Education Is the Main Agent of Secondary Socialisation. How Do Schools Prepare Us for Social Life?

Functionalism is based on the view that society is a system of interdependent parts held together by a shared culture or value consensus (agreement) amongst individuals as to what values or norms are important in society. Therefore they take a positive view of the education system. As item A suggests they see it as a form of secondary socialism essential to maintaining society i.e. the values and norms transmitted by social institutions and groups which build upon those learnt in the family (primary socialism).

Socialization is an ongoing process in which individuals obtains a personal identity, learns norms, values and behaviour appropriate to his/her position. People constantly require approval of the things they do, they continually seek to be socially competent and to be accepted by those around them. It is human nature to want to be similar from others in order to be accepted in a certain social spheres but at the same time wanting to be different and unique. There are primary and secondary agents of socialization. The primary agents are those that are basic and fundamental to social beings, these include family and friends from which we learn behaviour at young age; they transmit norms and values to us. The secondary agents are those that are more external to us than family such as social institutions/organisations, these include schools,

Education prepares children for the world of work and helps them to develop their personal talents, discover who they are, and where they would best fit into society’s workforce as viewed by the Functionalist. They see three main function of education; role allocation, providing skills, and socialization. Education can be seen to provide pupils/ students with the curriculum and hidden curriculum; teaching skills that will prepare them physically, mentally and socially for the world of work in later life (Szarowicz, 2004).

Bowles and Gintis also argue that in order to prevent rebellion from those disadvantaged by the inequalities of capitalism, it is necessary to produce ideologies that explain and justify inequality as fair, natural and inevitable. If people think inequality is justified then they are less likely to challenge the capitalist system. According to Bowles and Gintis, the education system plays a key role in producing such ideologies. They describe the education system as a giant ‘myth making machine’ and focus on how education promotes the ‘myth of meritocracy’. Meritocracy refers to a system where everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve, where rewards are based on ability and effort. This means that those who gain the highest rewards and status deserve it because they are the most able and hardworking. Bowles and Gintis argue that meritocracy does not actually exist. Evidence showed that the main factor determining whether or not someone has a high income is their family and class background, not their ability or educational achievement. By

Bowles and Gintis also believe that schools are no longer about the teaching of a subject but the Social Principle or control of the pupils meaning that schools concentrate more on the hidden curriculum than the knowledge process. Equally, schools don’t reward independence and innovation, therefore meritocracy cannot exist within our capitalist society as capitalism is based on the principle of a ruling class (the bourgeosis) and a working class (the proletariat) and meritocracy would abolish the idea of the ruling class, society would be equal. According to Louis Althusser (1972), a French Marxist philosopher, the school serves to mould individuals into subjects that fit with the requirements of capitalism, they learn submission, deference and respect for the economy and their place in it. The school also works to ensure that the labour force is technically competent. Also, according to Althusser, the ruling class within any society exercises control over and through schooling and the Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs). The ideologies themselves express the material interests of the ruling class, so this control over and through the ISAs maintains what is called class hegemony, or domination. Althusser is also draws attention to the powerful effects of the ‘hidden curriculum’ of

The term socialization can be defined as the process in which individuals learn the behavioral patterns that are most likely accepted and tolerated in society. This process includes the learning values in which children are taught and they develop the social values of their parents or guardians just by observing them. Socialization occurs from the birth of the individual and continues throughout their life. Socialization is classified as one of the most important process in the family. Of all the major sociological perspectives, symbolic interactionism has probably developed the most detailed theory of socialization, Haralambos, Holborn. Sociology -

Functionalism developed out of the positivist observation that 'all positive speculations owe their first origin to the occupations of practical life' (Comte, 1865, pg 11) and the boundaries of scientific knowledge can not go further than empirically observable truths and views societies as holistic systems where 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts' (Taylor et el, 1997, pg 662). Functionalist analysis draws on three assumptions essentially seeking to transform society into a theoretical system of reality. The first assumption is that there are zero independent parts operating within

Academics regularly debate of whether the education system is meritocratic, which is a system in which advancement is based on individual ability or achievement. With this system hard work, ability and effort are rewarded so everyone who studies has an equal chance of success. This idea of meritocratic seems fair, you get rewarded on what effort you put in, but in modern societies, there are huge issues on inequality so a student’s educational attainment, could be heavily influenced by what class, gender or race they are.

Socialisation is a learning process where people learn and adapt to the appropriate and accepted values, attitudes and behaviours of their society. Nevertheless, separate groups exist within societies for reasons including ethnicity, class and culture and these can bring their own set of ‘norms’. Bond and Bond in Sociology and Social Care (2009 pg28) states “From the cradle to the grave we are being socialised”. Primary socialisation occurs from infancy to early adulthood. Secondary socialisation follows into the later stages of maturity. Anticipatory socialisation is where we learn to anticipate the actions and activities deemed appropriate by society. Resocialisation occurs when we learn new behaviours in response to new situations and

The relation between the study of how people act towards each other and education is a subject of debate. One idea says education is meant to overcome where two things are not the same. Whereas other says the most important function of education is helping to increase balance status of good people in the world and to maintain inequality whatever state it comes in. I will focus on three areas that affects the educations of Socialogy. The first area is Structural Functionalism.

Having attended public schools throughout my childhood and adolescence, I never was familiar with the term functionalism and its many elements. After observing and analyzing my field placement classroom I have come to understand the concept of functionalism to some extent. In general, functionalists “see schools as serving to socialize students to adapt to the economic, political, and social institutions of that society” (Feinberg, p.6, 2004). They also theorize that in order for societies to survive, they must carry out vital functions such as, attaining fundamental knowledge and acquiring essential skills and proficiency, acknowledging certain norms and values within their community, and recognizing authority figures. It is also

Functionalist one of the “theories” of sociology are mainly concerned with the function of education to society and to seek solution to the following questions, “what is the relevance of education to the social system and “what are the relationship between education and economic system”.

Durkheim argued, ‘to become attached to society, they will come to see that they are part of something larger themselves; they will develop a sense of commitment to the social group’. Durkheim also claimed that the school serves a function which cannot be provided by the family the peer group. Individuals must learn to cooperate with those who are neither their family nor their friends. In this way, children learn to respect authority figures, such as teachers, and get along with other members of society they would be forced to interact with in later life such as bosses and colleagues. These social interactions are essential for keeping society harmoniously balanced and functioning. Durkheim claimed that along with teaching us to interact with different social groups, education serves to strictly reinforce school rules and ensure that children realise that these should be followed. Punishments should reflect the seriousness of the damage done to the social group by the offence and teach individuals that it is wrong to act against the interests of the social group as a whole. In Durkheim’s words: ‘it is by respecting the school rules that the child learns to respect rules in general, that he develops the habit of self-control and restraint simply because he should control and restrain

Socialization is “the process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior and social skills that are essential appropriate to his or her social environment.” Socialization applies to our daily life and it’s the most important process of human society. Without socialization the human would not be able to take part in group life and develop human characteristics. The world wouldn’t never be organized and everyone would have their own ways of doing thing. The general rules that we follow every day tells us what we should and shouldn’t do and how we should interact in situations. There are always consequences if we violate the rules and everyone recognizes the rules. Individual personality is really important in socialization. As a child, we start to learn and imitate others behavior, and as we get older, we start to understand the social life and accustom to the environment we live in, which can have effects on our personality. Personality refers to the patterns of feeling, thought, and action that characterizes human beings. The experiences we go through in life can change our personality too. Socialization essentially represents the process of learning throughout the life course. The important theories of socialization are defined by Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead, Erving Goffman, Sigmund Freud and Judith R. Harris. Charles Cooley, George Mead and Erving Goffman mention the importance of the social side of

The structural-functional theory also known as functionalism is sociological theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. Functionalists view education as a contribution to the smooth inner working of society. Education is a lifelong process, we are constantly learning new things and deepening our knowledge of things we already know. The education system works to prepare individuals to become fully functioning members of society. It works to teach people certain skills that will help them to be successful in life. However, education not only teaches people the skills they will need to be successful in life, but it also teaches them how to be decent citizens and to work well with others. Many people view education are a service to the overall function of society.