TVE 4251

S0CIOLOGY OF EDUCATION
TOPIC 1: Sociology of education
MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

1.1. Introduction
In our life, we get everyday challenges. To find solutions for those challenges, we learn basing on
their effects and try to overcome them. We meet new friends; we acquire new actions from them.
We talk to parents or relatives, we gain something new. That how we learn, how we get educated.
Any individual can learn very little by himself. Others play a very important role and contribute a
lot to his learning process. The presence of other persons is important because a person learns from
the knowledge gained by others. Therefore the process of getting education is always a social
process
 1.2. Meaning of Sociology
Sociology is a social science that studies society and the individual in perspective of Society. Sociology can
be defined as the study of man and his environment in their relation with each other.
► The word Sociology is derived from the combination of the Latin socius – meaning “companion” and the
Greek logos - meaning “the study of”. So the word literally means the study of companionship, or social
relations. It is the science or study of the origin, development, organization, and functioning of human
society. Sociology as a field of discipline is generic and umbrella in nature as it deals with the totality of
human interaction and examination.
► It is a systematic study of social behaviours and human groups. It investigates primarily the influence of
social relationships on people’s attitudes and behaviours and on how societies are established and
changed. To a lay man, sociology is the study of man’s interaction within the society but it extends
beyond that as it deals with the organization and control of man’s behaviours and attitudes within the
society. As a field of study, sociology has an extremely broad scope because the society comprises of
several sub systems with inherent fragmentations of component parts in each of them for sociological
considerations
► Sociology is concerned about social facts in the economy, education, legal, security, politics,
medical, religion, family, technology, sports and so on. Within the province of these
sub-systems both the structural aspects of human society and every type of social
relationship are being examined.
► Sociology grew out of the social, political, economic, and technological revolutions of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. For example, the Industrial Revolution that took place
from 1760 up to 1850 , had tremendously changed old traditions and necessitated new ways
of perceiving and examining the social world, thus in the mid-1800s sociology emerged in
Western Europe as a distinct discipline.
 1.3. Meaning of Education

► In its broad sense, “education refers to any act or experience that has formative effect on the mind,
character, or physical ability of an individual ... In its technical sense, education is the process by which
society, through schools, colleges, universities, and other institutions, deliberately transmits its cultural
heritage - its accumulated knowledge, values, and skills – from one generation to another”.
► Using the term education as defined in the technical sense, makes us limit our thought to the context of
teachers instructing students. Teachers will need to understand a particular subject or subjects to
convey its knowledge to students, which with the passing of knowledge allow students to grow into
useful members of society. Based on the Article 13 of the United Nations International Covenant on
Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights of 1966, the right of educationist considered as a basic human
right. However, education is a broad concept, referring to all experiences in which students can learn
something:
a) Instruction refers to the intentional facilitation of learning toward identified goals,
delivered either by an instructor or other forms;
b) Teaching refers to the actions of a real live instructor designed to impart learning to
the student; and
c) Training refers to learning with a view toward preparing learners with specific
knowledge, skills, or abilities that can be applied immediately upon completion.
Globally, education can be divided into three mainstreams:
► Primary or elementary education: This is the first few years of formal learning. Generally, six
or seven years of schooling starting at the age of five or six years old. This varies according to
countries.
► Secondary education: This Consists of the second years of formal education that occurs during
adolescence or the teenage years of an individual. The purpose of secondary education can be
to give common knowledge, to prepare for higher education, or to train directly students in a
profession.
► Higher / tertiary education: As the third stage of education that follows after the completion
of secondary education. It normally includes undergraduate and postgraduate education, as
well as vocational education and training and results in the receipt of certificates, diplomas,
or academic degrees.
► For many, education is understood to be a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater
equality and acquiring wealth and status for all by developing every individual to their fullest
potential (Sargent, 1994). Students can be motivated by giving them aspirations for progress
and a better life. Therefore, education is perceived as a place where children can develop
according to their unique needs and potentialities (Schofield, 1999).
Sociology of Education
► Sociology of Education may be defined as the scientific analysis of the social processes and social
patterns involved in the educational system. Brook over 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 analysis of the human interaction in education may include both situations and might
lead 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 affect
education and its outcomes. It is most concerned with the public schooling systems of modern
industrial societies, including the expansion of higher, further, adult, and continuing education. It is
a philosophical as well as a sociological concept, denoting 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. It emphasizes sociological problems in the realm of
education.
 ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY OF
EDUCATION
► In the recent years education has become the major interest to some sociologists. As a result a new
branch of sociology called “sociology of education” has become established. Émile Durkheim
(1895)conceived education as the socialization of the younger generation, which is a continuous
effort to impose on the child ways of seeing, feeling and acting which he could not have arrived at
spontaneously.
► Thus, formal education is primarily designed to inculcate crucial skills and values central to the
survival of the society or to those who hold effective power. Systematic sociology of education
began with the work of Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) on moral education as a basis for organic
solidarity, and with studies by Max Weber (1864-1920) on the Chinese literati as an instrument of
political control.
► After World War II, however, the subject received renewed interest around the world: from
technological functionalism in the US, egalitarian reform of opportunity in Europe, and
human-capital theory in economics. These all implied that, with industrialization, the need
for a technologically skilled labour force undermines class distinctions and other astrictive
systems of stratification, and that education promotes social mobility.
► However, statistical and field research across numerous societies showed a persistent link
between an individual's social class and achievement, and suggested that education could
only achieve limited social mobility. Sociological studies showed how schooling patterns
reflected, rather than challenged, class stratification and racial and sexual discrimination.
After the general collapse of functionalism from the late 1960s onwards, the idea of
education as an unmitigated good was even more profoundly challenged. Neo-Marxists
argued that school education simply produced a docile labour force essential to
late-capitalist class relations.
► Durkheim (1858–1917), credited as the father of sociology, has undoubtedly shaped the minds of
all scholars who consider themselves sociologists. Whether one ascribes to Durkheim’s
functionalist perspective of society, vociferously critiques this work, or chooses to set the work
aside altogether, it has an undeniable presence in all of our lives.
► Several of the intellectual self portraits that follow specifically discuss the way that Durkheim’s
work has shaped their intellectual journeys, and a number of the authors even list one of
Durkheim’s pieces of writing as one of the most influential works they have read. Gerard
Postiglione devotes a good deal of attention to a discussion of how he brought the canonical
work of western thinkers, including Durkheim, to his Chinese audience. When discussing the act
of bringing Durkheim to Chinese audiences, Postiglione writes,
► “The aim for most Chinese scholars at the time was to construct the field with Chinese distinctiveness
while keeping abreast of the international mainstream of the field. The field had to be established
under “Marxism and Chinese realities.” There were also critiques of Durkheim, which were interesting
to me since Durkheim resonated in some ways with Confucian discourse and contemporary party
dictum on social harmony.” Many of these critiques are rooted in the work of two other thinkers
credited with providing a foundation for the sociology of education: Karl Marx (1818–1883) and Max
Weber (1864–1920).
► A portion of Hugh Meehan's intellectual self-portrait looks to identify the roots of the sociology of
education. In seeking an understanding of the inspiration for this academic field, Mehan writes," Marx,
Weber, and Durkheim (the “founding fathers” or “holy trinity” of sociology), each in their own way,
was driven by an appraisal of and attempt to remedy the malaise engendered by modernity:
alienation, inequality, hyperrationality, domination, anomie.”
► The two phrases—“founding fathers” and “holy trinity”—that Wexler uses to describe Durkheim, Marx,
and Weber clearly resonate with many of the other current leaders in the sociology of education.
► Although Durkheim’s omnipresent position in the sociology of education is hard to deny, the current
leaders in the sociology of education place a far greater emphasis on “I read a lot, from an early
age, and by high school, I was moving around intellectually, between Marx and Nietzsche. But, it
was not just books. Rebellion, in daily life and in art, was already displacing indifference and what
we learned to call “conformity” To have a reflexive critical stance toward whatever was going on,
whatever was being taken for granted as natural and better, was something I seemed to have
imbibed early on, and which I brought to the intellectual work that has drawn my attention for so
long.”
► All three of these scholars brought a heightened attention to conflict theory and the inequalities
defining the modern education system. Lois Weis writes,“Putting forth their well-known
“correspondence principle,” Bowles and Gintis argue that schools directly reproduce social and
economic inequalities embedded in the capitalist economy… [Their] neo-Marxist sensibilities critique
the capitalist economy as the driving force behind the “need” for profit and domination as in
conflict with the political economy that promotes democracy and equality. This conflict plays out in
classrooms where students are marked by a larger and highly stratified economic structure, and this
notion of stratified social structures and the relationship between such structures and educational
institutions became the centerpiece of my own thinking on this subject for many years hence.”
► Whether or not the current leaders in the sociology of education found Bowles and Gintis’
arguments to be compelling, they all undeniably came to operate in a field guided by these
ideas. As Brint notes, “The weight of sociological work at this time was on the reproduction
of class, racial-ethnic and gender privileges through schooling.”
► Not only did Coleman inspire many of the current leaders in the sociology of education to
ask questions about inequality and education, but his work also led to heightened focus on
empiricism in the field. In Barbara Schneider’s intellectual self-portrait, she writes,
“Reading the work of James Coleman… about how to determine which interventions were
actually creating a “true” effect, my thoughts of becoming a teacher educator were soon
replaced by a strong desire to learn more about how relationships, power, authority, roles,
responsibilities, and moral imperatives affect human behavior and shape the institutional
systems they in habit.” Schneider goes on discuss the ways in which this work inspired a
career of searching for empirical evidence to support theoretical constructs in the sociology
of education.
► Of course, inspiration for the current leaders in the sociology of education was not limited to
the "holy trinity” of Durkheim, Weber, and Marx or the handful of other scholars noted above.
As you will access other different sources, you will find that the current leaders in the field
have found inspiration in countless places, both expected and unexpected, from within the
field and outside of the field, and from scholarship as well as life experience. Undoubtedly,
the lives of the current leaders and some of the common themes that emerge from their
stories help illuminate how the field has come to take its current form.
Importance of Sociology of Education
► Every society has its own changing socio – cultural needs and requires an education to meet
these needs. Today‘s needs are conservation of resources, environmental protection, global
citizenship etc. Therefore education caters towards meeting of these different needs. Since
the needs of the society change education also changes. Hence there is need for studying
sociology of education. It helps in understanding:
1. Work of School and Teachers and its relation to society, social progress and development
2. Effect of Social Elements on the working of school and society
3. Effect of Social Elements on the life of individuals
4. Construction of Curriculum in relation to the cultural and economic needs of the society
5. Democratic ideologies present in different countries
6. Need for understanding and promoting international culture
7. Development of Society through the formulation of various rules and regulations and understanding
of culture and traditions
8. Need for Promotion of Social Adjustment
9. The effect of social groups, their interrelation and dynamics on individuals.
Sociology helps in the process of education in several ways. One way is that sociology represents
education. The study of how people and societies interact within one another and themselves is, in
part, the essence of education. The process of teaching and learning is a social process- teacher and
students, students with one another, both with people outside of the classroom and bringing those
experiences into the classroom setting- are all examples of how our social interactions impact our
learning.
► Effective teaching and learning is not an isolated process. Students enter the classroom with their
own senses of reality, experience, and narratives and teachers have to acknowledge and integrate
this into the classroom setting and the learning process. The notion of students entering a classroom
and divorcing it from their own social experiences is not an effective paradigm in the modern
setting. Perhaps, this is because students have greater interactions on a social level with the
proliferation of information technology and socially interactive networking.
► They bring this cultural capital into the classroom and teachers have to strive to understand this
sociological element into the process of teaching and learning. Additionally, students' backgrounds
demand that teachers comprehend how different societies interact within one other in order to
maximize learning. The heterogeneous classroom is one predicated upon different modes of social
interaction, and a teachers' understanding of this sociological component could be a defining in
determining success or failure in the reciprocal process of teaching and learning
TOPIC 2: Family as an educational institution
► In most circumstances, the family is the key socializing agent. It is the most crucial
socialization agent in a primeval society. The human concept of a family is a group of persons
who are linked together by resemblance, consanguinity, and co-residence. In many
communities, it is the principal agent for children socialization
► The family marks the start of socialization for most people. It assists young ones assimilate
their culture and identify with their community. The family also gives the young members their
social status. It plays a prominent role in teaching these members of society about the dangers
and effects of early sex. Young members of the society usually socialize with their relatives by
learning their routines and establishing signals for their wants (Mitchell 296).
► The family as an agent of socialization is seen in the fact that the young grow in a vicious
association, wherein they are taught to love people who strike and subjugate them. The
family thus comprises the initial cell of the society. Children start to watch their parents
and siblings for satisfactory ways to intermingle socially, and this remains as a physically
powerful influence in their lives.
► The first educational form is the family. In many ways, the most important educational
period in life is the first few years. A person's direction in life is largely set in infancy and
early childhood. The most important teachers for most people are their parents. Even
after childhood, family connections remain powerful educational influences . People
participate in family education not only as a child but as a parent and then as a
grandparent. The family in the context of other communal groups is the first great
educational institution.
THE KEY ROLE OF FAMILIES IN EDUCATION
► Research has more than adequately shown the critical importance of the family, its
socioeconomic and cultural capital and the upbringing strategies it deploys when it
comes to pupils’ academic results. Recently, emphasis has been placed on the decisive
influence of parental styles and the need to train or support families in the task of
bringing up children. Public opinion and school institutions tend to accuse parents of
not taking an interest in school issues and abdicating their educational responsibilities.
On the other hand, families seem more concerned than ever about their children’s
schooling, academic results, the quality of the education they receive, the good name
of the schools where they are educated, etc.
► Family strategies to guarantee the quality of education are, however, largely
individual. Despite the widespread parents’ association model, a key element of
educational quality, families organised in this way do not manage to make their voice
heard as a central agent in the educational debate. We can see, however, that in many
countries around us, and increasingly in this country too, families have begun to
demand a greater presence in policy definition and school life. The redefinition of
family participation in an institution that was designed for leaving them at the door is
still on the table.