Back to: Sociological Foundations of Education B.ed Notes, M.A Notes, IGNOU Notes
Relationship between Education and Sociology
What is sociology?
Sociology is largely concerned with social interactions. The term “society” refers to a web of social connections. Sociology is only concerned with society. Though there are various kinds of social science that emphasize other elements of society, sociology’s fundamental concern is humanity’s social connections.
Sociology, like science, employs scientific methods in its research. Science is a corpus of structured and systematic understanding and widely recognized techniques devoted to the discovery of generalizations and hypotheses for improving and expanding on what is already known. The universal scientific method involves establishing a topic to be explored, generating some assumptions, and doing research that must be open, methodical, and repeatable.
So, how can we define it in simple terms?
Thus, we can define sociology as a “scientific study of human behavior in groups, with the goal of discovering regularities and order in such behavior and articulating these findings as theoretical propositions or generalizations that characterize a wide range of behavioral tendencies.”
It also studies human communities and how they work via established organizations and institutionalized behavioural patterns that are more or less tailored to the special responsibilities of society given to each organization.
What is education?
Education is a part of society.
According to Durkhiem:
“ It is society as a whole and each particular social milieu that determines the ideal that education realizes.” Society can survive only if there exists among its members a sufficient degree of homogeneity; education perpetuates and reinforces this homogeneity by fixing in the child from the beginning, the essential similarities that collective life demands. But on the other hand, without certain diversity, all cooperation would be impossible; education assumes the persistence of this necessary diversity by being itself diversified and specialized. ”
He saw education as a way of bringing the individual and societal capacities, the “I and the We“, together in a controlled, steady, and purposeful oneness. The child’s entry into the community is marked by the internalization of ideals and obedience. This is why sociological methods in educational research and analysis are so important.
Swift defined education as “the process by which the individual acquires the many physical, moral, and social capacities demanded of him by the group into which he is born and within
which he must function in. ” Sociologists have coined the term “socialization” to describe this methodology. Education encompasses more than just socializing. Everything that happens in society includes the teaching-learning process, whether intentionally or unintentionally, in order to make the infant a useful part of society.
Manheinn (1940) viewed:
“Sociologists do not regard education solely as a means of realizing abstract ideals of culture, such as humanism or technical specialization, but as part of the process of influencing men and women. “Education can only be understood when we know for what society and for what social position the pupils are being educated.”
Education has long been regarded as a fundamentally hopeful human achievement, marked by goals for advancement and improvement. Education is seen as a place where students may grow by their requirements and abilities. It’s also seen as one of the most effective ways to achieve more social equality. Education is not a one-way street. To create a better society, we must first assess it to determine its strengths and limitations, and then tailor academic activities to these factors. Many countries’ educational systems must represent their society’s mindset. For it to work well, it should be founded on the requirements, expectations, and ambitions of society.
Relationship of sociology and Education:
The analysis of the relationship between society and education is known as the sociology of education.
Example:
Individuals can only learn so much on their own. Outsiders play a vital part in his education and make a significant contribution to his progress. The involvement of other people is crucial since an individual knows what others have learned. Consequently, obtaining an education is always a social activity.
Emile Durkheim was the first to suggest that education should be approached from a sociological perspective, “to be essentially social in character and its functions and that, as a result, the theory of education relates more clearly to sociology than any other science.” He highlighted that education is a continuous and ever-changing phenomenon, rather than a static one.
