SOCIALIZATION

Meaning of Socialization
The meaning of the term socialization varies from content to content and community to
community. Therefore some of the definitions are presented below:
1. Socialization is the process whereby individuals are made aware of behaviours that are
expected of them with regards to the norms, beliefs, attitudes, and values of the society in
which they live.
2. Socialization is the means by which human infants begin to acquire the skills necessary to
perform as a functioning member of their society, and is the most influential learning process
one can experience.
3. Socialization refers to the ways in which people learn to conform to their society's norms,
values, and roles.
4. Socialization is a gradual process of learning. The newborn child is not taught all the things
about social life at once. It proceeds from simplicity to complexity. During the early stages of
life (infancy and childhood) socialization takes place within the 'simple' limited social world.
Gradually this social world becomes broader and broader and the child is confronted with
several things to learn and to adjust.
5. Socialization – the process by which an individual learns how to interact with others and
becomes a member of society. Socialization is a complex, lifelong process. We are all
products of our social experience.
6. Socialization is the process by which children and adults learn from others. We begin
learning from others during the early days of life; and most people continue their social
learning all through life (unless some mental or physical disability slows or stops the learning
process). Sometimes the learning is fun, as when we learn a new sport, art or musical
technique from a friend we like. At other times, social learning is painful, as when we learn
not to drive too fast by receiving a large fine for speeding.
7. Socialization is the process by which human beings as material organisms living with other
material organisms must learn to pattern their behaviour, and adapt it to the ways of acting
that are considered appropriate to that society in which they live. Basically, it's how you learn
how to act.
8. Process by which individuals acquire the knowledge, language, social skills, and value to
conform to the norms and roles required for integration into a group or community. It is a
combination of both self-imposed (because the individual wants to conform) and externally-
imposed rules, and the expectations of the others. In an organizational setting, socialization
refers to the process through which a new employee' learns the ropes,' by becoming sensitive
to the formal and informal power structure and the explicit and implicit rules of behaviour.
See also organizational culture and orientation.
9. The general process of acquiring culture is referred to as socialization. During
socialization, we learn the language of the culture we are born into as well as the roles we are
to play in life.
10. Socialization is a general term for many different ways and processes by which children
come to be able to function as members of their social community. It is in part a process of
learning and in part a process of being taught, but modern views of socialization also stress
the active role of children in making sense of their social world, and constructing their own
ways of being part of their social group. There are also strong predispositions, visible even in
very young infants, to engage and interact with other people in preference to all the other
objects in the world. Infants seem to be born as social beings.
11. Socialization is also a long, drawn-out process and in some respects can continue
throughout our whole lifetime: for example when adults find themselves interacting with
people from unfamiliar cultures. Even when we join a new social group in our own culture
there may be a need to adjust to new ways of behaving.
12. Socialization, the process whereby an individual learns to adjust to a group (or society)
and behave in a manner approved by the group (or society). According to most social
scientists, socialization essentially represents the whole process of learning throughout the
life course and is a central influence on the behaviour, beliefs, and actions of adults as well as
of children.
Natural socialization occurs when infants and youngsters explore, play and discover the
social world around them. Planned socialization occurs when other people take actions
designed to teach or train others -- from infancy on. Natural socialization is easily seen when
looking at the young of almost any mammalian species (and some birds). Planned
socialization is mostly a human phenomenon; and all through history, people have been
making plans for teaching or training others. Both natural and planned socialization can have
good and bad features: It is wise to learn the best features of both natural and planned
socialization and weave them into our lives.
Positive socialization is the type of social learning that is based on pleasurable and exciting
experiences. We tend to like the people who fill our social learning processes with positive
motivation, loving care, and rewarding opportunities.
Negative socialization occurs when others use punishment, harsh criticisms or anger to try to
"teach us a lesson;" and often we come to dislike both negative socialization and the people
who impose it on us.
There are all types of mixes of positive and negative socialization; and the more positive
social learning experiences we have, the happier we tend to be -- especially if we learn useful
information that helps us to cope up well with the challenges of life. A high ratio of negative
to positive socialization can make a person unhappy, defeated or pessimistic about life. One
of the goals of Soc 142 is to show people how to increase the ratio of positive to negative in
the socialization they receive from others -- and that they give to others.
Socialization coupled with valuable information about life and the skills needed to live well,
can be a powerful tool for promoting human development. We all have an enormous human
potential, and we all could develop a large portion of it if we had the encouragement that
comes from positive socialization and the wisdom that comes from valuable information
about living. Information about both natural and planned socialization can be especially
useful.
Our prior socialization helps explain a gigantic chunk of who we are at present -- what we
think and feel, where we plan to go in life. But we are not limited by the things given to us by
our prior social learning experiences; we can take all our remaining days and steer our future
social learning in directions that we value. The more that we know about the socialization
process, the more effective we can be in directing our future learning in the ways that will
help us most. Because we were not able to select our parents, we were not able to control
much of the first 10 or 20 years of our socialization. However, most people learn to influence
their own socialization as they gain experience in life. It takes special skills to steer and direct
our own socialization, and many of us pick up some of those skills naturally as we go through
life. Having a course on socialization can help us understand which skills are most effective
in guiding our socialization toward the goals we most value.
It is important to know that we all come into life with a variety of psychology systems that
foster self-actualization and favour the development of our human potential. These are the
biosocial mechanisms that underlie natural socialization. We can see and study natural
socialization by examining the socialization of primates and other mammals. Once we under
the natural biosocial processes, we can try to build strategies of self-actualization that are
compatible with the natural biosocial mechanisms we are born with to make self-
development as easy and rewarding as possible.
Types of Socialization
These are the main types of socialization:
1. Primary Socialization: Primary socialization occurs when a child learns the attitudes,
values, and actions appropriate to individuals as members of a particular culture. For
example, if a child saw his/her mother expressing a discriminatory opinion about a minority
group, then that child may think this behaviour is acceptable, and could continue to have this
opinion about minority groups.
2. Secondary Socialization: Secondary socialization refers to the process of learning that what
is appropriate behaviour as a member of a smaller group within the larger society. It is
usually associated with teenagers and adults, and involves smaller changes than those
occurring in primary socialization; e.g., entering a new profession or relocating to a new
environment.
3. Developmental Socialization: Developmental socialization is the process of learning
behaviour in a social institution or developing your social skills.
4. Anticipatory Socialization: Anticipatory socialization refers to the processes of
socialization in which a person "rehearses" for future positions, occupations, and social
relationships.
5. Resocialization: Resocialization refers to the process of discarding former behaviour
patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in one's life. This occurs throughout
the human life cycle (Schaefer & Lamm, 1992: 113). Resocialization can be an intense
experience, with the individual experiencing a sharp break with their past, and needing to
learn and be exposed to radically different norms and values. An example might be the
experience of a young man or woman leaving home to join the military, or a religious convert
internalizing the beliefs and rituals of a new faith. An extreme example would be the process
by which a transsexual learns to function socially in a dramatically altered gender role.
6. Organizational Socialization Organizational socialization is the process whereby an
employee learns the knowledge and skills necessary to assume his or her organizational role.
As newcomers become socialized, they learn about the organization and its history, values,
jargon, culture, and procedures. This acquired knowledge about new employees' future work
environment affects the way they are able to apply their skills and abilities to their jobs. How
actively engaged the employees are in pursuing knowledge affects their socialization process.
They also learn about their work group, the specific people they work with on a daily basis,
their own role in the organization, the skills needed to do their job, and both formal
procedures and informal norms. Socialization functions as a control system in that
newcomers learn to internalize and obey organizational values and practices.
7. Group Socialization Group socialization is the theory that an individual's peer groups,
rather than parental figures, influences his or her personality and behaviour in adulthood.
Adolescents spend more time with peers than with parents. Therefore, peer groups have
stronger correlations with personality development than parental figures do. For example,
twin brothers, whose genetic makeup are identical, will differ in personality because they
have different groups of friends, not necessarily because their parents raised them differently.
8. Gender Socialization Gender role has an important place in Socialization as Henslin
(1999:76) emphasized “an important part of socialization is the learning of culturally defined
gender roles.” Gender socialization refers to the learning of behaviour and attitudes
considered appropriate for a given sex. Boys learn to be boys and girls learn to be girls. This
"learning" happens by way of many different agents of socialization. The family is certainly
important in reinforcing gender roles, but so are one’s friends, school, work and the mass
media. Gender roles are reinforced through "countless subtle and not so subtle ways"
(1999:76). As parents are present in a child's life from the beginning, their influence in a
child's early socialization is very important, especially in regards to gender roles. Sociologists
have identified four ways in which parents socialize gender roles in their children: Shaping
gender related attributes through toys and activities, differing their interaction with children
based on the sex of the child, serving as primary gender models, and communicating gender
ideals and expectations.
9. Racial socialization Racial socialization has been defined as "the developmental processes
by which children acquire the behaviours, perceptions, values, and attitudes of an ethnic
group, and come to see themselves and others as members of the group". The existing
literature conceptualizes racial socialization as having multiple dimensions. Researchers have
identified five dimensions that commonly appear in the racial socialization literature: cultural
socialization, preparation for bias, promotion of mistrust, egalitarianism, and other.
Cultural socialization refers to parenting practices that teach children about their racial
history or heritage and is sometimes referred to as pride development. Preparation for bias
refers to parenting practices focused on preparing children to be aware of, and cope up with,
discrimination. Promotion of mistrust refers to the parenting practices of socializing children
to be vary of people from other races. Egalitarianism refers to socializing children with the
belief that all people are equal and should be treated with a common humanity.
Stages of Socialization
There are four basic stages in the socialization process: childhood, adolescence, adulthood
and age sixty-five and over. During each of these stages of life, people typically begin to
learn and to develop important and useful skills; these skills continue to evolve, carrying over
and preparing each of us for the next stages of life. Very early on, organized institutions and
specific groups of people help us through these four stages.
These agents of socialization include family, school, peers, media, religion and the
workplace. Without experiencing the essential stages of socialization and interacting with the
agents of socialization, a person's growth and opportunity become stunted.
Childhood is the most important stage of socialization. The first thing that humans go
through in life is called primary socialization, in which children develop personality, motor
skills, reasoning, language and most importantly, self-concept. A little later in childhood,
they are introduced to roles, values and norms. Primary socialization is the building block for
socialization throughout the rest of one's life. Without learning and developing these skills
early on, a person is not likely to develop them and therefore, will not have the tools to
become an active member of society. During the childhood stage, the family acts as the most
important agent of socialization.
The family provides a nurturing environment that is instrumental in normal cognitive,
emotional and physical development. Interaction with one's family allows a person to develop
language, to learn and refine simple motor skills - such as shoe tying and eating - as well as to
share emotional care and understanding. After the child masters some of the simple life skills,
the parents begin to teach the meanings of right and wrong, obedience and conformity;
ultimately, our parents teach and give us the foundation for the future of our lives.
It becomes clear that without both the childhood development stage and its accompanying
familial involvement, children would be entirely unprepared to survive alone, to interact with
others and to move any further toward the next stage, adolescence.
Adolescence is the next stage in the socialization process; it continues the development of
childhood lessons while, at the same time, setting us up for the socialization that will occur
during adulthood. During adolescence, the biggest development is taking on independence
from one's parents. This dramatic change is noted as anticipatory socialization, during which
adolescents learn about and prepare for roles that they may take on later in life, in the stage of
adulthood. Prevalent examples of anticipatory and adolescent socialization depend on the role
of two agents of socialization, schools and peers. One of the most important things - that
families try to set their children up for during the childhood stage - is the social challenges of
school.
Beyond teaching general knowledge, schools teach and reinforce society's culture, values,
norms and ideals. For example, although more freedom of choice has opened up in recent
years, girls are generally swayed toward taking home economics while boys usually gravitate
toward technology or shop. In many middle schools throughout the country, this reinforced
some of the gender norms that were likely learned during childhood and also, seemed to
anticipate that girls would be housewives while men while went out into the workforce. Even
beyond typical subjects and societal norms, schools teach children about following rules,
obeying authority and finally, they are instrumental in introducing us to our peers. Our peers
have a big role in the process of socialization, particularly during the stages of adolescence
and early adulthood. It is natural for a person to search for acceptance; and so, when one
finds a group of people with whom they can identify, they tend to conform to the norms
associated with that group.
Conforming is also known as giving in to peer pressure, which can lead a person to do a
number of things to fit in including, dressing in a certain style, using drugs and participating
in extracurricular activities. While fitting into a desired group may be very important to the
adolescent individual, this may cause conflict with their family, who helped to shape their
personality earlier in life. This, among other conflicts, exemplifies the difficulties of
adolescence, particularly with finding oneself and separating from one's parents.
The third stage in the socialization process is Adulthood. At this stage, people are likely to
be fully prepared for what they will face in life, given their anticipatory experiences during
the previous two stages. Although anticipatory socialization exists to prepare us for what will
most likely be our future role in society, we must go one step further and enter into the "real
world." We will most likely get a job forcing us to go past anticipatory socialization and
through professional socialization. This process prepares us for a job by providing the
knowledge and cultural background to be successful in our respective work environment.
The workplace is the final ordinal agent of socialization. Most people spend a large portion of
every day at work for many years. People are socialized by their workplace in different ways
depending on their occupation. For example socialization as a construction worker is much
different from the professional socialization one would encounter as a businessman. A simple
difference can be seen in the dress code of each job. They are drastically different, with the
construction worker wearing jeans and a t-shirt while the businessman is expected to wear a
suit.
The fourth and final stage of socialization is referred to as age sixty-five and beyond. In
our society, many people enter the world of retirement around the age of sixty-five; entering
into retirement can also be called a role exit or referred to as leaving an important social role.
This stage of socialization is much less important to the individual, as it does not really set
them up for the next stage of their life and in most cases, retirees take up hobbies just to
occupy their time.
Agents of Socialization
Agencies of socialization are categorized into two as primary and secondary. Primary agents
familiarize a child to the society and family is a crucial primary agent of socialization.
Secondary agents or agencies familiarize a child to an organized place or institution and it is
more systematic than primary agents of socialization. The best example is none other than the
school wherein there is a particular set of rules and regulations to be followed.
Family, school, peer groups, mass media, education institutions, work places, religion
and politics are key agents of socialization. Family is the most important and crucial
institution of socializing a child. Soon after the birth, a child has to be with the mother and
the child learns particular behavioural patterns from her. Of course, this is a crucial
experience in his/her life. Subsequently he/she learns to interact with other
members/individuals in the family. Activities such as sucking milk, smiling, carefulness and
tottering are important in primary socialization. The infant gets fulfilled all physical and
psychological needs within the family itself.
Child rearing practices such as nutrition, sleeping and use of toilets are to be trained at home.
However, all these practices keep changing from society to society. In Asian countries these
practices are experienced with simplicity and relaxation on the contrary rigid practices are
followed in western countries since in western countries such as Britain, France, Germany,
etc, the mother does not be with the child for a long period of time. However, Asian mother
stays with the child for a long period in comparison to western mother.
In addition to child rearing practices, rewarding, threatening, punishing, bargaining and
pleading help to socialize a particular child. Intention of all these methods is to make the
child conformed to the society. As far as sociologists are concerned, early childhood
experiences affect the personality development. Both love and affection of parents strongly
influence the development of his personality. At the same time, lack of warmth, love and
affection form an affectionless figure or personality. When a particular individual has both
over-affection, he becomes an unbalanced character. The individual who has the excessive
love and affection is not self-confident while who is rejected can be harmful to the society.
School The school is another important and crucial agent of socialization. The child who has
been with the family for years extends his relationship with the outer society through school.
The child receives his school education from six to eighteen years. The school is known as a
micro system and it is an institution where learning takes place and individuals develop. The
school provides the intellectual and social experiences from which individuals develop
knowledge, skills, customs, beliefs, interest, and attitudes that characterize them and shape
their abilities to perform adult roles.
However, provision of good members to the society is the objective of education. Subject
knowledge which is being taught by a set of teachers is exclusively a new experience.
However, just after the admission to the school emotional bond and relationship the child had
with the family and its members keeps reducing. The child is able to develop his skills
through the new environment. At the same time he has the ability to identify the school as a
place where his ideas and activities are appreciated and admired. The rewards he receives as
appreciation, commendation, etc, may influence over the formation of his personality.
Imitation affects the formation of the personality of an individual. The child has the
opportunity to associates closely with the teacher in subject oriented activities and in extra-
curricular activities. He is motivated to imitate his teachers. The personality of the child is
formed by following and imitating not only external characteristics of teachers such as
accent, behaviour, handwriting, etc, but also their ideas and opinions as well.
Peer Groups A peer group is a social group consisting of people who are equal in such
respects as age, education, or social class. Friendship groups and age grades are also known
as peer groups. In course of child's growth, he is motivated to be with the friends of his age. It
is mainly prominent from teen ages to adulthood.
The socialization that takes place with peers is different from those of the family and school.
Similar tastes, likes, dislikes and ideas influence of the formation of such groups. Those who
like sports and music get together and form into groups is such an example. In peer groups,
the child acquires a greater understanding in respect of conforming to laws and regulations.
The child who does not conform to standard laws and regulations is rejected with ease from
his group. Not being able to abide by the rules and regulations of the sports team and being
unable to obey the order of its leader may be subjected to ejection.
According to ideas and activities of the members certain controlling methods such as
commending, accepting, punishing or rejecting are operative within a group. Children who
are disobedient to their children may be subjected to ideas and control of such groups. Peer
groups are important as a place where in an individual could discuss certain issues, problems
and matters which cannot be discussed with their adults in the family or school. Owing to
movement with peers, a particular individual is able to solve certain problems.
Socialization takes place by imitating the individuals who are appreciated by the peer group
as well. Things such as accent, fashions, hair styles, ways of behaviour, etc, are often
imitated. In peer groups, there may be certain notions that are mismatched with the norms of
the adults. It can be a reason for creating conflicts between the two groups. Now and then
there are situations in which such groups formed can be mismatched with the society and
culture. A friendship group abusing intoxicants or drugs is a group which is incompatible
with the culture of the society.
The socialization takes place by peer groups may strongly affect the formation of the
personality of an individual. Mass Media Theorists, like Parsons, and textbook authors, like
Ely Chinoy (1960), and Harry M.
Johnson (1961), recognized that socialization didn't stop when childhood ended. They
realized that socialization continued on into adulthood, but they treated it as a form of
specialized education. Johnson (1961), for example, wrote about the importance of
inculcating members of the US Coastguard with a set of values so as to respond to commands
and act in unison without question. Some scholars accused theorists of socialization of not
recognizing the importance of the mass media which, by the middle of the twentieth century,
was becoming more significant as a social force.
There was concern about the link between television and the education and socialization of
children, a concern that continues today, but when it came to adults, the mass media were
regarded merely as sources of information and entertainment, rather than molders of
personality. Some sociologists and theorists of culture have recognized the power of mass
communication as a socialization device. Dennis McQuail recognizes the argument: … the
media can teach norms and values by way of symbolic reward and punishment for different
kinds of behaviour as represented by the media. An alternative view is that it is a learning
process whereby we all learn how to behave in certain situations, and with the expectations
which go with a given role or status in society. Thus, the media are continually offering
pictures of life and models of behaviour in advance of actual experience. (McQuail 2005:
494)
However, the most important agent of socialization for the development of the child is
the mass media. The Mass Media are the different processes that facilitate communication
between the sender of a message and the receiver of that message. It plays an important role
in the socialization of children. In fact, there are many types of media; these include
newspapers, magazines, radio, films, CDs, Internet, and television. These kinds of media,
especially television, affect children's and adult's behaviour in different ways. Having the
mass media as one of our major agents of socialization could be very hard on our society
today. When watching different TV shows seeing all those actors and actresses with these
great figures hurt many people in the society today. In other ways watching TV could be a
good thing when an actor or actress is on TV in different shows or music it could bring many
good things like being a role model for an adolescent teenager who wants someone to looks
up too. Having these agents is a great guideline for people who want to start with a great start
with their children or wants to be a good communicator.
The average family in the United States has at least one television turned on for at least seven
hours a day. Television is the biggest mass media in a country and has positive and negative
aspects. There are some programs which are very helpful with lots of information for the
children. For example; on channel thirty-three, there is a good program called "Dora, the
Explorer". Children can learn to speak Spanish and also do things such as singing, standing
up and pronouncing words in English. On the same channel, there is also a program called
"Blue's Clues". In this program, children learn how to think, sing and discover clues. When
children watch these programs, they are not the same people anymore because they can
become more knowledgeable. These programs are very good because they change children's
minds and make the children different from what they were before.
However, there are also television programs that affect children negatively which have too
much violence, and unfortunately children love it. Children should not see these kinds of
programs because children tend to imitate the fighters. In addition, there are some movies that
have a lot of violence and unwanted words and children love these kinds of movies. Children
like and learn how to use knives, guns and explosives because they watch it on TV.
Sometimes children take the role of their superheroes in real life because they see their
favorite actors using these weapons. For example; when children watch the actor stealing a
car on TV, they learn from it and they also want to steal because they want to be like their
superheroes. Other agencies of socialization People are also influenced by other agencies of
socialization as well. The other most predominant agent amongst them is religion. Religion or
religious conviction forms social and cultural patterns for individuals. The manner the
Muslims dress is not the way for other religious groups. Any religion inculcates moral values
such as love and compassion for others. Religions do not permit anyone to engage in adultery
and theft and robberies. Also, scouts, youth organizations, the military and employment
settings are some agents of socialization. In some countries the military training is even given
to ordinary youths recruited for some other professions since it helps to produce individuals
with discipline.
Role of School in Socialization
School is an important part of the society. It is known as social organization because it is the
school which provides an exposure to students and it prepares the students to occupy social
roles according to their capacities after receiving the school. School is considered as a second
home for students because it is a school wherein students pass most of the time of his day and
this is utilized in form of learning. Every student learns about social life, social norms and
social believes etc and he will be produced as a social being. So in the process of
socialization school plays a very significant role. Its functions are as under.
The first and the foremost function of the school is to transmit knowledge and skills to the
younger generation. So in the process of socialization, the younger generation can utilize the
knowledge and skills. They are become aware about social rights, rules, regulation and social
believers so that they live according to their own ideas and knowledge. They develop
thinking skill so recreation lies in their behaviour.
School keeps the moral power of the society, secure and also maintain social heritage of the
society. This social heritage is handed on the following generation by the school. So it brings
awareness in an individual about moral power of society and social heritage. School protects
the historical continuity of society. It performs the function of acquainting the new generation
with ancient myths and legends and maintaining the patterns of behaviour in the form of
traditions and customs. So students become aware about ancient myths and legends and
behaviour thereby they behave in a particular social way.
The school is like a family, a social; institution which socializes the individual and provides
him some experience in social control therefore, the individual will learn to accept the kind of
social control that is imposed on him in school and will also demand similar social control
from society for this reason, there is a great insistence in democratic countries that the
atmosphere in the school should be democratic and we find the democratic climate in school
around us which acquaints students with democratic norms of social control which is very
important in the process of socialization. Thus students learn how to live with democratic
norms and how to behave with each other which help in the process of socialization.
School fosters all round development in personality of students, physical, mental, emotional
and social. School involves all students in different co-curricular activities so that students
develop physically, mentally and socially, for example curricular activities like Puzzles,
games, group discussion, sport related to the curriculum. Which develop students physically,
socially and mentally thinking skills and co–curricular or extra activities including debate,
elocution, competition, drawing etc develop individual differences and particular skills to
students. They also develop social leadership qualities other political leadership traits etc
which indirectly help every individual to be a social being that mean every individual are
socialized by such activities.
The school provides social environment before children by organizing students unions, social
service camp social functions and parents- teacher association etc. So that all the socially
desirable values namely sympathy, co-operation, tolerance, social awakening and discipline
in them so school develops social dealing in all children. School works under the light of
social ideals and develop the child with reference to such ideals and aims. School encourages
children to come in active contact with the libraries and youth welfare countries organized by
the community or Govt.
The miniature school life is brought into active and lively contact with wider world outsides
that means school provides a conducive climate. The head masters and teachers allow
freedom to the students which make them more responsible. They impart knowledge of social
customs and traditions and develop values of society among students.
The importance of the school as an agency of socialization can be divided into three
subtopics: the school and society, the classroom, and the teacher. When children begin school
it is usually the first time that they come under the supervision of people who are not their
relatives. It is likely that the school is the first agency that encourages children to develop
loyalties and sentiments that go beyond the family and link them to a wider social order.
The school as an agency of socialization should be recognized as the first organizer of social
relationships (Elkin & Handel, 1978). The classroom is often seen as a place where the child
is easily faced with socializing amongst peers. Since most of the things that children do in the
classroom are done in the presence of their peers, they have to learn how to deal with a more
formalized group situation? Parental expectations and perceptions of their children’s
development of both cognitive and motor skills serve to affect the transition to the school
environment (Coates & Wagenaar, 1999).
Humor in the classroom touches on socialization, one of the major functions of schools: to
acculturate knowledgeable, understanding, compassionate, and empathetic new members to
our society (Freda & Pollack, 1997). The teacher also plays an important role in the social
development of the child. If one of the tasks of adolescence is to achieve a balance between
conformity and rebellion, then the role of the teacher is an important one in assisting children
as they attempt that process. When teachers confront a negative student with humor, they
often find that this use of humor is an effective way to diffuse the student’s anger and
hostility. If a teacher and student can laugh together, they can most likely work together and
also plan together. Activity: Plan a program in the school for student socialization by role
play method.
Teacher as a Role Model
Schools are one of the first places where kid’s behaviour and future educational success is
shaped. Teachers are carriers of either positive or negative behaviour toward students. The
reason why the first years of school are so critical is because kids learn the base of their
educational life. Teachers must love their career to pass enthusiasm, to assists, and to provide
a warm environment to the students. Teachers are the second mothers for the students
because students spend a lot of time with their teachers. At the same time, a real teacher
becomes through many years of training and experiences in the field. The same way, mothers
are not born being great mothers but as their experiences with their kids expand, they become
experts on the field. We know that mothers look the best for their kids and one of their goals
is to raise their kids so they can become professionals and pioneers for the society. Some of
the mother’s role toward kids is to give them care, love, respect, lead, instruct and to try to
form a safe and pleasant environment at their homes.
Are these attitudes of the mothers toward their kids related to what the role of the teacher
should be with the students in the classroom? If not, what should be the role of the teachers
then?
A teacher is someone who becomes through many years of training and experiences in the
field. It is urgent for everyone who is a teacher or is planning to become one to get prepare in
the field the best they can. All teachers who get prepare will know how to set up rules in the
classroom. Those kind of teachers will probably have less problems in their classroom
because they will be able to control the classroom. A teacher carries a big responsibility in
her classroom. One reason is that all students depend on her/him. Everything the teacher says
will have an impact on the students. If the teacher feels joy or feels anger, it will be spread
among children because the attitudes of the teacher gets contagious. If the teacher laughs,
students also laugh, why? Because teachers are responsible for the social behaviour in the
classroom. If something goes wrong the only responsible is the teacher even if it was not their
foul.
The teacher must create a warm and protective environment but at the same time that
approach should be professional. If students feel secure in the classroom the result will be
shown in the academic progress. A good start could be a mutual trust with each student.
Teaches have the responsibility to know his/her students in the classroom. Each day, the
teachers show one of their attitudes that the students are unaware. Also, the students do the
same in order for the teacher to get to know them, too. This is a good exercise to do because
it benefits the whole class to break the ice. The first day most of the students are afraid of the
teacher because they do not know how the teacher’s personality is. It will change until the
point that the teacher and students discover to have common hobbies with each other.
Sometimes, the teacher’s caring attitudes could have a long positive or negative influence on
students. Student’s self-esteem could be lift up because it could create ambitions in their
minds for future academic success. Psychologically, students could be affected if they have
problems with their teachers. One of the results could be that students will avoid going to
school.
As professional teachers, we do not want any conflict with the students. Sometimes, the
behaviour of students demonstrates that something is not going right. Therefore, I think
teachers must pay attention to any suspicious sings that could bother the student. As teacher
our responsibility is to find out what is going on with the students in the classroom. Kids deep
in their hearts feel that teachers could help them but sometimes they are afraid to ask the
teacher. This issue is very common in the school. The students prefer to talk to their friends
about their problems and sometimes teachers are the last person to find out about the
problem. Sometimes is the teacher’s foul that students do not seek his/her help because
sometimes the teachers do not form a bound of communication. The teachers must let
students know how she feels when students do not trust her, maybe it would help students to
change their minds about telling the teacher his/her problem. Often, there is a debate about,
if a teacher should be a role model for students.
Teachers are being respected by society because they are view as knowledgeable about
different subjects of school. Even if teachers do not like to be point out as being role models,
it is certainly think they are. Teachers have the qualities to be or become role models for
students. Why? Because most teachers respect, love, care, instruct, and guide their students to
become a successful person. Students view teacher as being wise therefore they look up for
them. Students know that if they need something they just need to ask them. Kids learn from
every lesson the teacher gives. At the same time, students should not look to their teacher to
copy them but rather to compare and to see the mistakes to not do them in our lives. Students
should concentrate in doing their work and being proud of the way they are.
It is essential and crucial for teachers to be prepared because the first years of school are very
important for the students. The future education success of the students depends on their first
years. It’s never late to star abound of a relationship between teacher and students. As human,
sometimes teachers do things that are not correct, however we always have another chance to
do it better. It is believed that teachers need to show respect, caring, become role models,
make a pleasant environment, treat students right, instructs them but not be totalitarian, and
guides them through the road of success.
The only who gets the benefits are the students and sometimes it could be a negative or
positive. A teacher is someone considered as an ideal self or a role model by children.
Children see these role models in their parents and also in teachers. Both have a powerful and
lasting impact on the behaviour and attitudes of children. It is difficult to say when this
influence starts and when it actually stops. What we know is that impressions formed
throughout the school years and last a life time. It is therefore very important that teachers
demonstrate qualities that impress children and they become examples of ideal self for
children.
Teachers have a responsibility to demonstrate highest examples of acceptable behaviour, be it
in class or outside the classroom. In other words teachers must walk the talk. In classrooms,
we impart knowledge to shape young minds, their attitude, their beliefs, values and their
current and future behaviour. Our objective should be to produce goods citizens well-
grounded in Islamic teachings, values, culture and beliefs- ready to be a member of a
responsible society. We know the lasting, deep and permanent impressions formed by
teachers on young minds. So what are the qualities or attributes that we would like to see in
teachers who are in charge of influencing or modelling our children? How do we become
role models as teachers? There are a number of ways that we can act as role models. For
example, punctuality is something that we all should value. A teacher who is repeatedly late
to classes will find it difficult to convince the students on the value of this behaviour.
Similarly a teacher is who appears ill-prepared will find it hard to convince the students on
the importance of being organized.
To be a successful role model, teachers must demonstrate highest examples in a number of
attributes. Honesty is a key attribute that excellent teachers possess. Teachers must be
honest in all the interactions and dealings with children. Teachers should never
discriminate among children or play favouritism. These are two highly undesirable
behaviours that all successful teachers must avoid at all times. A teacher who is seen to be
discriminatory or favouring certain children is eroding the motivation and the respect of other
children. Such teachers will find it difficult to discharge their responsibilities and earn the
respect of the children that are in their care.
Another quality that we seek in successful teacher is affection. Being human beings we all
need love and affection. Children are no exception. Hence, teachers must be affectionate to
all the children in their care. It is said that it is the love and affection that children get in this
stage of their life that makes them lovable and affectionate human beings later in life. A
third quality of a good role model is that teachers should know his or her subject
matter. Children expect teachers to be a source of knowledge and information. This is an
attribute that cannot be under estimated. Children by their nature have a longing for learning
and seek answers for various questions. Teachers should know that children do not take much
time to assess the capacity of a teacher. Hence, the teachers must be current with their
knowledge and information through continuous learning and development and by being
prepared to class. A teacher should never pretend to know the answer for something he or she
does not know. This could be seen as an example of being dishonest. Teachers who admit
their limitations will also be teaching children the value of being honest and the importance
of accepting human limitations, instead of simply justifying their own actions or behaviour.
A good role model also should respect and be appreciated of the problems that children go
through in their life. Many children bring into classrooms problems that take place elsewhere.
Good teachers should be willing to listen to children’s’ problems and be willing to offer
guidance and help wherever possible. In cases, where a teacher is unable to provide further
support, a teacher should encourage seeking professional help either in the school or
externally. When children know that they can trust and confide in the teachers, they develop
confidence and try to address their problems, instead of keeping the problems to themselves.
This is very important for the emotional well-being of the children and makes them motivated
learners. Also, in a technology friendly world a teacher should be a role model for
acceptable use of technological equipment such as mobile phone. Technology tends to break
the traditionally accepted norms and behaviours in society. For instance, playing music on a
bus/ferry loudly is unacceptable as it tends to disturb the privacy of others on the bus/ferry.
Likewise, talking loud or simply using the mobile phone in a certain space can be a nuisance
to the others who use/share the same space, e.g. a hospital ward.
Specific Role of Teacher
1. Teachers are carries of either positive or negative behaviour toward students.
2. Teachers must love their career to pass enthusiasm, to assists, and to provide a warm
environment to the students.
3. Teachers are the second mothers for the students because students spend a lot of time
with their teachers.
4. A teacher is someone who becomes through many years of training and experiences
in the field.
5. A teacher carries a big responsibility in her classroom. One reason is that all students
depend on her/him.
6. The teacher must create a warm and protective environment but at the same time
professional.
7. Sometimes, the teacher’s caring attitudes could have a long positive or negative
influence on students.
8. Sometimes, the behaviour of students demonstrates that something is not going right.
Therefore, the teachers must pay attention to any suspicious sings that could bother
the student.
9. The teachers must let student know how he/she feels when students do not trust in her
maybe it would help students to change their minds about telling the teacher his/her
problem.
10. A teacher is someone considered as an ideal self or a role model by children.
11. Teachers have a responsibility to demonstrate highest examples of acceptable
behaviour, be it in class or outside the classroom.
We know the lasting, deep and permanent impressions formed by teachers on young minds.
So what are the qualities or attributes that we would like to see in teachers who are incharge
of influencing or modeling our children?
Summary
At last we have the ability to come to a conclusion that the socialization is the persistent
process of familiarizing individuals to the society. Socialization provides an understanding in
respect of society and culture in which the individual lives and also helps to form his
personality. The institutions that make the individuals familiarize to the society are known as
agents of socialization. Amongst them the primary socialization is done by family influences
the formation of individual's personality. In addition to it, school, peer groups, mass media,
religion, work place and politics influence in forming a particular individual's personality.