Social Education

INTRODUCTION:
Each of us as individuals occupies a place or location in society. These roles develop with the passage of time and are not the same as the ones in movies, where one may or may not opt to perform it. Here we make an attempt to comprehend the primary social institutions of a person.
Before the attempt, I would surely like to brush up our notion of an institution. An institution is something that works according to rules established or at least acknowledged by law or by custom. Institutions provide opportunities and at the same time, put constraints on the individuals.
Just like every other theory, the definition of the institution also met with various conflicts. A functionalist view understands social institutions as a complex set of social norms, beliefs, values and role relationship that arise in response to the needs of society. Social institutions exist to satisfy social needs.
On the other hand, a conflict view holds that all individuals are not place equally in society. All social institutions whether familial, religious, political, economic, legal or educational will operate of the dominant sections of society be it class, caste, tribe or gender. This is very different from the ideas that are general needs of a society.
FAMILY, MARRIAGE AND KINSHIP:
Institutions of family, marriage and kinship are important in all societies and yet their character is different in different societies.
According to the functionalists the family performs important tasks, which contribute to society’s basic needs and helps perpetuate social order. The functionalist perspective argues that modern industrial societies function best if women look after the family and men earn the family livelihood.
This vision is questionable not just because it is gender unjust but because empirical studies across cultures and history show that is it untrue. Indeed, there are instances of women presiding over the role of breadwinner, as we proceed. One such example is of the garment export where women form a large part of the labour force.
VARIATION IN FAMILY FORMS:
In the institution of family as well, there lies variation which are need to addressed. The shift from nuclear family to joint families is a highly debated topic which offers an excellent illustration of family forms.
Sociologist A.M. Shah remarks that in post-independent India the joint family has steadily increased. The contributing factor is the increasing life expectancy in India according to him. This can visualized in the form that when individuals age and unable to work, their working children take them in and resulting in a joint family.
Apart from the above classifications, societies can also be categorized as matrilocal and patrilocal. In matrilocal, the newlyweds reside with the woman’s parents and vice-versa. A patriarchal family structure exists where the men exercise authority and dominance, and matriarchy where the women play a major role in decision-making in the family.
FAMILIES ARE LINKED TO OTHER SOCIAL SPHERES AND FAMILIES CHANGE
It is a fact that the family which apparently is viewed as distinct and separate from other spheres such as the economic or political is closely linked to the rest of the society. An interesting example is that of the unintended consequences of the German unification. During the post- unification period in the 1990s Germany witnessed a rapid decline in marriage because the new German state withdrew all the protection and welfare provided to the families prior to the unification. With the growing sense of economic insecurity, people responded by refusing to marry.
Family and kinship is thus subject to change and transformation due to macroeconomic processes but the direction of change may not always be similar for all countries and regions, also it doesn’t suggest the complete erosion of previous norms and structure.
HOW GENDERED IS THE FAMILY?
The belief is that the male child will support the parents in old age and the female child will leave on marriage results in families investing more in a male child. Despite the biological fact that a female baby has better chances of survival than a male baby, the rate of infant mortality among the female children is higher in comparison to male children in lower age group in India.
THE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE:
FORMS OF MARRIAGE:
In terms of partners that can legitimately enter into matrimony, we have two forms of marriage, namely, monogamy and polygamy. Monogamy restricts the individual to one spouse at a time.
When individuals are allowed to remarry on account of the death of the first spouse or after divorce, then it is termed as serial monogamy. In 19th century, this right was denied to the upper caste Hindu widows, turning it into a major issue of reform movements.
Polygamy denotes marriage to more than one mate at one time and the form of either: Polygamy [one husband with two or more wives] or Polyandry [one wife with two or more husbands].
THE MATTER OF ARRANGING MARRIAGES: RULES AND PRESCRIPTIONS:
RULES OF ENDOGAMY AND EXOGAMY:
Forms of marriage based on rules governing eligibility/ineligibility of mates is classified as endogamy and exogamy.
Endogamy requires an individual to marry within a culturally defined group of which he or she is already a member, as for example, caste. Exogamy, the reverse of endogamy requires the individual to marry outside of his/her own group. This is in reference to certain kinship units, such as, clan, caste and racial, ethnic or religious groupings. In India, village exogamy is practice in northern side where daughters are married into families from villages gar away from home.
DEFINING BASIC CONCEPTS OF FAMILY, KINSHIP AND MARRIAGE
A family is a group of persons directly linked by kin connections (established either through marriage or through blood relations), the adult members of which assume responsibility for caring for children.
Marriage can be defined as a socially acknowledged and approved sexual union between two adult individuals. It bonds the people of both the sides together. The family of birth is called family of orientation and the family in which a person is married is called the family of procreation. The kin who are related through blood are called consanguinal kin while the kin who are related through marriage are called affines.
WORK AND ECONOMIC LIFE
What is work?
The most widely understood sense of “work” in modern times is paid employment. It may be noted here that many types of work do not conform to the idea of paid employment. The term informal economy refers to transactions outside the sphere of regular employment. So we can define work, whether paid or unpaid, as the carrying out of tasks requiring the expenditure of mental, physical effort, which has as its objective the production of goods and services that cater to human needs.
MODERN FORMS OF WORK AND DIVISION OF LABOUR
In the industrially developed society only a tiny proportion works in agriculture, and farming itself has become industrialized. This has brought about a complex division of labour. In traditional societies, non- agricultural work entailed the mastery of a craft.
TRANSFORMATION OF WORK
Over the last decades there has been a shift to what is often called ‘flexible production’ and ‘decentralization of work’. Competition between firms and countries also implicate to organize production suiting the changing market conditions.
POLITICS
Two concepts, which are critical to the understanding of political institutions, are power and authority. Power is the ability of individuals or groups to carry out their will even when opposed by others. Thus, an individual or group does not hold power in isolation; they hold it in relation to others e.g. Family elders assigning domestic duties to their children to principals enforcing discipline in schools.
Now question arises as to why comply with other’s command. This can answered with reference to a related concept of ‘authority’. Authority is that form of power, which is accepted as legitimate, that is, as right and just.
STATELESS SOCIETIES
These societies are basically informal ones which consist of balanced opposition between parts; cross-cutting alliances, based on kinship, marriage and residence; rites and ceremonies involving the participation of friends and foes.
THE CONCEPT OF THE STATE
A state exists where there is a political apparatus of government (institutions like a parliament or congress, plus civil service officials) ruling over a given territory. Government authority is backed by a legal system and by the capacity to use military force to implement its policies. The functionalist perspective sees the state as representing the interests of all sections of society. The conflict perspective sees the state as representing the dominant sections of society.

The sovereign state was not at first one in which citizenship carried with it rights of political participations. These were achieved largely through struggles, which limited the power of monarchs, or actively overthrew them. The French revolution and our own Indian independence struggles are two instances of such movements.
Citizenship rights include civil, political and social rights. Civil rights involve the freedom of individuals to live where they choose; freedom of speech and religion; the right to own property; and the right to equal justice before the law.
Political rights include the right to participate in elections and to stand for public office. The third type of citizenship rights are social rights. They include such rights as health benefits, unemployment allowance, and setting of minimum level of wages.
Nationalism can be defined as a set of symbols and beliefs providing the sense of being part of a single political community.
RELIGION
Sociology studies religion in an empirical framework. One, it analyses how religions actually function in society and its relationship to other institutions. Two, it uses a comparative method. Three, it investigates religious beliefs, practices and institutions in relation to other aspects of society and culture.
Characteristics that all religions seem to share are:
- Set of symbols, invoking feelings of reverence or awe;
- Rituals or ceremonies
- A community of believers.
The rituals associated with religion are very diverse. Ritual acts may include praying, chanting, singing, eating certain kinds of food, fasting on certain days and so on. Religion is about sacred realm. For example, covering one’s head or not covering one’s head, taking off shoes etc are some activities. What is common to them is the feeling of awe, recognition and respect for a sacred places or situations.
Sociologists of religion, following Emile Durkheim, are interested in understanding this sacred realm which every society distinguishes from the profane.
Religion is not just a matter of the private belief of an individual but it also has a public character. A pioneering work by Max Weber demonstrates how sociology looks at religion in its relationship to other aspects of social and economic behavior.
Weber argues that Calvinism (a branch of Protestant Christianity) exerted an important influence on the emergence and growth of capitalism as a mode of economic organization. The Calvinists believed that the world was created for the glory of God, meaning that any work in this world had to be done for His glory, making even mundane works acts of worship. More importantly, however, the Calvinists also believed in the concept of predestination, which meant that whether one will go to heaven or hell was pre-ordained. Since there was no way of knowing whether one has been assigned heaven or hell, people sought to look for signs of God’s will in this world, in their own occupations. Thus if a person in whatever profession, was consistent and successful in his or her work, it was interpreted as a sign of God’s happiness. The money earned was not to be used for worldly consumption; rather the ethics of Calvinism was to live frugally. This meant that investment became something like a holy creed. At the heart of capitalism is the concept of investment, which is about investing capital to make more goods, which create more profit, which in turn creates more capital. Thus Weber was able to argue that religion, in this case Calvinism, does have an influence on economic development.

Religion is an important part of society and is inextricably tied to other parts. The task of sociologists is to unravel these various interconnections.

EDUCATION

Education is a lifelong process, involving both formal and informal institutions of learning. Sociology understands the need of education as a process of transmission/communication of group heritage, common to all societies.
Schools in modern societies are designed to promote uniformity, standardized aspirations and universalistic values e.g. uniform dress.
For Emile Durkheim, no society can survive without a common base-a certain number of ideas, sentiments and practices which education must inculcate indiscriminately, to whatever social category they belong.
The functionalist sociologists, the education are explained on social needs and social norms. Education maintains and renews the social structure, transmits and develops culture.
For the sociologists who perceive society as unequally differentiated believe education as the main stratifying agent. In other words we go to different kinds of schools depending on our socio-economic background and thus, we acquire different kind of privileges and finally opportunities.

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us together in a social education environment to discuss and analyze our lives as a collective (Nation within a Nation) ; without interference from the presence of outsiders. Below are links to our primary learning / teaching environments. RBG Afrikan- Centered Cultural Development and Education www.zimbio.com Public Enemy and Freedom Fighters www.zimbio.com Hip Hop and Conscious Rap Music www.zimbio.com Black History Month 24/7/365 www.zimbio.com … RBG Education Liberation Edutainment …

Help answer the question about social education

What should my major be in college? Social work or Education?
I tried going for Elementary Education at one college, but because I have a learning disability, the professors didn't want me in their program. They said I wasn't meant to be a teacher. All my life Ive worked with kids, tutoring, helping in the classroom before my summer job began, volunteering, etc. Everyone who I've worked with says how I would be a great teacher and that I'm kind and easygoing, and that kids need someone like me. Since I'm not in the Ed. program anymore at this school, I have two choices to make. Either I transfer colleges and major in education again or I stay and choose psychology plus social work. I am 50/50 on what I should do. This is where I need help. I would like to get your opinion on what path I should take. Side note: my boyfriend of one year is at the first school, and this makes it hard to leave too. Side note: I am a senior and if I transferred I would be a 5th year student, which might be traumatic for me.

About Author

I am a 2nd year student of Electronics and communication Engineering. I am basically from Agartala, Tripura, which is situated in the North-eastern side of India.

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education as a social institution, from a functionalist perspective what changes would you implement on educational institutions, male centered norms operate throughout all social institutions of a society that society can be said to be?