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THE SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION
The key aim is to show how classes are reproduced through the educational system
especially the reproduction of the working class. Youth entry into the labour market from
school is affected by the following:
1) The class position of the family- resources used by the family to secure better
employment (through connections).
2) The gender of the new job seeker.
3) Locality within which work is sought
4) Educational skills possessed by the job seeker
5) State policies on youth employment and training
What is education?
It is a way of socialisation where people are taught the values of society. In modern
society formal education has largely replaced informal ways of socialisation. In many
cases this formal socialisation is accompanied by certification (diplomas, degrees)
such that the modern society has become a credential society. This shows the
importance of certificates in determining job eligibility and other life chances
although in many cases these certificates are not particularly relevant to the task at
hand. The paper becomes more important than the ability to perform a task.
Functionalism and education
Functionalists are interested in explaining the functions of education in society. They
argue that imparting knowledge and skills enables people to perform their roles
effectively and efficiently in society. This is the reason why educational institutions
exist and enjoy the support of the taxpayer. Besides ensuring that roles are performed,
education has the following functions;
1) Transmission of cultural values from generation to generation
2) Social integration (AGIL by Parsons)- education helps to mould students into
a cohesive unit (although coming from different backgrounds), a sense of
belonging is created through the curricula. This sense of shared identity is
particularly encouraged where students put on uniforms (thus giving a sense
of belonging).
3) Gate keeping-functions where schools determine occupations into which
people enter, by matching people’s abilities with job requirements. It is the
educational institutions that direct people into different academic and practical
ways.
4) Social placement- stratification- education assists those students with high
intellectual capacity to go higher than those that do not have.
5) Promotions of personal change- students are encouraged to think critically
about the world around them and themselves. Usually educated people tend to
be more liberal while uneducated ones tend to be more conservative.
Education exposes people to other views, and opinions so that people begin to
understand that there is another reality besides that which they know.
6) Social change- it is promoted through the development of liberal ideas and
through research.
7) Replacement of the family or some traditional functions of the family for
example pre-schools perform a dual function of being a school and a baby
sitter. This relieves the working parents’ function of looking after children.
8) Assisting parents in educating children- especially true on issuers that families
cannot handle, either because of lack of knowledge or some cultural
inhibitions for example, sex education system therefore fills the gap of lack of
knowledge by parents.
Less visible functions of education
1) Matchmaking educational institutions are contexts where people meet and
identify their future spouses for example, Bill and Hillary Clinton met at
college. These are contexts where people identify similar interests and
training.
2) Social networking- where education creates and maintains friendships.
These lead to social networks even after graduation. They are maintained
through old students associations, business networks, and political
networks, drinking circles.
3) Stabilisation of employment – because educational institutions keep part
of the labour force out of the labour market for many years (16 –20). In
Zimbabwe the strategy of creating as many educational institutions as
possible keeps people in school as much as possible. Even the
maximisation of intakes at universities is a strategy by policymakers
meant to stabilise labour force while in the meantime seeking solutions to
their problems. In a context where no such mechanisms are available a
crisis of expectations is created.
THE CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE
Marxists argue that education exists to maintain inequality. It is used by the
ruling class to maintain dominance over other classes.
The concept of the hidden curriculum by Ivan Illich
The hidden curriculum refers to the latent functions of education (these
functions that education serves besides what we see). The hidden curriculum
refers to the unwritten rules of behaviour and attitudes such as obedience to
authority and conformity that the education systems help to promote. Schools
use this hidden curriculum to perpetuate social inequality and in this sense
preparing students for life outside the school. This implies teaching students
from subordinate classes how to be loyal and support capitalism. Jackson
(1968) says the HC refers ways in which pupils learn to accept the denial,
delay and interruption of their personal desires. Worsley (1970) defines the
HC as those values and patterns of behaviour that are often not normally
taught but are an integral part of schooling, as we know it. They help reinforce
the status of the powers that be. In Zimbabwe the educational system inherited
from the colonial masters is an example where the education was not geared
towards the production of entrepreneurs but towards production of reliable,
subservient workers.
Evidence of the hidden curriculum in Zimbabwe
1) The insistence that one must pass English that is an official language
in the business world.
2) Emphasis on academic courses at the expense of practical courses.
3) Inequality in the funding of school.
The correspondence principles (Bowles and Gintis 1976)
Bowles and Gintis have used the correspondence principle to show how schools reflect
social structures. The argument is that almost in every aspect the school system agrees
with or reflects the status quo. As a result schools should not be seen as agents of change
but as agents of the reproduction of the status quo. Bowles and Gintis studied the
American society and came up with the following comparisons;
1) Society believes in a capitalism of free enterprise. This is reflected in the
education institutions that reward individual effort and competition among
students (these compete for prizes, positions and awards). This individual reward
system is a reflection of the capitalist spirit of one man for himself and God for us
all.
2) Social inequality-the unequal functions of school. Some schools get more funding
from the state than others. Some are more expensive than others. Inequality is a
reflection of society.
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM (LABELLING PERSPECTIVE)
The interest of interactionists in the sociology of education is on the face-to-face
interaction between the teacher and students in a classroom situation. The
performance of the student is affected by perceptions of the teacher as well as
negotiations between the two parties.
The classroom as a negotiated order
Cotgrove (1980:85) argues that both the teacher and student size up their strengths
and weaknesses in their respective bargaining positions to discover what resources
each can mobilise. The classroom is seen as essentially a focus for a struggle for
power in the process of negotiating behaviour. Thus students will adopt a variety of
strategies to influence the day-to-day activities of the classroom- including the
content of the lessons and the teacher’s expectations of what they should do.
Negotiations take place around how work is assessed, marks are queried and what
counts as a correct answer may be argued about. The performance of the student is
not measured objectively but is coloured by perceptions of the teacher, the
background of the student and power relations.
Study by Rist
Rist studied a black American school where he discovered that the teacher’s
perceptions influenced the student’s ability. Within 8 days of the commencement of
the classes the teacher already knew or felt she knew the abilities of the students to
the extent that she could screen them into 3 groups- slow learners, average learners
and fast learners. The screening was not based on any test but on the perceptions of
the teacher. Those placed in the fast learners’ group were also placed furthest from
the teacher. Further investigation showed that social class was a very significant
factor in determining which group one went into. More attention was given to fast
learners because they were perceived to be bright, exciting, challenging and willing to
learn while those in other groups were given little attention. The argument is that the
awareness of the teacher motivated the fast learners to perform better while other
groups were demotivated. Therefore at the end the fast learners excelled. It becomes a
self-fulfilling prophecy.
The labelling theory argues that those labelled as intelligent and bright put more
effort to fulfil the prophecy. The labelling theorists argue against the whole idea of
screening. The argument being that the tests used for assessing ability have a bias.
People who administer them are also biased. The bias comes from the class of the
individual who does the testing. Therefore failing an examination is not a sign of lack
of intelligence but an indication that you have not been asked things that you know.
Summary of Sociology of education
The sociology of education discusses the origin and persistence of educational
inequalities and the relationship between education and the economy in general. It
discusses access and opportunity to education. Reimer (1971) argues that the failures
of schooling are intrinsic to the school system. Gintis (1972) argues that the school
mirrors the inequalities of a capitalist society and reproduces them. The main
question that this topic attempts to answer is on the role of formal education in social
and cultural reproduction and the extent to which any changes in the educational
system merely reproduce the status quo in society or contradicts.
THE END