All of us grown up and developed within a family and matured to have our own families. We may differ in the system of Education we received either formal or informal Education.
One may ask,'' what is a family?''
A family is the smallest institution or unit in a community ,other institutions found are religious groups ,schools,social clubs etc.
Jary and Jary (1995) says a family is any group of persons united by ties of marriage,blood or adoption.
This may conclusive to mean a family is a social group characterised by common residence ,economic co-operation and reproduction, hence it comprise of adults of both sexes who maintain a social approved sexual relationship and children who might be their own or adopted.(Scott and Marshal 2005)
The important criteria of a family is members who are bond together if not by blood , then by some cultural ceremony such as marriage or adoption this ties them together relatively permanent so that they can live together and assumed the responsibility for each other.
The functionalists perceived the society as a social system with integrated social institutions of which a family is part of an institution which ensures order and stability in the society. Haralambos and Holborn (2008)say a family is a social instituation which has its specific functions ,thus socialisation,reproduction ,economic production and regulation of sexual behaviours which are shaped by values and consensus.
When the family fails to play its part it becomes dysfunctional and the society becomes sick , the whole system is affected. The consequence is social pathology where the moral fibre of the society decays. The family dyfunctionals are child abuse,divorce ,domestic violence ,death among others.
In the Education system a family function as an agent of primary socialisation that transmits society's norms ,values ,beliefs ,knowledge ,system ,skills and attitudes to the next generation (Ezewu 1993).
In other words a family is responsible of moulding the child into an acceptable responsibility and productive member of the society,hence the family is the foundation of all related Education of the child for social acceptable behaviour.
Protective and nurturing of family should fulfil the child's needs ,for example Education ,shelter,food,health,security ,love,a sense of belonging ,clothing etc. According to Mwamwenda (1995)if this needs are not fulfilled the child's academic performance may be affected we are also likely to have child abuse,street kids,thieves and child prostitution.
The family also functions as biological reproduction of humanity ,the society needs new generations to ensure its continuity and survival thus reproduction as a primary and extremely important function of the family. If this function fails we are likely to experience a society to extinct.
The family regulates the sexual behaviours as it established norms, values and respect of moral sexual activities which cannot threatened family members to contact sexually related diseases,involve in sexual related violence , ended up in divorce or associate with multiple sexual partners among others. Hence it is the family that the child is socialised into strict rule and taboos like ripe ,incest ,adultery and pre-marital sex (Pretorius 2000). The failure of family to carry its responsibility, arised to the problems that might affects its functions which include rape ,prostitution ,sodomy ,incest and bestiality.
Therefore this seems to be lack of 100% total freedom advocated in any society or culture . Punishment for transgation differs from the society to society when family fails to play this role.
30 September 2010
SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION:MARXIST /CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE
As propounded by Karl Max and his associates who observed the society as characterised by conflicts and coercion between two major social classes.
The social classes are as a result of those who own means of production and those who exploited to produce in the system of means of production. By means of production they refer to land ,capital,building/machinery and other equipments.
The owners of means of production are known as 'bourgeosies'(haves) who also fall in the ruling elite . And the have nots or working class known as the 'proletariate'.Who exploited their labour exchanged with unfair low wages.
Hence these two major social classes enter into relationaships of production to produce their needs and wants. Unfortunately because of exploitative nature of the relationship resulted into conflicts and struggles which evidenced by work stoppages,strike,demostration or stay away at the working group demands fair compensation and good working conditions.
Thus how Marxism theory of conflict perspective developed from skewed relations necessitated by social struggles between these major two groups. He (Marxist)argued to Durkheim a functionalist propounder who ruled out the struggle of social institutions as these institutions work in harmony for production with each other and the changes are gradual in the social dynamism.Infact Marxist insists that the changes in the society are caused by conflicts between the poorly remunerated working class against the ever profitable and rich capitalists who restrict resources to the workers to remain poor. In this view the workers shall fight for their rights and the changes will be radical or revolutionary.
The conflicts is essential to correct the social injustice perpetuated by the haves who use coercive power and manipulative authority to hold the labelling tendencies and suppress the have nots against upheavals ,nevertheless the change is inevitable and very rapid.
According to Marxist perspective Education designed by the capitalists to provide more manpower for their industries and is a training area to operate sophisticated machinery.In his view Marxist probes Education as:
Whose culture?
Whose norms and values does an Education system serve?
Bourdieu in Bannet and Lecompte (1990) says,the major role of Education system is cultural reproduction ,this doesn't involve the transmission of the culture of the society as a whole.The school curriculum is a deliberate selection from the culture of ruling class(dominant )thus it serves their interests. Majority of children from the dominant class tend to experience academic success because of their familarity with the content of the curriculum.
In contrasts children from the working class backgrounds who are alien to the content of this Education system, majority of them failed academically ,since success favours the dominant group in the job market the existing inequalities are perpetuated.
And Bowels and Gintis talk of social reproduction ,that's the school prepare children for their place in the world of work. In other words the Education functions to legitimise and justify the status-quo . Therefore the school serves interests of the dominant group.
The Educational implications in the social system is a direct consequence of the nature of its economic system. Education teaches the value of the ruling dominant class according to their culture of supremacy to be perpetuated.
The curriculum implementers (teachers) need to base up for curriculum changes and innovations because changes are disliking and inevitable which calls for curricular and educational policies to be adoptive.For example the technological advancement demands the use of Intermediate Communication Technology (ICT) which may make it impossible to persist with traditional way of education system.
Moreover Marxst's criticism based on haves and have nots stand on the economic foundation (Infrustructure) and super structure of non economic institutions . But the conflict can arise from other areas besides economy ,for example power ,status etc.
* Please also note that the social developments are not always influenced by the economic base.
The social classes are as a result of those who own means of production and those who exploited to produce in the system of means of production. By means of production they refer to land ,capital,building/machinery and other equipments.
The owners of means of production are known as 'bourgeosies'(haves) who also fall in the ruling elite . And the have nots or working class known as the 'proletariate'.Who exploited their labour exchanged with unfair low wages.
Hence these two major social classes enter into relationaships of production to produce their needs and wants. Unfortunately because of exploitative nature of the relationship resulted into conflicts and struggles which evidenced by work stoppages,strike,demostration or stay away at the working group demands fair compensation and good working conditions.
Thus how Marxism theory of conflict perspective developed from skewed relations necessitated by social struggles between these major two groups. He (Marxist)argued to Durkheim a functionalist propounder who ruled out the struggle of social institutions as these institutions work in harmony for production with each other and the changes are gradual in the social dynamism.Infact Marxist insists that the changes in the society are caused by conflicts between the poorly remunerated working class against the ever profitable and rich capitalists who restrict resources to the workers to remain poor. In this view the workers shall fight for their rights and the changes will be radical or revolutionary.
The conflicts is essential to correct the social injustice perpetuated by the haves who use coercive power and manipulative authority to hold the labelling tendencies and suppress the have nots against upheavals ,nevertheless the change is inevitable and very rapid.
According to Marxist perspective Education designed by the capitalists to provide more manpower for their industries and is a training area to operate sophisticated machinery.In his view Marxist probes Education as:
Whose culture?
Whose norms and values does an Education system serve?
Bourdieu in Bannet and Lecompte (1990) says,the major role of Education system is cultural reproduction ,this doesn't involve the transmission of the culture of the society as a whole.The school curriculum is a deliberate selection from the culture of ruling class(dominant )thus it serves their interests. Majority of children from the dominant class tend to experience academic success because of their familarity with the content of the curriculum.
In contrasts children from the working class backgrounds who are alien to the content of this Education system, majority of them failed academically ,since success favours the dominant group in the job market the existing inequalities are perpetuated.
And Bowels and Gintis talk of social reproduction ,that's the school prepare children for their place in the world of work. In other words the Education functions to legitimise and justify the status-quo . Therefore the school serves interests of the dominant group.
The Educational implications in the social system is a direct consequence of the nature of its economic system. Education teaches the value of the ruling dominant class according to their culture of supremacy to be perpetuated.
The curriculum implementers (teachers) need to base up for curriculum changes and innovations because changes are disliking and inevitable which calls for curricular and educational policies to be adoptive.For example the technological advancement demands the use of Intermediate Communication Technology (ICT) which may make it impossible to persist with traditional way of education system.
Moreover Marxst's criticism based on haves and have nots stand on the economic foundation (Infrustructure) and super structure of non economic institutions . But the conflict can arise from other areas besides economy ,for example power ,status etc.
* Please also note that the social developments are not always influenced by the economic base.
THE ROLE OF A SCHOOL IN EDUCATION PROCESS
Schools are formally organised places where patterned instructions are given.They are social institutions in which teaching and learning take place at a specific times and places.They are made up of teachers,subjects,pupils/students ,time,methods ,processes,activities and places.
Schools care for all aspects of of the child's development .This includes the child's cultural enrichment (development),characters and academic attainments.In this regard the school's function is that of changing and equipping the child with the necessary attitudes values and skills that the child needs to function appropriately in society.The school educates both young and adults for development , without Education, development can not take place.The human factor is an important element in development whether social ,economical or political.
In the recent past,schools were places where children went to learn in preparation for employment in urban and mining centres especially in developing countries and Africa in particular, parents accepted this as the norm.
Knowledge is power ,therefore every children needs to have access to reading materials at school and in Education .Because of the information edge where anyone can do everything must have access to the information which can now found on internet ,books ,newspapers and other useful sources.When children developed reading habit very well.It is something which will last longer and help children to have wide information in development of their various choices.
The challenges found in developing countries are the shortage of reading materials.In rural areas for instances most under priviledged children don't have books to read and worse still the majority do not come across internet even a computer in their lifetime.
Children are crucial asset of the nation,but if not given access to good schooling and Education they become a liability.
The herald a local paper in Zimbabwe acknowledged that children who set for the end of primary school examination in rural areas scored 0% in 2009.Although the blame lies with the teachers ,whom accused of crying for better salaries.However for the past seven years children learn for these examinations there is a lot needed to be done for children's Education.Among them is to give children access to reading.When children sit for examination the examination rules and regulations strictly requires the candidates to sit quietly and read alone everything set before him/her on the question paper.
Think about the expected results ,when the said candidate is not able to read worse still not developed fully the writing skills.
Reading and writing are the foundation of the developments of future responsible adults for the nation.
The global news reports that Africans who are access to computers and internet literacy are less than 2% .When such statistics is recorded in a continent which is regarded as developing is pathetic to say there is no developing.
Playing the blame game is not necessary ,instead to cooperate with those spearhead children 's educational development will give a positive difference. Developments in the technological achievements give the solutions to reduce poverty at all costs.
There is a need for an awareness of collective responsibility so that no one will be lagged behind because of the socio-economic background or the race.
Schools care for all aspects of of the child's development .This includes the child's cultural enrichment (development),characters and academic attainments.In this regard the school's function is that of changing and equipping the child with the necessary attitudes values and skills that the child needs to function appropriately in society.The school educates both young and adults for development , without Education, development can not take place.The human factor is an important element in development whether social ,economical or political.
In the recent past,schools were places where children went to learn in preparation for employment in urban and mining centres especially in developing countries and Africa in particular, parents accepted this as the norm.
Knowledge is power ,therefore every children needs to have access to reading materials at school and in Education .Because of the information edge where anyone can do everything must have access to the information which can now found on internet ,books ,newspapers and other useful sources.When children developed reading habit very well.It is something which will last longer and help children to have wide information in development of their various choices.
The challenges found in developing countries are the shortage of reading materials.In rural areas for instances most under priviledged children don't have books to read and worse still the majority do not come across internet even a computer in their lifetime.
Children are crucial asset of the nation,but if not given access to good schooling and Education they become a liability.
The herald a local paper in Zimbabwe acknowledged that children who set for the end of primary school examination in rural areas scored 0% in 2009.Although the blame lies with the teachers ,whom accused of crying for better salaries.However for the past seven years children learn for these examinations there is a lot needed to be done for children's Education.Among them is to give children access to reading.When children sit for examination the examination rules and regulations strictly requires the candidates to sit quietly and read alone everything set before him/her on the question paper.
Think about the expected results ,when the said candidate is not able to read worse still not developed fully the writing skills.
Reading and writing are the foundation of the developments of future responsible adults for the nation.
The global news reports that Africans who are access to computers and internet literacy are less than 2% .When such statistics is recorded in a continent which is regarded as developing is pathetic to say there is no developing.
Playing the blame game is not necessary ,instead to cooperate with those spearhead children 's educational development will give a positive difference. Developments in the technological achievements give the solutions to reduce poverty at all costs.
There is a need for an awareness of collective responsibility so that no one will be lagged behind because of the socio-economic background or the race.
THE ROLE OF A SCHOOL IN EDUCATION PROCESS
Schools are formally organised places where patterned instructions are given.They are social institutions in which teaching and learning take place at a specific times and places.They are made up of teachers,subjects,pupils/students ,time,methods ,processes,activities and places.
Schools care for all aspects of of the child's development .This includes the child's cultural enrichment (development),characters and academic attainments.In this regard the school's function is that of changing and equipping the child with the necessary attitudes values and skills that the child needs to function appropriately in society.The school educates both young and adults for development , without Education, development can not take place.The human factor is an important element in development whether social ,economical or political.
In the recent past,schools were places where children went to learn in preparation for employment in urban and mining centres especially in developing countries and Africa in particular, parents accepted this as the norm.
Knowledge is power ,therefore every children needs to have access to reading materials at school and in Education .Because of the information edge where anyone can do everything must have access to the information which can now found on internet ,books ,newspapers and other useful sources.When children developed reading habit very well.It is something which will last longer and help children to have wide information in development of their various choices.
The challenges found in developing countries are the shortage of reading materials.In rural areas for instances most under priviledged children don't have books to read and worse still the majority do not come across internet even a computer in their lifetime.
Children are crucial asset of the nation,but if not given access to good schooling and Education they become a liability.
The herald a local paper in Zimbabwe acknowledged that children who set for the end of primary school examination in rural areas scored 0% in 2009.Although the blame lies with the teachers ,whom accused of crying for better salaries.However for the past seven years children learn for these examinations there is a lot needed to be done for children's Education.Among them is to give children access to reading.When children sit for examination the examination rules and regulations strictly requires the candidates to sit quietly and read alone everything set before him/her on the question paper.
Think about the expected results ,when the said candidate is not able to read worse still not developed fully the writing skills.
Reading and writing are the foundation of the developments of future responsible adults for the nation.
The global news reports that Africans who are access to computers and internet literacy are less than 2% .When such statistics is recorded in a continent which is regarded as developing is pathetic to say there is no developing.
Playing the blame game is not necessary ,instead to cooperate with those spearhead children 's educational development will give a positive difference. Developments in the technological achievements give the solutions to reduce poverty at all costs.
There is a need for an awareness of collective responsibility so that no one will be lagged behind because of the socio-economic background or the race.
Schools care for all aspects of of the child's development .This includes the child's cultural enrichment (development),characters and academic attainments.In this regard the school's function is that of changing and equipping the child with the necessary attitudes values and skills that the child needs to function appropriately in society.The school educates both young and adults for development , without Education, development can not take place.The human factor is an important element in development whether social ,economical or political.
In the recent past,schools were places where children went to learn in preparation for employment in urban and mining centres especially in developing countries and Africa in particular, parents accepted this as the norm.
Knowledge is power ,therefore every children needs to have access to reading materials at school and in Education .Because of the information edge where anyone can do everything must have access to the information which can now found on internet ,books ,newspapers and other useful sources.When children developed reading habit very well.It is something which will last longer and help children to have wide information in development of their various choices.
The challenges found in developing countries are the shortage of reading materials.In rural areas for instances most under priviledged children don't have books to read and worse still the majority do not come across internet even a computer in their lifetime.
Children are crucial asset of the nation,but if not given access to good schooling and Education they become a liability.
The herald a local paper in Zimbabwe acknowledged that children who set for the end of primary school examination in rural areas scored 0% in 2009.Although the blame lies with the teachers ,whom accused of crying for better salaries.However for the past seven years children learn for these examinations there is a lot needed to be done for children's Education.Among them is to give children access to reading.When children sit for examination the examination rules and regulations strictly requires the candidates to sit quietly and read alone everything set before him/her on the question paper.
Think about the expected results ,when the said candidate is not able to read worse still not developed fully the writing skills.
Reading and writing are the foundation of the developments of future responsible adults for the nation.
The global news reports that Africans who are access to computers and internet literacy are less than 2% .When such statistics is recorded in a continent which is regarded as developing is pathetic to say there is no developing.
Playing the blame game is not necessary ,instead to cooperate with those spearhead children 's educational development will give a positive difference. Developments in the technological achievements give the solutions to reduce poverty at all costs.
There is a need for an awareness of collective responsibility so that no one will be lagged behind because of the socio-economic background or the race.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT Cognitive Development :Jerome Bruner's Perspectives in the Education system and process
One of the fertile minds of 20th century is that of Professor Jarome Bruner.He was born in 1915 and is reowned for his contribution towards the understanding of the development of human cognition.
He was an American psychologist and was influenced and nurtured by Gestalt psychology school of thought which investigates the learning by examination the perspections of the learner.
Children grow intellectually and relate Bruner's rich theory to classroom practice.Bruner's monumental work has been ,like that of Piaget's work ,directed to epistemology to study the development of knowledge.The depth of his investigations and billiance of his theoretical formulations are staggering.
Bruner (1964,1965,1966) emphasises the main purpose of Education is to learn skills and able to apply them in other situations.As supported by Lewton (1974) that, education is the selection of culture. Hence the School curricular should be organised so that children 's mastery of the basic skills and of the subject will make learning more advanced skills and easier.
Bruner's critique(1965) The Process of Education makes use of examples from teaching of scientific and mathematical concepts to illustrate basic principles that are applicable to all areas of teaching and learning.
Four central themes which assumed major roles in Bruner's theory of instructions are:
Theme 1:Learning activities should involve understanding of basic relationships in the structure of subject rather than merely knowing facts and techniques.Thus the ability to affectively relate one aspect of knowledge to another gives children a sense of direction and makes learning more exciting.This understanding of relationships also helps children to remember the material and transfer it to new learning situations .For example teaching of English grammar and parts of speech by teaching children to diagram sentences,or role plays in religious and moral subject.
Theme 2:Readiness for learning ,the concept give instructions in certain subjects and must postponed until the child has reached a certain level of maturity.Instead ,Bruner postulates that the foundations of any disciplines can be taught in a form and manner simple enough to be meaningful even to very young children.
In this regard Bruner and Piaget 's views are in total agreement in the argument that we can teach effectively only so long as we match the subject matter to the students cognitive level.More oftenly than not teachers apply rigid rules by deciding specific /strict chronological ages at which children are capable of learning certain concepts.
Theme 3:Bruner insists that schools place much more emphasis on the development of intuitive thinking. Intuitive thinking results in a hunch or educated guess,which may either be correct or wrong .It involves the ability to arrive at a reasonable but tentative formulations prior to any actual formal analysis.Bruner is not refering to be reliable on mainly guessing but should not be penalised for such responses.
Theme 4:Motivation which Bruner has credence that children can be motivated to learn .If teachers apply a stimulus for children to have the desire to learn and if it is effective ,then children 's desire to learn will be carried out of the classroom to the rest of the world. The best way to stimulate children is to make the material to be learned interesting so that the children will want to learn it. Artificial goals such as units (1,2,3/ A,B,C) or marks have little meaning in this regard and should be discouraged.
Views on the structure of Curricula:The Gestalt concepts of perceptual organisation are also basics to Bruner's tenet.He acknowledges that it is important to understand how a child perceives what he is learning.Thus teachers must structure the lessons so that children can quickly grasp the structure of a subjects(Bruner 1960). Teachers must show children how a subject relates to other subjects in meaniful ways.
Structure is both a product and a process.This is because it includes the subject's fundamental ideas as well as a way of perceiving the logical relationships between those ideas. In this way if it assists of learning and memorisation. We understand more if the material is logically organised ,and remember more if we can see how the various ideas relate to each other. The basic structure of any body of knowledge depends on three related aspects of learning.
The mode of representation,Economy and Power.These aspects ,however ,vary with the nature of the material, the age and the ability of the learner.
He was an American psychologist and was influenced and nurtured by Gestalt psychology school of thought which investigates the learning by examination the perspections of the learner.
Children grow intellectually and relate Bruner's rich theory to classroom practice.Bruner's monumental work has been ,like that of Piaget's work ,directed to epistemology to study the development of knowledge.The depth of his investigations and billiance of his theoretical formulations are staggering.
Bruner (1964,1965,1966) emphasises the main purpose of Education is to learn skills and able to apply them in other situations.As supported by Lewton (1974) that, education is the selection of culture. Hence the School curricular should be organised so that children 's mastery of the basic skills and of the subject will make learning more advanced skills and easier.
Bruner's critique(1965) The Process of Education makes use of examples from teaching of scientific and mathematical concepts to illustrate basic principles that are applicable to all areas of teaching and learning.
Four central themes which assumed major roles in Bruner's theory of instructions are:
Theme 1:Learning activities should involve understanding of basic relationships in the structure of subject rather than merely knowing facts and techniques.Thus the ability to affectively relate one aspect of knowledge to another gives children a sense of direction and makes learning more exciting.This understanding of relationships also helps children to remember the material and transfer it to new learning situations .For example teaching of English grammar and parts of speech by teaching children to diagram sentences,or role plays in religious and moral subject.
Theme 2:Readiness for learning ,the concept give instructions in certain subjects and must postponed until the child has reached a certain level of maturity.Instead ,Bruner postulates that the foundations of any disciplines can be taught in a form and manner simple enough to be meaningful even to very young children.
In this regard Bruner and Piaget 's views are in total agreement in the argument that we can teach effectively only so long as we match the subject matter to the students cognitive level.More oftenly than not teachers apply rigid rules by deciding specific /strict chronological ages at which children are capable of learning certain concepts.
Theme 3:Bruner insists that schools place much more emphasis on the development of intuitive thinking. Intuitive thinking results in a hunch or educated guess,which may either be correct or wrong .It involves the ability to arrive at a reasonable but tentative formulations prior to any actual formal analysis.Bruner is not refering to be reliable on mainly guessing but should not be penalised for such responses.
Theme 4:Motivation which Bruner has credence that children can be motivated to learn .If teachers apply a stimulus for children to have the desire to learn and if it is effective ,then children 's desire to learn will be carried out of the classroom to the rest of the world. The best way to stimulate children is to make the material to be learned interesting so that the children will want to learn it. Artificial goals such as units (1,2,3/ A,B,C) or marks have little meaning in this regard and should be discouraged.
Views on the structure of Curricula:The Gestalt concepts of perceptual organisation are also basics to Bruner's tenet.He acknowledges that it is important to understand how a child perceives what he is learning.Thus teachers must structure the lessons so that children can quickly grasp the structure of a subjects(Bruner 1960). Teachers must show children how a subject relates to other subjects in meaniful ways.
Structure is both a product and a process.This is because it includes the subject's fundamental ideas as well as a way of perceiving the logical relationships between those ideas. In this way if it assists of learning and memorisation. We understand more if the material is logically organised ,and remember more if we can see how the various ideas relate to each other. The basic structure of any body of knowledge depends on three related aspects of learning.
The mode of representation,Economy and Power.These aspects ,however ,vary with the nature of the material, the age and the ability of the learner.
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