Sociology of Education
Through Interviews and Questionnaires. 5
Interactionism or Symbolic Internationalism.. 6
Critically Assess Labelling Theories. 7
Terms of Reference
Purpose, scope, and role of education as an agency of socialization, its limitation, and challenges that students face in learning new cultures.
Research Methodology
Since it is a primary study, the research methodology that I will use involves a direct visit to at least three schools within my community to learn from what is taking place within the school compound. The two common research methodologies that I will use in this case is observation and interviews.
Primary Research
Observation
The primary study to be used in this discussion look at the socialization role of education in contemporary society. In order to fully understand the socializing role of education, the study involves visiting various schools within the community to observe the interaction that takes place between different students. This means that I visited at least three different schools within the community and observe the interaction of learners at break time and during class time and took note of different types of socialization that take place among the students and between the students and their teachers.
Interviews
Before I concluded the research, I interviewed the teachers to get their views on the role of education as a socializing agent. Charles Horton Cooley once stated that a person’s self grows out of society’s interpersonal interaction and perceptions of others. Observation and conducting interviews with teachers will serve to give a better understanding of the concepts learned in class.
Socialization is defined as the learning of one’s culture and learn to appreciate the diverse culture that exists within a given area.
Through primary sources, which in this case are interviews and observation, I got the opportunity to interact with different people and reinforce some of the theories of socialization that we have learned in school. I tried to connect some of the theories Based on the interactionist perspective. Education is expected to promote social interaction between students and teachers within a given educational setting (Becker, 2019). During my visit to these schools, I got the opportunity to evaluate some of the theories that I have learned in class, such as interactionist theory, that illustrates that schools serve to give students the opportunity to interact with one another and learn from one another. As an interactionist institution, pupils and educators from the different ethnic background are brought together through shared values
Sociologists from various schools of thought would generally agree that socialization plays a critical role in shaping people and their roles in society through various institutions such as family, education, and consequently, at workplaces. Schools play a critical role in promoting socialization because it brings students from different ethnic backgrounds together. The role of socialization is to acquaint students with the norms of society and also to learn and understand the culture. Social values are beliefs and norms that are supposed to guide the relationship between people in society. Structuralist sociologists believed that these social values are reinforced by social institutions such as schools that are expected to direct and guide behaviour (Becker, 2019). Emile Durkheim’s functionalist theory suggests that social solidarity and cultural cohesion of a given society is dependent on the socializing members and institutions put in place to reinforce these set of beliefs among people. It is for these reasons that American school children are expected to learn, memorize, and pledge allegiance to the flag every morning. The national flag is an important socializing agent because it unites a diverse population together. Without socializing agents such as the national flag, schooling becomes less effective.
Findings
Through Observation
Since children lack the ability to fill questionnaires, I will take keen attention to observe their interaction during the classes and when they are at the break. Observation as an approach involves watching people and what they do and report what is observed. Through this process, I will get the opportunity to learn more about social interaction.
Through Interviews and Questionnaires
For teachers, I dropped questionnaires two weeks in advance before the research was conducted, and on that date, I will conduct interviews among the selected teachers to reinforce my study of various theories learned in class.
Evaluate at least two different perspectives and their ideas regarding the role of education in contemporary society
From the most moment a child is born, his and her education begins. At first, education is enhanced through both formal and informal processes. The education system is meant to encourage social interaction. This can be supported by two different theories of education that give a different perspective of the function of education in society. Among the theories of social interactions, there are two major theories that I can directly connect to what I saw during my observation and interview process to investigate the role of education in promoting social interaction and diversity in society.
Findings
Functionalism
According to functionalism theory, education serves several social functions that include socialization, social integration, social and cultural innovation, and social placement. As children join schools, there are peer relationships that are created among the children as they interact with one another without considering an individual ethnic or racial background (Jones, 2020). Functionalism puts a lot of emphasis on the social bonds that education creates in society because as children grow to other levels, close social bonds are maintained and reinforced through the learning process.
Interactionism or Symbolic Internationalism
Unlike functionalism which looks at the society as a whole, interactionism observes how people or group act, interact and react in specific situations and assumptions about normal and the society should aim to achieve as a society. In agreement with Durkheim, Parson argued that education is key to holding society together because of its secondary socialization (Jones, 2020). Schools transmit ideas and social values of a particular society because most curriculums used in schools are meant to solve some of the problems that society faces. Education-based on social values starts at elementary education and is reinforced through the education system as students climb up the ladder to become adult members of society. As a result, schools play a critical role in the development of fundamental values in children and teach the children about important social values that they need to have if they are to prosper and become respectful members of society.
Post-modernist Theory
Post –modernistic theory in education support radical diversity and the need for schools to promote cultural diversity by establishing strong values and cultural norms to guide and bind people together. Since the curriculum used in most schools are the same, schools instil similar values to the learners. The government also often review the curriculum with the aim of identifying key societal problems that education should address (Sarojini Hart, & Sriprakash, 2019). As one way of promoting unity and cultural diversity in society, schools are expected to organize different events that promote cultural diversity.
Critically Assess Labelling Theories
Labelling theory stems out of the social perspective of “symbolic interactionism”. It is a school of thought based on the ideas of John Dewey, George Herbert Mead, Charles Horton Cooley and Herbert Blumer who are all considered a prominent labelling theorist (Jones, 2020). This theory is associated mainly with sociology, and it tends to address the impact of individuals in power and their response to behavioural changes that take place in a negative way (Becker, 2019). The labelling theory remains an important approach in understanding behaviour though it seems to ignore differences in attitude and social differences. In most cases, it deals with stereotyping and how people look at others in society and label them based on what they see or their social status. Labelling theory often leads to inequality and underachievement because it makes people feel disadvantaged.
During my investigative study in three schools, I realized that white children still privileged than their black counterparts. Although the stereotype is not a major issue, there are children that still consider themselves inferior compared to others. This was observed even in the class performance where some students call others or have given others names based on their performance. However, in my interviews with selected teachers, they informed me that they have really tried to contain labelling, and it is extremely hard for a student to label another and go unpunished. The teachers are committed to inculcating good social morals on the students so that when they finish school, they join the society as human beings that value and respect values of others.
Concept of Meritocracy and critically assess whether the British Educational System operates in a meritocratic way
Meritocracy is a system that is built around talented students and moved ahead of others on the basis of their class performance.
During my visit to the three schools, I had a candid discussion with teachers on this topic, but their answer to the question was overwhelming as all of them indicated that, their schools treat students equally and all the students are expected to take the same time studying the same unit before they are promoted to the next level. Therefore, meritocracy is not as common in schools as it was before because schools are committed to promoting equality and inculcating good social norms as students are taught to look at others as equal beings and not better than others.
Conclusion
In conclusion, education plays a critical role in promoting the socialization of individuals. First, education elevates individuals to another level. Therefore, it is considered a socializing agent. In schools, students are also taught different social values which they should maintain as they grow up to become better people in society. Education is also used to deconstruct social evils such as stereotyping and inequality because students are taught more about social values that they need to maintain and disregard as less important.
References
Becker, R. (2019). Key challenges for the sociology of education: theoretical, methodological, and empirical issues. In Research Handbook on the Sociology of Education. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Jones, T. (2020). Designing a Comparative Sociological Education Study. In A Student-centred Sociology of Australian Education (pp. 17-24). Springer, Cham.
Sarojini, Hart, C., & Sriprakash, A. (2019). Learning, teaching,’ searching’, and ‘healing’: conceptual and practical challenges for education.