Social Change, Development and Education PDF
Social Change, Development and Education PDF
Social Change, Development and Education PDF
AND EDUCATION
Structure
Introduction
Objectives
Social Change
Development
Perspectives on Education
Education in Indian Perspectives
3.6.1 Education and Social Change
Education, Economic Growth and Development
The Mismatch Problem
Globalization and Education
Let's Sum Up
Answers to Check your Progress
References and Suggested Readings
3.1 INTRODUCTION
It has been observed that change is such an evident feature of social reality that any
social-scientific theory, whatever its conceptual starting point, must sooner or later
address it. Others also point out that the only thing that does not change is change.
At the same time it is essential to note that the ways social change has been identified
have varied greatly in the history of thought. In this Unit we point out the three main
elements of social change that must stand in definite relation to one another:
3.2 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit, you should be in a position to:
understand the meaning of Social change;
understand the concept of Social development;
understand the relationship between education and social change; and
appreciate the relationship between Education, Economic Growth and
Development.
Change is generally said to be a subject of the law of nature. Changes occur both
in nature as well as society. Social change would refer to the changes taking place
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Education and Society: in the human society. Social change may also be taken to mean only such alterations
Concepts and Penpwtives
as occur on the structure and functions of society. As individuals constantly interact
in society, the social structures that govern the forms and rules of interactions relatively
stay stable for long durations. However change takes place, speedily or slowly, in the
structure which signifies social change. 'Social change does not refer to social
interaction but rather to the normative conditions of interactions'.
Social change has also been viewed as part of cultural change which covers all
changes that occurs in any branch of culture like art, science, technology, philosophy,
and also changes in the forms and rules of social organization. It needs to be noted
that no part of culture is completely unrelated to the social order. However, changes
in certain branches of culture may take place without having much impact on the
social system. In the context of social change, cultural changes are relevant to the
extent that they arise from or have as an effect on social organization.
The scope of social change indicates change in the whole structure of society (from
agrarian to industrial) or the changes within the structure of society (introduction of
a new system of education). There is observed even 'lag' in changes taking place
in different parts of the society as the rate of change may not be the same for all the
parts. There is also observed lag between societies /countries in terms of changes
and, hence, the challenge for one set of societies to 'catch up' with the other set of
societies.
Social change is also viewed in terms of the direction of change, like moving towards
attaining some goal. In that case social changes could be seen as progressive or
retrogressive in nature. As regards the source of social change, there are two contrasting
perspectives. The evolutionary view holds that social changes pass through a series
of self-generating (internal sources) stages. But the diffusionists hold that it occurs
due to borrowing of traits across (external sources) societies. Generally, the borrowed
traits are modified and adapted to suit the society concerned. So, there could be both
internal and external sources of changes occumng in societies.
There are two major theories explaining social changes. The theory of 'economic
.determinism' is associated with Karl Marx and F. Engels who hold the primacy of
economic factor in determining the nature of social, political and intellectual life
generally. They consider economic structure of society as the base and all other
spheres of life as superstructure, and affirm that a change occumng in the base
determines, in the ultimate analysis, the shape of the superstructure of society.
But the 'functionalist-structural' theory of social change denies any deterministic role
of the economic structure of society. It gives equal weight to all spheres of life. It
views society as a social system consisting of different parts. Changes occumng in
one part lead to changes in other parts of the social system. The social system always
intends to achieve equilibrium. It reflects a kind of moving equilibrium. This
equilibrium approach does not make much difference between variables. The variables
are treated as mutually dependent, and change in one variable inevitably leads to
changes in other variables which lead to a state of social equilibrium. The process
of change goes on and gives a picture of society in a state of moving equilibrium.
The social system is viewed as self-restoring in nature, which resists deflection or
ruptures in society (Davis 1981).
3.4 DEVELOPMENT
The concept of development is multi-dimensional in nature. It is viewed in both
restricted and comprehensive ways. In a restricted sense, it may refer only to economic
changes. Changes in the economy could be both wider and narrow in nature. Wider
changes would refer to qualitative and structural changes in the state of an economy. Social Change,
Further, the concept of growth is very commonly viewed as synonymous with and Education
development. However, growth is generally treated in a limited way i.e. quantitative
and tangible increase in the GNP, or per capita income. In a broad sense, development
implies a relatively stable increase in real national income that is accompanied by a
change in the attitudes of the people, their motivation, institutional set up, production
techniques, etc. Thus, development has both economic and non-economic dimensions,
and these two are interlinked.
C
i Economic development influences non-economic spheres in the life of people.
Similarly, non-economic factors promote or hinder economic development. Non-
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economic factors refer to human capital which includes the social, political, cultural
1
I and educational background of the people who participate in the process of
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h
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development. Education plays an important role in the formation of human capital
and thus contributies to economic development in particular, and overall societal
I development in general.
r
j The concept of development is associated with other concepts such as growth and
1I modernization. Its historical roots lie in the period of major changes connected with
the industrial revolution when industrial and social change in Europe became
i synonymous with social progress.
I
After the end of the Second World War the dominant view of development was that
of modernization of the ex-colonial countries. This view of development looked at
the world as composed of two sets of societies - the traditional societies (i.e. ex-
colonial countries) and the modem societies (the developed countries of Europe and
North America). Here, the process of development meant transformation of the
traditional societies into modem societies through adopting institutions, ideas and
practices of the latter such as modem science and technology, democratic political
institution, capital and expertise etc. In thls process, the traditional social structures
are transformed into those of a modem type along the lines of what happened earlier
in Europe. This involved a one-way process of import of ideas, technology, capital,
skills and such resources from the developed countries to the backward ones. But
this view has been severely criticized by the underdevelopment theorists who hold
that there exists only one system i.e. the capitalist world system in which the developing
countries/societies have been underdeveloped through colonial/neo-colonial
exploitations and thus facilitated the development of the modem countries of Europe
and North America. Another view holds that what is underway is the process of
'dependent development' of a section of the people in the developing countries as a
result of their close linkages with the developed ones. Thus the concept of development
has different connotations depending on the perspective adopted look at the process
of changes occurring in different sets of societies/countries.
Functionalist thinkers are concerned with the function of education for society as a
whole. They assess the contribution made by education to the maintenance of value
consensus and social solidarity. Further, they deal with the functional relationships
Education and Society: between education and the other parts of the social system. This, for example, leads
Concepts and Perspectives to an examination of the relationship between education and the economic system,
the political system and culture, etc., and a consideration of how this relationship
helps to integrate the society as a whole. In general, functional analysis focuses on
the positive contributions made by education to the maintenance of the social system.
It is assumed that education is functional for the society as a whole. Here, four
major functions of education could be seen in relation to society, i.e., socialization,
role allocation, social mobility and social change.
Orthodox Marxists believe that the economic base determines the superstructure in
the sense that, for example, a society's educational system, or its form of government,
or the type of family prevalent at any particular time is a direct consequence of the
nature of its economic system. Furthermore, as economic base changes, so do other
social, political, educational and cultural institutions.
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2) Mention the three major sociological perspectives in education.
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Social Change,
3.6 EDUCATION IN INDIAN PERSPECTIVES Development and Education
ii) Social goals like reduction of various forms of social inequality; and
iii) The goal of moulding the character of citizens as responsible and socially and
politically conscientious members of democratic society.
Various studies have shown that the major beneficiaries of higher education come
from the upper social strata and an urban background. Education had earlier facilitated
the extension of dominant peasant caste hegemony particularly at the state level. But
with the passage of time, those belonging to the lower castes, like SC/STs also made
considerable progress in higher education and so has achieved the attendant socio-
economic benefits through limited mobility.
Knowledge is the most powerful engine of production and the most valuable of all
capital that is invested in human beings. In earlier times, education was considered
an item of consumption. But the view of planners has changed, and education is
regarded as investment for achieving rapid development. Most human capital
economists hold that education has both consumption and investment value. Education
has implications for the existing inequality of income and wealth.
Humans are both producers and consumers of goods and services. At individual/
family level they invest in education and training to increase their productivity and
income and thereby their consumption. The society as well invests in education with
a view to promoting growth and productivity. The government subsidizes education
for national development. So there are costs and benefits of education at both private
and social levels.
Generally education seems to have a positive rate of return and at some levels, they
are favourable. However, if the high rate of unemployment is the sole consideration,
education may not be said to give a positive return and has even been said to be an
economic waste.
There are serious limitations on education to promote social mobility of the weaker
sections of society. The prevailing socio-political structures limit educational potential
in that the upper strata reaps the major benefits of the gigantic expansion of educational
facilities, threby sharpening the differentiation in rural society rather than reducing
it. There is a close correlation between the agrarian class structure and educational
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achievement. In India, the political developments since Independence have contributed Social Change,
largely towards determining the course of educational growth. There developed a and Education
differential system of education to satisfy the needs and aspirations of different strata
of society. Nobody cared about the people at the bottom of the social hierarchy who
are considered to be the rejects of society.
The stream of non-formal education, including adult education, was introduced long
back in the country focused mainly on the p r o g r d s of literacy and sometimes a
little vocational training. This did not prove to be much useful to the people and their
development. This was due to the fact that the problems of the poor are manifold and
the kind of non-formal education that is given to them, does not adequately respond
to their needs. It is observed that the major challenges for them are to negotiate and
confront with the vested interests which oppress them. The first step in learning for
them would involve learning to fight the vested interests and the petty bureaucracy.
Besides literacy, education has to meet the need for skill development and employment
generation (not creating unemployment). It could develop their personal and collective
critical thinking, problem diagnosis and solution through organizing themselves in
different ways. The programme would break their isolation and marginalization, and
motivate, organize and 'empower them to fully participate in social and public /
political activities in life. Here, the outside support would only facilitate the process
and the deprived people would themselves actively participate in their overall
development in a sustainable way.
The process of globalization would mainly affect the parts of education system that
could be exposed to it. Moreover, changes in education are generally slow to occur.
Hence, it could be stated that 'strong mismatches and discrepancies will prevail
between the expected impact of globalization on education and the actual changes
occumng in education as a result of globalization'. It may be noted that globalization
is not a radical revolution that is going to completely transform education: its impact
will be more an emphasis of certain trends.
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Social Change,
4) Mention any three impact of globalization on education. Development and Education
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The relationship between education and society has been viewed from three different
perspectives, i.e. functionalist perspective, the Marxist perspective, and the interpretive
perspective.
Kamat, A.R. (1985). Education and Social Change in India, Bombay, Somaiya
Publications.
Rao, Sudha V. (1985). Education and Rural Development, New Delhi, Sage
Publications.