College Program Entry Essay: Sociology and Childhood Education

Sociology is defined as ‘The study of human social life, groups and societies’ (Giddens, 1989). It involves describing and analysing how different forces such as social, cultural, political, and economic have on behaviour and an individuals identity. (Van Kreiken et al.2000). Furthermore, it encompasses the complex connections on a micro level along with those on a macro level thus enabling sociological imagination.

Sociology is the study of social life and the change and consequences of human behavior. Human behavior is social in nature, the topic of sociology ranges from divisions of race, gender and sociology of work and sports. In my opinion, sociology is one of the few fields which have such a broad scope and relevance for breadth, depth and application.

In this essay, I will assess the strengths and limitations of unstructured interviews for investigating the effect of material deprivation on educational achievement by using Item B and my own knowledge. Material deprivation is the idea that a lack of money leads to disadvantages, Item B gives an example of ‘low household income, poor housing and a lack of work space in the home.’

After reviewing the article titles given for this first assignment, I believe they indicate that Sociology, generally speaking, is not only a study of diversity or commonality in traits among people; it is also a science about factors in a person’s life and how these factors culminate responses. Interestingly enough, its topics of concern seem to be directly determined by current and common events of the world. Through the invention and expansion of new ideas, popular trends and fashions through time, Sociology adapts to responsibly to service the very subjects of interest it studies; for, even the slightest change of a person’s daily experience can have an insurmountable impact on attitude, personal growth, family

Throughout this entire semester, I have learned many different aspects of society that I had a basic understanding of originally. I never would have imagined the amount of knowledge and real life stories I would gain in this class. I want to start of by saying that I am grateful to have taken this class and appreciate each and every story that was shared. These stories opened my eyes to a world I wouldn’t have normally seen. For that fact alone, I believe sociology was one of the most insightful classes in my college career so far.

You will refer to statistical evidence when discussing the variety of family and household types. You will be required to reference your work throughout and produce a correct and current bibliography to demonstrate that you have used different sources to obtain your information.

Chapter one explains more about the ability to use sociological perspective, build understanding to each unique person with different patterned lives. As a college student I’d hope to get a good job after I graduate, because sociology is a great development of knowledge for the real world. Sociology can help anyone prepare for communication and learn different factors of the real world we live in. Our economy is nothing but industrial and without socializing and communicating in being bigger and better than before, where would we be? We are nothing but expanding

A key part of engaging in sociology is to adopt a sociological viewpoint or 'think sociologically'. Etymologically, sociology is the 'study of society' but this doesn't differentiate sociology from other forms of social study. Hence, many begin to describe thinking sociologically by what it is not - it is not thinking politically, thinking anthropologically, thinking historically or thinking psychologically, for example (Berger 1966: 11-36; Reiss 1968: 2-3). Others try to determine the nature of sociological thinking by detailing practical phenomena which can be thought about such as social systems and their subsystems, social institutions and social structure, and social aggregates, relationships, groups and organisations (Reiss 1968: 1),

Sociology and sociological thinking are a vital part of society, and through examining both society and individuals, sociology is able to make changes to areas such as policies, and attitudes that may have usually negatively affected them, and instead gained a positive result through the careful research, and applied knowledge.

As an idea social pedagogy first started being used around the middle of the nineteenth century in Germany as a way of describing alternatives to the dominant models of schooling. However, by the second half of the twentieth century social pedagogy became increasingly associated with social work and notions of social education in a number of European countries.

Identify the four major sociological theoretical paradigms. For each, what are the key tenets? How does each explain how society works?

Final Question 2: Almost every parent has told their child “life isn’t fair.” As a society, we notice situations where decisions made are not always reasonable. When it comes to children, however, being equal and objective are not always priorities. There are two distinct cultures divided by age, adult’s culture and children’s culture. Adults are people 18 years of age and older, where children refer to anyone under 18.

According to C. Wright Mills, what occurs in any one individual's life is interrelated with society as a whole. The sociological imagination gives us the ability to understand the correlation of one's biography, history, and traditions along with the knowledge of the social and historical impact and/or influence society may have on that person or group of people. Mills' notion compels us to investigate into an individual's biography and lifestyles, and place their findings within the surrounding circumstances in which events occur in order to perceive the whole picture of the society in which the individual lives.

Another thing that stuck out to me relating to this topic was the small green piece of paper that Linda held up in class. We were able to give it any meaning we wanted (plant, everyone gets 100). It’s interesting to look at something and give it meaning and follow that for many years. It’s important to see the world through a sociological lens for a many reasons. Keeping in mind that not everyone was raised the way you are, not everyone has the same beliefs as you and keeping an open mind will help you understand why the world is the way it is. In other words, it is always good to keep an open mind that society shapes us as humans. Looking at society from a sociological perspective makes you think more about why things are they way they are. Another thing that I often think about is the strange in the familiar that we learned at the beginning of the semester, which means taking something that seems “normal” to us and asking ourselves why we do this? For example, we can take something familiar like a birthday party and analyze it. We put a birthday cake in front of a child on their birthday and have them blow it

Due to the decline of social skills, many Americans have fallen to the idea of perception becoming a reality regarding social norms. Over the past decade, many Americans have not been able to come together and stop the increase of social injustices. Sociology should be a required subject because it promotes problem solving, it provides students with a basic understanding of how society functions, and it opens up many career options.