SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF EDUCATION
CHAPTER I
Introduction to the Social Dimensions of Education Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to: 1. Differentiate the various social science theories. 2. Explain the relationship of the various social
theories – the conflict, consensus, functionalism and interactionist theories – and educational systems. 3. Discuss how the various social science theories affect the functions of schools.
•Introduction
Sociologists see education as one the major
institutions that constitutes society. While theories guide
research and policy formulation in the sociology of
education, they also provide logical explanations for why
things happen the way they do. These theories help
sociologists understand educational systems.
This chapter presents an introduction to the social
science theories of education-consensus and conflict,
structural functionalist and interaction theories as related
to education.
Consensus and Conflict Theory
Darendorf (1959,1968) is the major
exponent of the position that society has two
faces (conflict and consensus) and that
sociological theory therefore should be divided
into two parts, conflict theory and consensus
theory.
Consensus theories see shared norms and
values as fundamental to society, focus on
social order based on tacit arguments, and view
social change as occurring in a slow and orderly
fashion. In contrast, conflict theories
emphasize the dominance of some social
groups by others, see social order as based on
manipulation and control by dominant groups,
and view social change as occurring rapidly and in a
disorderly fashion as subordinate groups overthrow
dominant groups (Ritzer, 2000).
Consensus theorists examine value integration
in society, and conflict theorists examine conflicts of
interest and the coercion that holds society together
in the face of these stresses. Dahrendorf recognizes
that society can not exist without both conflict and
consensus, which are prerequisites for each other.
Thus, we cannot have conflict unless there is some
prior consensus.
Consensus is a concept of society in which the
absence of conflict is seen as the equilibrium state of
society based on a general or widespread agreement
•among all members of a particular society.
conflict is a disagreement or clash between
opposing ideas, principles, or people – this can be a
covert or overt conflict.
The conflict theory, according Horton and Hunt
(1984) focuses on the heterogeneous nature of society and
the differential distribution of political and social power.
A struggle between social classes and class conflicts
between the powerful and less powerful groups occur.
Conflict theorists ask how school contribute to the
unequal distribution of people into jobs in society so that
more powerful members of society maintain the best
racial and ethnic groups) often minority groups, are
allocated to lower ranks in society.
The conflict perspective assumes that social
behavior is best understood in terms of conflict or
tensions between competing groups. Such conflict
need not be violent; it can take the form of labor
negotiations, party politics, competition between
religious groups for member, or disputes over the
budget.
The discourse of conflict theory is on the
emergence of conflict and what causes conflict within
a particular human society. It is a theory that deals
with the incompatible aspects of society.
The conflict theorists are interested in how
society’s institutions – the family, government,
religion, education, and the media – may help to
maintain the privileges of some groups and keep
others in subservient position.
Consensus theory is a sociological perspective
or collection of theories, in which social order and
stability/social regulation form the base of emphasis.
It is concerned with the maintenance or continuation
of social order in society, in relation to accepted
norms, values, rules and regulations as widely
accepted or collectively by the society-or within a
particular society itself.
Social theorist Karl Marx was interpreted by some social theorists as emphasizing the role of human beings in social conflict. They explained change as emerging from the crisis between human beings and their society. They argued that Marx’ theory was a theory characterized by
class conflicts or the conflict between the bourgeoisie (rich owners) and the proletariat (poor workers).
Max Weber argues that schools teach and maintain
particular “status cultures,” that is, groups in society
with similar interests and positions in the status hierarchy. Education systems may train individuals in specialties to fill needed positions or prepare “cultivated individuals,” those who stand above others because of their superior
Structural Functionalism states that society is
made up of various institutions that work together in cooperation.
Parsons’ structural functionalism has four functional imperatives for all “action” systems, embodied in his
famous AGIL scheme. These are:
1. Adaptation: A system must cope with external
situational exigencies. It must adapt to its environment and adapt environment to its needs.
2. Goal attainment: A system must define and achieve
its primary goals.
3. Integration: A system must regulate the interrelationship of its component parts.
4. Latency (pattern maintenance): A system must furnish, maintain, and renew both the motivation of
individuals and the cultural patterns that create and sustain the motivation.
Parsons designed the AGIL scheme to be used at all levels in the theoretical system. The behavioral organism is
the action system that handles the adaptation function by
adjusting to and transforming the external world. The
personality system performs the goal-attainment function
by defining system goals and mobilizing resources to attain them. The social system copes with the integration
function by controlling its component parts. Finally, the
cultural system performs the latency function by
providing actors with the norms and values that motivate them for action.
Parsons’ conception of the social system begins at the micro level with interaction between ego and alter ego,
defined as the most elementary form of the social system. He described a social system as something which consists
of a plurality of individual actors interacting with each other in a situation which has at least a physical or environmental aspect, actors who are motivated in terms of a tendency to
to the “optimization of gratification” and whose relation to
their situations, including each other, is defined and mediated in terms of a system of culturally structured and shared
symbols.
In his analysis of the social system, Parsons was
primarily interested in its structural components. In addition to a concern with the status-role, he was interested in such large-scale components of social systems as collectivities,
norms and values. Parsons was not simply a structuralist but also a functionalist.
The key principles of the functionalist perspective (Farley, 1990) include the following:
1.Interdependency–One of the most important principles
of functionalist theory is that society is made up of
interdependent parts. Every part of society is dependent to some extent on other parts of society, so that what happens at one place in society has important effect elsewhere.
2. Functions of Social Structure and Culture. Social
system exists because it serves some function. This principle is applied by functionalists to both social structure and
culture. Social structure refers to the organization of society, including its institutions, its social, and its distribution of
resources. Culture, refers to a set of beliefs, languages, rules, values, and knowledge held in common by members of a
society.
3. Consensus and cooperation. Societies have a tendency
toward consensus; that is toward consensus in order achieve.
Cooperation. Functionalists believe that inability to cooperate will paralyze the society, and people will devote more and
effort to fighting one another rather than getting anything done.
4.Equilibrium.This view holds that, once a society has
achieved the form that is best adapted to its situation, it has reached a state of equilibrium, and it will remain in that
Figure 1. The Structural-Functional Model (Source: Sociological Theory, George Ritzer, 2000)
Social structures provide preset patterns Which evolve to meet
human needs
Stability, order,
and harmony
Maintenance of
society
The structural functional model addresses the question of social
organization and how it is maintained. It has its roots in natural science and the analogy between a society and an organization. In the analysis of living organism, the
scientist’s task is to identify the various parts (structure) and determine how they work (function).In the study of society, a sociologist with this perspective tries to identify the structures of society and how they function; hence the name structural–functionalism (Javier et al., 2002).
The component parts of a social structure are families, neighbor, associations, schools, churches, banks, countries, and the like. Functionalist sociologists begin with a picture of society that stresses the interdependence of the social system; these researchers often examine how will parts are integrated with each other. Functionalists view society as a kind of machine, where one part articulates with another to produce the dynamic energy required to make society
Most important, functionalism stresses the processes that
maintain social order by stressing consensus and agreement. Structural functionalism puts emphasis on social order and stability not on conflict. It claims that society is made up of different institutions or organizations that work together in cooperation-to achieve their orderly relationship and to
maintain social order and social stability. This maintenance of society is extracted from the internal rules, norms, values and regulations of these various ordered institutions.
Modern functionalist theories believe that education is a vital part of a modern society. From this perspective,
schooling performs an important function in the development and maintenance of a modern, democratic
society, especially with regard to equality of opportunity for all citizens. Thus, in modern societies education becomes the key institution in a meritocratic selection process.
Interactionist Theories
In general, interactionist theories about the relation of school and society are critiques and extensions of the
functionalist and conflict perspectives. The critique arises from the observation that functionalist and conflict theories are very abstract and emphasize structure and process at a societal (macro-sociological) level of analysis.
* Symbolic Interactionism. Symbolic interactionism,
views the self as socially constructed in relation to social forces and structures and the product of ongoing
negotiations of meanings. Thus, the social self is an active product of human agency rather than a deterministic
product of social structure. The basic idea is a result of of interaction between individuals mediated by symbols in particular, language. The distinctive attributes of human behavior grow from people’s participation in varying types of social structure which depend in turn, on the existence of language behavior. It is interested not simply in socialization
Symbolic interactionists are, of course, interested not simply in socialization but also in interaction in general, which is of “vital importance in its own right.” Interaction is the
process which the ability to think is both developed and
expressed. All types of interaction, not just interaction during socialization, refine our ability to think, Beyond that, thinking shapes the interaction process. In most interaction, actors must take others into consideration and decide if and how to fit their activities to others. However, not all interaction
involves thinking.
PRINCIPLES OF SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
1. Human beings unlike lower animals, are endowed with a capacity for thought.
2. The capacity for thought is shaped by social interaction.
that allow them to exercise their distinctively human capacity for thought.
4. Meanings and symbols allow people to carry on distinctively human action and interaction.
5. People are able to modify or alter meanings and
symbols that they use in action and interaction on the basis of their interpretation of the situation.
6. People are able to make these and alterations
because, in part, of their ability to interact with themselves, which allows them to examine possible courses of action, assess their relative ad advantages, and then choose one.
7. The intertwined patterns of action and interaction make up groups and societies. 18
•Non-Symbolic Interactionism
The first, nonsymbolic interaction – Mead’s
conversation of gestures – does not involve thinking. The second symbolic interaction does require mental processes (Ritzer, 2000).
Mead’s approach to symbolic interaction rested on three basic premises.
1. The first is that people act toward the things they encounter on the basis of what those things mean to them. 2. Second, we learn what things are by observing how
other people respond to them, that is through social interaction.
3. Third. As a result of ongoing interact, the sounds (or words), gestures, facial expressions, and body postures we use in dealing with others acquire symbolic meaning
The importance of thinking to symbolic interactionists is reflected in their views of objects. Blumer differentiates
among three types of objects: physical objects, such as a chair or a tree; social objects, such as a student or a mother; and
abstract objects, such as an idea or a moral principle.
Another, concept used by symbolic interactionist is the
looking-glass self. The basic notion of the looking-glass self
can be summed up as “We see ourselves as others see us.” We come to develop a self-image on the basis of messages we get from others, as we understand them. If your teachers and fellow students give you the message that you are “smart,”
CHAPTER II
THE FOUR PILLARS OF EDUCATION
Introduction
“Learning the Treasure Within,” the report of the
International Commission on Education for theTwenty-first Century,chaired by Jacques Delors, and published by
UNESCO in 1996 provides new insights into education for the 21st Century. It stresses that each individual must be
equipped to seize learning opportunities throughout life,
both to broaden her/his knowledge, skills and attitudes and adapt to a changing, complex and interdependent world.
The Four Pillars of Education
* Learning to know, that is acquiring the instrument of understanding;
* Learning to do, as as to be able act creatively in one’s environment;
* Learning to live together, so as to participate in and cooperate with other people in all human activities; and * Learning to be, so as to better develop one’s personality
and to act with ever greater autonomy, judgment and personal responsibility.
Learning to know
Learning to know implies learning how to learn by
developing one’s concentration,memory skills, and ability to think.
If, as a teacher, you have been helping students to develop their skills that would make them independent learners, you are doing well on the first pillar of education because you have prepared them for life in the knowledge society in which we all now live.
A truly educated person nowadays needs a bread general education and the opportunity to study a small number of subjects in depth.
To learn to know, students need to develop learn-to-learn skills. Such skills are learning to read with
comprehension,listening, observing, asking questions, data gathering, note taking, and accessing, processing, selecting and using information so that students ca become lifelong learners.
The role of the teacher then is as facilitator, catalyst, monitor and evaluator and evaluator of learning because the process of learning to think is a life long one and can be
Learning to do
In addition to learning to do a job or work, more generally, entail the acquisition of a competence that enables people to deal with a variety of situations, often unforeseeable, and to work in teams, a feature to which
education methods do not at present pay enough attention.
Education must contribute to the all-around development of each individual – mind and body, intelligence, sensitivity, aesthetic sense, personal responsibility and spiritual values.
Education means reaching out to embrace the whole of society and entire lifespan of the individual. Learning
throughout life is the “key to the 21st century – essential
for adapting to the evolving requirements of the labor
market and for better mastery of the changing time frame and rhythms of individual existence.”
Learning to do represents the skillful, creative and
discerning application of knowledge. One must learn how to think creatively, critically and holistically, and how to deeply understand the information that is present.
Learning To Live Together in Peace and Harmony Learning to live together is the one most vital to
building a genuine and lasting culture of peace in both the Asia-Pacific region and throughout the world. Peace must begin with each one of us. Through quiet and serious
reflection on its meaning, new and creative ways can be found to foster understanding friendship and cooperation among all people. The third pillar of education implies that teacher should help the students to develop an
understanding of other people and appreciation of
interdependence since we live in a closely connected world. The teacher should help students to realize the value of
being able to live together in their gradually enlarging
Learning to live together in peace and harmony requires that quality of relationship at all levels is
committed to peace, human rights, democracy and social justice in an ecologically sustainable environment.
Learning to be
Learning to be refers to the role of education in
developing all the dimensions of the complete person: the physical, intellectual, emotional, and ethical integration the individual into a complete man. Conscientization is the process of becoming aware of the contradictions existing within oneself and in society and of gradually being able to bring about personal social transformation.
The Faure Report, learning to be, summarizes the
universal aims of education, to wit: 1) towards a scientific humanism; 2) creativity; 3) towards social commitment; and 4) towards the complete man.
CHAPTER III
Intercultural Communication
Introduction
The world today is characterized by an ever growing
number of contacts resulting in communication between people with different linguistics and cultural backgrounds. This communication takes place because of contacts in the areas of business, military cooperation, science, education, mass media, entertainment, tourism and also because of immigration brought about by labor shortage or political conflicts (Alwood, 2003).
In all these contacts, there is communication which needs to be as constructive as possible to avoid
misunderstandings and breakdowns. It is our belief that problems in communication can be resolved through
research on the nature of linguistics and cultural similarities and differences.
There is therefore a need to explain the manner by which intercultural communication skills enable greater effectiveness in personal and professional life, in a
globalized and technological social context.
Two types of communication:
1. Verbal refers to use of language; and
2. Non-verbal refer to the use of gestures, facial expressions, and other body movements.
Language is an abstract system of word meaning and
symbols for all aspects of culture. It includes speech, written characters, numerals, symbols, and gestures and expressions of non-verbal communication. Paralanguage
Language is the key factor in the success of the human race in creating and preserving culture, for without
language the ability to convey ideas and traditions is impossible.
The study of language is divided into four areas: 1. Phonology refers to a system of sounds.
2. Semantics is the study of word meanings and word combinations.
3. Grammar refers to the structure of language through its morphology and syntax.
3.1. Morphology is the study of the language’s smallest units of meaning called morphemes.
3.2. Syntax specifies how words are combined into sentences.
4. Pragmatics is concerned with rules for the use of appropriate language in particular context.
Relationship Between Language and Culture
The most significant inventions made possible by culture is language. The learning of culture takes place through language.
From our enormous capacity to learn and use language is derived our collective memory (myths, fables, sayings, ballads, and the like) as well as writing, art and all other media that shape human
consciousness and store and transit knowledge. If culture can affect the structure and content of its language, then it follows that
linguistic diversity derives in part from cultural diversity.
The linguistic-relativity hypothesis asserts that languages determines thought and therefore culture. In reality language and culture influence each other (Edward Sapir). Every society has a culture, no matter how simple the culture may be, and every human being is cultured in the sense of participating in some culture or
What is Culture?
Culture refers to the attitudes, values, customs, and behavior
Patterns that characterize a social group. The characteristics of
culture are:
1. Culture is learned.
2. Culture is shared by a group of people. 3. Culture is cumulative.
4. Culture change.
5. Culture is dynamic. 6. Culture is ideational. 7. Culture is diverse.
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
COMMUNICATION COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR MATERIAL . Language . Ideas . Norms .Tools,Medicine . Symbols . Knowledge . Mores . Books
. Beliefs . Laws . Transportation . Values . Folkways . Technologies . Accounts . Rituals
1. Communication. It is the act of imparting, sharing and conveying information The communication component are:
1.1. Language. It defines what it means to be human. It forms
the core of all culture. When people share a language, they share a condensed, very flexible set of symbols and meanings. It is beyond grunts and hand signals, and provides the basis for symbolic
interaction.
1.2. Symbols. Along with language and non-verbal signals, symbols form the backbone of symbolic interaction. They condense
very complex ideas and values into simple material forms so that the very presence of the symbol evokes the signified ideas and values. It carries a particular meaning recognized by people who share
culture.
2. Cognitive Component. It is the mental act of perceiving things. 2.1. Ideas. These are mental representations (concepts,
categories, metaphors) used to organize stimulus; they are the basic units out of which knowledge is constructed and a world emerges.
2.2. Knowledge. These are ideas which were linked together and organized into larger sets, systems, etc. Knowledge
systematically summarizes and elaborates how we think the world looks and acts. It is the storehouse where we accumulate
representations, information, facts, assumptions, etc. Once stored, knowledge can support learning and can be passed down from one generation to the next.
2.3. Beliefs. Beliefs accept a proposition, statement,
2.4. Values. It is defined as culturally defined standards of desirability, goodness, and beauty which serve as broad guideline for social living. They support beliefs, or specific statements that people hold to be true. The values people hold vary to some
degree by age, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, and social class. Values change over time.
2. 5. Accounts. People who share a culture share a common language for talking about their inner selves. Accounts are how people use that common language to explain, justify, rationalize, excuse, or legitimize our behavior to themselves and others.
3. Behavioral Component (how we act)
3.1 Norms. Norms are rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members. Norms vary in terms of importance. They are reinforced through sanctions, which take the form of either rewards or punishment.
3.2. Mores. They are customary behavior patterns or folkways which have taken a moralistic value. This includes
respect for authority, marriage and sex behavior patterns, religious rituals, and other basic codes of human behavior.
3.3. Laws. They are formalized norms, enacted by people who are vested government power and enforced by political and legal authorities designated by the government.
3.4. Folkways. They are behavior patterns of society which are organized and repetitive. They are commonly known as
customs. It involves the way we eat, how we dress and other patterns that we follow.
3.5. Rituals. These are highly scripted ceremonies or strips of interaction that follow a specific sequence of actions.
4. Material Components. They refer to physical objects of
The Organization of Culture
While the culture of a group is an integrated network of folkways,
mores, systems of beliefs, institutional patterns, it can be broken into simple units or elements called cultural traits. A cultural
trait, either of a material or non-material culture, represents a
single element or a combination of elements related to a specific situation. Example of cultural traits are kissing the hands of the elders after Sunday mass and at angelus. Cluster of culture traits are known as culture complexes which, in turn, group together to form a culture pattern.
How is Culture Transmitted Culture is transmitted through:
1. Enculturation. It is the process of learning culture of one‟s own group. Example, Learning the folkways, mores, social traditions, values and beliefs of one‟s own group.
2. Acculturation. It is the process of learning some new traits from another culture. For example, when students from the rural areas migrate to the urban areas and gradually learn some urban 36
customs, they become acculturated.
3. Assimilation. It is the process in which an individual entirely loses any awareness ho his previous group identity and take on the culture and attitudes of another group. An Ilocano who moves to Mindanao and assumes the folkways of the local group, then he has become assimilated.
Importance and Function of Culture
Culture is what distinguishes human beings from the lower animal forms making them unique. It is a powerful force in the lives of all people and shapes and guides people‟s perceptions of reality.
1. Culture helps the individual fulfill his potential as a human
being. It helps in the regulation of a person‟s conduct and prepares him so he can participate in the group life.
2. Through the development of culture, man can overcome his
physical disadvantages and allows him to provide himself with fire, clothing, food and shelter.
3. Culture provides rules of proper conduct for living in a society. 4. Culture also provides the individual his concepts of family,
Cultural Relativism
It is impossible to understand what the actions of members of other
groups mean if we analyze them in terms of our motives and values. We must interpret their behavior in the light of their motives, habits, and values. The same behavior has different meanings in different cultures and we must look at the behavior in relation to the culture of the society where it takes place.
For example: Practices considered immoral or taboo to a certain group of people but are accepted by other groups with a different cultural orientation.
The central point in cultural relativism is that in a particular setting certain traits are right because they work in that setting while other traits are wrong because they clash painfully with parts of the culture.
CHAPTER IV
Cultural Changes Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1. explain the concepts of multiculturalism and multi-cultural education;
2. identify and explain the four approaches to multicultural education;
3. Describe student subcultures; and
4. Accept the diverse characteristics and needs of learners.
Introduction
Whenever two or more people come together with a shared purpose, they form a culture with its own written and unwritten rules for behavior. Our families, workplaces, and communities all have cultures. These cultures have a tremendous impact upon our behavior as individuals.
Multiculturalism. It is a policy that emphasizes the unique
characteristics of different cultures, especially as they relate to one another in receiving nations. It is a systematic and comprehensive response to cultural and ethnic diversity, with educational, linguistic, economic and social components and specific institutional
mechanisms.
Multicultural Education. It is an emerging discipline whose
aim is to create equal educational opportunities from diverse racial, ethnic, social class and cultural groups.
One of its important goals is to help all students to acquire
knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function effectively on pluralistic democratic society and to interact, negotiate, and
communicate with peoples from diverse groups in order to create a civic and moral community that works for the common good.
There are four approaches in accomplishing the related goal of multicultural education which is to help all students develop more
positive attitudes toward different racial, ethnic, cultural and religious groups.
Dimensions of Multicultural Education
1. Content integration. It deals with the extent to which teachers
use examples and content from a variety of cultures and groups to illustrate key concepts, generalizations, and issues within their subject area or disciplines.
2. Knowledge construction process. It describes how teachers help students to understand, investigate, and determine how the biases, frames of reference, and perspective within a discipline influence the ways in which knowledge is constructed within it. 3. Prejudice reduction. It describes lessons and activities used
by teachers to help students to develop positive attitudes toward different racial, ethnic, and cultural groups.
4. Equity pedagogy. It exists when teachers modify their
teaching in ways that will facilitate the academic achievement of students from diverse racial, cultural, and social class groups. 5. Empowering school culture and social structure. It will
The Growth of Student Subcultures
As we have seen, people develop cultures to provide a
structured framework of rules for their behavior. In turn, people‟s behavior is influenced by their cultural background (socialization) and setting (their personal experiences in society). They also form much smaller groups within society which we term subcultures.
Subculture refers to the cultural patterns that set apart some
segment of a society‟s population. It can be based on age, ethnicity, residence, sexual preference, occupation, and many other factors.
Functions of Subcultures
1. Permitting specialized activity. 2. Identity in mass society.
3. Cultural adaptation and change.
Cultural differences imply the transmission of ideas from
generation to generation by significant members of the older generation (parents, teachers, religious leaders, etc.).
What is a Culturally-Responsive Teaching?
Culturally responsive teaching acknowledges cultural
diversity in classrooms and accommodates this diversity in instruction. It does this in three important ways.
1. By recognizing and accepting student diversity, it
communicates that all students are welcome and valued as human beings.
2. By building on students‟ cultural backgrounds, culturally responsive teaching communicates positive images about the
students‟ home cultures.
3. By being responsive to different student learning styles, culturally responsive teaching builds on students‟ strengths and use these to help students learn.
According to Banks (1996), these four approaches are:
1. Contribution approach – The ethnic heroes and holidays are included in the curriculum.
2. Additive approach – A unit or course is incorporated (for
example, a unit on women in history), but no substantial change to the curriculum as a whole.
3. Transformation approach – Curriculum is changed, so that students are taught to view events and issues from diverse ethnic and cultural perspective.
4. Social action approach – Students make decisions about their world and become directly involved in social actions.
Multicultural education is a progressive approach for
transforming education that holistically critiques and addresses current shortcomings, failings, and discriminatory practices in education.
Several shared ideals on multicultural education which provided a basis for its understanding.
* Every student must have an equal opportunity to achieve her full potential.
* Every student must be prepared to competently participate in an increasingly intercultural society.
* Teachers must be prepared to effectively facilitate learning for every individual student, no matter how culturally similar or
different from themselves.
* Schools must be active participants in ending oppression of all types, first by ending oppression within their own walls, then by producing socially and critically active and aware students.
* Education must become more fully student-centered and inclusive of the voices and experiences of the students.
* Educators, activists and others must take a more active role in reexamining all educational practices and how they affect the learning of all students: testing methods, teaching approaches,
Chapter V
Social Institutions Learning Objectives:
1. To identify and describe the characteristics and functions of
different social institutions.
2. To describe the various types of governments.
3. To discuss the relationship between economy and education. 4. To show the interrelationships among the social institutions.
Introduction
Individual, formal organizations, commonly identified as
“institutions,” may be deliberately and intentionally created by people. Their development and functioning in society in general may be regarded as an instance of emergence, that is, institutions arise, develop and function in a pattern of social self-organization, which goes beyond the the conscious intentions of the individual humans involved.
What is Social Institution?
In any human society are social structures and social mechanisms
of social order and cooperation that govern the behavior of its members. These are called social institutions and according to functional theorists, perform five essential tasks namely: replacing 46
members or procreation, teaching new members, producing, distributing and consuming goods and services, preserving order, and providing and maintaining a sense of purpose.
Social institution is a group of social positions, connected by social relations, performing a social role. It is a society that works to socialize the groups of people in it. Common examples include universities, governments, families, and any people or groups that you have social interactions with.
Characteristics and Functions of an Institution
Palispis (1996) pointed out the following characteristics and
functions of an institution. They are: 1. Institutions are purposive.
2. They are relatively permanent in their content. 3. Institutions are structured.
4. Institutions are a unified structure.
5. Institutions are necessarily value-laden.
From these characteristics, it may be said that an institutions is a relatively permanent structure of social patterns, roles, and relations that people enact in certain sanctioned and unified ways for the
Institutions have various functions as follows:
1) Institutions simplify social behavior for the individual person.
2) Institutions, therefore, provide ready-made forms of social relations and social roles for the individual.
3. Institutions also act as agencies of coordination and stability for the total culture.
4. Institutions tend to control behavior.
Major Social institutions
The five major social institutions are: family, school, religion,
economics and government.
1. The Family. The family is the smallest social institution with the
unique function or production and rearing the young. It is the basic unit of Philippine society and the educational system. It is the institution to which we owe our humanity.
Functions of the Family
a. Reproduction of the race and rearing of the young.
b. Cultural transmission or enculturation. c. Socialization of the child.
d. Providing affection and a sense of security.
e. Providing the environment for personality development and the growth of self-concept in relation to others.
f. Providing social status.
2. Education
The basic purpose of education is the transmission of knowledge.
Schools became necessary when cultural complexity created a need for specialized knowledge and skill which could not be easily acquired in the family, church and community.
Purposes of Schooling
a. The intellectual purposes of schooling.
b. The political purposes of schooling. c. The social purposes of of schooling. d. The economic purposes of schooling.
Manifest Functions of the School.
The manifest functions of education are defined as the open and intended goals or consequences of activities within an organization or institution. There are six major manifest functions of education in society, to wit: socialization, social control, transmitting culture,
promoting social and political integration, and as agent of change
Latent Functions of Schools
The latent function of schools are the hidden, unstated and
sometimes unattended consequences of activities within an institution. * Restricting some activities.
* Matchmaking and production of social networks.
* Creation of Generation Gap.
3. Religion.
Religion may be defined as any set of coherent answers to the
dilemmas of human existence that makes the world meaningful.
Religion as defined in terms of its social function is a system of
beliefs and rituals that serves to bind people together through shared worship, thereby creating a social group. It is the socially defined patterns of beliefs concerning the ultimate meaning of life, it assumes the existence of the supernatural.
Characteristics of Religion
* Belief in a deity or in a power beyond the individual, * A doctrine of salvation,
* A code of conduct.
Functions of Religion
Among the many functions of religion identified by Calderon
(1998) are the following:
1. Religion serves as a means of social control.
2. It exerts a great influence upon personality development. 3. Religion allays fear of the unknown.
4. Religion explains events or situations which are beyond the comprehension of man.
5. It gives man comfort, strength and hope in times of crises and despair.
6. It preserves and transmits knowledge, skills, spiritual and cultural
values and practices.
7. It serves as instrument of change.
8. It promotes closeness, love, cooperation, friendliness and helpfulness.
9. Religion alleviates sufferings from major calamities. 10. It provides hopes for a blissful life after death.
The Elements of Religion
There are four elements of religion. They are sacred and profane,
4. Economic Institutions
Human behavior is mainly concerned with the satisfaction of
material wants. It is centered on the task of making a living, the most absorbing interest of man. To that end, man in all ages and among all classes struggle to bring about changes in the environment. The changes that have take place and are taking place are the result of the interplay of forces in our efforts to improve our material well-being. Our mode of living centers on the acquisition of wealth in order to satisfy our wants and this aspect of man‟s activity constitutes the field of economics.
Microeconomics vs. Macroeconomics
Microeconomics looks at the trees, while macro-economics looks at
the forest. Both categories involve the construction of theories and formulation of policies-activities that are the heart of economics.
Basic Economic Problems.
First, what goods and services to produce and how much.
Second, how to produce goods and services. Third, for whom are the goods and services.
5. Government as a Social Institution
The institution which resolves conflicts that are public in nature and involve more than a few people is called government.
The Supreme Court of the Philippines defines government as “that institution by which an independent society makes and carries out those rules of action which are necessary to enable men to live in a social state, or which are imposed upon the people for that society by those who possess the power or authority of prescribing them.”
The Three Branches of Government
In the Philippines, there are three branches of government:
the executive branch, which proposes and enforces rules and laws; the legislative branch, which makes rules and laws; and the judicial branch, which adjudicates rules and laws.
Functions of Government
The functions of government are:
1. The constituent functions contribute to the very bonds of society and are therefore compulsory.
2. The ministrant functions are those undertaken to advance the general interest of society, such as public works, public charity, and regulation of trade and industry. These functions are merely optional.
Where do you stand?
Look at the following purposes of schools. Encircle the number that best reflects how important you think each school function is.
Use the following scale.
1 Very Unimportant 2 Unimportant
3 Moderately important 4 Important
5 Very Important
1. To transmit the nation„s cultural heritage 1 2 3 4 5 2. To encourage students to question current
practices and to promote social change 1 2 3 4 5 3. To prepare competent workers to compete
4. To develop healthy citizens aware of nutritional 1 2 3 4 5 exercise and good health.
5. To lead the world in creating a peaceful global
society, stressing an understanding of other cultures. 1 2 3 4 5 6. To nurture students in developing art,
music, and writing. 1 2 3 4 5 7. To demonstrate academic proficiency through
high standardized test scores 1 2 3 4 5 8. To teach students work ethics: punctuality,
responsibility, cooperation, self-control, neatness 1 2 3 4 5 9. To prepare students for college and/or
well-paid careers 1 2 3 4 5
10. To eliminate racism and all forms of
CHAPTER VI
Gender and Development
Learning Objectives:
At the end of the chapter, you should be able to:
1. Describe gender equality and inequality and how they affect development.
2. Explain the relationship between gender and power.
3. Discuss significant gains that have been made in woman‟s education as a result of global advocacy.
Introduction
In addition to age, gender is one of the universal dimensions on which status differences are based. Unlike sex, which is a biological concept, gender is a social construct specifying the socially and culturally prescribed roles that men and women are to follow.
Gender shapes the lives of all people in all societies. It influences all aspects of our lives, the schooling we receive, the social roles we play, and the power and authority we command. Populatio n 56
processes – where women and men live, how they bear and rear children, and how they die – are shaped by gender as well (Riley, 1997).
Theories of Gender Development
1. Social learning theory – They believe that parents are the
distributors of reinforcement, reinforce appropriate gender role behaviors. By the choice of toys, by urging “boy” or “girl” behavior, and reinforcing such behavior, parents encourage children to engage in gender-appropriate behavior.
2. Cognitive development theory – This derives from Kohlberg‟s
speculations about gender development. We know from Piaget‟s work that children engage in symbolic thinking by about 2 years of age. Using this ability, children acquire their gender identity and then, Kohlberg believes, they begin the process of acquiring gender-appropriate behavior.
3. Gender schema theory – A schema is a mental blueprint for
organizing information, and children develop and formulate appropriate gender. Such a schema helps a child to develop gender identity and formulate an appropriate gender role. Consequently, children develop an integrated schema ir picture,
What is gender stereotyping?
Gender stereotyping is defined as the beliefs humans hold about the characteristics associated with males and females. From an early age, people form ideas of what males and females should be, beginning to accumulate characteristics that they consider male and female, and assigning labels to those categories. This process certain simplifies the ability to deal with the world. Obviously, that rough, noisy person is a boy, and that gentle, soft-spoken, obedient person is a girl.
Gender and Equality
Gender equality gives women and men the same entitlements to all aspects of human development, including economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights, the same level of respect, the same opportunities to make choices, and the same level of power to shape the outcomes of these choices.
Research from around the world has shown that gender inequality tends to slow economic growth and make the rise from poverty more difficult. The reasons for this link are not hard to understand. Half of the world‟s population is female, hence, the extent to which women and girls benefit from development policies and programs has a major impact on the countries‟ overall
Gender Inequality
Four themes characterize feminist theorizing of gender inequality.
1. Firstly, Men and women are situated in society not only differently but also unequally. Specifically, women get less of material resources, social status, power, and opportunities for self-actualization than do men who share their social location – be it location based on class, race, occupation, ethnicity, religion, education, nationality, or any other socially significant factor.
2. Secondly, This inequality results from the organization of society, not from any significant biological or personality differences between men and women.
3. Thirdly. Although individual human beings may vary somewhat from each other in their profile of potentials and traits, no significant pattern of natural variation distinguishes the sexes. Instead, all human beings are characterized by a deep need for freedom to seek self-actualization and by a fundamental malleability that leads them to adapt to the constraints or opportunities of the situations in which they find themselves.
4. Fourthly, All inequality theories assume that both men and women and men will respond fairly easily and naturally to more egalitarian social structures and situations.
Gender and Power
Gender refers to the different ways men and women play in society, and to the relative power they wield. While gender is expressed differently in different societies, in no society do men and women perform equal roles or hold equal positions of power.
Power is a basic fabric of society and possessed in varying degrees by social actors in diverse social categories. Power becomes abusive and exploitive only when independence and individuality of one person or group of people becomes so dominant that freedom for the other is compromised.
Women and children have often been on the abusive side of power. Some causes that are often referred to are: the greater physical strength that men tend to have the imbalance of power between men and women resulting from social structures and historical practices in regard to finances, education, roles of authority and decision making; the abuse of power by men and the failure of cultural pressures to prevent such abuse; and a distorted view of sexuality and the objection of the female.
Several factors act as determinants of the amount of power a person holds or can use in his or her relation with others: status
Chapter VII
Globalization and Education
Globalization refers to an increasing interconnectedness
and convergence of activities and forms of life among diverse cultures throughout the world.
Introduction
Globalization is most often used to describe the growing integration of economics worldwide through increases in trade, investment flows, and technology transfer. The term conveys a sense that international forces are driving more and more developments in the world, and thus crystallizes both the hopes of some people that we will finally achieve a global society and the fears of many others that their lives and jobs are threatened by forces beyond their control. (Chronicle of Higher Education, January 23, 1998).
One could think that globalization is only a matter of industry and business, and that education as a moral process is not part of this development. However, if we understand education as a part of the information business, education systems can be seen as the core of
the globalization process. Rinne (2000) emphasizes that educational
policy has become an ever more important part of economic, trade, labor and social policy in western countries. One complete global development is the development of mega-universities, university networks and virtual universities, that can offer competitive training programs for students recruited from all over the world.
GLOBAL EDUCTION AND GLOBALIZATION
An education for globalization should therefore nurture the higher order cognitive and interpersonal skills required for problem finding, problem-solving, articulating arguments, and deploying verifiable facts or artifacts. These skills should be required of children and youth who will as adults, fully engage the larger world and master its greatest challenges, transforming it for the betterment 62
of humanity – regardless of national origin or cultural upbringing. Globalization has become a widespread idea in national and international dialogue in recent years. But what do we mean when we invoke each of these terms, and is there really a meaningful distinction between the two.
Globalization‟s shifting and controversial parameters make it difficult to describe it as clearly as a dominant force, both positively and negatively, shaping the environment in which we live. Motivated by economic forces and driven by digital technologies and communications, globalization links individuals and institutions across the world with unprecedented interconnection. In doing so, it, in some way democratizes and intensifies interdependence and in other ways creates new forms of local reaction and self-definition. While it may spread certain freedoms, higher living standards, and a sense of international relatedness, it also threatens the world with a “universal” economy and culture rooted in North American and Western ideals and interests.
Global education, as distinct from globalization, does what
higher education has traditionally aimed to do: extend students’
awareness of the world in which they live by opening them to the diverse heritage of human thoughts and action, and creativity.
Global education places particular emphasis on the changes in communication and relationships among people throughout the world highlighting such issues as human conflict, economic systems, human rights and social justice, human commonality and diversity, literatures and cultures, and the impact of the technological revolution.
While it continues to depend on the traditional branches of specialist knowledge, global education seeks to weave the boundaries between the disciplines and encourages emphasis on what interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary studies can bring to the understanding of to human problems. Some see global education as a vehicle for the promotion of global education that might itself be seen as the West‟s effort to destabilize fragile balances in economic and political systems.
Characteristics of Globalization Linked To Education
* In educational terms, there is a growing understanding that the neo-liberal version of globalization, particularly as implemented ( and ideologically defended) by bilateral, multilateral, and international organizations, is reflected in an educational agenda that privileges, if not directly imposes, particular policies for evaluation, financing, assessment, standards, teacher training, curriculum, instruction and testing. In the face of such pressures, more study is needed about local responses to defend public education against the introduction of pure market mechanisms to regulate educational exchanges and other policies that seek to reduce state sponsorship and financing and to impose management and efficiency models borrowed from the business sector as a framework for education decision making. These educational responses are mostly carried by teacher unions, new social movements, and critical intellectuals, often expressed as opposition to initiatives in education such as vouchers of subsidizing private schools. 65
* In economic terms, a transition from Fordist to Post-Forndist forms of workplace organization; a rise in internationalized advertizing and consumption patterns; a reduction in barriers to the free flow of goods, workers and investments across national borders; and correspondingly, new pressures on the role of workers and consumer in society.
In political terms, a certain loss of nation-state sovereignty or
at least the erosion of national autonomy, and, correspondingly, a weakening of the notion of the “citizen” as a unified and unifying concepts, a concept that can be characterized by precise roles, rights, obligation and status.
* In Cultural terms, a tension between the ways in which
globalization brings forth more standardization and cultural homogeneity, while also bringing more fragmentation through the rise of locally oriented movements. Another theoretical alternative identifies a more conflicted and dialectical situation, with both cultural homogeneity and heterogeneity appearing simultaneously in cultural landscape. 66
Globalization is undoubtedly an important constitutive feature of the modern world. One of the current interdisciplinary assumptions is that globalization necessarily amounts to the loss of cultural identity. Philosophers may argue endlessly about globalization, but they can all agree that it refers to an increasing interconnectedness and convergence of activities and forms of life among diverse cultures throughout the world. As it has been plausibly suggested, a culture “is no longer a discrete world. It is transformed to accord with a world of ruptured boundaries” (Held and McGrew, 2003). Globalization has attracted the attention of many disciplines because it affects both self-understanding and cultural identity.
If we look at the recent developments in the education sector globally, we can summarize the implications of global information society in the education system as follows:
* Demand for widening the education access for all.
* Continuous lifelong learning(e.g., facing the boundaries between present and inset, formal education and working life).
* Global versus local cultural developments.
* Creation of new educational networked organizations (e. g., global virtual universities, virtual schools, multinational educational consortiums, etc.).
* Changing of educational management from hierarchical institutions to equal distributions of network organizations, from commanding to negotiating.
* Demand for more flexible and general skills (e.g., meta-skills such as problem solving, searching information, learning meta-skills, etc..).
Core Values and Competencies for Global Education
Our vision of global education was organized around the following core values: peace and non-violence, social justice and human rights, economic well-being and equity, cultural integrity, ecological balance, and democratic participation. Core skills and competencies included self-worth and self-affirmation, the affirmation of others, including cultural and racial differences, critical thinking, 68
effective communication skills (including active listening), non-violent conflict resolution and mediation, imagination (the ability to envision alternatives), and effective organizing (Mische, 2001).
Socio-Cultural Issues on Globalization
1. Massive migration – Globalization and massive migrations are changing the ways we experience national identities and cultural belonging.
2. Managing difference – It is becoming one of the greatest challenges to multicultural countries. From France to Sweden, Brazil to Bolivia, Indonesia to Malaysia, the work of managing difference calls forth a new educational agenda. Children growing up in these and other settings are likely than in any previous generation in human history to face a life of working and networking, loving and living with others from different national, linguistic, religious, and racial backgrounds.
3. Global changes in culture deeply affect educational policies, 69
