Explain the diversity of educational experiences children have in your context.

In school, diversity among students has a direct impact on their educational ability. Learners
perform adequately in a diverse environment, training them to focus on their studies and
motivate themselves ahead of time when they are mixed with persons from various
backgrounds performing closely with them, according to research. Religion, political
orientation, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, language, socioeconomic
background, and family structure are examples of numerous elements that contribute to
diversity. In the classroom, cultural diversity entails celebrating differences and cultivating a
climate of inclusion and acceptance among students and the larger school community. In my
setting, children have a wide range of educational experiences:

Language; Due to the high linguistic diversity and the importance of understanding of
international languages such as English in gaining jobs, most educational institutions deliver
instructions in languages that neither the educators nor the students fully comprehend
(Mazrui, 1998). As a result, UNICEF encourages education ministries to teach students in
their native language.

Ethnicity; Aside from physical characteristics, culture and tradition play an important role in
defining unique identities. Ethnicities cover countries, towns, villages, and tribes, whereas
race is limited to a few categories. I can better recognize my pupils' unique interests and
viewpoints shaped by their ethnic backgrounds if I know their ethnicities.

Religion; Religions are as diverse as ethnic origins, and it is critical to respect and recognize
each student's religious views and practices. Religion is often not brought into a student's
educational life outside of parochial schools unless the student's behavior is directly affected
by their religious views (e.g.,dietary restrictions, staying home for a religious holiday).
Teachers should also be aware that pupils may have difficulty comprehending that the
religious views in which they were raised may conflict with the ideas and lifestyles of their
peers (Battey et al).

Economic

Students come from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, which are influenced by the
environment in which they were reared, the neighborhood in which they live, and the income
levels of their family (Oakes, 2005). These inequalities could manifest themselves in a variety
of ways, including personal technology devices, clothing, transportation, and family
Christmas gifts. While some children may be required to work after school or rush home to
care a younger sibling, others may be allowed to join in extracurricular activities. Remember
that a student with few belongings may not come from a low-income home, or a student from
a low-income family may have bought a new iPhone with their own money.

LGBTQ

Gender identity and sexual orientation are important aspects of a young person's journey. It is
common for students to come to their own sense of who they are during their time as
students. Teachers and counselors may provide support or acceptance as part of these
personal journeys, so educators should keep an eye out if they notice pupils struggling in any
of these areas.

How does that fit with the idea of schooling having a sociological function? 

The sociological function has a variety of effects on the educational process. Sociology, for
example, represents education in one sense. Education is, in part, the study of how people and
cultures interact with one another and with themselves. Teachers and students, students with
one another, and both outside of the classroom and bringing those experiences into the
classroom are all instances of how our social interactions affect our learning. The way my
students perform in class is adversely affected by the way they interact with their peers within
and outside the classroom environment.

Effective teaching and learning does not happen in a vacuum. Students bring their own senses
of reality, experience, and narratives to the classroom, which teachers must recognize and
integrate into the classroom setting and learning process. In today's world, the idea of pupils
entering a classroom and separating it from their own social experiences is no longer a
successful model. Perhaps this is due to the expansion of information technology and socially
interactive networking, which has resulted in more social interactions among students.

They bring this cultural capital into the classroom, and as a teacher, I must attempt to
comprehend this sociological aspect of the teaching and learning process. In order to optimize
learning, I also need to understand how different societies interact with one another, which is
necessitated by my students' backgrounds. The diverse classroom is one that is built on
various types of social interaction, and my grasp of this sociological component could be
crucial in evaluating whether or not the reciprocal process of teaching and learning is
successful.

What should the function and purpose of school and education be?

The function and purpose of school and education are best understood through the lenses of
three key sociological viewpoints: functional, conflict, and symbolic interactionist
perspectives.

The importance of education in meeting a society's different requirements is emphasized by

functional theory. Socialization is perhaps the most important function of schooling. If
children need to learn the norms, values, and skills they'll need to function in society,
education is the best way to do so. Schools, as we all know, teach the three Rs, but they also
teach many of society's standards and values. These norms and values include respect for
authority, patriotism, punctuality, individualism, and competition. Students compete as
individuals for grades and other prizes from an early age (AAUWEF, 1998).

The social integration function of education is the second function of education. People must
share a shared set of beliefs and values, according to functionalists, for a society to function.
As we've seen, one of the goals of the 19th century's free, compulsory education system was
to foster the development of such common viewpoints. Thousands of immigrant youngsters
in the United States are learning English, American history, and other courses that will help
them prepare for the workforce and integrate into American society. The English-only
movement, whose supporters argue that only English should be used to teach children whose
mother tongue is Spanish, Vietnamese, or whatever other language their parents use at home,
is working toward this aim. Critics argue that this movement impedes these children's
schooling and erodes their ethnic identity (Schildkraut, 2005).

Social placement is a third function of schooling. Beginning in elementary school, teachers

and other school administrators label kids as either bright and driven or less brilliant and even
educationally challenged. Children are taught at the level that is deemed to suit them best,
depending on how they are recognized. They will be best equipped for their later life station
in this manner. The question of whether this method works as well as it should is an essential
one, and we'll get into it more when we talk about school tracking later.

A fourth role of education is social and cultural innovation. Our scientists cannot make
significant scientific discoveries, and our artists and philosophers cannot create great works
of art, poetry, or prose, unless they have first been educated in the numerous topics required
for their chosen profession.

Education also includes a number of latent functions, which are by-products of going to
school and receiving an education rather than being a direct result of the education itself.
Child care is one of them. Once a child enters kindergarten and later first grade, he or she is
cared for for free for several hours each day. Another unspoken function of education is the
formation of peer relationships. Many of our relationships were made when we were in
school, regardless of grade level, and some of those friendships have lasted the rest of our
lives. A final unspoken function of education is to keep millions of high school students from
entering the workforce full-time. Because of this, the unemployment rate is lower than it
would be if they were working ( Ballantine, J. H., & Hammack, F. M. 2009)
References

American Association of University Women Educational Foundation. (1998). Gender gaps:

Where schools still fail our children. Washington, DC: American Association of University
Women Educational Foundation.

Ballantine, J. H., & Hammack, F. M. (2009). The sociology of education: A systematic

analysis (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Battey, D., Kafai, Y., Nixon, A. S., & Kao, L. L. (2007). Professional development for
teachers on gender equity in the sciences: Initiating the conversation. Teachers College
Record, 109(1)

Booher-Jennings, J. (2008). Learning to label: Socialisation, gender, and the hidden

curriculum of high-stakes testing. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 29.

Oakes, J. (2005). Keeping track: How schools structure inequality (2nd ed.). New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press.

Schildkraut, D. J. (2005). Press “one” for English: Language policy, public opinion, and
American identity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Schneider, L., & Silverman, A. (2010). Global sociology: Introducing five contemporary

societies (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.