30 September 2010

THEORY OF SOCIAL LEARNING IN PRIMARY EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT

According to Bandura Mbert a Canadian born socio-psychologist who taught in USA deviced a theory called social learning based on what a child learns in the environment through interaction with and observes others.
In social learning behaviour is learnt without necessarily being engaged in it. And such behaviour is not directly reinforced for it to be sustained. This indirect reinforcement is called 'vicarious reinforcement'.
Social learning is observational model of immitation type of learning.
Experiments done in groups:
The first group of children observed and adult behaving aggressively to a large inflated bobdoll. The aggressive acts both physically and verbally ,for example kicking it hailing insults at the doll ,bombarding it with balls.
The second group watched an adult model behaving in a gentle manner with the doll.
Third group was not shown any model at all ,later when each child was allowed to play in a room with a variety of toys including the bobo doll and those in the first group behaved very aggressively than those in the other two groups.
In second group behaved more gently than the other groups. The first group besides immitating the behaviour of the aggressive adult even further.
During the research in theory Bandura advertised in a newspaper for the people who wished to be helped to overcome snake phobia and 32 people responded to the advert. Among them was a museum official who feared entering the snake exhibit in his own museum and several others individual who feared fishing.
Modelling therapy was employed on them ,there was a glass partition through which they saw a therapist playing with a snake to show that the snakes are not dangerous at all. He modelled all snakes in a handling behaviour he intends to display to people to know and learn.
The people entered the enclosure which was full of snakes then the therapist disappeared and those people were left alone with different snakes. Some people would sit on a chair for 30 seconds with their hands down while the snake was allowed to crawl all over their bodies and they passed the test and were no longer afraid of snakes.
Factors factuating social learning:
•The observer must pay attention to the model so that can able to perceive what the model is doing. In the observation process there should be short term and long term in memory. Once stored in the two categories of memory the observer will have no problem at all retrieving the material or skills for future use.
•Motor skills can applied and practised after being observed if the learner is potentially able to apply and practice it.
Reinforcement is done when a model is rewarded when immitate the behaviour or punished if not immitate the model correctly.
•The status of the model is very important people who are of high status serve as good models.And a natural behaviour model is perceived to be warm ,friendly ,considerate and caring is of more likely to be modelled than that of a model who is uncaring and indifferent ,this is because the first model has got qualities that are valyed by society.
The results of social learning inhibit effects occurs when the model is punished and goes unreinforced or unrewarded.
The disinhibiting effect occurs were behaviour that was formally unacceptable now becomes acceptable because of the influence effect of the model. Finally the elliciting effect occurs when behaviour appeals to people and they want to copy it.
The implications to the teacher is to promote clealiness ,friendliness and discipline in the teaching and learning environment.

ADOLESENCE AS A CRISIS PHASE IN CHILDREN'S TRANSFORMATION FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADULTHOOD.

Adolescents has behaviours which teachers and parents should appreciate first before apply comprehensive solution to assit them at this rapid growth confused period in their life time and in their education process.Every society has its own acceptable standards of behaviours which may be differ from one another. And societies has defferent expectations for the development of its own children. Failure to achieve these expectation children's development in the society and their future responsibilities is adversely threatened. Children 's failure to achieve the expected developments will definitely meet social disapproval. This social disapproval could brought about sorrow in their life and resulted into problem behaviours. For example failing the education curricular set by society's standards such as o' levels would be a great blow to the child 's future as far as making good career advancement.
Some of the most problem behaviours also found in adolesents at school like hyperactive ,over anxiousness ,withdrawal reaction ,have already been mentioned in the previous articles.
Problems of Children who has difficulties in adjusting personally and socially to the environment are likely to have problem behaviours.Emotionally disturbed children are a problem even to those around them. Identity and values which contribute to personality ,can affect every individual 's way of behaving. Problems in children could be said to be of personality problems.
Teachers classify problems in children ,for behaviours that might be normal simply because the child's patterns of behaviour do not conform to acceptable standards.
The age of the children are very important in determining their problems, some children show immature behaviour for the benefits derived from the situation like crying unnecessarily. This is because such children realised that after crying they can get whatever they want from adults. The children can have satisfiction attention immediately ,because of their helplessness stance, they got and does't stop this habit.This habit may be a form of problem behaviour.Parents ,teachers and adults in general are likely to have common mistakes of developing children with adverse attitudes towards them. Children can develop real problem behaviours as they can avoid sharing articles with friends lest that action can be regarded as taking things that not belong to them. Such children become withdrawn or aggressive as a defensive mechanism against accusations.The safest thing to do is never to overlook any form problem behaviour displayed by children.
The information above is useful for teachers to be aware of problems regarding children's learning behaviours especially those at adolesents because their development rates differs immensely . Some behave like little infancy and some are far away need responsibility independently as individual despite being regarded as children. Teachers should never overlook any form of problem behaviour displayed by school children .There are no guarantees that children will grow out of some problematic behaviours such as stealing ,cheating ,dodging ,bullying ,etc. If a problem behaviour is tolerated at a certain age,the chances are higher that these children would develop the behaviour into a habitual form of adjustment. Any form of problem behaviour displayed by children should be treated as a signal for possible troubles in the near future .Teachers should be made to remedy it immediately.
Lying ,exagerating of facts and stealing ,according to Durojaiye(1980:54)are some of the most common anti-social behaviours of adolesents children at school in African societies.Although we cannot say the children worldover because of lack of evidence. As teachers however there is need to know and be aware of these problem behaviours that can retarded adolesents children's learning and socialisation conditioning.

Gender Antagonism in Children and their Problems

Children at the gang stage of development are sensive to gender discrimination. According to Lowenfield (1987) boys are pressurised by their peers to avoid associating with girls or playing girl's games, as they taught to regard females as inferior to males. As a result some boys feel hurt and worthless in their sense of dominant boyhood when girls perform much better in learning or school work in general than they perform. They rediculed their peers and feel relagated to inferior female sex which they view as weaker and useless ,in an effort to try to place the girls at their female inferiority position by either ridiculing or simply inconveniencing them.The outstanding girls develops perpetual silence in order to avoid such violent aggressive tendencies and they ceased to participate and be heard in the classroom. Eventually they became retarded not only by prevailing of silence but of believing that they are inferior as being proclaimed by their boys counterparts who induced fear in them. Their (victimised girls) freedom to learn deprived and during open discussions , they fear to express their views in order to avoid of gender descrimination laid against them ,especially as females the weaker sex.
Peer groups can bring retardation in children ,at the same time they are capable of developing progressive influences. The teacher therefore should assist the disadvantaged children to adopt better attitudes towards social learning ,playing or work of peer group at school so that they prepare for them a bright future without aggression of gender desparity. At this point in time it is very important to note that the poorly organised school is the major cause of retardation in children.
Children's problem of behaviours,teachers has problem of identifying them and device stratergic help them to learn effectively from such wrong attitudes and condone it.

SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION:SCHOOL AS A PRIMARY OR SECONDARY AGENT OF SOCIALISATION

The process of conditioning by which children learn to become responsible members of society through internalising norms and values within the society is called 'socialisation'.
According to Brinkerhoff and White (1995),Jay and Jary(1995) and Scott and Marshal(2005) concur to the term socialisation, as the process of learning the roles ,statuses and values necessary for effective participation in social institutions. Hence socialisation is the primary channel for the transmission of a way of life or culture overtime and generations.
It is actually a modification from infancy of individual behaviour to conform with the demands from society which involves both integration and differentiation of one individual from another. Zonden(1988)says that individuals are neutral at birth ,but also require ways of thinking ,feeling and acting through their social experience particulary during socialisation.
Agencies of socialisation are many ,but let view why the school is a primary or secondary agent of socialisation. Giddens (2004)puts agencies of socialisation as groups or social contexts in which significant process of socialisation occur.
Functionalists view socialisation as individuals become competence and conforming member of society and this benefits society as whole.
Marxist's conflict perspective ,also agreed that socialisation may be an effective tool of producing conformity,although this doesn't benefit society as a whole.
And Handel (2006)say symbolic interactionists doesn't perceive social as a passive process where chilldren simply learn what they are taught. Children are regarded as actively involved in creating and negotiating their own roles as self concept. Cooley (1902) quoted in Brinkerhof and white (1995) adds that children develop their self concept by viewing themselves as they think others view them and name this 'the looking glass self'. Then Cooley outlined three steps in the formation of looking glass self:
♦Imagine how one appears to others.
♦How others judge that appearance.
♦Develop feelings about it and responses to
these judgements.
According to Cooley ,therefore the judgement of others and one subjective interpretations are fundamental determinants of the self concept.
Mead cited in Brinkerhof and White (1995) argues that social norms are learnt via the process of role taking. Both role playing and role taking are responsive to the expectations of role models who may be parents ,siblings ,teachers or peers.
The school is seen as a key locus for children's development which takes over the role of socialisation from the family where the child is still at a very tender age taken to be of prime concern for learning and acquiring behaviour traits (Brinkerhill ,Hoppers and Pehrrson 1996).In other words Parsons (1959)describes the school as a focal socialising agency because it bridges the gap between the home and the society at large. In the school environment children become conditioned to conformity through both abstruct and formal rules. Children therefore become acustomed to dual forms of control as reflected in their textboks. And Brickhill ,Hoppers and Pehrrson (1996) concur the texbooks in both primary and secondary schools are flag fliers of culture as they reflect the needs of norms and values of its society. In contrasts Bowels and Gintins (1976) in Thio (1991) say that the school through its hidden curriculum socialises children to be subservient obidient only to be motivated by external rewards such as examination results. Moreso the children view inequality as legitimate.

SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

The discipline of Education uses the signs of sociology to look at the problem related to children 's interaction in the society and at their school environment in particular. Sociological principles at a given point in time attempt to answer questions asked like:'Who teaches whom? For what society ,when and why?
According to Peresuh and Nhundu (1999) sociology of Education is a discipline which attempts to discern relationship between Education and society in a given socio-cultural context.
Historically sociology of Education has always determined to the importance of methodologies,learning activities and the teaching and learning aids since Education is a selection from culture. It examine the socio- phenomenon like: culture,gender,poverty,child abuse ,HIV&AIDS, deviance and social classes impact on the educability.
One may then concerned to ask: What is the relevance of sociology in the Education system?
Sociology of Education gives an overview of the nature society in which the school operates. It can challenges some of the things taken for granted and assumptions in Education system. Then suggests some provisions in sight into how some of these assumptions affect Educational performance.
And also assists Educational practitioners to answer a number of queries found in the Educational system. For example: How does a child's background affects the child and the child's educability?
Sociology of Education ,in other words is the candlelight for the teacher to study the community where the learners resides and how it influences them as determined by their social environment.
Teachers has also to have a clear study of the school structure ,organisation of the curriculum ,classroom management ,pupils' organisation in their group dynamics and the relationship between learning and discipline.
They (teachers) should understand the concept of self ,gender equality and multiculturalism. And have an understanding of the transmission of values ,norms and customs in any given social setting.
Sociological perspectives are theories of society. These theories have different angles of looking at various social issues at their own point of view.
Henslin (1998)puts sociological theory as a general statement of how some parts of the world fitch together and how the work in harmony. Hess ,Markson and Sten(1998)argue that a theory sets a logical related statements ,that seek to explain an entire class of events.
Therefore a theory can be seen as a set of ideas which claim to explain how something works. *A theory is not a fact ,but it is basically an attempt to explain a given phenomenon. In other words it is a partial explaination of how something works.
Macro perspective takes a holistic approach to the study of the society ,take into considerations the overview of the society ,thus studing things in wholes (large scale interaction patterns) for example study between social institutions or between social classes. The studies of functionalism and Marxist/conflict perspectives are done on macro overview.
Micro perspective look at a small scale interaction pattern between and among individuals. A helicopter view of micro perspectives are done by symbolic interactionism and phenomenology.

FURTHER READING
Ballantine, J.H.(1997)The Sociology of Education, New York ,West Publishing company.

Brinkenhoff ,D.B and White, L.K. (1988)Sociology ,New York ,West Publishing Company.

Giddens ,A. (2001)Sociology,Oxford ,Blackwell Publishers.

Haralambos ,M and Holborn, M. (2008)Sociology Themes and Perspectives,London ,Collins Educational

Education as an Instrument of stability and Unity

Education is a means by which society ensures its stability.Therefore shools serve as transmitters of culture and knowledge to the next generation.What they given in schools is derived from the society's needs and demands.These needs and demands are as a result of society's everyday life and the everyday life of a society is its culture.This culture is vital for the survival of the society.Lawton(1973) says,Education is the selection from the culture of that society.This is because an education system should meet the needs ,goals and aspirations of the society.
Although the education system was influenced and designed to meet the interests of the dominant groups in any society.The development of democracy ideology in many society indicates that the education is going towards easing the burderns of the general populous.In other words education in any society integrates the equal production and exchange of an economy.
The schools' socialisation is now a common ground for cross pollination of ideas to form members of society who are united to fight their common challenges and relegate aggresiveness behaviours to fight against each other for no apperant cause. However children are also socialised through other institutions ,for example,the family ,the peer groups ,the church and media all changed to contribute with their versions of reality.But material conditions in any society are the final determinants of a child's world outlook.For example if the material conditions in a society are capitalistic then the world outlook. In the capitalistic society children will be capitalistic as well.The capitalist mode of production will devise means of sustaining itself.However with the advent of internet technology, the world is fast changing in the communication system ,such that a child from one end of the world can able to share information with another child from another far corner daily and change the face of the society immediately.
The school is seen ,not as a ground for change of behaviour ,but as a social life in its sense.The learning activities and the co-curricular activities which take place reflect the everyday social living of the society concerned.The school preserves desired traditional values and knowledge which promote attitudes of solidarity and cooperation.It also transmits these values to the next generation.These cultural values help to cement national and social unity.
A society consisting of people with different cultures (multi-cultural society), which are common in many countries.
In addition schools has major roles to play in building a united people and the creation of global village.Firstly schools can do this by supporting and promoting UN's goals of uniting people through education.The goal, aimed to enable all children to enjoy equal educational opportunities and facilities.It also maximise equal sharing of the educational facilities that are available worldover .Furthermore ,it enables all children to get access to education.
Secondly ,the school can do this by teaching young children love and respect of one another despite differences in the colour of their skin and their different social and linguistic backgrounds.This will promote the development of attitudes that are favourable to equality,selflessness and solidarity in our children.These qualities are essential for creation of the new world order.
The school should give young children ,education that inculcate a sense of togetherness not as foreign outlook.In this regard the curriculum should promote a consciousness in world issues and pride of our planet.This will help children of all races to free themselves from all forms segregations and become a strong and united people.

THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL AND THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE SOCIETY!

School is formally organised place where patterned instructions are given. The school is also regarded as social institution in which teaching and learning take place at a specific time and place .There it is composed of educational practitioners(teachers)subjects,pupils/students ,methods ,time and places.
School groom aspects of life for child development .This comprises of cultural enrichment.School also boasts a variety of cultural activities in society such as curriculum aspects for academic attainments and co-curricular activities for child's social development through learning life skills and entertainment. Such are sports,drama,public speaking ,debate ,so that they develop a strong sense of moral conscience and socialisation in general.
Currently traditions and family values are rare to come by .Parents search for school which offer their children this way of life and help to nurture them into parents of tomorrow. So a school should make this environment exist to establish these traditional values.In this modern times a school is formed with the traditions that are now becoming a way of life.School is striving to mould students into a big family ,within this family they guide children to become adults who respect themselves and others.
In this regard the school's function is that of changing and equipping children with necessary attitudes values and skills that will enable them to function appropriately in society.The school educate the young specifically for development for without education definitely the development cannot take place. A society that ignores its children's education is ignoring its future.The human factor is an important element in development whether social ,economic or political.
In the recent past,the school regarded as place for children to grow and prepared for employment in urban industries ,commercial centres and mining areas.Parents accepted this as they take white collar jobs to be offered only by established companies and the government.What children learned at school had no bearing to the needs of the local communities.
The pioneer of progressivism in education John Dewey strongly argues that education should not be preparation of life ,but to be life itself. Also education must be designed to solve social problems not to be a training ground for the rich people to educate employees.
The curriculum should not made the learner subservient ,dependent and alienated from his culture.This type of curriculum served the interests of the rich people to continue exploit the poor educated workers and cause economical recessions for them to create unemployment to continue enjoy the exploitation workers who squeeze for the few jobs available.
The people oriented education is concerned with devising curriculum that provides learning opportunities for intellectual and manpower skills for the children to be responsible for their own future.Such an education should enable children to develop and improve their economic status .It should also enable them to effectively fight poverty ,diseases and ignorance.

The controversy sorrounds the plight of Education teachers in Zimbabwe because of cheap politics

In april the Zimbabwe finance minister Mr Tendai Biti announced government's unilateral freeze of new recruits in non critical areas. How defined critical areas , if not considering Education as a non critical area. Please since 1980 Zimbabwe cherished good Education system this development evidenced today by being number one African state ranked the first with highest literacy rates beating the great states the likes Tunisia,Nigeria ,South Africa and Egypt.
However according to the so called GPA and the hope of all Zimbabweans in August 2008 was to look forward to the new change brought by the formation of all inclusive governmnet. The dream includes the revamp of the education sector ,good renumeration of teachers. In contrast to my surprise, like as it was be in 2007,2006,2007,2008 teacher's salaries are still a social mockery in the beerhalls ,shows and other social gatherings. Society members . ask why teachers not paid enough fairly for their service their dedicatively give to the society? What is the problem with this government?
The education minister Mr Coltart higlighted the plight of Education sector both to the ministry of finance and public service to recruit more teachers. May I ask why this year 2010 newly qualified teachers are not being considered to get employment after struggled and suffered the hardships of the past three difficult years. Such a long tedious period sacrifised to help both the nation and their families doing teacher education training course amid economical and social hardship experienced recently in our country. Only to be relagated distitutes manning along the streets and corridors looking for different employed which is even harder to comeby.
The government is not serious with the plight of both newly graduated and other substantive teachers worse still student teachers why? The inclusive government should do an extra mile to preserve our heritage and status as a progressive society in terms of education by maintaining the needs of teachers as the implementers of education system! Do minister Biti make financial lateral decisions without the cabinet approval or the media write cheap politics. Please be open to the public concerning human welfare especially on educating the youth for the society's future survival and social responsibilty than playing African politics. Thanks to the UNICEF for helping primary schools in zimbabwe with educational resources. I kindly urge them if possible to extend their generous hand to the needs of the teachers especially in rural areas where the incentive programme from parents is not only impossible but non existent.

The Threat of Serious Stress to Mental and Physical Health wellbeing!

People wonderfully characterised by expections which agitatively led them not to feel stable when waiting for something.For example on the bus stop waiting for commuter omnibus to go to work or passenger train, a flight to take them for tours, holidays ,trips or business meetings. The human mind is worried of new places to be visited ,being late to work to school or of being behind the schedules. Hence the response is hurriedly running from pillar to post trying to make things be in the normal conditions it supposed to be. Even school children in the classroom are hyperactive in most of learning situations especially when speaking they can have a habit of picking some grasses,or doing irrevant gestures. Some also cannot be able to get settled when learning. They do numerous of unnecessary things at the same time disturbing their learning and others.
All these and numerous anxious activities perpetuated by sense of urgency ,agility and hurriedly wrestling against the trickling of seconds done by human beings at various situations these are all signs of stressful conditions.
Stress is caused by many different things ranging from our regular work,poor family relationship,lack of funds ,unemployment ,boredom, psycho-activities and some situations which spearheaded us to have stressful characters. Because of not making travels to new places and many of us may get unsettled when then intended to make trips there. Although stress has some advantages in our lives. It is stress which makes us have the ability to do assigned tasks go to work ,fight against maladies of life and develops in us the sense of moral responsibilty. For example if there is something need to be accomplished take for example the need to process sales orders for customers, or doing school assignments. Stress clicks in our minds to produce a hormine called adrenaline from adrenal glands which helps to carry out the tasks set before us.
However stress is the most dangerous threat to our health and wellbeing if it forced use in to impossible comprehensive situations. Since in many occassions , we failed to manage some challenges laid ahead of us.For instance someone cannot able to cope with financial problems at home because of little income to meet the basic needs including utility bills like ,water ,energy,phone or rent bills. These utility bills cannot get us settled and drive us to do immoral activities such as prostitution ,corruption,cheating ,lying or other unacceptable deviant behaviours to get out of odds which makes us failures.
Long term stressful situations may cause us to accumulate anxiety, having muscle tensions,increased blood pressures or disturbance in food digestions. Stressful people generally find that tension never goes away it remains part of our mental and physical problems.
Medical practitioners used to point out that the body's reactions to stress, as nuerochemicals and hormones rushes through entire body ,preparing every organ and system for the red alert stress response. All our senses that's sight ,hearing ,smelling ,tasting and touching are strongly involved. The brain instantly release adrenaline hormones through adrenal glands which helps muscles ,heart ,lungs and other body parts to be relieved from stress by subconciously respond to the intentions.
Hence during times of emergency our bodies help us to respond to save our lives , like when we face the oncoming vehicle we respond unconsciously to safety. We instictively sense dangerous areas because of stress induction in our muscles.
The stress can become our threat to our health and threaten our bodies to function well.Thus endangering poor coordination of body parts in respond to certain stimuli. Muscles remain tense,pulse rates and blood pressure abnorm at peak points . This consequently accumulate levels of cholestro,fats,sugars ,hormones or any other chemicals within our blood streams.
The high levels of these chemicals in our bodies affect its regulated system, hence involve us into frequent backaches ,headaches ,muscle spasms of the neck and muscle tension .
These symptoms which are related to chronic stress ,hamper body's productivity and creativity as well as dilute away our happiness and damage our social relationships. Unmanageable stress resulted in development of irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea and other related illness. The chronic stress also outburst stroke,kidney failure,heart problems and diabetes as perpetuated by this uncontrollable prolonged stress.
Moreover severe stress linked to depression ,aggression and burnout. If constantly remained unchecked, stress can become permanently retarded our memory's functions and threaten levels of concentration. Some researches also discovered that long term stress has detrimental consequences to our immune system , as it seriously makes us vulnarable to common cold,cancer and numerous immuno diseases.Out of control stress has negative impacts to our well-being whether mentally,spiritually ,emotionally and spiritually.Therefore stress should be placed at a manageable level within ourselves,so that we remain productive ,creative ,enthusiastic and healthy.

FUNCTONALISTS PERSPECTIVE'S VIEWS IN SOCIETY AND EDUCATION SYSTEM!

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

SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION:FAMILY AS THE PRIMARY AGENT OF SOCIALISATION

The process of conditioning by which children learn to become responsible members of their society through internalising norms and values within the society is 'socialisation'.
According to Brinkerhoff and White (1995),Jay and Jary(1995) and Scott and Marshal(2005) concur to the term socialisation, as the process of learning the roles ,statuses and values necessary for effective participation in social institutions. Hence socialisation is the primary channel for the transmission of a way of life or culture overtime and generations.
It is actually a modification from infancy of individual behaviour to conform with the demands from society which involves both integration and differentiation of one individual from another. Zonden(1988)says that individuals are neutral at birth ,but also require ways of thinking ,feeling and acting through their social experience particulary during socialisation.
Agencies of socialisation are many ,but lets focus on the family as a major primary agent of socialisation. Giddens (2004)puts agencies of socialisation as groups or social contexts in which significant process of socialisation occur.
Functionalists view socialisation as individuals become competence and conforming member of society and this benefits society as whole.
Marxist's conflict perspective ,also agreed that socialisation may be an effective tool of producing conformity,although this doesn't benefit society as a whole.
And Handel (2006)say symbolic interactionists perceived socialisation as a passive process where chilldren simply learn what they are taught. Children are regarded as actively involved in creating and negotiating their own roles as self concept. Cooley (1902) quoted in Brinkerhof and white (1995) adds that children develop their self concept by viewing themselves as they think others view them and name this 'the looking glass self'. Then Cooley outlined three steps in the formation of looking glass self:
♦Imagine how one appears to others.
♦How others judge that appearance.
♦Develop feelings about it and responses to
these judgements.
According to Cooley ,therefore the judgement of others and one subjective interpretations are fundermental determinants of the self concept.
Mead cited in Brinkerhof and White (1995) argues that social norms are learnt via the process of role taking. Both role playing and role taking are responsive to the expectations of role models who may be parents ,siblings ,teachers or peers.
The family is the primary and major agency of socialisation from infancy to childhood . Parsons (1959)in Haralambos and Horborn (2004) says,the family is the most important agency of socialisation. Thus socialisation takes place with identification with adults and this also includes learning different gender roles in which women are more expressive (emotional) and more instrumental (they plan rationally to achieve certain goals).
Social interaction in the family helps people to learn the values ,norms and beliefs which makes up the patterns of their culture. Through this ongoing process of interaction individual come to understand to assume the social roles and learn how to carry them out.
The family allows social reproduction a process whereby society's structural continuity. Data(1984)says that it is the family where the child's knowledge of the entire ,personal ,moral ,social and religious life is adopted by inculcating and fixing the basic acceptable habits and attitudes.
However Cooper (1972) cited in Giddens (2004) from conflict Marxist perspective views the family as an ideological conditioning device which conditions children to accept their own exploitation. Social controls implanted by the family tend to be effective because of the taboos which saturate family life.

SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION:FAMILY AS THE PRIMARY AGENT OF SOCIALISATION

The process of conditioning by which children learn to become responsible members of their society through internalising norms and values within the society is 'socialisation'.
According to Brinkerhoff and White (1995),Jay and Jary(1995) and Scott and Marshal(2005) concur to the term socialisation, as the process of learning the roles ,statuses and values necessary for effective participation in social institutions. Hence socialisation is the primary channel for the transmission of a way of life or culture overtime and generations.
It is actually a modification from infancy of individual behaviour to conform with the demands from society which involves both integration and differentiation of one individual from another. Zonden(1988)says that individuals are neutral at birth ,but also require ways of thinking ,feeling and acting through their social experience particulary during socialisation.
Agencies of socialisation are many ,but lets focus on the family as a major primary agent of socialisation. Giddens (2004)puts agencies of socialisation as groups or social contexts in which significant process of socialisation occur.
Functionalists view socialisation as individuals become competence and conforming member of society and this benefits society as whole.
Marxist's conflict perspective ,also agreed that socialisation may be an effective tool of producing conformity,although this doesn't benefit society as a whole.
And Handel (2006)say symbolic interactionists perceived socialisation as a passive process where chilldren simply learn what they are taught. Children are regarded as actively involved in creating and negotiating their own roles as self concept. Cooley (1902) quoted in Brinkerhof and white (1995) adds that children develop their self concept by viewing themselves as they think others view them and name this 'the looking glass self'. Then Cooley outlined three steps in the formation of looking glass self:
♦Imagine how one appears to others.
♦How others judge that appearance.
♦Develop feelings about it and responses to
these judgements.
According to Cooley ,therefore the judgement of others and one subjective interpretations are fundermental determinants of the self concept.
Mead cited in Brinkerhof and White (1995) argues that social norms are learnt via the process of role taking. Both role playing and role taking are responsive to the expectations of role models who may be parents ,siblings ,teachers or peers.
The family is the primary and major agency of socialisation from infancy to childhood . Parsons (1959)in Haralambos and Horborn (2004) says,the family is the most important agency of socialisation. Thus socialisation takes place with identification with adults and this also includes learning different gender roles in which women are more expressive (emotional) and more instrumental (they plan rationally to achieve certain goals).
Social interaction in the family helps people to learn the values ,norms and beliefs which makes up the patterns of their culture. Through this ongoing process of interaction individual come to understand to assume the social roles and learn how to carry them out.
The family allows social reproduction a process whereby society's structural continuity. Data(1984)says that it is the family where the child's knowledge of the entire ,personal ,moral ,social and religious life is adopted by inculcating and fixing the basic acceptable habits and attitudes.
However Cooper (1972) cited in Giddens (2004) from conflict Marxist perspective views the family as an ideological conditioning device which conditions children to accept their own exploitation. Social controls implanted by the family tend to be effective because of the taboos which saturate family life.

THE SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION: FAMILY CULTURE AND THE SYSTEM

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.

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 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.

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.

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.