2.3 Agencies of Education and Socialization

A society consists of a variety of groups with their various aims and interests. All of such groups directly or indirectly contribute to educate the individuals in one way or the other. Actually education is the process of socialization, and social groups are the agencies of education. That is why social groups in one way or the other play the role of educational agencies to socialize the individuals. Agencies of education are the means for socialization because it is education that accelerates socialization of the people.

In fact, education does not mean only the formal education that people can get from educational institutions. Different social groups activate in the society as agencies of education which ultimately contribute to educate them, and to socialize through education. Agencies of the education are the sources of education such as schools, collages, family, society, state, library, media and different social institutions. Such agencies of education take responsibility of educating and socializing the individuals, reconstructing and developing the society, preserving, transmitting and developing cultural heritages. Some agencies are briefly described as follows:

2.3.1  Family

            Family is the oldest and fundamental organization or unit of human civilization. It is a small social group which consists of certain related persons such as husband, wife and children together with the old dependents. Maclver and page define family as, "The family is a group defined by sex relationship sufficiently precise and enduring to provide for the procreation and upbringing of children.'' Family is a garland of kinship relations with emotional ties. And in different view family is the first school of a child as Pestalozzi says in his own words as, "Home- a center of love and affection is the best place and the first school of the child." A child learns many things at home by the family members. It is the basic fundamental institutions for socialization of an individual.

            Educationists emphasizes two aspects for the socialization of a child: heredity and environment. Since heredity is endowed characteristic, it is fixed and definite. But, environment can be made favorable for a child by his home and family. Family helps a child to be changed from a solely biological being into a social being.

2.3.2  Peer Group

            Peer group is a group of intimate friends of a person as his age factor constituted especially in teenage. Peer group affects adolescent much because a person is influenced heavily by his friends than others in that period. What a child becomes is also the product of his friends. Good friends help a person to have good social development and had friends do the reverse. It is also a play group among which they interact regarding many aspects which they have no possibility to learn in family, school and community.

            A peer group consists of different individuals from diverse culture. So, a child can interact with difference of society through the peer group. Since they come to contact with the friends of different class and culture, they come to know many things from the peer group. Through the peer group they develop leadership quality, organizational quality, individuality, co-operative attitude. From a peer group who have common interests, hobbies and aspirations, they can share all their things among each other freely. That is why they can develop their process of socialization independently through peer group.

2.3.3  School

            School is a formally established social agency which aims at socializing individuals with certain objectives through prescribed curriculum, extra-curricular activities and evaluation. It takes the responsibility of preserving, transmitting the cultural heritage, democratic norms and values. It helps to reconstruct the society as the need of time. School develops the child and tries to make dynamic and relevant to the society.

            School aims to addressing all aspirations, needs of an individual, society and nation. School is the place where child fosters his potential creativity and the basic behavior that he learned at home. It gives opportunities for individuals to interact with various cultures. School is a miniature society which resembles society in many ways. It helps the society implicitly or explicitly. It prepares the human resource for the society for its all-round development.

2.3.4  Community

            Community is the agency where a child practices his socialization. In this sense community is a laboratory where an individual performs and experiments his theoretical knowledge regarding socialization. Community is a canopy that includes all social institutions which contribute for socialization. Society is included under community and individuals are inside society.

            Community modifies the behavioral characteristics of a child in terms of its ideal, ideas and objectives. Community tries to mould individuals in terms of its social, economic and political needs and aspirations. Actually, community teaches a child about social norms, values, code, conducts, morality and discipline. The personality of a child gets formulated according to the community. Community is the environment which exerts its impressions on the growing children. Community influences on physical, mental, social, cultural, moral and vocational development.

2.3.5  Association media

            A society has different associations and mediums of mass communication Medias which function in multiple fields of it. An individual may learn many things by involving in such associations of the society. Such associations give opportunity for a child to engage and contribute for the development of the society.

            The mass media inform the people and keep the people in touch with outer world. In fact, because of the media and means of communication, the world is being a global village where they can learn among each other which ultimately socialize them.

            The social association aims at developing the society, it motivates individuals contribute to develop society by enhancing social qualities and creative talents. Associations also develop the sense of unity and mutual existence which ultimately make a child get socialized. Since association is constituted irrespective of social, economic, class, caste, gender. A child causes to know the importance of all individuals for social development. The associations bring different individuals into a common sharing

2.3.6  Political, religious and economical groups

Political Parties

            Politics govern all of other principles of the nation. So, political consciousness is a must for appropriate socialization. But it does not mean that each and every person of the society must indulge in party politics. Children in the society can get socialization through the activities of political parties, their views toward the social and national problems.

Religious Groups

Religious aim at directing the human life in accordance to their religious doctrine. Religious practices also socialize the children. Different religions may exist in a society where they disseminate their views, oral doctrine, belief etc. They try to socialize the people as regards their own religious practices and thought. Religious conviction forms social and cultural patterns for an individual. For instance, every religion preaches for moral values such as love and compassion for others and urges not to engage in adultery, theft and robberies.

Economic Groups

Economic aspect is one of the major aspects in human life. Financial institutions existing in the society socialize persons in different ways. People interact with such institutions, banks, cooperatives and other various funds in a bid to address their economic needs and concerns.

2.1.1 Socialization

Meaning

Socialization is a process of interacting among individuals and other social phenomena in a bid to socialize them. Socialization is such a process through which individuals learn social norms and values, code and conducts, culture, ideas, beliefs and traditions.

          Socialization is an interaction between individuals and the society. Such interaction takes place throughout the life from cradle to the death of an individual. Actually, socialization is a process through which society rears an individual in terms of its ideals, beliefs, culture and traditions. It is socialization that enables individuals to adjust with the society. To sum up, socialization means to learn to interact with the society and it is education that makes an individual to learn how to interact with the society. Thus, socialization means an interaction with the society which ultimately aims at making an individual social.

Definitions of Socialization

"Socialization is the development of we-feeling in associates and the growth in their capacity and will to act together."     - JS Ross

"Socialization denotes the e tire process, deliberately planned or not, by which an individual becomes an accepted member of his group."  - Gibson

"Socialization is the process by which a biological organism becomes a human being. In this process the individual acquires a definite personality as well as those parts of his culture to which he is exposed."         - Perry and Perry

Importance

          Socialization is a process that happens throughout the life span of an individual. Without socialization, a biological being never changes into a human being. It is socialization through which an individual learns necessary foundational things to be alive in the society. That is why socialization is a must for each and every individual.

          Socialization makes an individual alive for the sake of the society. It encourages individuals to behave for society, and makes social aspirations as an integral part of the human life. Through the process of socialization an individual accepts the society and ultimately he is accepted by the society. An individual learns knowledge and skills that are applicable for the society through socialization.  Socialization makes the people disciplined and conscious toward their right and duty, and helps differently for social integration. Though it does not mean that socialization only does help individuals to be adjusted in the society, it also helps the society to be reconstructed and the change of time. Thus, socialization is important for individual, society, nation and world.

Elements of Socialization

i.                   Means of Communication- Language

ii.                 Love and Affection

iii.              Social Interaction

Unit II: The School and Society

Society

          A society is a group of organized individuals who share almost common characteristics living harmoniously despite they differ in many respects. So society plays a vital role in our life. Society is a functional operative unit that prioritizes on common interest and goal subordination individual. In fact a group of people can be called a society if it possesses the following characteristics.

a.     Society is abstract

b.     Society is a mosaic

c.      Society consists multity in unity

d.     Society is interdependent

e.      Society lies on conflict and cooperation

Definitions of society

"Society is relatively a large aggregate of individuals having a common culture habits, attitudes, values and feelings of unity."        - CV Good

"A society may be defined as a total community or a part of community whose members have become socially conscious of their made of life and are united by a common set of aims and values." - Ottaway"   

"A society is a number of people held together because they are working along common lives, in a common spirit, and with reference to common aims, the common needs and aims demand a growing interchange of thousands and growing unit of sympathetic feeling." - John Dewey

School

A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students(or "pupils") under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students' progress through a series of schools. The names for these schools vary by country but generally include primary school for young children and secondary school for teenagers who have completed primary education. An institution where higher education is taught, is commonly called a university college or university, but these higher education institutions are usually not compulsory.

Definitions of School

"School is a special environment, where a certain quality of life and certain types of activities and occupations are provided with the object of securing the child's development along desirable lines."    – John Dewey

"Schools are institutions devised by civilized man for the purpose of aiding in the preparation of the young for well-adjusted and efficient members of society."       - JS Ross

"The school may be regarded as a social invention to serve society for the specialized teaching of young ones."          -Ottaway

2.1    School as a sub-system of society

          A school is a replica of a society which is an important constituent of the society. It is a part of society that helps to constitute the society as a whole.

          To look education separating from the society is like expecting a fish to be alive outside water. Human being is a social animal. What water is to fish, so is society to human being. Society gets constructed by human beings. And, without education no individual can be a complete one. So, if a society is constructed by individuals, and if without education an individual becomes incomplete, how can a society be society without education in real sense? School is a formal institution that aims at producing necessary human resources. It is a place where an individual learns the thing that he needs in society, and it is also the medium through which one generation hands over culture, norms and values of the society to the successive generation. So, a school is a formal construction where an individual gets socialization.

          A society is structured by a variety of structural elements. A system functions because of such structural elements. Hence a society is a system. And a school functions as a structural element or sub-system. Any system functions with the help of their sub-systems. For example, nation is a system where a society is its sub-system, so is school of the society. A school supposed to teach an individual that behavior which he needs to live in a society. Moreover, school and society are similar in the sense that society is a collection of different individuals with their culture, races, religion, and language and so on. Likewise, school is a mosaic of different persons with their different individual differences, interests, needs, necessities, aspirations and representatives from the society. That is why school is a small form of the society.

Sociological perspectives in education

The major sociological perspectives on education fall nicely into the functional, conflict, and symbolic interaction approaches.

Structural-functional

          The structural-functional approach is a perspective in sociology that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. It asserts that our lives are guided by social structures, which are relatively stable patterns of social behavior. Social structures give shape to our lives - for example, in families, the community, and through religious organizations. And certain rituals, such as a handshake or complex religious ceremonies, give structure to our everyday lives. Each social structure has social functions, or consequences for the operation of society as a whole. Education, for example, has several important functions in a society, such as socialization, learning.

Education serves several functions for society. These include

(a) socialization,

(b) social integration,

(c) social placement, and

(d) social and cultural innovation.

Latent functions include child care, the establishment of peer relationships, and lowering unemployment by keeping high school students out of the full-time labor force. Problems in the educational institution harm society because all these functions cannot be completely fulfilled.

Conflict (Conflict theory)

The conflict perspective, or conflict theory, derives from the ideas of Karl Marx, who believed society is a dynamic entity constantly undergoing change driven by class conflict. Whereas functionalism understands society as a complex system striving for equilibrium, the conflict perspective views social life as competition. According to the conflict perspective, society is made up of individuals competing for limited resources (e.g., money, leisure, sexual partners, etc.). Competition over scarce resources is at the heart of all social relationships. Competition, rather than consensus, is characteristic of human relationships. Broader social structures and organizations (e.g., religions, government, etc.) reflect the competition for resources and the inherent inequality competition entails; some people and organizations have more resources (i.e., power and influence), and use those resources to maintain their positions of power in society.

C. Wright Mills is known as the founder of modern conflict theory. In his work, he believes social structures are created because of conflict between differing interests. People are then impacted by the creation of social structures, and the usual result is a differential of power between the” elite ” and the “others”. Examples of the “elite” would be government and large corporations.

Sociologists who work from the conflict perspective study the distribution of resources, power, and inequality. When studying a social institution or phenomenon, they ask, “Who benefits from this element of society? ”

Predictably, conflict theory has been criticized for its focus on change and neglect of social stability. Some critics acknowledge that societies are in a constant state of change, but point out that much of the change is minor or incremental, not revolutionary. For example, many modern capitalist states have avoided a communist revolution, and have instead instituted elaborate social service programs. Although conflict theorists often focus on social change, they have, in fact, also developed a theory to explain social stability. According to the conflict perspective, inequalities in power and reward are built into all social structures. Individuals and groups who benefit from any particular structure strive to see it maintained. For example, the wealthy may fight to maintain their privileged access to higher education by opposing measures that would broaden access, such as affirmative action or public funding.          

Education promotes social inequality through the use of tracking and standardized testing and the impact of its “hidden curriculum.” Schools differ widely in their funding and learning conditions, and this type of inequality leads to learning disparities that reinforce social inequality.

Symbolic interaction (Interactionism)

Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical approach to understanding the relationship between humans and society. The basic notion of symbolic interactionism is that human action and interaction are understandable only through the exchange of meaningful communication or symbols. In this approach, humans are portrayed as acting, as opposed to being acted upon. The main principles of symbolic interactionism are:

• Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that things have for them
• These meanings arise out of social interaction
• Social action results from a fitting together of individual lines of action

This approach stands in contrast to the strict behaviorism of psychological theories prevalent at the time it was first formulated (the 1920s and 1930s). According to symbolic interactionism, humans are distinct from infrahumans (lower animals) because infrahumans simply respond to their environment (i.e., a stimulus evokes a response or stimulus ⇒ response), whereas humans have the ability to interrupt that process (i.e., stimulus ⇒ cognition ⇒ response). Additionally, infrahumans are unable to conceive of alternative responses to gestures. Humans, however, can. This understanding should not be taken to indicate that humans never behave in a strict stimulus ⇒ response fashion, but rather that humans have the capability of responding in a different way, and do so much of the time.

This perspective is also rooted in phenomenological thought. According to symbolic interactionism, the objective world has no reality for humans; only subjectively defined objects have meaning. There is no single objective “reality”; there are only (possibly multiple, possibly conflicting) interpretations of a situation. Meanings are not entities that are bestowed on humans and learned by habituation; instead, meanings can be altered through the creative capabilities of humans, and individuals may influence the many meanings that form their society. Human society, therefore, is a social product.

This perspective focuses on social interaction in the classroom, on the playground, and in other school venues. Specific research finds that social interaction in schools affects the development of gender roles and that teachers’ expectations of pupils’ intellectual abilities affect how much pupils learn. Certain educational problems have their basis in social interaction and expectations.

Unit I: Sociology of Education

1.1  Concept of sociology and sociology of education

Sociology

The word sociology has been derived from two words 'Socio' and 'Logy'. 'Socio' stands for society whereas 'Logy' refers to study or science. Hence etymologically sociology means scientific study of society. French philosopher Auguste Comte used the word 'sociology for the first time in 1837. he put the sociology at the top preceding other sciences calling it as a comprehensive science. Comte defined sociology as the synthesis of all sciences. Since Comte contributed to emerge sociology as a scientific study of society, he is called as the father of sociology. Sociology studies social phenomena and process along with social organizations and cultural patterns in scientific manner. It studies the aspects that fall within the scope of multidimensional behavior and interaction of human being with social institutions.

Definitions of Sociology

'Sociology is the study of science of society.'- Auguste Comte

'Sociology is the study of different forms of human interactions.' - Max Weber

'Sociology is the study of the process of interaction of persons and patterns in relation to biological psychological and cultural influences.'- Herbert Spencer

  

Sociology of education

          Sciology of education is defined as a study of the relations between education and society. It is an investigation of the sociological processes involved in an educational institution. To Ottaway (1962), it is a social study and in so far as its method is scientific, it is a branch of social science. It is concerned with educational aims, methods, institutions, administration and curricula in relation to the economic, political, religious, social and cultural forces of the society in which they function. As far as the education of the individual is concerned, sociology of education highlights on the influence of social life and social relationships on the development of personality. Thus, sociology of education emphasizes sociological aspects of educational phenomena and institutions. The problems encountered are regarded as essentially problems of sociology and not problems of educational practice.

          Sociology of Education, therefore, may be explained as the scientific analysis of the social processes and social patterns involved in the educational system. Brookover and Gottlieb consider that ―this assumes education is a combination of social acts and that sociology is an analysis of human interaction. Educational process goes on in a formal as well as in informal situations. Sociological study of the human interaction in education may comprise both situations and might guide to the development of scientific generalizations of human relations in the educational system. The sociology of education is the study of how public institutions and individual experiences influence education and its outcomes. It is most concerned with the public schooling systems of modern industrial societies, including the growth of higher, further, adult, and continuing education. It is a philosophical as well as a sociological concept, indicating ideologies, curricula, and pedagogical techniques of the inculcation and management of knowledge and the social reproduction of personalities and cultures. It is concerned with the relationships, activities and reactions of the teachers and students in the classroom and highlights the sociological problems in the realm of education.

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) who is regarded as the ‘father’ of sociology of education clearly defines sociology of education as “A systematic study sociological perspective.” This definition of sociology of education is suitable because it speaks much of what goes on in education system. It clearly states that it is important to know sociology before knowing what sociology of education is. This is because sociology is related to sociology of education.