STA.

TERESA COLLEGE
Bauan Batangas
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

Module 4 – The School and the Society:. Society

as Foundation of Schools and Schooling

Introduction

This module deals with the schools and schooling from sociological
perspective and provides insights into different ways on how sociology helps teachers
understand phenomena and challenges in the field of education today. This also
includes discussion on the relationship of society and schools and how the society
influence the education process.

Student Learning Objectives (SLO)

 Establish a comprehensive analysis of society as a context for developing

and establishing school
 Form meaningful interconnections of the different sociological philosophies
and concepts to school functions
 Discuss the interrelatedness of school and society

Content
School is an important organization which provides structured education as well as
play an important role in child’s mental and psychological growth. Schools can model the child
into good, responsible and hardworking individual.
School is the social institution through which the society provides its
members with important knowledge, including basic facts, job skills and cultural norm
values.
Society is a systematic relationship between people. It consists of members that
share some sense of common identity.

Theoretical Perspective and their Implications to Education

Sociologist today employ three primary theoretical perspectives: The

functionalist , the conflict perspective and the symbolic interactionist perspective.
These perspective offer sociologists theoretical paradigms for explaining how society
influences people, and how people influence society. Each perspective uniquely

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conceptualizes society, social forces and human behavior.

Sociologists are very important in schools. They provide schools with

information and recommendations that may be of great help to the educational system
from the simplest to the complex interactions between the student and the teacher, to
the interaction between the school and the society.

A. Structural-functional theory
Major Concepts
 Herbert Spencer, the proponent of structural-functional views society as
a “system of interconnected parts each with a unique function. The
parts have to work together for stability and balance of society.”
 The functionalist theory focuses on how education serves the need of
society through the development of skills encouraging social cohesion
 The role of schools is to prepare students for participation in the
institutions of society. Education is concerned with transmission of core
values for social control.
 Focuses on the positive functions performed by the education system
such as creating social solidarity, teaching skills necessary for work,
teaching core values and role allocation
 Starts with the assumption that education is an institution
 Happens through passing on society’s culture through which a new
generation of children acquire the central norms values and culture of
their soceity
Implications to Education
 Basic functions of school for socialization: teaching children to
become members of society, selection and training of individuals for
positions in the society and promoting change and innovation
 Education needs to be systematic as a whole to avoid being non –
operational
 Schools’ main function is to prepare students to acquire basic
knowledge, skills, and values for future employment
Purposes of Schooling According to Functionalists
 Intellectual- acquisition of cognitive skills, inquiry skills
 Political – educate future citizens, promote patriotism, promote
assimilation of immigrants, ensure order…
 Economic – prepare students for later work roles, select and train the
labor force needed by society
 Social – promote a sense of social and moral responsibility; serve as
a site for the solution or resolution of social problems

B, Conflict Theory

 Karl Marx and Weber Marx

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COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
 According to this theory, there are always two opposing sides in a conflict
resolution
 Education is not truly a social benefit or opportunity as seen by the
functionalists. Rather , education is a powerful means of maintaining
power structures and creating a docile work force for capitalism
 The purpose of education is to maintain social inequality and to preserve
the power of those who dominate society and teach those in the working
class to accept their position as a lower class worker of society
Implications to education
 Quality education has a set of standards of what is acceptable to be at its
best
 Students are labeled to be achievers and non-achievers according to this
status in society
 Those who are more privilege to have better resources for learning are
given what they really need to develop their skills and be competent

3. Symbolic Interactionist Theory

 Focuses on how people share symbols and construct society as a result
of their everyday interacyions
 Examines what teacher’s and student’s do in school
 Uses cultural symbols, such as words and non verbal body language
 3 tenets of symbolic interactionist theory are
 An individual’s action depends on meaning
 Different people may give different meanings to the same thing
 Meanings change as individuals interact with one another
Implications to Education
 Students learn through interaction
 Interactions between students and teachers help develop a set of
expectations
 Symbolic interactionist states that people interact with one another
through symbols.

Take aways:
 Functionism is a theory of society that focuses on the structures that create the
society and on how the society is able to remain stable
 Functionalists are for stability and state of equibrium in society
 To maintain this state of stavility, various institutions are expected to do their
part
 For the functionalist, change is necessary only when things get unstable
 Conflict theory welcomes conflict for conflict paves the way to change, to the
establishment of a new society
 Symbolic-interactionist theory is focused on individuals who act based on
meaning which is based on the individuals experience.

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Bauan Batangas
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

Assessment and Evaluation

Activity:

Use the diagram below to compare the three main theories of sociology.
Functional, Conflict, and Symbolic) in the context of education.

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COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

References

Prieto.Nelia.G.(2019). The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and

Organizational Leadership.Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing Inc.

Pawilen, Greg T.et.al.(2019). The School and the Community, School Culture and
Organizational Leadership. Manila:Rex Bookstore Store.

Serrano, Erlinda et,al.(2020). The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and
Organizational Leadership:Manial: Adriana PublishingCo.,Inc.

Checked:
Approved:
Prepared:
___________________ _____________________
____________________
Instructor _
Dean
Department Head

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COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

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