Social Dimension

Social Dimensions of
Education
Page 3
Learning Objectives:
• Differentiate the various social science

theories
• Explain the relationship of the various
social theories- the conflict, consensus,
functionalism and interactionist theories-
and educational systems
• Discuss how the various social theories
affect the functions of schools
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Introduction:
• Sociology, the scientific study

of human social behavior. As
the study of humans in their
collective aspect, sociology is concerned
with all group activities: economic, social,
political, and religious.
• Sociologists see education as one major
institutions that constitutes society.
While theories guide research and policy
formulation in the sociology of education,
they also provide logical explanations for
why things happen the way they do.
• These theories help sociologists
understand educational systems.
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Discussion:
Consensus and Conflict Theory
• Consensus is a general or widespread
agreement among all members of a
particular society.
• Conflict is a clash between ideas and
principles and people.
Dahrendorf (1968 ) Ritzer (2000)
Discussion:
CONSENSUS CONFLICT
• Shared norms and • Emphasize the
values as fundamental dominance of some
to society social groups
• Focus on social order • See social order as
based on tacit manipulation and
agreement control by dominant
• Social change occurs in groups
slow and orderly • Social change occurs
fashion rapidly and in disorderly
fashion as subordinate
groups overthrow
Dominant groups
Discussion:
CONSENSUS CONFLICT
• Examine value integration • Examine conflicts of
in society interest and coercion
• Absence of conflict is that holds society
seen as the equilibrium together
sets on a society based • Can be COVERT or
on a general or
widespread agreement OVERT
among all members of a • Focus on the
particular society heterogeneous nature
of society and the
differential distribution
of political and social
power
• Schools contribute to
Discussion:
the unequal distribution
What is the of people into jobs in
impact of conflict society.
theory in the • Powerful members-best
Philippine positions
education
system?
• Less powerful groups
(minority, ethnic, racial,
women) - lowest rank
Discussion:
• Education plays in
maintainingthe
What is the prestige, power,
role of
education in and economic and
assuming the social position of
conflict the dominant group
theory?
in society.
s
• Max Weber- schools
Discussion: teach and maintain
Status cultures particular “status
refer to groups cultures”
in society with • Schools are
similar homogenous in their
interests and student bodies.
positions in the • Education system trains
status individuals in specialties
hierarchy. to fill needed positions or
prepare“cultivated
individuals”
• Conflict theory assumes
Discussion: that social behavior is
How do best understood in
terms of conflict or
people or an
tensions between
organization competing group.
settle a • Conflicts need not be
conflict ? violent; it can take the
form of labor
negotiations, party
politics, competition
between religious groups
Discussion:
• The conflict theorists are interested in how

society’s institutions-the family,
government, religion, education, and the
media-may help o maintain the privileges
of some groups and keep others in
subservient position.
• Emphasis on social change and
redistribution of resources makes conflict
theories more “radical” and “activist”
» (Schaefer, 2003)
Discussion:
• The consensus theory is a sociological

perspective or collection of theories, in
which social order and stability/social
regulation form the base of emphasis.
• It is concerned with the maintenance or
continuation of social order of society, in
relation to accepted norms, values, rules,
and regulations of society
»
Discussion:
The Conflict Model
Discussion:
The proponents of consensus and conflict

sociological and social theories are:
Karl Marx
Emile Durkheim
Max Weber
Talcott Parsons & Robert Merton
Louis Althusser & Ralph Dahrendorf
herbert Mead & Herbert Blumer
Discussion:
Structural Functionalism
Structural Functionalism states that society
is made up of various institutions that work
together in cooperation.
Parsons’ structural functionalism has four
functional imperatives
also known
as AGIL
scheme.
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Discussion:
1. Adaptation – a system must cope with
external situational exigencies. It must
adapt to its environment and adapt
environment to its needs.
2. Goal attainment- a system must define
and achieve its primary goals.
Discussion:
3. Integration- a system must regulate the
interrelationship of its component parts. It
must also manage the relationship among
the other three functional imperatives
(A,G,L)
4, Latency (pattern maintenance)- a system
must furnish, maintain and renew both the
motivation of individuals and the cultural
patterns that create and sustain the
motivation.
Discussion:
Structure of the General Action System (Ritzer 2000)
Cultural system (Latency Social system
Function) providing (Integration
actors with the norms
Function) controlling
and values that motivate
them for action its components parts
Action system Personality system

(Adaptation Function) (Goal Attainment)
adjusting to and defining system goals
transforming to the and mobilizing
external world resources to attain them
Discussion:
Parson’s answer to the problem of order in
1. Property of order and interdependence of
parts
2. Self-maintaining order or equilibrium
3. Maybe static or involved
4. Nature of one part has an impact on the
forms that the other parts can take.
Discussion:
Parson’s answer to the problem of order in
5. Maintain boundaries with their environments.
6. Allocation and integration are two
fundamental process necessary for a
given equilibrium
7. Self-maintenance involving the maintenance
of relationships of parts to whole
Discussion:
Parson’s social system begins at the micro
level with interaction between the ego and
alter – ego, defined as the most
elementary form of the social system. He
was interested in such a large-scale
components of social systems as
collectiveness, norms and values. Parsons
was not simply a structuralist but also a
FUNCTIONALIST.
Discussion:
Functional Requisites of a social system
1. Social system must be structured so that
they operate compatibly with other systems.
2. To survive, the social system must
have requisite from other systems.
3. The system must meet a significant
proportion of the needs of its actors.
4. The system must elicit adequate
participation from its members.
Discussion:
Functional Requisites of a social system
5. It must have at least a minimum of control
over potentially disruptive behavior.
6. If conflict becomes sufficiently disruptive,
it must be controlled.
7. Finally, a social system requires a
language in order to survive.
-Talcott Parsons
Discussion:
The functionalist perspective is primarily
concerned with why society assumes
a particular form.
It assumes that any society takes its particular
form because that form works well for the
society given its particular situation.
Societies exist under a wide range
of environmental situations.
Discussion:
Key principles of the functionalist theory
by Farley 1990.
1. Interdependency
2. Functions of social structure and culture
3. Consensus and cooperation
4. Equilibrium
Discussion:
by Farley 1990.
1. Interdependency – every part of society is
dependent to some extent on the other
parts of the society, so that what happens at
one place in society has important effects
elsewhere.
Discussion:
by Farley 1990.
2. Functions of Social Structure and Culture
Social Structure refers to the organization of
society, including its institutions, its social
positions and distribution of resources.
Culture refers to a set of beliefs, language,
rules, values, and knowledge held in
common by members of a society.
Discussion:
by Farley 1990.
3. Consensus and Cooperation – societies
have a tendency toward consensus; that is
to have certain basic values that nearly
everyone in the society agrees upon. Society
tends toward consensus to achieve
cooperation.
Discussion:
by Farley 1990.
4. Equilibrium is a characteristic of a
society when it has achieved the form
that is best adapted to its situation.
New technology, a change in climate, or
contact with an outside society are all
conditions to which a society might have
to adapt.
Discussion:
The Structural- Functional Model ( Ritzer, 2000)
Discussion:
• In the analysis of living organism, the
scientist’s task is to identify the various
parts (structures) and determine how they
work (function).
• In sociology, sociologist tries to identify the
structure of society and how they function,
hence the name structural functio-nalism.
(Javier, et al., 1994)
Discussion:
• The component parts of social structure:
• Families
• Neighbors
• Associations
• Schools
• Churches
• Banks
• Countries
Discussion:
• Functionalist sociologists stress
• interdependence of the social system
• View society as a kind of machine
• Maintain social order by stressing
consensus and agreement
• Understand that change is inevitable
• Argue that without a common bond to
unite groups, society will disintegrate
Discussion:
• Parsons believes that education is a vital
part of modern society, a society that
differs considerably from all previous
societies.
• Schooling performs an important function
in the development and maintenance of a
modern, democratic society, especially
with regard to equality of opportunity for all
citizens.
Discussion:
• Thus, in modern societies education
becomes the key institution in a
meritocratic selection process.
• Education also plays a significant function
in the maintenance of the modern
democratic and technocratic society.
• Schools teach work skills and teach
students how to learn so they may adapt
to new work roles and requirements.
Discussion:
Interactionist Theories
• Interactionist theories are critiques and
extensions of the functionalist and conflict
perspectives.
• This level of analysis helps us to
understand education in the “ big picture”.
• Interactionist theories attempt to make the
“commonplace strange” by turning on their
heads everyday taken-for-granted
behaviors and interactions in schools.
Discussion:
• Symbolic Interactionism views the self as

socially constructed in relation to social
forces and social structures and the
product of ongoing negotiations of
meanings.
• Thus, the social self is an active product of
human agency rather than a deterministic
product of social structure
Discussion:
• Symbolic Interactionists are not only
interested in socialization but also in
interaction in general which is of “vital
importance in its own right”.
• Interaction is the process in which the
ability to think is both developed and
expressed.
Discussion:
Principles of Symbolic Interactionism
1.Human beings are endowed with the
capacity for thought.
2.The capacity for thought us shaped by
social interaction
3.In social interaction, people learn the
meanings and the symbols that allow them
to exercise their distinctively human
capacity for thought.
Discussion:
4. Meanings and symbols allow people to
carry on distinctively human action and
intercation.
5. People are able to modify or alter
meanings and symbols that they use in
action and interaction on the basis of their
interpretation of the situation.
Discussion:
6. People are able to make these modifications
and alterations because, in part, of their
ability to interact with themselves, which
allows them ton examine possible courses of
action, assess their relative advantages and
disadvantages, and then choose one.
7. The intertwined patterns of action and
interaction make up groups and societies.
Discussion:
Mead’s differentiation between the basic
forms of Social Interaction are:
Non-Symbolic Interactionism does not involve
thinking.
Symbolic Interactionism requires mental
processes
Discussion:
Mead’s approach to symbolic interaction
rested on three basic premises.
1. People act toward the things they encounter on
the basis of what those things mean to them.
2. We learn what things are by observing how
other people respond to them through social
interaction.
3. The result of ongoing interaction we use in
dealing with others acquire symbolic meanings
that are shared by the people who belong to the
same culture.
Discussion:
The importance of thinking to symbolic
interactionists is reflected in their views on
objects.
Blumer differentiates among thee types of objects:
1. Physical objects- chairs, trees
2. Social objects- student, mother, teacher
3. Abstract objects- idea or a moral principle
Objects are seen simply as things, the greatest
significance is the way they are defined by
actors.
Discussion:
Charles Horton Cooley developed a concept that
has long been used by symbolic interactionist
and it is the LOOKING- GLASS-SELF it means
“that we see ourselves as others see us”
We come to develop a self – image on the basis of
the messages we get from others, as we
understand them.
REFLECTION
Schools play a significant role in educating the
Filipino citizens . It is our duty as teachers to
really inculcate the value of fairness and
honesty to our students. We also need to teach
them how to learn, so they may be able to adapt
in any situations/events that they will be
presented. The looking –glass-self simply tells
us that we must be cautious in giving remarks to
others. Let us all be generous in giving positive
comments and lessen the words that will hurt
others.
LEARNING TASKS 1
1. Use a Venn diagram in comparing consensus
and conflict theories.
2. Define the following terms:
structure, structural, structuralism ,function,
functional and functionalism.
3. Interview a teacher or a friendon the influence
of the conflict and consensus theories on
his/her work as a teacher. Submit a write up
of the interview

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Social Dimensions of

• Differentiate the various social science

• Sociology, the scientific study

• The conflict theorists are interested in how

• The consensus theory is a sociological

The proponents of consensus and conflict

Action system Personality system

• Symbolic Interactionism views the self as

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