KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY

B.ARTS,B.SC,BSE/BSD,B.VOC STUDIES
EPS3202: SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION
YEAR 3 SEMESTER I 2020/2021

INTRODUCTION

MEANING OF:

• Sociology

• Education

• Sociology of Education

• Society

SOCIOLOGY

It is a social science which is about social relationship which exists in society. It is a science that
tries to build up a set of logical and consistent theories about the way society operates.

It can also be defined as a scientific study of human behavior in a group due to the fact that man
lives in groups.

When people live together they interact with one another. Therefore an individual cannot be
looked at only in terms of himself/herself but also in relation to others with whom he/she lives.

Raph Ross and E. Van Deen Hang defined Sociology as a study of formation and transformation
of people. It should be noted that where there are group of people there are tendencies of
participation, unity and conflicts.

Sociology seek to study the elements, patterns and consequences of individual behavior before
and after interaction e.g. to know who interacts with who, why and what are the outcomes of this
interaction.

For Sociology to occur there must be human beings interacting with one another and their
behavior must influence each other.
NB

Sociology is a science because the knowledge provided by sociology on human behavior in a

group is based on empirically or scientifically researched information or data.

The science of sociology covers all activities of an individual in relation to others and what
others do for him/her.

Therefore sociology studies the social interactions in groups. It is about how human beings
operate through institutions like family, school, religious institutions and other large
organisations like industries.

FORMS OF EDUCATION

Formal

- Carried out in institutions such as schools, colleges, universities

- What is taught is carefully structured by means of syllabuses and time-tables.
- Teaching is carefully supervised by people with required knowledge/teachers.
- Learners receive knowledge and are later tested.
- Their achievement is recognized by award of certificates.
- The certificates help in deciding who to promote and demote.

Nor-formal

- Learning is organized outside the formal structure.

- The target is skill training
- Education activities include; literacy programs, family planning education, health education,
leadership education, environmental education.
- The methods and places of learning are more flexible.
- Public is free either to participate or not.

Informal

- Is the type of education which goes on in everyday life.

- What is learnt is not structured.
- Much of the learning is unconsciously done.
- Child learns from the family, peer groups from the environment.
- Education pursues its own course at its own pace throughout each person's life.
- Its effects are more permanent.
- It is not associated with the award of certificates.
- It is more practical than the formal type of education.

Therefore society is full of educators like parents, religious leaders, politicians, the mass media,
the teachers, all these teach behavior and skills.

Qn. a) What is informal education?

b) What is the difference between non-formal and formal education?

SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

It is a combination of two disciplines; sociology and education to form a new discipline called
sociology of education.

Sociology of education can be defined as sociology applied to the field of Education. Sociology
of Education is a branch of sociology that studies social patterns and processes that exist in
Education system and examines social activities in Educational institutions.

It deals with the relationship between Education and Sociology as a whole.

Sociology of Education studies the school as a formal organization and the activities that take
place within the school. It should be noted that the school as a social organization depends on
other social institutions in society e.g. family, religious institution, community, mass media etc.
these social institutions also depend on the school e.g. the school provides employment
opportunities, skilled manpower and social services to other social institutions.

Qn:

"There is an interdependent relationship between the school and other social institutions in the
society." Discuss this statement with relevant examples.
SOCIETY

Sociology studies human behavior in groups and these groups exist within a larger set up known
as a society.

A society can be defined as an organization of people who interact in a systematic way with one
another and their environment to promote shared or common interests. Society embraces human
beings, their activities and relationships in relation to their environment.

A society can also be defined as an organized group of people established to ensure, nurture and
defend the survival of its members.

Each society has specific features. Society is characterized by;

• People living and working together to ensure defense and survival of its members.

• People sharing common interests and supporting one another.

• People having common ties.

• People having a feeling of belonging and cooperation.

• People bearing and raising children.

• People with common norms and values.

• A collection of people who develop with time.

• People staying in one geographical location.

• A collection of people with same aspirations and goals.

Therefore society can also be defined as a group of people living and working together sharing
common interests and supporting one another. It is evident that society is characterized by;

 Cohesion- enables the society to exist and maintain continuity.

 Conformity to the norms of that society which helps to preserve the existence and continuity.
For instance students conform to the school rules to hold the school together and maintain its
continuity. Failure to conform to school rules leads to indiscipline.
 Cooperation- people have roles to play in order to enable society to continue to existing.
These roles are integrated such that e.g. the number of one family (father, mother, children,
and relatives) cooperate to achieve the family goals.
 Examine the role of the following attributes in determining existence and continuity in
society

• Cohesion

• Conformity

• Cooperation

N.B

• For any group of people to be called a society the level of interaction has to be
considered.

• Therefore not every group of people is a society e.g. people in a taxi, bar or club are not a
society/ there is less or no interaction.

• Some groups of people are more of society than others depending on the level of
interaction; - Family is more of a society than a clan.

- BED I is more of a society than all students at Kyambogo University.

DEVIANT BEHAVIOR OF LEARNERS IN SCHOOL

INTRODUCTION

Teachers need to note that children learn from each other and in this process of learning they
may learn good habits and bad habits. The bad habits normally do not reflect the expected norms
and values of the school. These are what we call the deviant behaviors. The teacher has to
identify them and help children to overcome them.

DEFINITION

Deviance can be described as any act that goes against the norms and values of particular group.
The group might be an institution, a community or a particular society. Deviant behaviors in the
school are those conducts by the students that do not march with the school's set standards in
form of rules and regulations. Learners who do not abide by these rules and regulations are
called delinquents. Some of these learners are those looking for social identity and are called
social climbers i.e. those who want to be known for bad things.

COMMON DEVIANT BEHAVIOR OF LEARNERS IN SCHOOLS

1. Destructing the teacher in that he or she can divert from the classroom work. Learners make
unnecessary noise in class, they may pass chits to other learners as the lesson goes on, they can
even begin a fight in the classroom as the lesson is going on.

2. Teasing and bullying other learners especially the new comers. These are cases of
assaulting new learners and subjecting them to torturing acts.eg pouring water on them, grabbing
the property.

3. Fighting in the school is another common deviant behavior by some learners. There arc
learners who always fight others. They can even fight the teachers.

4. Talking alcohol in school where some learners carry alcohol to school and share it with
friends. Under the influence of alcohol such learners become aggressive and violent which may
destruct school activities.
5. Drug addiction is another deviant behavior in schools. Drug addiction is dependence or
the use of habit-forming drugs such as marijuana, liquid heroin, powder kuber, cocaine etc.
These drugs may also make learners silent, docile or aggressive. This may induce other bad
behaviors in the school like lighting, raping fellow students and disrespecting teachers.

6. Sex deviations like homosexuality, fornication, rape, and prostitution in cases of mature
learners. This kind of behavior destructs learners from school work and may affect school
achievement.

Question:

Identify common deviant behavior acts of learners in primary schools and Suggest ways
how such acts can be controlled in the school.

FACTORS THAT LEAD TO DEVIANT BEHAVIOR AMONG LEARNERS

Deviant behaviors have greatly increased in schools. This increase can be explained by
psychological, social and institutional factors as follows:-

1. It is important to note that most learners in lower education levels are in the adolescent
age bracket. This period in human growth and development dictates that such children seek for
identity and recognition. That is why they defy school rules so that they are recognized.

2. The social environment also encourages some students to be involved in acts that are
contrary to set norms and rules of the school. Some learners come from violent homes where
parents are always fighting. Such children carry such kind of behavior to the school. On top of
this, in some homes children are given a lot of freedom which makes them permissive and they
do not respect teachers at school.

3. The other factor is the peer influence. As earlier noted, children in school imitate and
learn from each other. When such children join school, they make friends, some of whom may
be delinquents and the natural tendency for these young people is to learn bad habits and not
good ones. These will encourage the spread of deviant behavior like smoking, drinking, and drug
addiction to the rest of learners.
4. The modern permissive society dominated by the free media has contributed to increase
of deviant behavior at school. It is not surprising to find a group of primary learners hiding in a
corner reading a pornographic newspaper or magazine. They will certainly want put into practice
what they have read in the paper. Learners also still escape from school to watch movies; some
of these movies are violent in character. If in the movie they see a teacher being beaten In
learners, chances are high that they would want to practice this on their teacher.

5. In schools there are some teachers who behave unprofessionally and always side with
delinquent learners. It is not surprising to find a teacher drinking with learners, involved in
sexual behavior with learners and under mining fellow teachers mostly those who are strict and
enforcing discipline. Such learners feel big and above others will certainly leads to deviant
behavior because after all they have backing from their teachers.

6. Related to the above some schools have big number of learners compared to teachers and
learners are left on their own. They lack close follow up and correction, they end up doing what
they want which in most cases is contrary to the school norms and standards.

WAYS OF MINIMIZING DEVIANT BEHAVIOR IN SCHOOLS

Social control derives from the need to ensure that members of the group do not deviate from its
norms and values. The groups to deal with those who deviate devise mechanisms of various
types. Social control can therefore be described as all the means and processes whereby group
secures its members conformity to its norms, expectations and values. Social control in order to
be effective involves sanctions. Sanctions can be both positive and negative. In the school
situation, social control can be applied in the following way

1. Positive sanctions can be applied in school to encourage and ensure that learners conform to
the norms, expectations, aspirations and values of the school. These could include gifts, prizes
and recognition for learners who behave well in the school. This will encourage learners to
conduct themselves appropriately in order to win those prizes.

2. Punishments can also be used to penalize and discourage indisciplined learners from
failing to meet the norms, expectations, aspirations and values of school. Corrective punishments
in the school are very necessary to discourage deviant behavior.
3. Professional conduct on the side of teachers is also essential to ensure combined efforts in
enforcing discipline in the school. Teachers need to point out bad behavior in students and
discourage such learners from that behavior. There is need for teachers not side with delinquent
learners because this does not help the learners to grow responsibly.

4. Setting of proper and clear school regulations and explaining these regulations clearly to
the learners. Learners who do not follow these regulations need to be corrected. Learners also
need to be reminded of these regulations all the time so that they keep conscious of what is
expected of them at school.

5. The role of the teacher in the classroom is beyond mere presentation of the subject
matter. In the teaching learning process, teacher can engage in counseling to discourage those
behaviors that do not conform to the school expectations.

6. Cooperation with the parents is another important way to correct deviant behavior of
learners. Teachers can call the parents of learners who are involved in bad conducts and make it
clear to the parents that correction of such learners is a collective responsibility of the teacher
and the parents.

7. Finally, as adults we need to appreciate the nature and values of adolescents. Conscious
of this, we shall not be surprised by their conduct and we shall always be with the means to
correct the conduct that does not conform with the school expectations and encourage desirable
behavior that make children responsible members of the society.

CLASSROOM INTERACTION/THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE CLASSROOM

The academic performance of individual children at school cannot be explained entirely by the
intelligence of the children or their home backgrounds but rather classroom interaction also plays
a big role in the performance of the school children.

The performance of a child at school is based on both the teachers and learners expectations of
each other. A teacher has certain expectations of his/her learners and vice versa. Unless these
expectations are fulfilled, learning can now be fully effective or realized.
THE TEACHERS' EXPECTATIONS OF THEIR LEARNERS

In general teachers expect their pupils/students to:

 Respect them and their fellow pupils

 Have good discipline in classroom and outside classroom.
 Cooperate with their fellow pupils in order to achieve lesson objectives.
 Participate in various class activities e.g. answering questions, taking notes, doing the lesson
exercises.
 Understanding the content taught.
 Ask questions where necessary
 Be honest and open minded e.g. Share their problems with teachers.
 Be punctual for lessons and other school activities.
 Read ahead (research)
 Regular consultant

QUESTION

1. How does the fulfillment of pupils' expectations affect their learning?

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE TEACHERS' EXPECTATIOINS OF THEIR
LEARNERS

• Pupils’ behavior: pupils who are badly behaved tend to receive lower academic
expectation from teachers while the disciplined ones receive higher expectations.

• Negative comments about pupils; negative comments about individual pupils by other
teachers especially experienced teachers or head teachers often result in low expectations.

• Sitting position; Lower expectations are typically transmitted on pupils who sit at the
back and at the side of the classroom and the reverse is true for pupils who sit in front.

• Neatness: Lower expectations are associated with general disorganization, poor

handwriting or any other indictors of untidiness. On the other hand, pupils who are organized,
tidy and write well receive higher academic expectations from teachers.

• Status of the school: teachers have lower expectations for pupils who attend rural schools
than pupils who attend urban schools.

• Physical appearance: pupils who are naturally good looking are expected to be intelligent
while those who are bad looking are expected to be dull.

• Sex differences: teachers expect girls to be less intelligent than boys and believe that they
cannot perform better in certain subjects especially sciences.

• The socio-economic status of pupils: pupils from well to do families always pay school
fees in time. They have all the scholastic materials, are smart and clean in their school and
therefore expected to perform well in class unlike pupils from poor families who are shabby and
dirty, lack scholastic materials and fail to pay school fees in time.

• Other factors include language, race, family type, age of the pupils etc.
LEARNERS' EXPECATIONS OF THEIR TEACHERS

• Pupils expect their teachers to use appropriate language - meaning that the teachers
should use a very simple language when teaching to make their pupils understand what is taught.
When the teacher uses new or technical words, they should be well explained.

• Pupils expect their teachers to understand them as individuals and as a class e.g. if the
teacher has a bright or shy pupil, she/he expects the teacher to understand his/her personality.

• Pupils also expect the teachers to guide them in their work, and help diem to improve
their performance. This can be achieved when the teacher makes personal follow up of learners
on individual basis. This is necessary because sometimes group/class discussions may not help
learners to improve their performance.

• Pupils expect the teachers to motivate or encourage them. Pupils can be rewarded
appropriately when they answer questions in classroom or when marking then-class work with
words like good, try again, keep it up etc.

• Pupils expect the teachers to be knowledgeable in his/her subject and have necessary skills
in presenting the knowledge.

• The Pupils also expect the teacher to make the teaching-learning environment conducive
e.g. the classroom should be kept noise free by the teacher.

• The pupils expect to get moral instructions from the teacher i.e. the teacher should mould
them in a positive manner. Teachers are therefore expected to be good examples to pupils in
every aspect of life.

• Pupils also expect teachers to guide them and help them to solve their problem.-:. Teachers
should know learners" problems and help them to get solutions to such problems.

• Pupils expect their teachers to be patient e.g. a slow learner expects the teacher to go slow
when teaching in order to enable him/her attain complete mastery of the subject content.

• They also expect teachers to refrain from anger when mistakes are made. In addition to
this, teachers are expected to be flexible during the teaching-learning process.
• Pupils expect teachers to be honest i.e. to recognize their personal weaknesses and
strengths to benefit pupils more.

• Pupils expect teachers to respect their experiences and contributions during the teaching -
learning process. This promotes greater participation of pupils in lessons.

SUB-CULTURES) IN THE SCHOOL AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON SCHOOL

ACHIEVEMENT OF LEARNERS

A sub-culture refers to unofficial culture practiced by a sub group of people in a given society.
The sub-groups in a school are in form of peer groups. A Peer group is an association of people
within the same age bracket and share the same interests. The members of a peer group interact
as equals. The factors that influence peer group formation in the school include:

- Physical appearance of learners.

- Intellectual capacity of learners.

- Socio economic status of learners

- The age, sex, common interests like in sports, music, dance and drama etc

- Proximity [nearness] caused by many factors e.g. coming from the same village, residing
in the same dormitory etc.

- Behavior of learners.

- Sharing same religious beliefs.

The peer groups in the school provide modes of behavior which members try to live or adapt in
order to lit in their groups regardless of their effects on the school achievement. This is called
peer pressure. It makes an individual to life for the group but not for himself or herself. In a peer
group, self-identity is lost to the peer group identity.
Note. There are many sub-cultures created under peer groups, some of which are acceptable and
others are condemned by the adult society. Coleman (1961) studied American schools and
established that there are four sub cultures which can be observed in the school. These include;

i. Academic sub culture

ii. Fun sub culture

iii. Delinquent sub culture

iv. Vocational sub culture

Sub cultures have both positive and negative influence on the school achievement of learners as
discussed below

Fun sub culture

This is a group of students/ pupils whose pre- occupation is fun. They see the school as a
meeting place with peers in order to have fun or organize activities to have fun. This sub culture
attaches less value to academic success. Pupils/students who fall under fun sub culture like
games and sports, they are stylists, fashion lovers, disco goers etc.

Advantages of fun sub culture

- Learners who belong to fun sub culture break boredom, monotony and tension, which
build up among students in the classroom.

- They are good at mobilizing others for non-academic activities e.g. drama, music, games,
sports etc.

- They willingly participate in the non-academic school activities, which leads to

development of talents and skills in those activities.

- They participate in role plays and demonstrations willingly, which makes the work of a
teacher easy.

- They are morale bolsters especially in non-academic activities thus encouraging others to
participate effectively in these activities
DISADVANTAGES OF THE FUN SUB CULTURE

- The learners' ability to concentrate on academic work is very low.

- They are easily bored by class work. They therefore need a lot of attention in form of follow
up, counseling, motivation and pressure from the teacher in order to perform well in academics.

- Extreme fun making in the classroom is not good for effective teaching learning process. This
may interfere with timetabled work e.g. these learners may cracking jokes and drive the class
away from lesson objectives.

- Fun making in the classroom leads to poor class control thus: the teaching learning process is
destructed.

- Extreme fun making of the teacher may lead to punishment of the whole class by the teacher
e.g. refusing to teach.

- Fun making on shy students/pupils may affect their concentration and contribution in
classroom.

- Some learners under the fun culture escape from school to disco or cinema halls which may
lead to suspension or expulsion from school.

- Wastages of time on non-academic issues, which leads to poor performance.

Academic sub culture

This is a sub group of learners whose concentration is on academic activities to achieve

academic success. This sub culture strives for academic excellence and it is most dominant sub
culture in the school.

Advantages of academic sub culture

- Learners in this group are eager to learn and they do not need a lot of motivation from the
teacher.

- This group helps in class control in that it discourages the non academic activities from
distracting the lessons.
- They may inspire non academicians to work harder and improve their performance. -They
make the work of the teacher easy since they read ahead, they understand easily and supplement
teachers" content.

- They are instrumental especially when group work is assigned by the teacher. flies carryout
adequate research which leads to production of good work.

Disadvantages of academic sub culture

- The academic sub culture may lead to over shadowing of the slow learners during the teaching
learning process. It is easy for teachers to be tempted to move with the fast learners who fall
under this sub culture and ignore the slow learners.

- This group does not involve itself in non-academic school activities e.g. sports and games and
end up not developing their skills, potentials and talents in the non-academic school activities.

- They may destruct the teaching learning process especially when they want to show off that
they know more than the teacher and fellow learners leading to unnecessary arguments in
classroom.

- They may research and read beyond the expected content which may lead to confusion and
wastage of time by the student.

Vocational sub culture

The vocational sub culture is less committed to academics sub culture. Learners under this sub
culture usually aim at reaching the minimum academics levels and the school for work.

At primary school level, this group is more interested in passing than learning. They read to pass
not to learn. At the secondary school level, such learners begin specializing right from senior
one. They concentrate only on the subjects that will enable them get the jobs they would like to
do in future. Such learners do not entertain the idea of going for further studies once they get
minimum qualifications that can enable them to get jobs.
This sub culture discourages the production of an all-round graduate as far as the academic
subjects are concerned. Concentrating on a few subjects at the expense of other subjects in the
school curriculum may also make these students indiscipline.

NOTE: The advantages and disadvantages of vocational sub culture are similar to those of
academic sub culture.
The delinquent sub culture

The delinquent sub culture is characterized by a deliberate effort to reject the official culture of
the school. In the school setting, it is the deviant learners that are members of the delinquent siib
culture. Deviants are non conformists to the school rules and regulations. They usually absent
themselves from the classroom, tease and bull) others, fight others, assault and abuse teachers;
lead violent strikes in the school, reject any form of adult authority and challenge the role of the
teacher in the classroom and in the school.

Disadvantages of delinquent sub culture

- Learners who oppressed by this group may not feel free to learn in their presence e.g. they may
not ask questions in the classroom.

- Teasing and bullying may lead to missing of lessons in the process of healing from injury
inflicted on affected individuals thus leading to poor performance.

- Good students may be influenced to join the life style of delinquents thus becoming anti-
academic.

- Delinquent behavior may lead to punishments e.g. suspension or expulsion from school that
involves staying out of the classroom or school for some time.

- Learners who belong this sub-culture can influence the teachers to use corporal punishments.

- This group can lead to violent strikes in schools resulting into loss of property and lives. -
Challenging the teachers" authority may involve the whole class missing lessons for some time.

- A lot of time is spent on guiding and counseling the students during the class time instead of
teaching.
ADVANTAGES OF THE DELINQUENT SUB CULTURE TOWARDS SCHOOL
ACHIEVEMENT OF LEARNERS

1. Learners who fall under the delinquent sub culture are likely to provide protection to
others during competitions in games, sports, music dance and drama which leads to excellent
performance.

2. The efforts of the delinquent sub culture may lead to formation of friendly school rules
and regulations which promote effective teaching learning process.

3. Good administration procedures are likely to be established in schools especially when a

strike breaks up in the school led by learners of a delinquent sub culture.

4. Learners of delinquent sub culture may force teachers who lazy to perform their roles as
expected e.g. attending to learners regularly, delivering adequate content, being punctual at
school etc.

STRATEGIES WHICH CAN BE USED BY TEACHERS TO MINIMIZE THE

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF SUB-CULTURES ON SCHOOL ACHIVEMENT

- Teachers should avoid making learners of the fun sub-culture sit together in the classroom.
- Administering punishments to enable notorious learners’ reform and behave well especially
learners who belong to delinquent and fun sub-culture Guidance and counseling of learners.
Learners should be made to know the negative influence of the sub-cultures they belong to
and behave accordingly, Career guidance can also be given to learners who want to
specialize in lower classes especially the vocational sub-culture.
- Roll calls should always be taken by the teacher to check the habit of dodging lessons and
escaping from school.
- Teachers should always have rules clearly spelt out to students and enforce them as expected.
- Learners who perform and behave well should be given prizes so that others can emulate
them. Learners who belong to the academic sub-culture should be recognized after
performing well as an encouragement to others.
- Teachers should always keep learners busy by invoking them in co-curricular activities.

- Assign responsibilities to notorious learners.

GROUP PRESENTAION

Sub cultures contribute negatively towards students educational

achievements in Secondary schools. Analyze this statement using relevant
examples
SOCIAL FACTORS IN THE FORMAL EDUCATION PROCESS

In this topic, we snail examine the social factors that influence formal education process either
positively or negatively. These factors include;

i) Home environment

ii) Socio-economic status of the family

iii) Social Cultural beliefs and practices

iv) Politics

v) Rural urban disparities in formal education

Home environment

This refers to the socio-economic, emotional and physical (health) background of the child. It
refers to the child's home environment before and after birth (pre-natal and post-natal
background of a child).

There are basically two types of home environment that affect the school achievement of a
learner. These include;

i) A bad or negative home environment

ii) A good or positive home environment

A bad or negative environment is that environment that does not promote school achievement of
the learner. It is characterized by lack of parental control, love and support, domestic violence,
poor feeding, poor health, child abuse, etc.

A good or positive home environment promotes school achievement of the learner. In this
environment, the learner is exposed to eating a balanced diet which promotes mental
development; he/she is given enough scholastic materials, good medical care, adequate parental
love, care, control and support, enough time to do home work etc.
Effects of a negative/bad pre-natal home environment on a child is school achievement

Before birth, the child's home environment is the mother's womb. Sometimes, this environment
is bad/negative thus effecting the child's school achievement negatively. Examples of a negative
prenatal home environment include;

i) Poor health of an expectant mother e.g a mother who is HIV positive is likely to give
birth to a child who is HIV positive. Such a child is likely to fall sick time and again during
his/her school life this missing some lessons, tests and examinations. A child who is HIV
positive is also likely to be psychologically tortured and stigmatized which affects his/her
concentration on school activities.

ii) Inappropriate nourishment e.g lack of vitamins during pregnancy affects the mental
development of the child. It has also been discovered that deficiency in Vitamin B3 in a child
results into symptoms like;

• Absentminded

• Lack of concentration

• Forgetfulness

• Easy loss of temper

• Getting frustrated easily

• Impatience

• Low tolerance of others

iii) Inappropriate use of drugs, e.g sleeping pills, cocaine heroin, opium, Viagra, Dexedrine,
morphine etc. when these drugs are used by the mother before or during pregnancy, they are
likely to damage the brain of the unborn foetus when a child is born, he/she cannot excel in
his/her studies.
iv) Abuse of alcohol. Mothers who drink alcohol heavily are likely to suffer from repeated
miscarriages and give birth to babies of low weight. The physical growth and development of the
child is very slow which results into late attendance of the school which promotes school
dropout.

v) Over-smoking; some studies have found that men who smoke have an increased risk of
fathering children who contract cancer. Cancer has claimed many lives including school going
children thus affecting enrolment in schools. It has also left many children orphaned. Some
children dropout of school because of lack of parental support and care. Those who remain in
school, study under difficulties leading to poor performance.

Questions for the discussion

la) Identify any 4 negative pre-natal conditions that affect school achievement.

b) Using relevant examples explain how each of the above mentioned conditions affect
school achievement of a primary school learner.

c) Give an account of 3 pre-natal conditions that positively influence a child's school

achievement.

• Good health of the expectant mother

• Appropriate feeding of the expectant mother

• Appropriate use of drugs.

Effects of a negative post-natal home environment on a child's school achievement

After birth, the environment in which a child is nurtured is known as "A post-natal" home
environment. This environment has both positive and negative influence on school achievement.
Examples of a negative/bad post natal home environment include;

A. A broken home; this is a home where parents have either separated or divorced which leaves
children with one biological or with step-mothers/fathers. Some homes are broken in such a way
that there is continuous misunderstanding sand conflicts between the parents which affects the
stability of the home. A broken home influences school achievement both positively and
negatively as discussed below;

i. A broken home can prove to be a great obstacle to a child's ability which leads to poor
performance at school e.g failure of the single parent to raise schools fees and scholastic
materials thus not giving a child an opportunity to complete with others favourably. Such a child
is likely to repeat classes and drop out of school due to lack of support.

ii. Children from a broken home are likely to lack adequate motivation and encouragement
from parents which affects their concentration on studies. This happens when either of the
parents is uneducated and attaches less value to school education or yet he/she brings up the
children after divorce or separation.

iii. It has been established that children from broken homes are likely to be -disturbed
psychologically and emotionally by the misunderstandings between their parents by not
tolerating others, forgetting easily, being absentminded and lack concentration on their studies.

iv. There is also a possibility of children from broken homes to form or join bad peer p
groups due to lack of adequate parental guidance and counseling. Single parents usually do I not
have enough time for their children due to the pressure of sustaining the family. This leaves
children in the hands of their peers who at times lead them to drug abuse, sexual abuse, etc hence
promoting school dropout.

v. Research has also established a close relationship between the development of deviant
behaviour and broken homes. This behaviour is anti-academic and it is against the official
culture of the school. Learners who are deviants violate school rules and regulations and as a
result, they are either expelled or suspended from school which affects their school achievement
negatively.

vi. Children who come from broken homes lire ill equipped for school life because they
always feel insecure even when at school. This limits their interaction with ^ their teachers and
school/class males that eventually leads to poor school achievement e.g they isolate themselves
and do not participate in co-curricular activities thus not developing their potentials in that area.
vi. Some parents especially fathers have sexually abused their daughters during the absence
of their mothers after separation or divorce. This exposes children to contracting STDs, getting
unwanted pregnancies and being psychologically tortured which may lead to school dropout.

viii. Children who come from broken homes especially girls are exposed to doing a lot of
domestic work which does not allow them to do assignments/home works given by teachers.
This may also lead to irregular attendance thus missing lessons, tests and even examinations.
Eventually, low morale is created in children and they develop a negative attitude towards their
studies.

Note: A broken home also has a positive influence on a child's school achievement.

However, its negative effects out weight the positive, effects as shown below;

i) Children from broken homes are likely to be responsible at school. This is transferred
from home especially where children are left in the hands of single parents who are less caring
and children struggle for their survival.

ii) Children whose school fees and other school requirements are raised with difficulty due
to coming from broken homes are likely to work harder and be focused hence promoting their
excellence.

iii) The harsh broken home environment is likely to give out children who are well
behaved/disciplined. These children interact positively with their colleagues and teachers at
school which promotes effective teaching/learning process.

iv) Children from broken homes are likely to persevere harsh conditions at school e.g poor
feeding, surviving with little or no pocket money, doing tasking work [communal work] etc.
Tolerance of these conditions keeps a child in school until she/he completes the studies.

Questions:

1. With examples, illustrate the effects of broken homes on learners in primary schools in
Uganda today.
2. Broken homes ill-equip children for schools achievement. Examine this statement with
relevant examples in reference to primary school education in our society.

B. Lack of the parental control - This is another post-natal factor that influences school
achievement, both positively and negatively. This is a situation where parents have no power or
authority to direct, order, regulate and check their children's behaviour. Children who are not
controlled by their parents can do anything without being questioned e.g being absent from
school without any good reason, demanding change of schools, leaving home very early and
returning very late, denying their parents access to their academic reports, misusing school fees,
etc.
Negative effects of lack of parental control on a child's school achievement

1. Lack of parental control leads to formation of bad peer groups by children which are anti-
academic and do not leave any room for concentration on studies.

2. Children who cannot be controlled by their parents nave no respect for teachers, prefects,
support staff and even administrators. Such children can easily be expelled and suspended from
school because of their indiscipline.

3. Sometimes there is frequent change of schools for children who lack parental control.
These dectitate and demand to be transferred from one school to another which eventually affects
their performance negatively e.g by taking a lot of time to settle and get used to new teachers
which may lead to poor performance.

4. Failure to regulate children by parents also results into misuse of school fees if at all they
get access to it. These children have no fear of their parents which results into double payment.
Some parents who cannot tolerate or afford double payments end up withdrawing their children
form school hence promoting school dropouts.

5. There is increased absenteeism among children who lack parental control. They draw
their own personal timetables and only go to school when they feel like going there. Irregular
attendance does not promote adequate preparation of learners for tests/ examinations and non-
academic school activities hence poor performance.

6. Children who cannot be controlled by their parents are likely to waste a lot of time on
non-academic issues e.g playing computer games, watching films, listening to the radio,
watching football matches, over-sleeping etc thus not doing homeworks, revision and research
which retards school achievement.

7. Failure of parents to control their children exposes them to unnecessary movements

where they can easily be kidnapped, defiled and raped. This leads to contraction of STDs, getting
unwanted pregnancies and child sacrifice which are a menace to school achievements.
8. Lack of parental control also leads to dodging of tests and examinations by school
children. Such children are not willing to give their reports to parents. As a result, they only sit
examination at their own wish which eventually leads to failure.

However, lack of parental control influences school achievement positively as follows/

positive effects of lack of parental control on a child’s school achievement

1. In trying to get rid of them, parents/guardians clear their school fees and provide other school
requirements on time thus reporting early at school. This helps children to settle down and do
beginning of term examinations.
2. On demanding for change of schools, children usually get a chance of being in schools with
good facilities such as well stocked libraries, competent teaching staff, good structures,
enough and good facilities for games and sports etc, which promote school achievement.
3. Children are likely to access extra teaching against parents’ wish which is usually done
during holidays. This gives them an opportunity to revise and cover the content that is not
taught by their teachers.
4. Children draw their own programmes which enable them to create enough time to
concentrate on their studies instead of being over worked by their parents during the holiday
time.
5. Parents who cannot control their children do not have any influence on the choice of subjects,
combinations and courses for their children. This helps children to study subjects and take
courses which suit their abilities and interests which promotes excellence instead of taking up
parents’ choices which may be unsuitable.
Questions

1. “Lack of parental control is detrimental to the school achievement of a primary learner.”

Justify this statement using relevant examples.
2. Explain the effects of lack of parental control on primary school education in Uganda today.
Illustrate your answers with relevant examples.

C. The value attached to school education by parents/guardians and its influence on school
achievement

• The value which each family attaches to school education determines the child's school
achievement positively or negatively.

• Parents/guardians who attach less no value to school education usually engage their
children in doing activities that are considered most important for the family instead of attending
school e.g the Karamojong and the Bahima have a culture of moving with their animals from
place to place in search of posture and water which keeps young boys out of school to look after
animals. In Buganda where crop growing is a prominent activity, children are retained at home to
provide labour instead of enrolling for school education. Evidence among the Muslim
communities in Uganda reveals that many Muslims aspire for business to get high incomes than
school education. As a result, some children are not enrolled in school and others dropout of
school to do business.

• Due to less value attached to school education, some parents/guardians have married off
their daughters at an early age or encourage their sons to marry when they are still young. Some
children are not enrolled for school education at all and others are withdrawn from school to get
married or marry at an early age.

• Some children are not encouraged to attend school regularly due to the less value
attached to school education by their parents/guardians. Some children absentee themselves from
school without a good reason due to parents' reluctantly and others are forced to be absent to do
domestic work. These children miss lessons and other school activities thus poor school
achievement. g
• Parents/guardians who have less value for school education usually do not pay school
fees and meet other school requirements on time. This leads to late reporting of children at
school hence mission beginning of term school activities. Some children are sent back home
during the middle of the term or towards examinations to collect school fees which interrupts
lessons and does not create adequate time for revision hence poor performance.

• Children whose parents/guardians have less or no value for school education are likely to
attend or join school at a later age compared to their counterparts. While the child is expected to
begin be in P. 1 at 6 years according to Ugandan education system, he or she is kept at home and
begins schooling late. This child may develop inferiority complex especially when his/her
classmates are young and eventually drops out of school.

• Children are also sent to school without adequate scholastic materials such note books,
pens, pencils, graph books etc. These children usually depend of borrowing from their friends
which hinders their concentration. Some teachers send children without the required materials
outside the classroom thus missing lessons. It is difficult to catch-up especially after missing the
teachers' explanation hence poor performance.

• Children are rarely visited by parents/guardians whose value for school education is low.
They therefore miss out parental support and follow up on their academic performance and
discipline. This is likely to cause indiscipline and reluctance among children thus poor school
achievement.

• Children are also likely to be taken to poorly facilitated schools e.g without enough
teachers and good stocked libraries when parents/guardians have less or no value attached school
education. They see it as wastage of resources to pay high school fees in first world schools thus
confining children in schools of low standards where they achieve less.

Question

How does high value attached to school education by parents/guardians affect school
achievement. Illustrate your answers with relevant examples.
Social economic class and school achievement

According to Ansu Detta (1984) socio economic class refers to a group of people who occupy a
specific position in relation to the means of production, wealth or income, education level,
political power and social prestige.

The society is basically divided into three socio-economic classes namely;

- High socio-economic status class (HSES)

- Middle socio-economic status class (MSES)
- Low socio economic status class (LSES)

The socio-economic status of a family has been acknowledged to affect the schooling of its
children either negatively or positively.

Positive effects of socio-economic status on school achievement

Questions

1. "The concept of a good and a bad home is not synonymous with economically enriched and
deprived home.” Discuss this statement with reference to the influence of home background on
the school achievement of a child. Illustrate your answers with examples.

2. Give an account of the influence of

a) High socio-economic status

b) Low socio-economic status of the learners' home background on school achievement.

Illustrate your answers with examples.

3. "Children from; high socio-economic status homes have opportunities of wining good
grades in school as compared to their counterparts from the low socio-economic status homes."
Justify this statement using relevant examples.

4. "Poverty and formal education (school education) are not bed-mates." Discuss this
statement with reference to our society.
5. Explain the implications of high socio-economic status and how socio economic status on
the teachers' work as a facilitator of the teaching learning process.

Cultural beliefs and practices and their influence on school education

"Beliefs are feelings or perceptions that people hold to be real or true while practices refer to
frequent or systematic repetition of doing things. African traditional beliefs and practices are
components of culture that affect school education both positively and negatively based on sex
and gender. Gender refers to the roles and responsibilities that society assigns to both males and
females whereas sex refers to the biological and physic al differences between men and women.

Negative effects of cultural beliefs and practices on school education

It is believed that women have to prepare for their roles as wives, mothers and home makers so
they do a lot of household duties that sometimes keep them at home without being enrolled for
school education, leave them with little time for study and make them absent from school

Traditionally, women/girls are believed to be weak physically and mentally. At secondary and
university levels, girls are less likely to enroll for science subjects and science related courses
because they are conceived to masculine subjects/courses. Girls usually opt for humanities and
arts subjects or courses because they are perceived to be easy to pass. In Uganda, especially in
rural areas, some parents and teachers discourage girls from offering science combinations
because they think that girls do not have the same capacity for sciences as boys. They also fear
that a girl child who offers sciences becomes unattractive and she cannot get married. There is a
perception that a woman scientist is not a woman and therefore no man will have her as a wife.
Tradition has it, that women are not supposed to challenge men. This belief is carried by girls up
to school and it affects their participation in the classroom. Most girls are passive and do not
participate actively in classroom activities e.g asking and answering question because they fear
to be challenged by boys.

It is also believed that girls are a source of wealth for their parents /guardians. As a result, girls
are not taken to school or they are withdrawn from school before completing^ their studies to get
married for parents/guardians to get bride price. Similarly, young boys are also encouraged to
marry when they still young instead of being in school for prestigious reasons.
Women/girls are believed to be dependants and men/boys as bread winners. This belief has made
some girls not to take their studies seriously thinking that after getting married, husbands will
look after them.

Girls/women are believed to be inferior and submissive and men/boys to be superior and heads
of families. With this belief, some parents/guardians especially those who are not educated deny
girls formal education thinking that educated women cannot be submissive to their husbands
hence promoting family break ups.

The practice of female genital mutilation among Sebei and circumcision among the Gishu in
Uganda withdraw both girls and boys from school to treat the wounds.

They therefore miss lessons and other school activities which affects their school achievement
negatively. After circumcision, some boys drop out from school to get married in order to prove
their manhood.

In some families, girls/women are sometimes are denied inheritance of their parents' property
and instead inheritance only goes to boys/men. In most cases, girls drop out of school after the
death of their parents due to lack of financial support especially when the heir is self-centred.
Similarly some boys who inherit their parents' property when they are still schooling are likely to
misuse the property and fail to continue with their school education because of shortage of
finances. Inheritance of property also makes some boys think that they are already rich hence
creating a negative attitude towards their studies which can easily lead to school drop.

It is also believed that girls/women should keep their dignity. This belief has denied girls a
chance of continuing with their studies after getting early pregnancies especially at primary and
secondary school level. Though it takes a girl and a boy to make a child, there is evidence that
when a girl gets pregnant by a school boy, only the girl is expelled while a boy continues with
his studies.

In some traditional homes, girls/women are denied some foods such grasshoppers, fish, eggs and
chicken. These foods are taken to be for men only. When an expectant mother is denied these
foods which are rich in proteins, there is no proper mental development of the foetus and after
birth, the child is likely not to compete with others favourably especially in academics with
others.
Positive effects of cultural beliefs and practices on school achievement

Traditionally, boys are not engaged in doing a lot domestic work which gives them ample time to
concentrate on their studies e.g doing assignments or home-works, attending academic
discussions and extra teaching.

A belief that boys/men are mentally and physically strong promotes the offering of science and
technical subjects or courses. Parents and teachers always encourage boys take up these courses
and subjects with a hope that they are capable of passing them as compared to girls.

It is also believed that men/boys should not be challenged by women or girls. With this belief,
boys always dominate girls and participate actively during lessons and achieve highly as
compared to girls.

In -heritance of parents' property by boys at times keeps them in school because of the available
resources to meet financial requirements of formal education.

Through doing of domestic work, girls are capable of acquiring knowledge and skills that enable
them to excel in some subjects like home economics compared to boys because teachers build
from what is learnt from home.

A belief that girls are vulnerable as compared to boys gives them an opportunity to be taken to
good boarding schools where they can concentrate on their studies. They are also given adequate
shopping for the school by their parents/guardians thus enabling them to study with ease.

Boys have always worked very hard at school to have a bright future and give adequate support
and care to their wives and children because culturally, men are taken to be heads and bread
winners in families.

Questions

la) Illustrate negative influence of cultural beliefs and practices on girls' access to formal
education in Uganda.

b) Explain the measures the government of Uganda has put in place to promote girls access to
formal education.
Gender gaps and classroom interaction

Research has shown that there are established gender gaps (inequalities/imbalances in the
teacher-student/pupils interaction that usually affect the learning process negatively especially
among girls.

Shuard (1982) in his study of classroom interaction between the teacher and their nominated
most and least creative students, observed that during mathematics lessons, teachers interacted
more with boys than girls. In such circumstances girls are likely to receive the message that they
are not expected to participate and they are likely to give up the subject.

Research mainly carried out in the west has shown that teachers in co-education schools pay
more attention to boys. In the United Kingdom, teachers were found to devote 63% of their time
attending to boys, marginalizing or ignoring girls (Spender 1989).

In some instances girls are treated as a group while boys are given individual attention. To some
teachers who are not gender sensitive, boys work appears to be better than that of girls. This
result into girls lagging behind boys in school achievement, lose confidence and participate less
in the classroom.

Some research has documented situations where girls are less likely to receive help from boys in
cooperative study groups, and if there is only one girl in a group, the boys usually ignore her
(Lee, 1992).

There is also unequal access to space and resources by boys and girls in formal education
system. Observation of classroom interaction indicates that boys assert their dominance in
laboratories and workshop rooms by making disproportionate use of the available resources and
demanding more of the teachers' time and attention (white 1984).

In some countries e.g Japan and Netherlands, girls schools have historically been allocated fewer
resources in all subjects, especially mathematics and physical sciences. These resources include
qualified teachers, teachers' materials and equipment (Fin 1972).
In his study about women access to higher education in Kenya, Eshiwani (1983) found out that
university attendance and professional preparation of young Kenya women was affected by
lower access to secondary school education and attendance of under-funded girls' schools.

Evidence also suggests that cooperative learning may not always increase girls participation and
achievement in the classroom. Jovanovich and King (1998) found out that boys are more likely
to dominate girls where they are scarce resources in the school setting. It has also been
discovered that boys tend to dominate girls in computer related activities/subjects. In these
circumstance, girls become passive participants which does not promote effecting learning

Question

la Explain established gender gaps in Uganda's formal education system.

b) Suggest practical solutions to the above identified gender gaps to promote positive school
achievement.
THE ROLE OF UGANDA'S EDUCATION SERVICE COMMISSION

The teaching service commission is a body established by law under article 102 sub section (1)
of the 1967 constitution of the Republic of Uganda. Its functions include the following:

Conduct interviews for candidates intending to become teachers. The purpose of this is to sort
out candidates who are fit to qualify as teachers.

The commission is also empowered to suspend and dismiss any teacher for misconduct. This
helps to minimize the rate of misconduct among the teachers e.g teachers making their female
students pregnant while at school.

Question: To what extent is teaching in Uganda a profession? Illustrate our answer with
examples.

RELEVANCE OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

- Sociology of Education is a course component of Foundations of Education, a field of study

which usually includes; Philosophy of Education, History of Education, Comparative
Education and Educational Administration. Foundations of Education is a course requirement
in the preparation and making of teachers. As a teacher, that is, an educationist, you need to
know the importance of Sociology of Education.
- Sociology of Education enables the student teacher to prepare pupils of differing
backgrounds in the school to accommodate each other, accept and live in harmony with their
schoolmates. This acceptance and humorous understanding continues even after an
individual has left school life.
- It helps you to better your method of teaching and improve the content of what is to be
taught. For example, the discipline will enable you to examine the effect of a child's
environment on his/her performance in the classroom and school. For example, a child from
a low socio-economic status will require a different approach from a child of high socio-
economic status. Sociology of Education enables you to identify the problems of
pupils/students in order to offer proper guidance and counseling. Take for example,
identifying the problems faced by the adolescent in the school for proper handling and
direction.
- The discipline enables the student teacher to encourage pupil's in a school society to form
meaningful groups, that is, groups which will allow you to achieve your objectives and
school goals. You will encourage your pupils/students to adopt the right form of interaction
among themselves and with their teachers in order to achieve the school goals.
- Since Sociology of Education examines the significance of education in society. It enables
you to teach with a purpose. That is, you will be conscious of the curriculum (the content of
what you teach) to enable the child become a useful, member in society. You will therefore
have a positive attitude towards curriculum reform.
- Sociology of Education helps a student teacher to identify his/her role as a teacher especially
in the school. The discipline identifies clearly the parents' and pupils' expectations of the
teacher, which she/he is supposed to fulfill for the smooth running of the school.
- Sociology of education examines your role in socialization process and enables you to play
your socializing roles adequately. The discipline equips the student teacher with formal and
informal methods of socializing the child e.g through teaching and other activities like your
behavior in school and outside the school to equip learners with desirable values and norms
of the society.
- Sociology of Education prepares you to manage your classroom effectively. The sociology of
the classroom reveals to you sub-cultures in the classroom (academic, fun, delinquent and
vocational sub-cultures) and how to go about them. Your will, therefore, be able to handle
students from these sub-cultures appropriately.
- As a professional teacher, Sociology of Education helps you to understand the nature of the
teaching profession. It spells out clearly how a teacher should conduct him/herself towards
pupils, fellow teachers, administrators and other community members. This prepares you to
be exemplary in society especially to the children you teach.
REFERENCES:
Ezewu Edward (1996) Sociology of Education, 4th Edition, Longman, London.
Omona A.M (1998) Sociology of Education, Department of Distance Education, Makerere
University, Kampala.
Musgrave P.W (1979) The Sociology of Education, 3rd Edition, Mathnuer, London.
Ansu Datta (1989) Education and Society: A Sociology of Africa Education, Macmillan,
London.
Ministry of Education and Sports (1992), Government White Paper, Kampala.
 GROUP PRESENTATION QUESTIONS
Question:
1. Subcultures contribute negatively towards the students
educational achievement in secondary schools, analyses this
statement using relevant examples.
2. Explain the pre-natal conditions that influence formal
education.
3a) explain the factors that have led to increased breaks of
family in your society.
b) What should be done to mitigate the above mentioned
4. Explain how lack of parental control has contributed to
pre-school achievements in your society.