TOPIC 3: SOCIO-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN SCHOOL

1. What is the definition of:

1.1 Socio?

According to Cambridge Dictionary, socio- is a prefix that shows relation to the

society while sociology is the study of the relationship of the people in the society. From this,

socio- is better defined as the relationship society has with its surroundings.

1.2 Culture?

Culture is the way of life especially the customs and beliefs of a particular group of

people. Culture also means the way people think, act and perceive something together with

people around. Culture is divided into two; nonmaterial culture and material culture.

Nonmaterial culture is the ideas and perceptions of the society towards their culture.

This includes the beliefs, languages, customs, norms, values and other abstract views.

Material culture is the physical things such as objects, things, and resources people created to

define their culture. This culture need concrete existence. This is better explained in Njok and

Edinyang (2014)

1.3 Socio-culture?

Socio-culture or sociocultural refers to the different group of people in the society

about their beliefs, habits, traditions, norms, and values.

2. Describe the concepts of socio-culture.

Socio-cultural is the relation between society and the culture they have. Society and

culture are interdependent to each other where society consist of the people and culture

consists of the belief, values, and etc. They are interdependent where the people have and

share their beliefs and values together in the society.

Socio-cultural emphasis that society and surrounding give an enormous contribution

in individual’s development. One’s development of high order function is affected by the

people around them and also the culture they grow up with. Interaction between people and

the culture stimulate individual’s development. In socio-cultural theory by psychologist Lev

Vygotsky suggest that society influence individual learning and the impact of cultural belief

and attitudes towards instruction and learning. (Njok & Edinyang, 2014)

3. Explain clearly about the factors affecting socio-cultural diversity in school:

3.1 Race

Racial diversity in school provides a significant benefit in student’s development. It

can be seen in research where students that exposed to racial diversity tend to enhance critical

thinking, cognitive skills and problem-solving ability. These may lead the students to achieve

academic success. Moreover, they become more open minded and have better engagement in

classroom activities. Insufficient racial diversity mat brings biases among students. Through

this diversity, students face less stereotyping and discrimination risk. (Wells, Fox, &

Cordova-Cobo, 2016)

In addition, racial diversity offers interracial understanding, empathy and ability to

learn and live with other people from various backgrounds. It also encourage students to
questions today’s world problems of race and discrimination and later find the understanding

and accept the diversity themselves.

3.2 Language

Communication is a vital part in cultivating a positive diversity in school especially

among students. To communicate, language is important. In diversity setting, there will be a

huge, conflicting language use in classroom. There will be a communication barriers and

breakdown when the students unable to understand each other. Teacher should encourage

cross linguistic awareness among students to overcome such barriers that can lead to

breakdown and misunderstanding.

Understanding non-verbal is also important other than verbal linguistic, since not all

society or culture share the same way perceiving the non-verbal linguistic. Non-verbal

includes facial expression, gestures, eye contact and etc. Individual should have awareness on

the usage of non-verbal when communicating in a diverse community as it can project certain

understanding and message to others. This factor is better discussed in Suleiman and Hashem

(1997).

3.3 Social structure

Social structure includes socio-economic status, parent’s academic status and also

parental discipline. Poor social structure and status makes parents adhere in difficulties to

nurture and bring up their kids. Such problem results in deficiency in development of the

students especially in developing country (Njok & Edinyang, 2014). Contrast from the better

social structure family or society. They will support their children in any way that later result

in performing and achieving more in education. This is because the parents are capable in

providing learning materials and set conducive environment for the students to study.
 Other than provide environment setting, educated parents are capable in assisting their

children in the learning process as they can give a hand in completing the assignments and all

but for uneducated parents, they are unable to supervise their children and resulting to the

deficiency in student’s learning process.

References

Gaur, M., Surve, M. P., Shinde, D. S., Fadte, D. R., & Mishra, P. R. (2019). Sociology Paper
1: Foundation and Fundamentals of Sociology. Mumbai: Institute of Distance and
Open Learning.

Macionis, J. J. (2018). Sociology. England: Pearson.

Njok, P. C., & Edinyang, S. D. (2014). Socio-Cultural Factors Affecting the Teaching and
Learning of Social Studies in Nigeria. Journal of Education and Practice, 153-158.

Suleiman, M. F., & Hashem, M. E. (1997). Cultural Factors Influencing the Communicative
Process in the Diverse Classroom. Educational Resources Imformation Centre, 8-9.

Warikoo, N. (2018). Race, Ethnicity, and Cultural Processes in Education: New Approaches
for New Times.

Wells, A. S., Fox, L., & Cordova-Cobo, D. (2016). How Racially Diverse Schools and
Classrooms Can Benefit All Students. The Century Foundation.