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Summary SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION
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- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
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NADIA BURGERSOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION
SED2601
CONTENT:
Chapter 1: Theories in Sociology of Education
Chapter 2: Practices in Sociology of Education
Chapter 3: Citizenship Education
Chapter 4: Diversity and Culture in Education
CHAPTER 1: THEORIES IN SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION:
INTRODUCTION:
- All educational processes and the social development of all individuals are affected by social
interactions and the experiences of individuals within in these institutions.
- This describes the field of sociology of education.
- It is concerns with the relationships, activities and reactions of teachers and learners in the
classroom.
- It emphasises sociological problems in the realm of education.
- Makes use of scientific theory and research to provide important insight into the ways in
which schools affect individuals and groups.
SOCIOLOGY – is the study of the origin, development, organisation and functioning of
human social behaviours that are affected by social interactions.
- Father of sociology – French philosopher Auguste Comte, 1843
- “sociology”: Latin word Socius meaning ‘companion’ and Greek word logos meaning ‘the
study of’. The study of companionship or social relations.
- Studies social groups and individuals and their interrelationships with social structures.
- Sociology help us to “think away” for familiar routines and to look at them with fresh eyes.
- Sociology helps us to engage with a broader view of our lives and helps us to explain why we
act as we do.
- Teaches us to question what we think is “natural” and what we take for granted in society
and in our everyday practices.
- Sociology also involves the study of social factors – ideas, feelings and ways of behaving
,NADIA BURGER
- Durkheim believes that sociology is the study of systems that should be investigated as a
whole and cannot be comprehended by examining the individual parts in isolation.
EDUCATION – “to bring out that which is within”
- Education is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the
powers of reasoning and judgment, and preparing individuals intellectually for mature life
- Education is not a static phenomenon, but a dynamic and ever-changing process
- Education serves as a form of socialisation.
- It is the means through which knowledge and learning skills are acquired for servicing society
and maintaining order.
- Education is a form of learning that is transferred form one person to another, leading to
individual growth and intended to serve society’s needs.
SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION:
- Sociology of education is the learning of educational structures, processes and practices
from a sociological perspective.
- Sociology of education defines the scientific analysis of the social processes and social
patterns involved in the educational system.
- This means that it is used to increase the understanding of the relationship between
educational institutions and society, both at the micro and the macro levels
o Micro level: researchers seek to identify how variation in school practices, foe
example, different teaching methods, leads to differences in student performance
o Macro level: researchers seek to identify how various social forces, such as politics,
economics and culture, create variations in schools as organisations.
Micro- and Macro sociological approaches:
Micro sociological approach focuses on small, everyday situations and incorporate our face
to face interactions with other human beings. Interactions are found in all social institutions
such as the school, the family and the workplace.
Macro sociological approach focus on long term processes within society, such as the
development of modern, urban, industrialised societies. If a sociological theory focuses on
large social systems, such as the economy or the political system then we tend to think of
these theories as macro.
,NADIA BURGER
FUNCTIONS OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION:
- The acquisition of knowledge and the development of the personality of an individual are
presumed to be the main function of education.
- Education also has the following functions (PAGE 5-6):
The assimilation and the transmission of culture and tradition
The development of new social patterns
The activation of constructive and creative forces.
FUNCTIONALISM:
- Structural functionalism
- Main ideas: social order, consensus, social systems, socialisation, norms and values,
manifest and latent functions
- Proponents: Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, Robert Merton
- Dominated sociological thinking about education until the late 1960s and early 1970s.
- Durkheim (1858–1917) (1956), one of the major proponents of functionalism, asked the
question: What holds society together?
- He proposed that there are two types of solidarity that form the “glue” that holds society
together, namely (pg 7):
Mechanical solidarity which occurs when society is held together by shared belief
systems
Organic solidarity which reflects the specialisation of tasks found in modern
industrialised societies.
- The specialisation of tasks refers to the vast range of jobs found in modern society: Industrial
workers, medical specialists, engineers, computer analysts and so on.
- Durkheim argued that in these societies people are held together by factors, such as
economic interdependence.
, NADIA BURGER
- Functionalist theory compares society to a living organism.
- Just as the parts of the human body function together, the various components of society
also function together to maintain a social “whole”.
- Durkheim contended that to produce social stability, the different parts of modern industrial
society need to work together to form a complex whole.
- For example, functionalists argue that there are links between schooling and the economy
and links between schooling and the family.
- Hence, if the economy does not function this will affect education and families negatively.
- Gained popularity among the American sociologists during the 1940s and 1950s – they
focused on discovering the functions of human behaviour.
- European functionalist – focused on explaining the inner workings of social order.
- American functionalist, Robert Merton, classified human functions into 2 types:
Manifest functions: These are apparent to participants who take part in a social activity.
For example, a timetable in a school is “known” and can be seen in most contemporary
schools. It has the manifest function of planning the teachers’ and learners’ daily
activities.
Latent functions cannot be seen but have certain effects on participants. For example,
the timetable might have the latent function of engendering obedience and compliancy
in children.
- According to Durkheim, the latent role of education constitutes the socialisation of people into
society’s mainstream. People from diverse backgrounds are bought together into a more
cohesive social structure.
- Other latent roles include: the transmission of core values and social control.
- Functionalism has 2 levels of focus:
o Micro level focus: the theory addresses the ways in which universal education serves
the needs of society.
o Macro level focus: emphasis the social solidarity, value consensus, cohesion or order
that exists in society, focusing on social stability and shared public values.
- Functionalism plays an important role in instilling in the members of society the solidarity and
value consensus that modern society requires for its maintenance and stability.
Durkheim and Parsons:
Durkheim saw education and particularly the teaching of history as important foundations for
that stability. (pg 8-9)
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