Question No.

1
Explain the concept of social interaction. How can a teacher help in
promoting social interaction among students?
Face-to-face interaction of even the simplest sort is a far more socially intricate operation than
we generally recognize. It is rife with unacknowledged rituals, tacit understandings, covert
symbolic exchanges, impression management techniques, and calculated strategic
maneuverings.
The Canadian sociologist Erving Goffman went to the Shetland Islands in the 1950s to do
fieldwork on the social structure of the island community for his PhD dissertation. However, he
found that the complex interpersonal relationships in the hotel he stayed at to be a much richer
site for social study. The theories that became the basis for his dramaturgical approach in The
Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life (1959) developed from his detailed observations of the
elaborate “interaction rituals” in everyday social interaction.

Types of social interaction

According to Young and Mack there are two types of social interaction between people and
societies

 Direct or Physical Interaction: it involves physical action among the individuals. Beating,
biting, thrashing, pulling, pushing, killing, scratching, boxing, wrestling, kissing etc. are the
examples of direct interaction. Two teams playing match and a war between the forces of
two countries are also examples of this interaction. This Types influences other by physical
action in different ways.
 Symbolic Interaction: There are different types of relationships between people. It involves
the use of language and symbols. It means communication through a common language is
symbolic process. This is the most common method of human societies. Human beings
convey their ideas through language and it is completed by reciprocal response. The
methods of communication devised by man are sharp and effective than these of animals.
All cultures develop, expand and change only through language symbolic interaction.
Without language no culture can live. There is no culture in animals due to the fact that
there is no common language among them. Through language man stores its previous
experiences and transmits them to the following generation with a change.
Man uses instruments to facilitate this. Telephone, wireless, telegraph, postal system, rail, road,
sea and air services all are various means of communication and transportation. Gestures are
also symbolic ones. Deaf and dumb convey their ideas through voice, and gestures of hands and
eyes.

5 Steps to Promote Social Interaction in the Classroom for Young Children

 Child Choice – Observe what the child prefers during free play
time.  Look for what activities the child engages with the most.  Find peers who also
enjoy these activities who might be a good match to increase social interaction.  If the
 child is not engaging in an activity, then find a preferred activity to offer next that may
be more motivating.
 Shared Control – Offer and arrange materials so that both participants share control
over the items and have to make exchanges in order to continue playing.  Encourage
independent play without needing an adult to interact.  For example, provide supplies
that encourage the children to take turns.  If children are using play dough, give one
child scissors and a rolling pin and the other child cookie cutters and molds to another
child.  The children will have to exchange tools to use with their own play dough.

 Clear Instruction – Once you have determined the preferred play items and how the
children with share control, provide clear and concise prompts to encourage social
interaction.  Model appropriate responses for the children to follow.  Ask questions or
hold up objects to elicit responses from the children.  Teach a peer prompts or
responses so adult prompts can fade.
 Contingent Natural Reinforcement – Ensure that the desired response i.e., giving the
child a toy occurs immediately following the child’s appropriate response or initiation of
a response.  For example, if a child asks the peer for the rolling pin, make sure that the
child receives the rolling pin in the early stages of learning social interaction and
communication.  As the child progresses with social interaction, determine appropriate
ways to naturally provide reinforcement.
 Adult Proximity and Communication – Stay close by to monitor social interaction
without interfering with natural child-peer interaction.  Try not to communicate with
their children i.e., narrating or commenting unless you are providing prompts to
facilitate social communication between the children.  Redirect children as needed to
communicate with each other rather than with the adult.  For example, if the child asks
you a question, prompt him/her to ask a friend instead.
Question No. 2
Discuss the importance of cultural diversity in a society. Highlight the
role of cultural diversity in Pakistani Society 
Cultural diversity is where a society or group is made up of many different people. These people
are from different countries, races and religions, and have different interests, skills and beliefs.

Sociologist Dr. Caleb Rosado, who specializes in diversity and multiculturalism, described seven
important actions involved in the definition of multiculturalism:
 recognition of the abundant diversity of cultures;
 respect for the differences;
 acknowledging the validity of different cultural expressions and contributions;
 valuing what other cultures offer;
 encouraging the contribution of diverse groups;
 empowering people to strengthen themselves and others to achieve their maximum
potential by being critical of their own biases; and
 celebrating rather than just tolerating the differences in order to bring about unity
through diversity.

Multiculturalism has many benefits. The main one is that it encourages open-mindedness
amongst different groups of people and it dispels negative stereotypes. This is extremely
important as the UN reported that 1/3 of the world’s major conflicts have a cultural dimension
to them.
Pakistan is a country of over 165 million people with diverse social, ethnic, linguistic and
cultural circumstances. The country came into existence after division of British Indian colony in
1947 on the basis of Islamic identity of people living in this region but different social and ethnic
groups have maintained their distinct character.

Mostly language is the basis of ethnicity in Pakistan. Punjabi is the predominant ethnic class
which consists of 48% of Pakistan’s population. Sindhis form about 12%, Siriki (a variant of
Punjabi) forms 10%, Urdu speaking (Urdu speaking population usually refers itself as Mohajirs
as they migrated from India in 1947) 8%, Balochis 3%, Hindko 2%, Brahui 1% and others 8%.

95% of Pakistan’s population is Muslim (75% Sunni Muslims and 20% Shia Muslims). Amongst
the remaining 5% Christians are the biggest religious minority who are around 3% of the total
population. Other religious groups include Hindus, Sikhs, and Ahmadis.

Pakistan is predominantly a rural society where over 65.5% of population lives in the rural
areas. Agriculture is the main employer of the labour force which employs over 43% of the
work force. The culture and social norms of Pakistan are defined by the agrarian nature of
society.
The relations between men and women are dominated by the demands of agricultural sector
and practices. Women in rural areas are economically more active as compared to their urban
counterparts. 16.5% rural women are economically active as compared to 7.3% of the urban
womenfolk. Women almost entirely manage the dairy and livestock sector in the rural areas of
Pakistan.

In rural Punjab the relations between men and women are more open as women play an
important role in farming and without their help the farm productivity will drop significantly.
Women go out of their homes to work as cotton pickers, fruit harvesters, and livestock farmers.
Since men need women’s help in agriculture sector therefore, they have a greater liberty of
movement.

The relations between men and women are undergoing a change in rural Punjab after the
return of migrant workers from Middle East who now insist on enforcing strict Wahabi edicts on
sex segregation. This change is fueling extremism as the economic hardships are increasing due
to decrease in household incomes.

Rural to urban migration, necessitated by growing poverty, has given rise to a number of
females headed households which is a new phenomenon in rural areas of Punjab because
traditionally women have always been treated as inferior to men and not involved in decision
making.

Muslims of Punjab are either converts from Hinduism or descendants of migrants from Central
Asia who have lived with Hindus for centuries therefore the Hindu edict that ‘guest is
incarnation of god’ has a wide acceptability. Guest is treated with honor, respect and delight.
Even strangers are offered food and shelter in times of need to please God with expectation
that God will rewards with good harvest. Giving long term protection / shelter is generally not a
part of culture in Punjab.

Customs relating to marriage, death and festivals are heavily influences by Hindu traditions. A
typical marriage, mourning or festival in Punjab is very similar to the corresponding Hindu
occasion less the religious component, e.g., though a marriage ceremony has the same
components but a Muslim marriage will have the Nikkah ceremony whereas Hindu marriage
will have vows beside fire.

Punjab has a culture of tolerance and friendship which is manifest by its sufi saints and poetry
with message of universal love towards mankind irrespective of cast, religion and colour. The
leading Punjabi sufi poets, such as Sultan Bahoo, Bulley Shah, Waris Shah and Mian Muhammad
are all against the strict religious interpretation of Islam as propagated by Mullah.

Punjab has historically been confronted with foreign invasions from North (Afghanistan and
Central Asia) therefore they are quite open to foreigners and are very progressive in their
cultural and social values.
Urban Punjab is not much different from rural areas as most of the city dwellers are migrants
from villages.

Sindhis are the second biggest ethnic group in Pakistan after Punjabis. In terms of proximity to
Hinduism they are even closer than Punjabis. A large number of Pakistani Hindus live in Sind
province.

Sindi culture is quite similar to Punjabis where they have great respect towards fellow human
beings. Sindh also is the land of great mystics such as Sachal Sarmast, Shah Abdul Latheef Bhitai
and Lal Shahbaz Qalandar.

The predominant profession of rural Sindhi population is agriculture. However, in contrast to

Punjab Sindh has a large number of big landlords who own most of the cultivable land. Majority
of people work as landless peasants on lands owned by big landlords. This has given rise to
abuse of human rights at the hands of landlords and a culture of oppression of weaker
segments of society.
Question NO. 3
Discuss the impact of institutional rules on the behavior of an individual.
It is then appropriate to differentiate between the three neo-institutionalist schools – referred
to as sociological, economic and historical – rather than speak of a theoretical approach that
has already been consolidated (Koelble, 1995; Goodin, 1996; Hall and Taylor, 1996; Lowndes,
1996; Norgaard, 1996). Each of these movements defines the concept of institutions or
institutional rules in a specific way and hence proposes different hypothesis with respect to
their influence on individual actors and the conduct of public policies.
a) Institutional rules as social norms: adopting a cultural approach, sociologists define
institutions not only as the internal formal rules and procedures within an
organisation, but also, and above all, as the latter’s value system, symbols, cognitive
patterns and behavioural norms. Institutions are essentially cultural and they
provide the members of an organisation with a frame of meaning which guides
individual actions. Thus, social conventions predefine the role of actors at the same
time as updating the legitimacy of organisations.
b) Institutional rules as voluntary contract norms: in contrast, economists adopt a
calculating perspective. Institutional rules are defined as voluntary arrangements
between individuals. These (incomplete) contracts make it possible to reduce the
uncertainty that is inherent in all collective decisions and stems from inaccurate
information and the limited cognitive capacities of actors. In the absence of an
institutional frame, the desire to resolve this uncertainty would involve excessive
transaction costs. Therefore, individuals freely negotiate formal rules and/or accept
informal codes of behaviour. The aim of these institutional rules is to provide a
certain degree of predictability with respect to the behaviour of other actors and the
outcome of collective action.
c) Institutional rules as state structures: historians turn to structuralist theories in their
approach to institutions. They apply them to the constitutional and legal norms, to
the formal political-administrative procedures and to the informal conventions
which define the rules governing the interaction between actors. The institutional
rules of a democratic regime reflect the power relationships between the social
groups and provide some of them with privileged access to the arenas of policy
decision-making and implementation. If they do not in themselves determine actor
participation and the substantive results of state actions, they nevertheless offer
opportunities for selective and distorted action. In reality, historical neo-
institutionalism represents a happy medium between the cultural approach of the
sociologists (‘logic of appropriateness’) and the calculating approach of the
economists (‘logic of consequentiality’). The institutional rules affect the preferences
and identity of individuals while, at the same time, the latter exploit them from a
strategic point of view to assert their interests.
The genes you are born with influence your behavior. Your social environment including your
family, friends, school, and neighborhood also influence your behavior. The core of this unit will
deal with those institutions as determinants of who we are, and what we become.
The purpose of the unit is to investigate the effects of institutions on human behavior. It will
explore various niches that are encountered as man exists in the ecosystem and will discuss
both the effects of heredity and the environment on human behavior. It is with this in mind that
the stage will be set so that our primary goal is to provide a framework which can be related to
our everyday ideas for our changing behavior.

The unit is designed to provide knowledge, understanding and awareness. It can be taught in
grades five through eight. It will consist of subject content, lesson plans, a list of resources, field
trips, a children’s reading list, a teacher’s reading list and a bibliography.

Teachers of any subject can use the unit as a springboard to help students understand
themselves. It is hoped that the biology teacher will use the unit to teach a fundamental course
in human behavior. The teaching time will vary, but it is suggested that the unit can be taught in
two to three weeks.
Question No. 4
Explain the functions of different agencies in socialization.
Determine the role and responsibilities of teacher in socialization.
The socialization that we receive in childhood has a lasting effect on our ability to interact with
others in society. Explore four of the most influential agents of socialization in childhood,
including family, school, peers, and media.

Socialization
How do we learn to interact with other people? Socialization is a lifelong process during which
we learn about social expectations and how to interact with other people. Nearly all of the
behavior that we consider to be 'human nature' is actually learned through socialization. And, it
is during socialization that we learn how to walk, talk, and feed ourselves, about behavioral
norms that help us fit in to our society, and so much more.
Socialization occurs throughout our life, but some of the most important socialization occurs in
childhood. So, let's talk about the most influential agents of socialization. These are the people
or groups responsible for our socialization during childhood - including family, school, peers,
and mass media.

Family
There is no better way to start than to talk about the role of family in our social development,
as family is usually considered to be the most important agent of socialization. As infants, we
are completely dependent on others to survive. Our parents, or those who play the parent role,
are responsible for teaching us to function and care for ourselves. They, along with the rest of
our family, also teach us about close relationships, group life, and how to share resources.
Additionally, they provide us with our first system of values, norms, and beliefs - a system that
is usually a reflection of their own social status, religion, ethnic group, and more.
For example, Alexander, a young boy who lives in America, was born to an immigrant family. He
grew up bilingual and was taught the importance of collectivistic values through socialization
with his family. This experience differs drastically from someone born to an older, 'traditional'
American family that would emphasize the English language and individualistic values.
Schools
The next important agent of childhood socialization is the school. Of course, the official purpose
of school is to transfer subject knowledge and teach life skills, such as following directions and
meeting deadlines. But students don't just learn from the academic curriculum prepared by
teachers and school administrators. In school, we also learn social skills through our
interactions with teachers, staff, and other students. For example, we learn the importance of
obeying authority and that to be successful, we must learn to be quiet, to wait, and sometimes
to act interested even when we're not.
Alexander, like other children, might even learn things from his teacher that she did not intend
to teach. For instance, he might learn that it's best to yell out an answer instead of raising his
hand. When he does so, he gets rare attention from the teacher and is hardly ever punished.

Role of the Teacher in Social Development

The role of the teacher is very important in the social development of the child. His role begins
when the child enters the school. The following points highlight his role or educational
implications of this topic:

1. Practice What You Preach

Teachers should practice what they preach. Things go wrong when they say one thing and do
another.

2. Consistent Behavior

Teachers should be consistent in their social behavior towards children. Inconsistency creates
problems for them.

3. Opportunities

In schools and colleges, there should be maximum opportunities for giving and take, for “hitting
and being hit.” Let there be maximum outings, camps, trips. It socializes the child. The teacher
should be liberal in it.

4. Self-Government

In school will not only socialize the child but also make him responsible.

5. Avoid Harsh Discipline.

Control will breed scandals. Understand it.

6. Mass Media

(Newspapers, magazines) which have bad influence (like some film magazines) on the
development of child intellectually and result in stunted social growth be not allowed to
influence them. Direct the child along healthy lines.

7.Allow the child to display social responsibility. Let him receive guess at a function.
8. Parents and teachers should take children to parties. It socializes them.
Question No. 5
Discuss the role of religious groups in influencing social behavior.
Explain the importance of economic, political and educational
institutions in the society.
Religion is probably the strongest belief system that has existed for thousands of years. In many
ways, it is a code of conduct, a rule book that allows believers to function in a non-primitive or
cultured manner. The earliest forms of religion were established to facilitate social bonding. In
fact, it is also believed that religious practices are adaptive and have emerged to sustain
survival and reproductive advantages through gene selection or gene-culture coevolution
dynamics.

It is no surprise then, that this system is crucial to thinking patterns and plays a vital role in
formation of self-identity and a collective identity of a community, which then shapes attitudes,
cultural norms and influences individual and group behavior. Children are particularly
perceptive to religious beliefs and the concepts of Gods and other supernatural agents, which
leads to a teleological bias of accepting explanations of phenomenon, based on the purpose
they serve rather than their postulated causes, which persist into adulthood (Kelemen, 2004).
These attitudes are contingent upon factors such as beliefs about God's existence, immortality
and omnipresence; attributions about psychological characteristics such as fairness,
compassion and harshness; and attributions about God's causal involvement and motives in
one's life events.   

Most, if not all religions, have some thematic principles that make them similar to one another,
namely concepts of God and love, honesty, altruism, miracle workings and peacekeeping.
However, every religion has elements and ideologies that set them apart from the other. These
ideological differences may not be overt and easy to discern, but they are present and account
for a lot of disharmony and discord at times. This is mainly due to irrational and distorted
deductions of religious scriptures by some followers which go against the fundamental
principles. Moreover, coexistence of diverse religions in a single community or nation is a
comparatively recent trend. Sacrifices and wars in the name of religion are not unheard of, with
some of the significant examples being The Crusades, Sati System, Buddhist Burma, Jihadists
and the Witch Hunt, which ended thousands of lives. What is even more mind-boggling is the
dichotomous function that religion seems to serve, where it imbibes compassion and kindness
towards all, but also instigates religious hatred, violence and religious martyrdoms, especially in
radical believers.

Most religions enforce moral behavior through positive and negative reinforcement by infusing
‘god-fearing’ elements in scriptures, such as the concept of karma and reincarnation in
Hinduism, heaven-hell and salvation in Christianity, paradise and hell in Islamism, peaceful
afterlife and reincarnation in indigenous Chinese folk religions, and release from the cycle of
reincarnations and reaching enlightenment in Buddhism. This was further reiterated through
Shariff and Norenzayan’s (2011) study where they found that individuals are more likely to
behave in a moral or honest manner when they believe in fearsome and punishing supernatural
agents. In their subsequent studies, they concluded that the concept of hell exists to make
people act in a moral and ethical manner, whereas the concept of heaven (or its equivalent in
other religions) exists to make people feel good, and has a direct and positive relation with
happiness. However, another possible explanation for this suggests that it may have nothing to
do with religious beliefs. Rather, the religious scriptures or rituals act as a moral reminder,
through priming, and impel us to act in a moral and honest manner.

It is important to note here that although, religious beliefs may play a causal role in some of the
actions, it is not the only factor that influences behavior. Rather, it's an important factor in a
pool of other factors like genetics, environment, parenting, drives, and needs that determine
our behavior.

Research supports that there is a correlation between religious beliefs and behavior, but does
this necessarily mean that there is a causality? It doesn’t really matter whether one believes
that people form these belief systems in order to adapt and function, or if existing beliefs
influence religious attitudes. What is important is how we use (or misuse) such a powerful
instrument, and to what extent we let it influence our behavior.