the Social Dimension of Education

7/28/2019 the Social Dimension of Education

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Social Dimensions of Education

This is an introduction to social science theory and research as they relate to education.It covers various sociological perspectives (structural-functionalism, conflict theory, symbolicinteractionism) and their relation to education. Explanations for differential educationalattainments of social groups were looked into and emphasis was placed on understanding the

role of the family and schooling in the socialization of the individual.

Course Content:

I. Introductiona. Social Dimension of Education, definedb. Social Terminologies Defined:

i. Societyii. theory

c. Social Theories and their relation to educationi. Structural-Functionalismii. Conflict Theoryiii. Symbolic Interactions

d.

Education, its relevance to SocietyII. Education and Societya. The nature of Societyb. Concept of Groupc. Kinds of Groupd. Education and Social Stratification

III. Education and Socializationa. The Socialization processb. The Role of Family in socializationc. The School and Socializationd. Status and Role as Key to Socializatione. Social Order and Social Controlf. How Social Control is Achieved

IV.

Culture and Educationa. Nature and Meaning of Cultureb. Importance of Culture on Human Developmentc. Influence of Culture on Educational Traditionsd. Influence of Culture on Teaching, Learning, and other Educational Practices

V. Education and the Filipino Cultural Valuesa. Phil Cultural Values

i. Non-rationalismii. Social Acceptanceiii. Closeness and Security in the Familyiv. Economic and Social Improvement

b. Achieving Cultural Synthesis


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Introduction

Social Dimensions of Education

These are social perspectives and theories and their relation to education. It refers tothe different social elements and their role in the socialization of an individual.

Man cannot live outside a collective life. We have the need to bond and live collectively,help one another, and eventually build a community with a common interests. We are socialbeings by nature.

Education refers to the different social processes that brings a person into life in aculture. It prepares young people for entry into society and is thus a form of socialization.

The term education is derived from the Latin educare which literally means to bring upand is connected with the verb educarewhich means to bring forth.

Emile Durkheim conceives education as the socialization of the younger generation. Hefurther states that it is a continuous effort to impose on the child ways of seeing, feeling andacting which he could not have arrived at spontaneously.

Sumner defined education as the attempt to transmit to the child the mores of the

group so that he can learn what conduct is approved and what disapproved.. How he oughtto behave in all kind of cases: what he ought to believe and reject.A.W Green writes: Historically education has meant the conscious training of the young

for the later adoption of adult roles. By modern convention however education has come tomean formal training by specialists within the formal organization of the school.

The main function of the educative process is to pass down knowledge from generationto generation- a process that is essential to the development of culture.Education is a social institution.It includes:

- Schooling- Child rearing practices- Home and family training- Television, magazines and other media of communication (radio, internet)

Also- Behavior, attitudes, and values learned

o Friendso Churcho Political partieso Social groupso Work groups

Schooling is ONLY a part of educationIn its broader view, the community itself is the great schoolWe are all teachers and learners. Our attitudes, values, habits, traditions, behavior are

derived from our interrelationships with one another.Our education is a mirror of ourselves as a people.

So, social dimensions of educations, refers to those transformation or education thattakes place in a group life.

Social Terminologies

Society: It is an autonomous grouping of people who inhabit a common territory, havea common culture, and are linked to one another through routinized social interactions andinterdependent statuses and roles.


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A society can be small such as a tribal community (i.e. negrito society), or large such asa nation with million of members (i.e. Filipino society).

However, one may have a society of people who share a common culture withoutsharing a common habitat or geographical territory.

These may be professional organizations like an international organization of doctors, orreligious organization, etc.

What are the main elements of Society?

1. A System of social relationship.According to Maclver Society is "a web of social relationship".Social relationship is the basis of Society.

The family alone is said to have as many as fifteen relationships based on age,sex and generation.

Outside the family there is no limit to the number of possible relationships.Reutor says" Just as life is not a things but a process of living, so society is not a

thing but a process of associating".The meaning of social relationship shall be clearer if we draw a distinction

between physical and social relation.

The relationship between pen and ink, earth and sun, a book and bookshelf, fireand wood is physical relationship because these physical objects do not have anyreciprocal awareness what so ever.

On the other hand, the social relations exist between the mother and the child,the teacher and the thought are determined by reciprocal awareness.

Without this awareness, there can be no social relationship, and therefore nosociety.

2. LikenessLikeness is an essential prerequisite of society.Maclver Says," Society means likeness".It exists among the like beings, like-bodied and like-minded".It is likeness or similarity, which provides for understanding each by the other.

An understanding of this sort lies at the root of our friendship, intimacy,association, institution and any such other type of social relationship.In the primitive society, the sense of likeness was focused on kinship that is real

or supposed blood relationships.But the scope of likeness has broadened in modern societies.People establish similar social relationships in a society on account of similar

traditions, folkways, mores etc.Thus, similarity or likeness is the basis of society.

3. Difference:Society also implies difference.If individuals are exactly alike, their social relationship would be very much limited.

There would be little reciprocity, little give and take Family, for example, rests on

biological difference of sexes.People differ from one another in their attitude ability, talent; personality etc. peopleperuse different activities because of these differences.

4. Inter-dependence:Interdependence is another essential element of society.Family, for example, is based on the biological interdependence of sexes.One depends upon the other for the satisfaction of one's needs.

Today not only countries but also continents depend upon one another.


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5. Co-Operation and Conflict:Society is based on co-operation.It is the very basis of social life.Unless people cooperate with each other they cannot lead a happy and comfortable life.No society can be healthy and prosperous without co-operation.Family rests on co-operation with one another to live happily.

In the words of P.Gisbert co-operation is the most elementary process of social lifewithout which society is impossible.Co-operation avoids mutual destructiveness and results in economy.

Along with co-operation, there is conflict in society.It is the cause of evolution.It makes us think of the process of struggle through which all things have come intoexistence.Maclver says that "Society is co-operation crossed by conflict".

6. CultureEvery Society is unique because it has its own culture.Culture is a thing which only human beings possess. It refers to the social heritage of

man. It includes our attitude, moral values beliefs, ideas, ideologies, our institutions,political, legal economic, our sciences and philosophies.

The member of a society shares a common culture.

7. Society is abstractSociety is an organization marked by division of labour of some kind or other.It consists of social relations, customs, laws and mores etc.

These social relations are abstract and intangible.It cannot be seen or touched. It can only be realized.In this way, abstractness is an element of society

Theory

These are statements that provide explanation how and why events happen and howthey are related.

Activity 1: Whom to Leave Behind

Learning Objective After successfully completing this activity, students will be able to: Identify their own bias towards favoring one group over anotherCore Student Success Skills Addressed: Critical Thinking, Self Assessment, Collaboration

Course Topic Link: Social Interaction and Social Groups

Instructions

1.

Have students organize into groups and solve the dilemma described below (see Appendix Bfor student handout).2. The twelve persons listed below have been selected as passengers on a space ship for a

flight to another planet because tomorrow the planet Earth is doomed for destruction.3. Due to changes in space limitations, it has now been determined that only eight persons

may go. Any eight qualify.4. Their task is to select the FOUR passengers who WILL NOT GO on the flight.5. They must also decide the order in which the passengers should be removed from the list.

Students place the number 1 by the person who should be removed first from the list ofpassengers; the number two by the person who should be removed second and so on.


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6. The students may choose only four. These are the four who will not make the trip. They areto be left behind.

7. Have students deliberate on why they want to keep certain people and remove others.Original passenger list: An accountant A medical student

The accountants pregnant wife A famous novelist A liberal art coed A 55 year old university administrator A professional basketball player A clergyman A female movie star An armed police officer An orphaned 12 year old boy A bank manager

Assessment/Reflection: Give points to students who can successfully articulate theirreasoning

on why they decided to leave some passengers behind.

Major Sociological Theories of Education

Like any other topic in sociology, the three major theoretical perspectives(functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interaction theory) each have different views oneducation.

The functionalist perspective argues that education serves many important functions insociety. First, it socializes children and prepares them for life in society. This is not only doneby teaching book knowledge, but also teaching the societys culture, including moral values,ethics, politics, religious beliefs, habits, and norms. Second, education provides occupationaltraining, especially in industrialized societies such as the United States. Unlike in less complexsocieties or in the United States prior to 1900 when most jobs and training were passed onfrom father to son, most jobs in the United States today require at least a high schooleducation, and many professions require a college or post-graduate degree. The third function

that education serves, according to functionalist theorists, is social control, or the regulation ofdeviant behavior. By requiring young people to attend school, this keeps them off the streetsand out of trouble.

The symbolic interaction view of education focuses on interactions during the schoolingprocess and the outcomes of those interactions. For instance, interactions between studentsand teachers can create expectations on both parts. The teacher begins to expect certainbehaviors from students, which in turn can actually create that very behavior. This is calledthe teacher expectancy effect. For example, if a White teacher expects a black student toperform below average on a math test when compared to White students, over time the teachermay act in ways that encourage the black students to get below average math scores.

Conflict theory looks at the disintegrative and disruptive aspects of education. These

theorists argue that education is unequally distributed through society and is used to separategroups (based on class, gender, or race). Educational level is therefore a mechanism forproducing and reproducing inequality in our society. Educational level, according to conflicttheorists, can also be used as a tool for discrimination, such as when potential employersrequire certain educational credentials that may or may not be important for the job. Itdiscriminates against minorities, working-class people, and women those who are often lesseducated and least likely to have credentials because of discriminatory practices within theeducational system.
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References

Giddens, A. (1991). Introduction to Sociology. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Anderson, M.L. and Taylor, H.F. (2009). Sociology: The Essentials. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Society:-

Society is a group of people living together in a definite territory, exhibiting a commonculture.- Why do we become part of a society?

o It is because of the desire or tendency of people to want to be with other people,particularly of their own kind.

This is known as the consciousness of kindo The need for companionship, sympathy and understanding is very important as

is the need for approval of the group to which we belong.

Concept of Group- It is a unit of interacting personalities with an interdependence of roles and status

existing between the members.- They interrelate with one another with common shared attitudes, sentiments,

aspirations and goals

Kinds

1. Primary group:- Basic universal relationship- Intimate, face to face relationships- This is called the nursery of human nature (Cooley)- There is fusion of personalities- Three most primary groups in the education process are:

a. Family Greatest agent in the socialization and learning process Initial knowledge, behavior, and values are acquired

b.

The neighborhood group- Reinforces or strengthens those which we learned in the family- Produces confusion and conflict

c. The School- Exerts a direct influence on the development of the childs personality- Must perform functions which the family has to do- It operates on certain formal structure and learning becomes purposive

and direct

2. The Secondary Group- Characterized by impersonal, business-like, contractual, formal and

causal relationships- Large in size-

Short in duration- E.g. Work Group

o Variety of individuals (some you may not like)o We engage in this interaction because we need to or because we

have certain obligations to them

Other Classifications:

1. In group2. Out-group


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3. Peer group4. Reference Group5. Voluntary Associations

In group Out-group peer Reference Voluntary

- Identifiesoneself- sense ofbelonging-can besmall(family) orbig (nation)-use of me orwe-characterized byfeeling ofsolidarity andprotective

attitude towardseach member

The out-group isseen as different,abnormal, andoften times lesshuman thanthose of the in-group. Membersof the out-groupare thestereotyped bythe in-group,and are themajor victims of

social -isms anddiscrimination.

whose membershave interests,social positions,and age incommon, havean influence onthe socializationof groupmembers.Can be formal orinformal

Informal groups

include

Sociologists callany group thatindividuals useas a standard forevaluatingthemselves andtheir ownbehavior areference group.

comparisontheory arguesthat individuals

use comparisonswith others togain accurateself-evaluationsand learn how todefine the self. Areference groupis a conceptreferring to agroup to whichan individual oranother group iscompared.

Referencegroups providethe benchmarksand contrastneeded forcomparison andevaluation ofgroup andpersonalcharacteristics.

A voluntaryassociation is agroup ororganization thatpeople may joinor leave freely,that is free ofexternal control,and whosepurpose, goals,and methods areup to themembers to

determine.Sociologically,voluntaryassociations areoften seen ascrucial to thefunctioning ofdemocracy,especially byproviding a wayfor individuals tobecome involvedin public life

beyond theprivacy of homeand family.

An example of In-Group versus Out-Group is heterosexuals versus

homosexuals. Heterosexuals seethemselves as "normal" and are themajority, making them the in-group.Homosexuals, on the other hand, areseen as abnormal and unacceptable,which makes them members of theout-group. The members of the in-group stereotype all homosexuals,regardless of their personality orother individual qualities. Many

Functions ofPeer Groups

1.

Allowsyouth tofreehimselffrom toomuchdependence onparents

2. Importan

For example, anindividual in the

U.S. with anannual incomeof $80,000, mayconsider himselfaffluent if hecompareshimself to thosein the middle ofthe incomestrata, who earn
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heterosexuals are heterosexist(prejudiced agains homosexuals andbisexuals), and discriminate againstthese members of the out-group.

t in thelearninganddevelopment ofsocial

roles3. Providesstatusfeelingsandrelationship fortheirmembers

4. For socialmobility(byassociati

on, hemaylearn toachievesocialmobility)

5. Bearersof groupsubcultures

6. Generateconflictwith the

subcultures ofadults.

roughly $32,000a year. If,however, thesame personconsiders therelevant

reference groupto be those inthe top 0.1% ofhouseholds inthe U.S., thosemaking $1.6million or more,then theindividual'sincome of$80,000 wouldmake him or herseem rather

poor.

How are the structural functionalism and symbolic interactionism related to education? Structural functionalism stretched that the society is composed of various institutions that aredependents with each other.Structural functionalism is dealing with the cultural, social, personality and actions system ofevery society. [PARSON]Cultural system of a society provides pattern maintenance or harmony within the community.Social system of every society refers to the interaction, cooperation, social gathering of

information towards the completion or attainment of goals. Personality and the action systemare the behavioral and the fortitude organism that performs the actions of every society in acommunity.

The basic unit of the society is the FAMILY where love, cooperation, integrity, faith andknowledge begin. The society cannot exist without a family; hence family is the heart of society.

The second most important part of society is the SCHOOL. School performs an importantfunction in building the society and the nation as a whole. School serves as an institutionwhich provides intellect, knowledge and competitive education and skills of human resourcesas the product of the school-institution.

Therefore structural functionalism is related to education.


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Symbolic interaction sees our selves as an engrave elements in social forces and socialstructures. Thus, the social self is an active part of society as a whole.

Therefore symbolic interactionism deals with socialization and interaction of everyone which isthe main core of social dynamic fundamentals.Symbolic interactionism states that human beings are endowed with a capacity for thinkingand is shaped by social interaction that can be able to learn the meanings and the symbols

that allow them to comprehend and interpret their actions and interactions. These tangledpatterns of actions and interactions make up groups and society.Indeed, symbolic interactionism is related to the process of education because every one of ushad been engrave and part of the formed society of intellect-the school.2. How would you distinguish consensus and conflict?Consensus and conflict theories are can easily be distinguish through the table below:

Table 1 Consensus versus conflict

Consensus Conflict

Society General agreement among members. Clash between ideas, principle and people.

Parameter Social order, stability and socialregulation. Resistance of social classes to maintaindominance and power.

SocialStructure

Maintenance or continuation ofsocial order in society.

Inequality in the distribution of resources.

SocialBehavior

Shared norms and values asfundamental to society

Best understood in terms of tensionsbetween the competing groups.

State ofSociety

Equilibrium Heterogeneous

SocialChange

Occurring in a slow and orderlyfashion

Occurring rapidly and in a disorderly fashion

School

Serves as an institution whichprovides intellect, knowledgeable andcompetitive education and skills ofhuman resources as the product ofthe school-institution.

School can contribute to the unequaldistribution of people into jobs in society sothat more powerful members of societymaintain the best position and the lesspowerful groups allocated to lower ranks insociety.

ReligionReligion as an institution of believerswhich promotes unity and peace.

Religion is the opium of the people. [KarlMarx]

What are the influences on the conflict and consensus theories in the work as a teacher?The influences on the consensus theory in the work as a teacher are the following:

order, stability and teaching regulation within the class premise. agreement among students, parents and other faculties in the school. Maintenance and continuation of strategically, technically and high-quality teaching. Shared norms and values as fundamental to school practices.

While the influences on the conflict theory in the work as a teacher, are the following:


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Clashing of ideas in other faculty and students. Different principles compared in other faculty and students. Resistance of students. Personal interest. Pressure between the competing groups of students. discrimination in the teaching of the subject (or teaching-terrorism). Inequality of giving fair grades (or favoritism).

According to Dahrendorf that "a society can not exist without both conflict and consensus,which are prerequisites for each other;" indeed, our-self as part of the society, also have conflictand consensus persuade within the dimensions of our ego.

Functionalist Theories of EducationTheorists Discussed Below:Parsons, Davies and Moore, Durkheim, Michael Young, Ronald Fletcher,

ConceptsMeritocracy, manifest and latent functions, instrumental and expressive functions, equality ofopportunity, roll allocation (sifting and sorting), individual achievement, core curriculum, fit

between education and economy, hidden curriculum, myth of meritocracy, links witheducational policy.

Education - Functionalist perspectives:

Functionalists ask.What are the functions of education for society as a whole? Think back to the biologicalanalogy of Society - how would functionalists see the role of education in society today and thecontribution that it makes to social life.

What are the other institutions of society?As the functionalist analysis in general, the functionalist view of education tends to focus on

the positive contributions education makes to the maintenance of the social system.


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Durkheim - Education and social solidarity

Writing at the turn of the last century, the French sociologist Emile Durkheim saw the majorfunction of education as the transmission of society's norms and values. He maintained:

"Society can survive only if there exists amongst its members a sufficient degree of homogeneity;education perpetuates and reinforces this homogeneity by f ixing in the child from the beginningthe essential similarities which collective life demands. "

(Homogeneity comes from the word homogeneous meaning: Of the same or similar nature orkind: "a tight-knit, homogeneous society ; Uniform in structure or composition throughout.)So Durkheim was saying that society is only able to survive if we agree to be similar or thesamei.e agree to the samebasic principles in life) Without these essential similarities,corporation, social solidarity, and therefore social life itself would be impossible.

Thinking Point:What do YOU think about this statement? Do you agree with what Durkheim is saying aboutthe role of education?

A vital task of all societies is the welding of a mass of individuals into a united whole, in otherwords, the creation of social solidarity. This involves a commitment to society, a sense ofbelonging, and a feeling that the social unit is more important than the individual.

Durkheim argued: "to become attached to society, the child must feel in it something that is real,alive and powerful, which dominates the person and to which he also owns the best part ofhimself. education, and in particular the teaching of history, provides this link between theindividual and society. If the history of their society is brought to life to children, they will come tosee that they are part of something larger than themselves: they will develop a sense of


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commitment to the social group."

Education and social rules

Durkheim argued that, in complex industrial societies, the school serves a function which

cannot be provided by either the family or by the peer group. Membership of the family is basedon kinship relationships; membership of the peer group on personal choice. The ownership ofsociety as a whole is based on neither of these principles.

Individuals must learn to co-operate with those who are neither their kin nor their friends. Theschool provides a context where these skills can be learned. As such, it is society inminiature, and model of the social system. In school, the child must interact with othermembers of the school community in terms of a fixed set of rules. The experience prepares himor her for interacting with members of society as a whole in terms of society's rules.

Durkheim believes a school rule should be strictly enforced. Punishments should reflect theseriousness of the damaged onto the social group by the offence, and it should be made clearto transgressors why they were being punished. In this way pupils would come to learn that it

was wrong to act against the interests of the social group as a whole. They would learn toexercise self-discipline, not just because they wanted to avoid punishment, but they also wouldcome to see that misbehaviour damaged society as a whole.

Criticisms of Durkheim:1) Durkheim assumed societies have a shared culture which can be transmitted through theeducation system. Countries such as Britain are now multicultural and it is thereforedebatable whether there is a single culture of which schools could base their curriculum. It isnot just the fact that the United Kingdom is a multicultural society: think about subculturesthat seem to reject mainstream cultures.

2) Marxists argue that educational institutions tend to transmit a dominant culture which

serves the interests of the ruling class, (another word for ruling class is Bourgeoisie- this willreally impress the examiners!) rather than those of society as a whole.

3) In recent decades both New Right and New Labour (right and left wing) perspectives oneducation have tended to emphasise the economic importance of education and havedownplayed the significance of transmitting a shared culture.

4) Some researchers questioned whether in practice schools to act in the way Durkheimdescribes. On the basis of a study of comprehensive schools, David Hargreaves (1982) arguesthat education in modern Britain often fails to transmit shared values, promote self-discipline,or cement social solidarity. Hargreaves believes that in reality British education emphasisesindividual competition through the exam system, rather than encouraging social solidarity.


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Talcott Parsons: Education and Universalistic values

The American sociologist Talcott Parsons (1961) outlined what has become the acceptedfunctionalist view of education. Parsons argued that, after primary socialisation within thefamily the school takes over as the focal socialising agency; school acts as a bridge betweenthe family and society as a whole, preparing children for their adult role.

Within the family, the child is judged and treated largely in terms ofparticularistic standards.Parents treat the child as their particular child rather than judging her or him in terms of thestandards that can be applied to every individual. Your parents are generally going to thinkthat the sun shines from your rear and perfume is emitted from your ear blah blah. They

understand you and your rather weird ways. They know what you been through in your life.Shall I go onor do you get it? So you are judged by Particularistic standards.

However, in wider society the individual is treated and charged in terms ofuniversalistic


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standards, which are applied to all members, regardless of kinship ties. In CollegeI dontcare about your particular situation in lifeand your strange ways I will judge you in thesame way I judge everyone else- by your dress, how you behave, the quality of your work andattitude (bringing me lots of chocolates over the course of the year may result in exceptionalmarks awarded in your homework- hint hint!). So school/ college is the same as society. Yourboss wont care if your goldfish died the night before if you lose him business or turn up really

late for a meetingthus in society and in education you are judged by Universalistic

standards.

Within the family, the child's status is ascribed: it is fixed by birth. However, in advancedindustrial society, status in adult life is largely achieved: example, individuals achieve theiroccupational status. So you can go from living in a shabby home (like in EastEnders) to havinga better crib than Missy Elliot (have you seen her house?)!

So the child must move from particularistic standards and ascribed status of the family to theuniversalistic standards and achieved status of adult society.

The school prepares young people for this transition. It establishes universalistic standards, interms of which all pupils achieve their status. Their conduct is assessed against the yardstickof school rules; their achievement is measured by performance in examinations. The same

standards are applied to all students regardless of ascribed characteristics such as race, sex,family background or class of origin. Schools operate on meritocratic principles: statusesachieved on the basis of merit or worth

Thinking Point:Do we REALLY believe this? What do you think?


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Parsons also believes that school values have an important functions and society as a whole.Advanced industrial society requires a highly motivated, achievement orientated workforce.

This necessitates differential reward for differential achievement, a principle which has beenestablished in schools. Both the winners (high achievers) and the losers (low achievers) will seethe education system as just and fair, since statuses achieved in a situation where all have anequal chance. Again the principles that operate in wider society on mirrored by those of theschool.

Role allocation

Roll allocation?!!!! Ha ha!Parsons saw the educational system as an important mechanism for the selection of

individuals for their future role in society. In his words, it functions to allocate these humanresources within the role structure of adult society. Thus schools, by testing and evaluatingstudents, match their talents, skills and capacity to the jobs for which they are best suited. Theschool is therefore seen as the major mechanism for role allocation.


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Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E..Moore - Education and role allocation

Like Parsons, Davis and Moore 1967 saw education as a means of role allocation, but theylinked the education system more directly with the system ofsocial stratification. Davis andMoore saw social stratification as a mechanism for ensuring that the most talented and ablemembers of society are allocated to those positions that are functionally more important insociety. High rewards, which act as incentives, attached to those positions. This means, in

theory, that all will compete with them and the most talented will win through.

Thus the education system sifts, sorts and grades individuals in terms of their talents andabilities. It rewards the most talented with high qualifications, which in turn provide entry tothose occupations that are functionally most important to society.

Criticisms:
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1) The relationship between academic credentials and occupational reward is not particularlyclose. In particular, income is only weakly linked to educational attainment.

2) There is considerable doubt about the proposition that the educational system greats peoplein terms of ability. In particular, it has been argued that intelligence has little effect uponeducational attainment.

Can you think of other factors that may have a considerable bearing on educationalachievement? List them here.

3) There is considerable evidence to suggest that the influence of social stratification largelyprevents the educational system from efficiency grading individuals in terms of ability.

4) Some researchers argued that the traditional functions of education are becomingincreasingly inappropriate and / or impractical as globalisation progresses. They claimed thatthe transmission of a common national culture is no longer possible in the multiculturalsocieties of a globalised world. The cultures of today's societies are too fragmented and diverseto weld into a national identity based on shared norms and values. So this is basically saying

that the Internet and communications and the media mean that we have access to lots ofinformation and cultures and ways of living therefore we can no longer really 'share' the same'culture' and values any more...FUNCTIONALIST: Robert K Merton

What is the manifest function?The manifest function (an obvious function) of a pattern of behavior is the effect or result thatis apparent to the members of the society. We can ask people why they do a certain thing; theywill give the reason the manifest function of that behaviorthe agreed upon value of action,the ideal as opposed to the real. So in the Education system, an obvious function of educationis to teach children the curriculum; e.g maths, English etc to prepare them for the world ofwork.


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What is the latent function?

The latent function of the behavior is the effect or result that is not apparent to the members ofthe society who engage in it. So a latent function of education is the Hidden Curriculum. Thisis the curriculum that is not formally taught but is expected of you; e.g Punctuality, homework,politenesslistening to the teacher (I like that one!).

Documents

the Social Dimension of Education