When a man mobilised to build settlements into a society , eventually they involved in cultural activities .
Education designed as a tool to spearhead and preserve its own cultural heritage and transform the human skills to positively exploit their environment to be conducive and sustainability to human life.
One may ask:''What are the functions of education for society as a whole?''
''How the social functions relate to its Educational system and other avenues of social system?''
In order to understand this questions more comprehensively lets have some authoritative definition of Education system.
According to Shipman (1976:3) Education is organised process through which each successful generation learns the accummulated knowledge of the society. Whilst Kneller and Connor cited in Ezewu (1989:32) say Education is a system whereby the society deliberately transmits its cultural heritage through instutions designed to teacher and train its citizens inorder to develop new look and perfect their skills.
These processes and social Educational systems promote learning which enable social members to acquire all the necessary skills ,behaviours ,knowledge ,values and norms which society considers moral worthwhile for them.
Inaddition Lawton (1973) asserts curriculum as a selection from culture. In its wider perspectives Education includes experiencing training and disciplining in order to make developments in the mentality ,morality and physique potentially for the maturing person.
According to the functionalist perspectives society have functional prerequisite or basic needs that are supposed to be met by subsystems or social institutions. Hence the above questions contends to guide the ideology of functionalism (Ferrante 1998).
Functionalists see society as functions according to consensus of its social institutions and every member contributes to the maintenance of homogenety and social solidarity. Education provides the functional prerequisite both latent and manifests intended and unintended functions of Education (Merton in Ferrante 1998).
And Mannheim in Ferrante (1998) suggests that education becomes a means of solving social problems and removing social antagonism. Hence the Education produces the understood products which is a great contribution to the promotion and sustainability of social order.
The godfather of functionalism Durkhelm quoted by Haralambos and Horbon (2004) says Education can be seen as an agency of socialisation through the transmission of a shared or common cultural values consensus.
Through socialisation individuals' commitments and capacities are developed ,these are of great significance prerequisite for their future role performance. These commitments can be broken down into components that is commitment to the implication of broad values of society and commitment to the performance of a specific type of role within the structures of the society. These capacities are categorised into two groups:
(1)Competence of the skill to perform the task involve individual role.
(2)Capacity to live up to other people expectations of the interpersonal appropriate to those wrong.
Durkheim suggests that Education can be also an agency of manpower allocation because it imparts skills necessary for future occupations, Specialisation combine to produce products for social use in the organised division of labour system.
Durheim views the school institution as miniature implying itself to be seen as a small society acting to link the family and its society.
Therefore Education links individuals to the society through teaching social sciences and physical pure science with environmental world.
This enhances co-operation of social solidarity and physical enviroment into a whole for a common good so that life become sustainable. Education provide a constitution awareness in the context where members understand the natural laws and social rules.
This rules should be morally followed inorder to live in harmony with society and its physical environment. Punishment exerted to correct offenders and should be clear imposed to them inorder not repeat these crimes again.
By observing and respect the laid down laws and rules the citizens learn to be responsible citizens who develop the sense of self control and restraint. Durkheim argued that imposition of corporal punishment is wrong and believed in good habits without fear ,immitidation and force to those being judged against their offence.
Teachers are seen as loco-parentis as they assumed the role of parents in schools to socialise children into a modelled basic values of the society. These teachers are professionals who should spearhead the value of success by encouraging children to sacrifice the higher grades of academic,morally and rewarding those succeeded.
Inaddition they should foster a sense of shared opportunity by helping them in the different situation as giving the motives to be competence on equal terms in external Examination set up.
This necessitate its validity and reability to accept different rewards attained on different achievements both higher rewards and lower performers to perceive the fair and trustworth system in a situation where everyone honestly given equal chances. Thus education values to be important in society ,which can determines the wages of different professions with few achieved earned higher than least paid ones (Parsons 1959).
Inconclusion this reviews the importance of the functional prerequisite of effective contributi
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