The Theories of Education
This essay is going to look at the Functionalist, Marxist and
Interactionist theories of education and outline the key points; it
will also provide some criticism in relation to each of the theories.
Although the theories are mainly very different, they all have the
similarity of suggesting that a person’s social class will contribute
greatly to how well they will do at school and also on how this will
affect the type and importance of a career they may take up.
Functionalism investigates institutions to consider the functions that
they perform in society. The functionalist premise is that if an
institution exists then there has got to be a reason for its
existence. Functionalists assume that educational institutions serve
some societal need; schools are examined for the positive contribution
that they make towards maintaining society.
Talcott Parsons suggested that educational institutions provide the
function of general socialisation of the whole of the population into
the dominant culture, values and beliefs of a society. Parsons also
suggested that schools select people for different types and levels of
education. He believed that education meets the needs of the system
by making sure that all children have a basic commitment to their
society’s values and beliefs and also by preparing individuals for
their specific roles within the social hierarchy.
Both of the functions achieve different but overlapping goal.
Transmitting norms and values promotes social solidarity.
Differentiation matches skills to societal needs and supports
society’s economic needs.
Another theory of the functio...
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...as how they are expected to
act and live up to the label placed on them, but this doesn’t mean
that all pupils who are labelled and streamed will behave in the same
manner.
In conclusion, all of the theories that have been outlined in this
essay seem to agree that social class background plays a major role in
educational achievement. Both functionalist and Marxist theories
agree that the school plays the role of socialising students into the
prevailing norms and values of a society. Interactionist theories are
mainly concerned with the interactions that a student has with their
tutor and fellow peers at school, if a pupil has negative interactions
with a tutor, it will encourage them to perform badly in the subject.
Bibliography
Sociology Themes and Perspectives by Haralambos and Holborn
www.scool.com
The case study that I chose was the case of “The Solar System”. Out of all the three lesson plans, I found Mr. Johnson’s lesson plan to be the most interesting and elaborate. It also included innovative ways to touch on multiple learning styles using both text and visuals.
Teaching theories are as much part of the classroom as the student and the teacher. The effect individual theories have on an environment depends how they are incorporated within the classroom in addition to the influence they have had on the curriculum construction. This essay will briefly look at how motivation theory, cognitive and social cognitive theory along with constructivism have impacted on education and the classroom.
Personally, being an educator gives me a chance to have a great impact on the world. I have always enjoyed seeing the look on someone’s face when they make a new connection or learn something. I have many strong beliefs in the education process and many times feel that the needs of the student are overlooked. As a teacher, the students would be priority and that is the backbone of my teaching philosophy. I know that I am not very experienced and have much to learn. This I will strive to do throughout my education and even when I enter the teacher workforce.
Ever since I was a little girl I had this dream of being a teacher. Whether it was making up “pretend” tests or having my younger brother sit through my instruction, I knew that I was a born teacher. And now that I have grown and matured into a responsible young woman, I feel that my place in this world is in the classroom. I feel that the children are our future and we should teach them everything we know to the best of our abilities. Every summer since the age of 13, I have been babysitting for local families in my small hometown of Pineville. In fact, 2 years ago I had been babysitting for a Optometrist and his wife and they were expecting their second child. As an honor, they asked if they could name their second daughter after me. Kara Nicole was born in June of 2001. As a matter of fact, I have found that my feelings on education often reflect the song The Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston. She states in her song that she feels that the children are our future and I must say that I agree completely with her sentiments on the education of our youth. When I came of age to enter college, there was no question in my mind as to what field I wanted to enter. Elementary education was the only option for me. One of my favorite quotes, although I do not know the author, says that “To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world” and I must say that this reflects my philosophy on education. To me, this quote reveals every compassionate thought I have on education alone. Teachers in some small way or another can be the sunshine in a child’s life. In my opinion, teachers, play many roles; mentors, confidants, sources of inspiration, and disciplin...
As a school counselor, my mission is to help students learn about themselves and develop in three areas; personal/social, education, and career. I believe that every student has a gift that was given by God and my goal is to help students identify those gifts and purse those gifts to become successful students and citizens.
First of all, kids will get better in their academics, and learning at school. They put more effort in their learning because they know that they can be
My personal philosophy of education is most closely related to progressivism, which is a school of thought advocating that truth is determined by function. Progressivism is an educational philosophy focused on providing students with the skills and knowledge necessary not only to survive but also to succeed in a contemporary and competitive society. William James and John Dewey are accredited for developing the characteristically American philosophy of education that is progressivism.
Since my educational journey will lead me to a school library rather than to a classroom, my philosophy focuses on reading. I believe that there is a reader in every child and to unlock that reader each child must be viewed as an individual so that their own unique passion for learning is ignited. I know that there has been a tremendous amount of research conducted that shows how reading can improve a child’s grades and test scores but reading is much more powerful than that. Reading alters you on a personal level so that you never view yourself or the world around you in the same way again. Possessing this ability to broaden children’s horizons is why I want to become a librarian and in order to be the kind of teacher and librarian who positively affects their students’ lives requires thoughtfulness and the ability to change on my part. This entails an honest and continual introspection of my biases and beliefs, matching my actions to my “talk” so that my library is inclusive and affirming of diversity, and maintaining a true desire to reach every child through literature.
According to my knowledge the word "philosophy" is the study and understanding of knowledge in relevance to studying the wisdom of the universe. The word "education" is the act of developed knowledge. When put together the phrase, "philosophy of education," has extremely deep meaning within the context of knowledge. Therefore, before I can accurately state my position on the issue, I must examine my past, present and future experiences with knowledge.
My beliefs and values about early childhood education is based upon understanding that all children are unique individuals who need a caring, nurturing, and secure environment in which to grow and develop socially, emotionally, cognitively, and physically. Children under the age of three are in critical stages of development, it is my belief that a quality child care environment will have a positive impact on a child’s development and make a significant difference in the life of a child and his or her family. My philosophy of early childhood education and the elements I believe are necessary in developing a developmentally appropriate child care environment is rooted in my views and beliefs about experimentalism, progressivism, multiculturalism, and the influence of philosophers such as Dewey, Piaget, Montessori, and Vygotsky. Furthermore, I believe young children will thrive and grow in developmentally appropriate child care programs that possess the following elements: (1) teachers who see themselves as intentional, responsive and respectful facilitators of learning, (2) the ability to build a community of learners, (3) implement an effective curriculum that allow children to explore their natural curiosity about the world.
An epidemic of fragile families and a savage society filled with countless negative images puts many of our children at risk of becoming victims rather than the victors they were created to be. While all children are blessed with their own minds, talents, and the ability to grow and mature into adults, they must make a way for themselves in a world overwrought with sex, violence, and crass materialism. Because of this, they are handed low self-esteems, broken dreams, and false hopes in the place of options, opportunities, and hope in a better future. Therefore, the purpose of an education is to restore these things into the community, into each family, and into the heart of every student.
My best days as a teacher are those in which I have managed to see every student as an individual, provided lessons guided by a world-based view and are applicable to the lives of my students, where I have made learning an active process, when I have stressed respect for all things and all people, where I have developed and executed authentic tasks, when I maximized opportunities for critical thinking and problem solving, and lastly, when I have allowed all students the chance to gain knowledge and are closer to being independent learners.
Webster defines philosophy as a critical study of fundamental beliefs and the grounds for them. In this philosophy, I will be talking about the three great philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. These three philosophers represent the birthplace of Western philosophy.
Ever since a long time ago, adolescents had always been taught by teachers in several different ways. Since, every teacher has their own belief in a certain type of philosophy because not everyone is the same. As well as, there is no right way for a teacher to teach with their specific philosophy since, each child has their own way of learning. On a few occasions a student will appreciate other philosophies that my classmates did not infer to have had in their survey they had taken. Depending on the type of philosophy the teacher uses on the students shapes the way the classroom.
Theories about education took place around the fifth century B.C., particularly in Athens, Greece. With these theories, came the so-called Sophists, a new generation of professional teachers, whose goal was to train its students, usually very young, into a new world of personal and intellectual freedom. Sophists switched the focus of education from traditional to more physical and engaging activities but included traditional religious and moral values as part of education; Plato established the basic goals for education, but both sophists and technology increased our capacity to reach these goals.