Education as a Social Institution Free Essay Example

At some point in time everyone is a recipient of some type of education. This can take the form of traditional schooling, home schooling, or mentoring by an individual. Formal schooling, within industrialized nations, typically encompasses one third of an individual’s life. This is one of the reasons sociologists have examined education as it relates to various social perspectives. This paper will explore education in regards to the Functionalist, Conflict, and Interactionist perspectives/views. (Perspective and views will be used interchangeably throughout this paper).

“Two theories are considered in accounting for the increased schooling required for employment in advanced industrial society: (a) a technical-function theory, stating that educational requirements reflect the demands for greater skills on the job due to technological change; and (b) a conflict theory, stating that employment requirements reflect the efforts of competing status groups to monopolise or dominate jobs by imposing their cultural standards on the selection process” (Collins, 1971).

Applying the Functionalist Theory

Functionalist theory is explained by asserting that “societies function like biological systems in that they have differentiated parts that function together to ensure the smooth operation and survival of the organism as a whole” (Morrow, Torres, 1995).

It is important to note that within the functionalist theory there are three different functions. “Manifest functions of institutions are open, stated, conscious functions. They involve the intended, recognized consequences of an aspect of society, such as the university’s role in certifying academic competence and excellence” (Schaefer, 2009). An example of this would be the core classes that are available to students in elementary school.

Such as math, history, English, etc. While some schools, dependent on them being private or public institutions, offer various additional classes, they all predominately educate their students in core capabilities. Latent functions are those functions that “are unconscious or unintended functions that may reflect hidden purposes of an institution. One latent function of universities is to hold down unemployment. Another is to serve as a meeting ground for people seeking marital partners” (Schaefer, 2009). The third sub-function is dysfunction. In the military, dysfunction is referred to as the ten-percent. This means that for every group, unit, etc there will be ten percent of the population that does not conform to the military way of life. More simply, this can be expressed as “an element or process of a society that may actually disrupt the social system or reduce its stability” (Schaefer, 2009).

Today’s educational system teaches students to become integral parts of society. Through public education, teachers are able to influence tomorrow’s workforce in societal norms, ensuring they understand how to become contributors to their society’s stability. An example of the contribution to society the education system provides is: parents that take on extra jobs to fund their child’s education.

This provides revenue for the immediate family, while funding and teaching the child the importance of hard work, devotion, and self sacrifice (societal norms). This can be compared to the example in the text about Hindu’s and their devotion to cows. Just as the Hindu understand the benefit the benefits that they receive by ensuring their cows remain available to cultivate and fertilize their agricultural crops, most parents apply the same concept to educating their children. Understanding the benefits an education will provide not only their immediate family, but also their children and the community as a whole.

Applying the Conflict Theory

The basis of this theory is that conflict theorists assume “that social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power of the allocation of resources, including housing, money, access to services, and political representation” (Schaefer, 2009). As with the functionalist perspective, conflict theory embraces various viewpoints. These include: the Marxist view, an African American view, and the feminist view. These views while differing slightly, each embrace the concern with inequality in society, while focusing on social change and the redistribution of resources.

“The main dynamic of rising educational requirements in the United States has been primarily the expansion of mobility opportunities through the school system, rather than autonomous changes in the structure of employment. It is argued that the effort to build a comprehensive theory of stratification is best advanced by viewing those effects of technological change on educational requirements that are substantiated within the basic context of a conflict theory of stratification” (Collins, 1971). An example of this theory put to use is the April, 2001 strike conducted by Hawaii’s educators.

Due to an inability of the state government and the union representatives to come to an understanding approximately 15,000 school teachers, from kindergarten to university, participated in the strike, effectively bringing Hawaii’s education system to a halt. This example while relating to the conflict theory is directly related to the Marxist view. “Conflict theorists are interested in how society’s institutions―including the family, government, religion, education, and the media―may help to maintain the privileges of some groups and keep others in a subservient position” (Schaefer, 2009).

The individual view from this perspective identifies how people are shaped by power, coercion and authority. Specifically, those universities that are considered to be elite provide their students with enhanced career opportunities. “While there are various criteria by which particular colleges and universities can be placed in this academic hierarchy, the most significant one sociologically is their relationship to the class structure of society. This relationship is understood in terms of the social and economic attainments of their graduates. Elite colleges and universities, therefore, are those whose alumni enjoy disproportionate access to high-status occupations, as well as to other forms of economic and cultural privilege; they are gateways to elite membership in society” (Farnum, 1997).

Applying the Interactionist Theory

The first two perspectives have dealt with macrosociology or society as a whole. The interactionist perspective looks at portions of society in a microsociological way. This theory can be explained as “theorists who take the interactionist perspective generalize about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole” (Schaefer, 2009). Some of the data compiled by interactionist sociologists studying the educational field include: student views/goals in relation to their grade point averages, effectiveness of school programs, and effectiveness of educator abilities.

As with functionalist and conflict perspectives, the interactionist perspective incorporates additional concepts. These include symbols, nonverbal communication and face-to-face interaction. “Symbolic interactionism focuses on the role of language and symbols in the (interpretive) processes of meaning making. Young people are highly social beings deeply engaged in the processes of learning how to act within the culture of which they are a part. This cultural learning is both shaped and reflected by their use of language, dress, music and clothing, for example” (Domine, 2007). Within the education system, interactionists poll students and teachers alike, in order to determine what effect objects, actions, etc have on the subjects. This evaluation enables the sociologists to better understand everyday behaviors and relate them into quantitative or qualitative data to track social patterns. Society’s Views

Regardless of your favored perspective, each of these views offers pros and cons, dependent on your topic of study. In the educational realm, the functionalist, conflict and interactionist views provide the sociologist a means to determining their ends. “Whatever the purpose of sociologists’ work, their research will always be guided by their theoretical viewpoints. For example, sociologist Elijah Anderson embraces both the interactionist perspective and the groundbreaking work of W.E.B. DuBois” (Schaefer, 2009). The works of these individuals and countless others have helped to define and more importantly to understand the how and why educational systems operate the way they do and how they can be improved.

Conclusion

Three distinct theoretical perspectives have been discussed throughout this paper. The overall tone to take away from the research conducted here is that regardless of the favored view, practitioners must maintain an open mind and be able to incorporate portions or be able to integrate separate perspectives into their work. When considering or examining the education field, the functionalist, conflict and interactionist views all lend themselves to providing quality feedback on the “snapshot in time” taken by the researcher, regardless of topic. This can come in the form of determining the effects of school lunches on the productivity of students to the quality of programs in relation to independent funding received by an institution. “A sociologist’s theoretical orientation influences his or her approach to a research problem in important ways―including the choice of what to study, how to study it, and what questions to pose” (Schaefer, 2009).