. So if you
attend a function as a wedding, through experience and observation, you will gain
knowledge of how weddings are conducted culturally.
Latent functions: These functions are unintentional and not obvious. For example,
schools do not only teach learners subject knowledge, they also teach, less
obviously, punctuality through school opening times. There is no subject in the time
table which teaches punctuality, but learners learn it in less obvious ways.
Positive features of functionalist theory:
promotes co-operations and avoids conflict in society.
It focuses on the importance of share values and norms
they see education as being central to the successful functioning of society because
education socializes learners, teaches them norms and values and provides
opportunity and training for their future roles in the workplace.
Negative features of the functionalist theory;
it does not question why society is stratified and unequal because it encourages the
maintenance of the status qou.
encourages society’s members to accept inequalities as normal instead of
questioning them.
it does not always play a role in encouraging people to change society, in fact social
change is often frowned upon.
certain cultures can be marginalized
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they stress that all learners have equal opportunities, however, because of social
class differences some learners are more privileged than others.
does not mount a convincing critique of inequalities in society.
The AGIL acronym applied in social system represents the following (parsons)functionalism:
Adaptation: the problem acquiring sufficient resources (economic system)
Goal attainment: The problem of setting and implementing goals (political system)
integration: the problem maintaining solidarity or co-ordination among the sub-units of the
system (schools, churches, media, police)
Latency: The problem of creating, preserving and transmitting the system’s distinctive
culture and values (kinship, family, marriage)
CONFLICT THEORY:
The Marxist conflict approach calls for a critical evaluation of the existing
social arrangements and political programme of revolution/reform.
conflict theory maintains that conflict is inevitable among the individuals
and groups (social classes) within society because of the different aoounts of
material and non-material resources available to them (wealthy vs poor).
The theory states that when some individuals and groups have more power
than others they are likely to use this power in order to exploit groups with
less power.
Marx, weber and mills: Marx argued that state uses property and material
conditions to gain political power. the powerful groups use these material
conditions to organise their political standing to spread their agenda .He
believed that the source of conflict is the fact that all of the things that
humans value are gained through the labour of workers, not the owners. the
workers are exploited through labour yet they do not receive an equal share
in what they have worked for, Members of the owning class gain more
power to impose their views and dominate politically through the
exploitation of workers. Weber claimed that social conflict which is found in
all aspects of society is likely to originate in discrepancies between the
amount of power, prestige and property held by different groups or
individuals. He concluded that various class divisions in society are normal,
inevitable and acceptable. Mills argued that if people have different interest
and resources they create their own social structure (social institutions and
norms of society that shape the behavior of the people within those social
structures)
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Families: play an important role as a vehicle to maintain patriarchy and
social inequality in society. The system is partriarchal which contributes to
inequality between males and females. The family thus becomes a social
arrangement that benefits men more than women. It allows men to
maintain a position of power (Boundless)
society: It is obvious that the powerful social group is the dominant force
behind educational institutions because the entire educational is often
flooded with ideologies provided by this group. This group decides the way
in which educational institutions should be run and which directions to
follow in order to maintain the status qou of society.
Assumptions CONFLICT THEORY:
- Human interaction results in conflict (interactions)
- conflict and change are normal and inevitable in society (change)
- competition over scarce resources is part of all social groups.
Com[petition rather than consensus is characteristic of human
relationships (competition)
- inequalities in power and rewards are built into all social structures.
Resources are scarce and groups will always compete over these
resources (structural inequality)
- inequality exists in varying degrees with people having different
amounts of resources , hierarchies exist. (degree of inequality)
- Macro changes occur as result of conflict between competing interests,
rather than through adaptation. (revolution)
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM:
Focusing on self and society
Principles of symbolic interactionism (BLUMER):
- Capacity for thought
- capacity of thought is shaped by social interaction
- people learn the meanings and the symbols that allow them to exercise
their distinctively human capacity for thought
- meanings and symbols allow people to carry on distinctively human
action and interaction
- people are able to modify or alter the meanings and symbols on the
basis of their interpretation of the situation
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