Unit 3: School and Culture

Chapter 3: Social Science Theories and Their Implications to Education

Introduction
Socialists today employ three primary theoretical perspectives: the functionalist perspective. The conflict perspective
and the symbolic interactionist perspective. These perspectives offer sociologists theoretical paradigms for
explaining how society influences people, and how people influence society. Each perspective uniquely
conceptualizes society, social forces and human behavior

Sing this song: Dem Bones

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,

Now shake dem skeleton bones!

The toe bone’s connected to the foot bone,

The foot bone’s connected to the ankle bone,

The ankle bone’s connected to the leg bone,

Now shake dem skeleton bones!

The leg bone’s connected to the knee bone,

The knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone,

The thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone,

Now shake dem skeleton bones!

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones,

Now shake dem skeleton bones!

The back bone’s connected to the neck bone,

The neck bone’s connected to the head bone,

Now shake dem skeleton bones!

The finger bone’s connected to the hand bone,

The hand bone’s connected to the arm bone,

The arm bone’s connected to the shoulder bone,

Now shake dem skeleton bones!

The Dem Bones song introduces us to one of the 3 social theories we shall learn in the Chapter, the functionalist
theory.
Three Social Theories

1) Structural-functional theory

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.” Society is compared to the human body
with different but interrelated parts performing different functions. Just as the human body has many parts, society has different
but interrelated components such as family, the state, the school, the Church, mass media, economics. These must coordinate
and collaborate for society to function well. If one part of the human body does not function well, the whole body is affected. In
the same way, when one component of society does not do its part, society will not function well. The overall health of the
organism (society) depends upon the health of each structure.
This is exactly the message of the song, Dem Bone. The bones are interconnected. Each has a unique function. For instance,
there is peace, stability, equilibrium and harmony in society if families do their part in bringing forth children, nurturing and
socializing them; if education or schools effectively transmit knowledge, skills and values; if politics governs citizens well; if
economics takes care of food production, distribution of goods and services and if religion strengthens the moral fiber of the
members of society. Failure of one social institution to do its part means disruption of stability in society. For example, the rise of
single parent and dual earner families means families have less time or sometimes no more time left for the supervision of
children in their homework which may result to an increase of non-performing students in school.
In a high tech world, educational institution must teach adults the new skills to relate to the teach-savvy young and the world
and to be more effective in the workplace. With more women in the workplace, policies against sexual harassment and
discrimination were formulated. The Cybercrime Act of 2012 came about to address the legal issues concerning online
interactions and the internet in the Philippines.

The functionalist theory of education 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. Education is concerned with socializing people by bringing
together people from different backgrounds. The functionalist theory is focused on social stability and solidarity. Functionalists
see education as a beneficial contribution to an ordered society.
Functionalism does not encourage people to take an active role in changing their social environment, even when such change
may benefit them. Instead, functionalism sees active social change as undesirable because the various parts of society will
compensate naturally for any problems that may arise. For example, schools can compensate for the lack of time and the lack of
parental advice from home.

Purposes of Schooling according to Functionalists

The purposes of schooling according to functionalists’ theory are:

1. Intellectual purposes – acquisition of cognitive skills, inquiry skills

2. Political purposes – educate future citizens; promote patriotism; promote assimilation of immigrants; ensure order, public
civility and conformity to laws

3. Economic purposes – prepare students for later work roles; select and train the labor force needed by society

4. Social purposes – promote a sense of social and moral responsibility; serve as a site for the solution or resolution of social
problems; supplement the efforts of other institutions of socialization such as the family and the church

An examination of the present curricula in basic and in tertiary education shows that these 4 functions are given attention to.

2) Conflict Theory
According to this theory, there are always two opposing sides in a conflict situation. People take sides between maintaining
the status quo and introducing change then arrive at an agreement. Conflict theory welcomes conflict for that is the way to the
establishment of a new society. Conflict theorists find potential conflict between any groups where inequality exists: racial,
gender, religious, political, economic and so on. Conflict theorists note that unequal groups usually have conflicting values and
agendas, causing them to compete against one another. This constant competition between groups forms the basis for the ever-
changing nature of society.
The factory workers want change – better working conditions, higher salaries. The factory owners naturally are opposed to such.
The resolution of the conflict, however, leads to a compromise, a change in the way the factory is managed where both workers
and owners are happy.

3) The symbolic interactionist’s theory perspective

Three tenets of symbolic interactionists theory are:

1.) An individual’s action depends on the meaning. We act based on the meaning we give to symbols. Symbols can’t be actions,
objects or words. If a student understands that teacher believes in his/her ability he/she tries his/her best prove that indeed
he/she is able. If a teacher does otherwise, a student tends to behave in accordance with teacher’s poor perception.

2.) Different people may give different meanings to the same things. When teachers are strict, some students see it as an
expression of care. Others may rebel because they perceive teacher’s behavior as limiting their moves and desires. A
businessman may look at a tree and starts estimating how much money he can get if he has the tree cut down for lumber. A
philosopher or a poet may look at it with the thought, “they also serve who only stand and wait” like John Milton’s from his
poem “On his Blindness”.
3.) Meanings change as individuals interact with one another. A negative meaning that you used to associate with hospital when
you went to a hospital which looked more as a hotel than the usual hospital you know is changed. After you have taught well,
your first impression of teaching as boring is changed to teaching is exciting.

How Proponents of Conflict Theory Regard Education

According to the conflict theory, 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. Conflict theorists call this the “hidden curriculum”. The
“hidden” curriculum socializes young people into obedience and conformity for them to be developed as docile workers.
Functionalists disagree strongly. They assert that if schools teach adherence to policies, obedience to rules, and respect for
persons including authorities, punctuality and honesty, civil right it is because they are the very principles dear to a democratic
way of life. It is now because they want to make the workers remain docile, unquestioning and subservient forever while those
in power remain in power.

Implications to Teaching

Let us continue to teach for meaning. Let us promote and create opportunities for genuine interaction among our students and
teachers. Interaction does not only mean dealing with warm bodies. Interaction includes reading, listening and viewing. Other
people’s views and meanings are conveyed in what they have written, in speeches and lectures they have delivered.

Let us use positive symbols – in the form of gestures, words, actions, and appearances – to express our trust, belief in our
student’s abilities, and an affirmation of their being. In fact, our belief in our students also has positive effects in us, we find
ourselves more prepared in class, more caring, truly professional.
The symbolic interactionist perspective, also known as symbolic interactionism, directs sociologists to consider the symbols and
details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how people interact with each other. As the term implies, symbolic
interactionist theory states that people interact with one another through symbols. Language is a predominant symbol among
people. According to the symbolic interactionist perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to
their subjective interpretation of these symbols. Verbal conversations, in which spoken words serve as the predominant
symbols, make this subjective interpretation especially evident.

The words have a certain meaning for the “sender”, and, during effective communication, they hopefully have the same
meaning for the “receiver.” In other terms, words are not static “things”; they require intention and interpretation.
Conversation is an interaction of symbols between individuals who constantly interpret the world around them. To ensure
mutual understanding, the sender of the symbol and the receiver of the symbol must give the same meaning to the symbol or
run the risk of misunderstanding.

Faulty communication can result from differences in the perception of the same events and symbols. Did you experience this
in your activity of giving symbols of caring? While you looked at your symbol as something expressing your love and care,
your partner may have not understood it that way at all. This happens in real life.

It is important that our symbols are understood by others in the way they were intended to be. Sometimes it happens in the
language (which is a symbol) we speak. Often we are misunderstood or we misunderstand others. So let’s keep on
communicating.
Weakness of Symbolic Interaction Theory

Critics claim that symbolic interactionism neglects the macro level of social-interpretation-the “big picture.” In other words,
symbolic interactionists may miss the larger issues of society by focusing too closely on the “trees” or by restricting themselves
to small individual interactions.

Symbolic interactionism traces its origins to Max Weber’s assertion that individuals act according to their interpretation of the
meaning of their world. However, it was the American philosopher George H. Mead (1863-1931) who introduced this
perspective to American sociology in the 1920s.

The purposes of schooling according to the functionalist theory are:

1. Intellectual purposes – acquisition of cognitive skills, inquiry skills

2. Political purposes – educate future citizens; promote patriotism; promote assimilation of immigrants; ensure order, public
civility and conformity to laws

3. Economic purposes – prepare students for later work roles; select and train the labor force needed by society

4. Social purposes – promote a sense of social and moral responsibility; serve as a site for the solution or resolution of social
problems; supplement the efforts of other institutions of socialization such as the family and the church.

Summary - Takeaways

 Functionalism 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 a state of balance in society.
 To maintain this state of stability, various institutions are expected to do their part.
 For the functionalists, 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-interactionists theory is focused on individuals who act based on meaning which is based on the individuals’
experience. These meanings are not permanent. They change over time as the individual continues to interact with
others and with symbols.