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SOCIOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS

OF EDUCATION

Sociology

• The science of man and society

• Study of patterns of human behavior
• Study of groups and societies and how they affect the people
Society - a group of organized individuals who think of themselves
as a distinct group, and who live together sharing the same
culture occupying the same territory, who interrelates and
Interacts with one another, recruits its members by inter group
sexual reproduction and has a shared comprehensive culture,
with common shared attitudes, sentiments, aspirations and
goals

Socialization
• A process of adapting or conforming to the common needs and
interests of a social group
• A process whereby people learn the attitudes, values and actions
appropriate to Individuals as members of a particular society,
where a member of a group learns and internalizes the norms and
standards of the other member among whom she/he lives

Agents of Socialization:

a) Family - smallest social institution whose members are united by

blood, marriage or adoption, constituting a household and having a
common culture.

b) School / Education - established by society for the basic

enculturation of the group; an agency which makes student learns
how to value oneself and eventually others; an agency organized
by society for the basic function of teaching and learning.

c) Church

d) Mess media
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Institutional Group Agencies for Education

Three (3) very important groups that serve as agencies for learning:

1. Family
• smallest social institution
Educative Functions of the Family (Home)

• Health Education -proper food to eat, proper hygiene

• Ethics, Morality, Religion - spiritual, moral, and desirable social
values
• Socialization - rotes and status in society
• Psychomotor and manipulative skills-how to walk, dance and to
use properly kitchen tools, utensils, etc.
• Recreational skills
• Academic-reading, writing, arithmetic

2. School
• an Institution, center of learning, established by society in which
the accumulated experiences of the past generations are passed
on to the incoming generation by means of systematized programs
of instructions.

Roles of the School:

1) The school as an agent of socialization

• Children learn how to get along with other students in the school.
• Social ethics are taught in the schools.
• The student government trains the students to become good
leaders and followers.
• The school prepares the individual to become worthy members of
the society by making them aware of their responsibilities.

2) The school as an agent of cultural transmission

• Culture can be transferred through:

a) Enculturation
➢ the passing on of group's custom, beliefs and traditions from one
generation to the next generation
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b) Acculturation
➢ learning other culture; the passing of customs, beliefs and tradition
through interaction/reading/inter marriages, etc.

• Values and attitudes formation are easily transmitted through

lessons provided by the teachers.
• Culture can be transmitted through field trips, experiential
learning, experimentation, group dynamics, cooperative learning,
peer learning, rote playing and dramatization.
• Knowledge about the latest development in science and
technology, and about the nations and people of the world can be
acquired through different learning activities.

3) The school as an agent of cultural change

• Cultural changes are best discussed in the school.

4) The school as agent of modernization

• Educational systems are focused on future needs of the students.
• Changes which are mostly attempts to modernization are being
discussed in the school.
• The elements of cultural change which lead to modernization:
o Development of oral and written communication and other
modern means of communication
o Improvement of science and technology in all fields

5) Other functions of the schools:

• Serves as a multi-purpose institution
• Provides training of the mind, teaches the basics
• Develops problem solving and critical thinking
• Promotes social integration, enculturation and cultural perception
• Accelerates adjustment of society

3. Church
• a lifetime school of teaming

Education from the Church (through the bible):

➢ History
Ex: Persia (now Iran), Mesopotamia (now Iraq)
➢ Prophecies
Ex: Earthquake, Famine, Calamities
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➢ Divine Values
Ex: Love, Hope, Faith, Wisdom

Sociology of Education
➢ provides a study of the relationships between society and the
educational processes which contribute to the analysis aid solution
to problems confronting the educational system.

Anthropology
➢ science that studies the origin and development of man, his work
and achievements which includes the study of physical,
intellectual, moral, social and cultural development of man,
including his customs, mores, folkways and beliefs
Culture
➢ The shared products of human learning, the set of learned
behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, values, and ideals that are
characteristics of a particular society or population
➢ The complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws,
morals, customs and other capabilities and habits acquired by
man as a member of society

Characteristics Of Culture:

CULTURE is
➢ Transferable, Dynamic, Learned, Continuous, Shared, Universal,
Symbolic, Adaptive, Borrowed

Elements of Culture

➢ Language - an abstract system of word meanings and symbols for

all aspects of culture; the foundation of culture; verbal and
nonverbal
➢ Norms - are established standards of behavior maintained by a
society; it must be shared and understood
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➢ Sanctions-penalties or rewards for conduct concerning social

norms
a) positive sanctions- pay, promotion, medals, word of gratitude
b) negative- fines, Imprisonment, threats, stares, ostracism
➢ Values - are collective conceptions of what is considered good,
desirable and proper or bad, undesirable and Improper in a
particular culture.

Change
➢ An enduring force in history; is inevitable, takes place from time to
time
➢ The adjustment of persons or group to achieve relative harmony

Forms of Change:

a) Cultural change - refers to an alteration affecting new bait or trait

complexes to change the culture’s content and structures
b) Technological change - revision that occur in man's application of
his technical knowledge and skills as he adopts himself to
environment

Examples of technological changes in education: .

.
➢ Introduction of new methods of learning
➢ Vocational education, computer education, and practical arts in the
curriculum.
➢ Inclusion of information and communication technology in the
curriculum

c.) Social change - refers to the variation or modifications in the

patterns of social organization, of such groups within a society
or of the entire society

Example of social changes in education:

➢ Revival of nationalism themes in literature, music and arts etc.

Anthropological-Sociological Implications to Education:

➢ The curricular program of all learning institutions should be

examined by the Commission on Higher Education (OfD) and the
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Department of Education (DepEd) so that those will be responsive

to the needs of the society.
➢ Parents should be involved In the school projects and activities,
and in enculturation and socialization processes.

SOCIAL CONCEPTS:

1. Values
➢ generally considered as something - a principle, quality, actor
entity – that is intrinsically desirable
2. Justice
➢ giving others what is due to them; rendering to every man that
exact measures of his due without regard to his personal worth or
merit
3. Freedom, Rights arid Responsibility
➢ Freedom is not absolute, it is not doing something without
restrictions or reservations or interference and influence of others.
➢ Right means what is just, reasonable, equitable, what ought to be,
what is justifiable, something that is owed or due to others.
➢ Rights and responsibility come in pairs. If one waits more ‘rights
and freedoms/he shall also have to accept more responsibility. A
right is abused when it Interferes with the rights of others
➢ The reciprocation of rights and duties is the true foundation of
social order.
➢ Duties - refer to those that are due justice, to another individual or
collective persons and to God.

➢ Authority- refers to the right given to give commands, enforce

Jaws, take action, make decisions, and exact obedience,
determine or judge.
➢ Accountability - means to be answerable for; emphasizes liability
for something of value either contractually or-because of one's
position of authority
➢ Responsibility - refers to trustworthy performance of fixed duties
and consequent awareness of the penalty for failure to do so.

4. Ethics/Moral law

Ethics Is based on one's station in life: to each station corresponds a

certain behavior according to which a person must five.
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THEORIES OF ETHICS:

1) Consequentialism - claims that the morality of an action is determined

by its consequences
a) Hedonism - views that only pleasure is good as an end;
pleasure is the highest good
b) Utilitarianism - believes that the greatest happiness of the
greatest number is the test of right or wrong
c) Self-realizations - holds that the ultimate end ids the full
development or perfection of the self

4) Non-consequentialism - claims that the morality of an action depends

on its intrinsic nature or on its motives'

5) Divine Command Theory - claims that the morality of an act depends

on whether it is in accordance with the will of God

6) Categorical Imperative Theory - holds that fa one's action to be

morally right, s/he must be willing to have everyone act In the same
way

7) Egoism - claims that an action is right only if It is in the interest of the

agent

8) Situation Ethics - claims that the morality of an action depends on the

situation and not on the application of the law

9) Intuitionism-claims that one's knowledge of right and wrong is

immediate and self-evident

10) Emotive Theory -* claims that moral judgment do not ‘state anything
that is capable of being true or false but merely express emotions like
oaths or exclamations

11) Ethical Relativism -holds the view that there is no one correct moral
code for all times and peoples, that each group has its own morality
relative to its wants

- Teacher A