How adequate is contemporary education?

The media (television, newspapers, magazines) periodically deride the state of our schools and education. To help us in our presentation of education as a topic it is worth taking time to list some of the things that either we see as being a problem with education or that others see as being a problem. You should collect your own and others responses to this question and compare them to the discussion that follows here and in the bulletin board exchanges.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of today's public education system?

What is education about?

That is, what do we want education to accomplish? What is the purpose of education in the modern, urban, industrial society?

The distinction between schooling and education

• Education is the actual learning of skills, ways of solving problems;
• schooling is what happens to you in the classroom.

By now you should all be aware that the two are not necessarily the same. Most of us learn by doing, by actual participation in a variety of activities related to what it is that we are attempting to learn. You do not learn chemistry by simply reading a text book, you learn by mixing different stuff together and seeing what happens. You can do this on your own and you will learn something about chemistry, but it helps to be guided in this learning by someone who already knows something about the process and can show you how to make a bigger BANG or an uglier smell. We do know that hands on participation in the learning process makes what you learn stay with you. When you must struggle to put ideas, concepts and so on together so that they make sense to you, you retain that set of skills and information far better than if it is just handed to you by someone else. It also helps if the things you are learning are relevant to you and your experiences. This seems to be why On-The-Job-Training works so well, it is necessary for you to retain the job!! Of course it also helps if the job is really something you want to do.

Schooling as a principal agent of socialization

After the family, formal education is the principal way in which the skills, expectations and rules of the society are passed from one generation to the next. It is through the school that you learn some of the things necessary for understanding who and what we are (history, civics). Schools also provide the foundation for the learning of work skills. This is done both directly and indirectly. Directly schooling teaches us discipline and how to manage time. Indirectly it teaches us about authority and expertise.

What are Social Institutions?

• Are normative structures that get the "work" of society done, the central activities of the society. In general these activities center around the family, education, the economy, the polity and religion. In an earlier period of human social development most of these activities were bounded within the family or kinship structure. With the passage of time the structure of the society and the way in which these activities are carried out has meant an increasing separation of these central activities. As we discuss each of the institutional structures separately we will see how the separation has influenced and changed the nature of the institutions themselves. Watch for these 'connections' and 'disconnections' in the following sections.

• Are conservative, conserving by very nature. Since these structures pass on the values and expectations as to how to behave in certain arenas, they are by definition conservative and supportive of the past. The institutional arrangements can be seen as very general normative patterns, sets of rules that provide the members of society with guidelines as to how they should behave in the specified context. In our analysis of institutions we will present examples of families, of schools, of religion, of the work place and of polities. In each instance we will begin with some idea of the 'ideal' structure, often this will be an assumed standard or definition of the institution. The ideal is then compared with the reality to help us to understand what is happening in each of these central activities. For example, the news media (magazines, newspapers, radio and television) are full of discussions of how the family is disappearing or failing. Although attractive as headline grabbers such discussions assume the ideal often without stating it or relating that ideal to the social context in which it developed.

Key Questions for Social Institution

Social institutions are established or standardized patterns of rule-governed behavior. They include the family, education, religion, and economic and political institutions.

1. The Family:

A socially defined set of relationships between at least two people related by birth, marriage, adoption, or, in some definitions, long-standing ties of intimacy.

Key Questions

· How do families vary across different societies, historical periods, classes, and ethnic groups?

· How are authority, resources, and work distributed within families?

· How do parents, particularly mothers, balance the demands of work and family?

· What are the causes and effects of divorce, domestic violence, and single parenting?

2. Education:

A formal process in which knowledge, skills, and values are systematically transmitted from one individual or group to another.

Key Questions

· How do educational practices vary across different societies and historical periods?

· How does education affect individuals’ subsequent activities and achievements?

· What are the effects of class, race, and gender on educational institutions and experiences?

· What are the causes and consequences of various trends in education, such as grade inflation, violence in schools, and increasing public funding of religious instruction?

3. Religion:

A unified system of beliefs and practices pertaining to the supernatural and to norms about the right way to live that is shared by a group of believers. Sociologists treat religion as a social rather than supernatural phenomenon.

Key Questions

· How do the world religions differ? How are they similar?

· How have religions developed and changed, and why do people engage with them?

· What is the relationship between religion and other aspects of social life such as stratification, deviance, and conflict?

· What are the causes and consequences of contemporary trends such as secularization, the splintering of religious groups, and shifting church–state relationships?

4. Economic Institutions:

Sociologists understand the economy as the set of arrangements by which a society produces, distributes, and consumes goods, services, and other resources.

Key Questions

· What institutions and relations characterize different economic systems (e.g., capitalism, socialism, and feudalism)?

· How do consumption and leisure patterns differ among various cultures, historical periods, and social groups?

· How do the structures of business organizations affect productivity, job satisfaction, and inequalities?

· What are the causes and consequences of contemporary trends such as economic liberalization, declining unionization, and increased consumer debt?

5. Political Institutions:

Institutions that pertain to the governance of a society, its formal distribution of authority, its use of force, and its relationships to other societies and political units. The state, an important political institution in modern societies, is the apparatus of governance over a particular territory.

Key Questions

· How do political institutions differ across historical periods and societies?

· How do different social groups participate in political institutions, and with what consequences?

· How and why do individuals participate in political processes such as voting or joining lobbying groups?

· How are political institutions related to other aspects of society, such as the economy and the mass media?