SOCIOLOGY IN

EDUCATION
 WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY AND
SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION
 Different scholars define sociology in different
ways.
 1. Sociology is the scientific study of
 Social interactions and the development of
human social interactions
 2. Ezewu (1986) defines it as a scientific study of
 human behavior in groups.
 3. Godia (1988)defines sociology as the
 Science of society.
Therefore sociology studies the social interactions
in groups.

It seeks to study the elements, patterns and

consequences of the individual behaviors before
and after interaction

The subject matter of sociology includes major

institutions which make society like family and the
education system and how individuals interact in
these institutions to fulfill the specific functions of
society assigned to each.
Sociology of Education

 The responsibility of training individuals in the

society is primarily vested on the parents at
home and the teachers in schools. The
beneficiaries are nurtured to acquire requisite
skills and knowledge to live successfully in the
society.
 In the modern times, school has assumed very
great importance in the training of individuals
because of the complexities of life in the
modern times.
  The school is a place where the child develops
socially desirable behaviours that assist him to
make progress in the society in an acceptable
manner. In other words, the school gives much to
Sociology the society by training the young members of the
society to acquire necessary skills and
of knowledge which enable them to contribute their
Education quota to the overall development of the society.
 In conclusion
 SE is a branch of sociology which analyses the institutions and organizations of
education. It deals with the relationships between education and other
institutions of society like the family, economy, religion and politics. It studies the
role of education in development as generally provided by the state.
Introduction to Sociological Issues in
Education

Sociological perspectives in education

In this module we will discuss themes such as:
 What are the social roles of schools, teachers and parents
regarding the education of children?
 Theories of child socialization;
 The role of the family in child development and
learning;
 The school as a social organization;
 Gender issues in education; and
 Social issues in education (e.g. poverty, diversity,
HIV/AIDS, drugs/alcohol abuse).
 Sociological theories and their application to
education

 Sociologists depend on theories to help them

explain the social world and organize their ideas
about how it operates.
 A theory is the analysis and statement of how
and why a set of facts relates to each other.
 In sociology, theories help us understand how
social phenomena relate to each other.
Contn

 Theories help sociologists explain why and how society works.

By understanding the real causes of how and why things operate
as they do, we can find ways to address the things that need
improvement.
  There is a governance mechanism.
 Democratic structures.
 Communication channels and reporting
structures.
 Division of labour.
 Support structures (e.g. clinic, counselling,
social-workers)
The School as a  Vision, mission statements.
Social  Backward and forward linkages
Organization with other social organizations.
 Collaboration and co-operation
(communality).
 Think of other descriptors to show
that a school is a community or social
organization.
 Social Milieu-deprivation and
Compensatory Education

Pierre Bourdieu’s Social Practice Theory

 Every person’s life trajectory and identity is
influenced by:
 HABITUS- The habits, behaviour, worldview derived
from the culture, family and socialization process,
 FIELD- The context within which the habitus develops (The
interactive space/s or social milieu, e.g. the family, the
community, the workplace, the school),
 CAPITAL- The material, economic, social, cultural and
symbolic resources available to enhance life-chances.
Social Milieu-deprivation and
Compensatory Education

Habitus

Field Capital
 Social Milieu-deprivation and
Compensatory Education

 Milieu-deprivation refers to structural disadvantages

which limit and constrain the quality of the habitus,
field and capital.
 Children affected by such disadvantages
display social, cultural and educational handicaps.
 Social Milieu-deprivation and
Compensatory Education

Causes of milieu-deprivation include:

 Low economic and social status
 Low income/ inferior occupations
 Unemployment
 Lack of community ownership and involvement in social
development
 Lack of socio-economic and infrastructural
development
 In short, poverty
 Social Milieu-deprivation and
Compensatory Education

Milieu-deprivation manifests as:

 Poor living environments
 Poor interpersonal communication or social
interaction
 Low cultural standards, expectations and
ambitions
 Social problems (e.g. dysfunctional families, substance
abuse, violence, teen-pregnancies, diseases)
 Social Milieu-deprivation and
Compensatory Education

Schools can alleviate the problem of milieu-deprivation through:

 Providing pre-school education to facilitate school readiness
(language, perception, attention, routine, discipline, etc.),
 Primary schools- adjusting methods and learning/teaching
materials to compensate for the child’s inadequate
background and experiences,
 Part-time education programmes- e.g. evening classes to cater for
youths and adults who missed school,
 Vocational subjects- to provide poor children with
productive skills for careers,
 Social Milieu-deprivation and
Compensatory Education

Schools can alleviate the problem of milieu-deprivation

through:
 Counselling- Providing psychological support
for extreme cases of mental stress,
 Curriculum- Enriching extra-mural activities to
facilitate interaction and social skills, trips and
excursions, exposure to the mass media, computer
literacy, etc.
 Professional development of educators- workshops to
equip teachers with skills and knowledge to implement
compensatory education,
 Social Milieu-deprivation and
Compensatory Education

Schools can alleviate the problem of milieu-

deprivation through:
 Community and parental involvement- enhancing the
links between parents and schools so that parents
complement the efforts of teachers,
 Special services- Provision of medical workers (e.g.
nurses), social workers, psychologists, nutritionists,
etc. at schools or community centres to help children.
 School gardens and feeding schemes
 Social Challenges in South African
Society

The following are some social challenges that characterize some

communities within South Africa:
 Ethnocentrism
 Xenophobia
 Racial and ethnic intolerance
 Language politics
 Regionalism
 Drunkenness and a lack of self-respect
 Looking down on one’s culture
 Self-hatred
All these have a negative impact on the delivery of education
 Social Challenges in South African
Society

THEORIES OF XENOPHOBIA
The Isolation Hypothesis
 South Africans are not used to foreigners because of
their long period of isolation from the outside world
during apartheid
 Foreigners represent ‘the unknown’ to South Africans
 The unknown induces anxiety and
xenophobia is a defense mechanism
 Social Challenges in South
African Society
THEORIES OF XENOPHOBIA
• The Scapegoat Hypothesis
• Frustration with slow socio-economic progress
• Projecting of anger onto ‘frustration scapegoats’
• Targeting the ‘other’
• Relative deprivation and social comparisons
• Political, economic and patriarchal dimensions
(e.g. rape of foreign women) used as a weapon
against foreign men.
 Social Challenges in South
African Society
The Bio-cultural Hypothesis
• Xenophobia targets visibly different ‘others’
• Biological and cultural differences seen in
African foreigners trigger the aggression in
locals
• (Does not explain why white, Asian and other
foreigners are not targeted)
 Social Challenges in South
The Transition Hypothesis
African Society
• The shift from a past of racism to nationalism created social, economic
and cultural contradictions and expectations
• The new discourses of ‘the new South Africa’ and ‘African Renaissance’
frame the xenophobic culture
• ‘Africa’ is depicted as a chaotic place ‘out there’, removed from the
reality of the new ‘Rainbow Nation’
• The media depicts ‘Africa’ negatively through stereotypes and
generalizations
• Alarmist statements such as ‘floods of foreign Africans
pouring into
South Africa’ Ideas about crime, illegal immigrants, chaos and
disorder
• Images of African immigrants as carriers of disease
• The Rainbow Nation under threat
• A conflict and a clash of identities (South African vs African)
 Social Challenges in South
African Society
The Culture of Violence Hypothesis
• Xenophobia seen as being just one
expression of South Africa’s long history of
violence
• Nationalism seen as a struggle for control of
the means of violence. Foreigners are just
caught up in the struggle because they
provide an easy target