Sociological Theories & Education
Introduction to Sociology: SOC 101
Sociological Theories & Education
Education is a social institution that has become a very import part of everyone’s life. It is a rite of passage for most individuals to pass through before they enter into the “real world”. In today’s society, without a proper education, there are many opportunities that would be missed, or unavailable, to those that make the choice to not achieve the level of education that is required. There are three major theoretical perspectives in sociology that have impacted education as a social institution in a vast variety of ways. In the following paper, I will explain how the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspective have affected education in the past and within our society today.
The three major theoretical perspectives that are prominent in sociology are functionalism, conflict, and interactionism. These three theories play an important role in helping to understand education and why it is important. Instead of focusing on one point of view, they offer a wider variety of understanding on how sociologists, and people in general, view the world and education. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “the function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” Without sociological theories to help understand what education is all about and why education is important, we would not get the true identity of education.
The Term Paper on Limitations Of Theories Of Sociology Of Deviance
... sociological theories are limited in their individual explanation of deviant acts. However if one adopts the view that each theory provides a different perspective ... Why are some norms more important than others? And why ... social conditions through housing, employment, education and civil rights legislation failed ... of Criminology, Canberra, Clinard M, Sociology of Deviant Behavior, Wadsworth Publishing, ...
Education is one of the key factors in securing a good job, and maintaining job security, but it also has many other functions. As one advances through the different levels f school, it is only natural that within the interactions of different people, from different backgrounds, and different culture, we build our social skills. We learn how to handle different situations, and deal with people on many different levels. Advancing through school, not only aids us in learning how to deal with others, but teaches us how to identify with who we are, what we like, and what our future goals are.
The functionalist perspective “emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability” (Schaefer, 2009, p. 14).
Functionalists tend to focus on the ways that education will play in the survival of the society. The first thing that functionalist do is see education in its manifest role. They believe that education conveys knowledge and skills to the next generation. Emile Durkheim was the founder of functionalist theory. He believed that education sets out precisely with the object of creating a social being. He identified the latent role of education, which was identified as one of socializing people into society’s mainstream. It was called “a moral education”, and it helped form a more-cohesive social structure. This was evident in how people from diverse backgrounds came together within society.
The other latent roles of education that functionalist point to are transmission of core values and social structure. Core values reflect the characteristics that support political and economic systems that had originally fueled education in American education. This means that children in America will receive rewards for following schedules, directions, meeting deadlines, and obeying authority figures.
The Term Paper on Social Change Society Conflict Class
... lead to chaos and conflict. Social change is simply a change in society that is influenced by some factor of society. Functionalist and Marxist views ... who controlled the forces of production. The proletariats were the people who provided the labor for wages. The victory of a ... this they study one part of society in relation to another. For example they would study education to work. Durkheim said that ...
A benefit that functionalists see in education is something they call sorting. This means they separate students on the basis of merit. They feel that society’s needs demands that the most capable people get channeled into the most important occupations. Educational institutions are equipped to identify the most capable students early. Tools such as results of classroom and standardized tests aid in this process. The students who score high on these tests are put into accelerated programs and college preparation courses. Many sociologists like Kingsley Davis, Wilbert Moore, and Talcott Parsons referred to this as social placement. They felt this was a beneficial function in society.
Functionalists also believe that education plays an ironic dual role in both preserving and changing culture. There have been studies that have shown that as student’s progress through college and beyond, they are usually able to become increasingly liberal as they encounter a variety of perspectives. People who are more educated are generally more liberal, but people who are less educated are conservatism.
However, “where functionalist see stability and consensus, conflict sociologists see a social world in continual struggle” (Schaefer, 2009, p. 14).
The conflict perspective “assume that social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power or the allocation of resources, including housing, money, access to services, and political representation” (Schaefer, 2009, pp.14).
These theorists see the purpose of education as maintaining social inequality and preserving the power of those who dominate society. Conflict theorists and functionalists examine the same functions of education. Unlike functionalist theorists, conflict sociologists condemn the educational system because they think that it is driven by the view of those within the dominant group. In the eyes of conflict theorists, anyone who is not within the dominant group is only providing the dominant group a means of achieving wealth and status by means of education.
Both of these theories agree that the educational system practices sorting, but they disagree on how the educational system enacts that sorting. Functionalists believe that the schools sort based on merits. However, conflict theorists believe that schools sort based on distinct class and ethnic lines. Conflict theorists believe that schools train those who are in the working class to accept their position as a lower-class member of society. This role of education is called “hidden curriculum”.
The Homework on Who Bears The Responsibilty For A Students Education
Who Bears the Responsibility for a Student's Education Who is it that bears the responsibility for the student's education Is it the student The school Or is it the government This question cannot easily be answered by just one person. The answer could be based on that person s opinion, and opinions vary from person to person. Some people will say it is solely the student's responsibility. Others ...
Conflict theorists have several key factors that defend their position. They feel because property taxes fund most schools, schools in affluent districts have more money. The students who live in these kinds of areas are more likely to get into the best colleges and have a better chance of being tracked into higher-paying professions. Students who are in less affluent neighborhoods do not have these kinds of advantages. They are less likely to go to college and more likely to go to a vocational school or technical training. “Employers routinely use education as a selection tool. Jobs with a high social status such as executives, Wall Street Lawyers, and politicians at the national level are almost exclusively recruited from elite universities” (Todd).
The internationalist perspective differs from both the functionalist and the conflict perspective of education in that it does not analyze large-scale behavior. Instead, this perspective “generalizes about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole” (Schaefer, 2009, p. 16).
Interactionists are primarily concerned with relationships that are going on with the educational institution. They are more concerned with the daily exchanges between the students as well as the transactions that occur between the students and the teachers or any other person that is involved with the student. Some studies indicate that students pursue goals and are more successful dependent on the overall outlook of their social environments. “The pursuit of a set of social responsibility goals was unique in distinguishing high achieving and low-achieving students. Both self referent and socially derived performance standards predicted efforts to achieve all types of goals…” (Wentzel, 1988).
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Due to the social aspect of this perspective, the facts of whether institutions are urban or rural, a large educational complex or a small one, or whether they have a highly bureaucratic system or not, are disregarded. For example, interactionists would be more concerned with the roles that other people play in the students’ education. They are concerned with the efficiency of a student’s education and the quality of a child’s academic experience.
Interactionists believe that every student needs to know that their voice is being heard. It is very important for a teacher to understand every one of their students, because every student is different. A key tool in learning is being able to listen, which students will only do if they feel that the teacher has something of importance to tell them. In the beginning a teacher’s primary goal should be to gain the trust of their student’s. This trust is a key element in a student deciding whether a teacher is worth their time. It is only then, that a student will listen, and learning will take place.
Ultimately, it is obvious that all three theories are different in that they approach education from three totally different paths. Functionalists believe that education is a way to socialize individuals so that the general values of the society can be widely accepted. Once that is achieved, then equilibrium and social order will prevail. Conflict theorist; however, believe that the dominant groups’ goal is to ensure their prosperity by exploiting those that are in a lower status. Interactionists are more concerned with social interactions that are involved between all groups because they believe that better social interactions lead to a better society. All three perspectives have impacted education, and provide a different way to view the impact that education has on our society.
References
Schaefer, R.T. (2009).
Sociology: A Brief Introduction (8th Ed).
New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies
Todd, J. (n.d.).
Functional and Conflict Theory: A Point of View. Helium.com, Retrieved from http://www.helium.com/items/779460-functional-and-conflict-theory-a-point-of-view
Wentzel, K.R. (1988).
Adolescent Classroom Goals, Standards of Performance, and Academic Achievement: An Interactionist Perspective. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81(2), Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/
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