The Role the Education System Has as an Agent of Socialization from the Conflict Perspective.
The education system has impacted children in many ways and has helped to shape the future leaders of society. In this essay my focus will be from the Conflict/ Marxist perspective, which proposes that the education system is structured in such a way that some persons will benefit from it more than others and that it is intended to cause social reproduction of inequality. Sociologists and economists Herbert Gintis and Samuel Bowles argue (as cited in Haralambos and Holborn, 2004 p. 698) that “there is a “close correspondence” between the social relationships which govern personal interaction in the work place and the social relationships of the education system.” The education system in today’s society is considered one of the most important agents of socialization apart from one’s family. The education system is defined by the socialsciencedictionary.com (2008) as “the system of formalized transmission of knowledge and values operating within a given society.” It is stated that the purpose of the education system “is to transmit values and norms and teaching students to respect authority and develop tolerance for different personalities present in the school system.”
The key terms I have acknowledged in writing this essay-apart from education system, which was defined above; are agent and socialization. An agent is defined as “a person or thing that takes an active role or produces a specified effect: agents of change; bleaching agent.” (New Oxford American Dictionary, 2005).The term socialization is defined as “the process by which an individual learns to live in accordance with the expectations and standards of a group or society, acquiring its beliefs, habits, values, and accepted modes of behaviour primarily through imitation, family interaction, and educational systems; the procedure by which society integrates the individual.” (The free dictionary by Farlex, 2012)
The perspective in which I have chosen to write this essay from is the Conflict
The key terms I have acknowledged in writing this essay-apart from education system, which was defined above; are agent and socialization. An agent is defined as “a person or thing that takes an active role or produces a specified effect: agents of change; bleaching agent.” (New Oxford American Dictionary, 2005).The term socialization is defined as “the process by which an individual learns to live in accordance with the expectations and standards of a group or society, acquiring its beliefs, habits, values, and accepted modes of behaviour primarily through imitation, family interaction, and educational systems; the procedure by which society integrates the individual.” (The free dictionary by Farlex, 2012)
The perspective in which I have chosen to write this essay from is the Conflict