SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

The course helps teacher trainees understand the relationship between education and society
through examination of sociological theories and concepts applied in the educational process

Course objectives

By the end of the course teacher should be able to

 Apply the concepts of sociology of education practice and interaction with the community
 Apply the theories in society of education to teaching and learning process
 Demonstrate the ability to understand student’s social problems hence being able to bring
change in the student.
 Explain class dynamics and how they influence learning process
 Demonstrate the ability to create enabling environment for teaching /learning
 Develop health relationship with the students that encourage s teaching and learning
 Analyze the contextual and sociological factors that affect teaching and learning

Detailed course outline

Natural and scope of sociology of education

 Definition of sociology as apparent discipline

 Definition of sociology of education
 Forms of education: formal, informal and non-informal education
 Scope of sociology of education
 Relevancy of sociology of education to teachers

Basic sociological concepts in sociology of education

 Socialization and social stratification

 Concept of socialization
 Socialization in school
 Agents of socialization
 Concept of social stratification
 Social stratification in schools and implication
 Other basic sociological concepts
Sociological functions of education

 Socialization function
 Instructional function

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  Certification function
 Selection, training and placement function
 Custody and control function
 Economic specialization
 Application and relevancy of these function in the context of Uganda as an example of
developing country
Education and culture

 Concept of culture
 Content of culture
 Characteristics of culture
 Role of culture
 Cultural content of culture
Social mobility and education

 Concept and definition of social mobility

 Forms of social mobility
 Function influence social mobility
 Relationship between social mobility and education
 Relationship social mobility and home background
Home environment and education

 Concept of social economic status (SES) and its determinants

 Effect of high social economic status and low social economic status on educational
achievement

School dropout problem in developing countries

 Concept of school dropout

 Sociology theories of school dropout
 School dropout cause and prevention measures

Classroom interaction and student culture

 Peer grouping and information in schools

 Factors influencing peer group formation
 Student sub-culture in schools
 Implication of the cultures to teaching and learning
 Teachers and students expectations

School social climate and learning

 Concept of school social climate

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  Factors influencing school social climate
 Advantage and disadvantage of large and small schools

School as social organizations

 Sociological goals of organization

 Marx weber’s view of bureaucracy in schools-sociological perspective
 Conflicts in schools-student conflict, student-teacher conflict, student –administration
Conflict, teacher-administration conflict cause and resolution
 Strikes in schools and implication to teachers, a sociological perspective current trends in
Sociology of education
 Teachers’ role in the community
 Students ‘social problems in schools : drugs, alcohol, prostitution , homosexuality
lesbianism-cause, effects and way forward HIV/AIDs

Teaching methods

Interactive lectures, group discussion and case studies

Students ‘learning, group discussion and case studies.

 Presentations by students
 Group /individual assignments

Teaching and learning resources

Book chapter extracts, articles’ internet sources (computer), LCD

Assessment strategies

Students will be assessment through course work/test and final examination

a. Coursework40%
b. Final examination60%

Reading list

Ezewu E (1986) sociology of Education. London/Lagos

Banks, O. (1978) sociology of education. Bastford. London

Bennet de marrais and lecompete, (2006).The way schools work: AsociologyAnalysis.

London and New York

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Ballantine JH. (1993). the sociology of education: Systematic Analysis. Macmillan

Coleman, JS (1971). The adolescent society. Macmillan, Ltd New York

Musgrave p.w (1976). Sociology of education. London and New York

Morrish, I. (1985). The sociology of education

Omona, M.A. (1996) sociology of education. Module for bed Degree MUK

Ottaway, A.C (1980). Education and society an introduction to sociology of education London

Komblum, W&Julian, J (2007). Social problems. Person, prentice Hall. New Jersey

12thEdition.

Coombs, P.H 91985). The world crisis in education; Aveiw from the Eightes. New York oxford
press

Farriant, J.S (1983). Principles of Education prentice Hall New York

Freeman H.E (1991) socialproblems: Causes and controls. Chicago

Waller, w. (1986). The sociology of school of teaching. London Macmillan

Reid, (1992) the sociology of schools and Education. London : kelvin van

Sadovnick, A.R (2010) Sociology of education: A Critical reader, Routledge, 2rd Edition

Internet sources can also be used and is strongly recommended

SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION.
Definition and scope of Sociology
There is no specific definition of sociology. However, there are various aspects in societies life in
which we see in sociological issues coming out. It is based on these that we shall try to define
sociology.
Sociology as a discipline has a recent origin, having emerged at the beginning of the 19 th Century
as way of asking questions about the world and what makes it perfect. Sociological inquiry can be
traced to antiquity in the 5th century. Plato was particularly more concerned with how social order
could be maintained in society to give the meaning of life, thus creating the fabric society.
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Sociology is an academic that is concerned with the functions, structure, and roles of social
institutions and social process. It was founded by Auguste Comte (1798-1857) and Edward
Spencer. These two scholars were worried about the political instability in their country and
wanted to see how the stability would be restored in the country Comte combined the Latin word
socious which means sharing in a group with a Greek word Lagos meaning Science.
Sociology as a discipline is a study of human society, which is concerned with social relationships
between individuals or groups of people. It is a study of various social interactions, activities,
associations, roles, conflicts and other social phenomenon found in the society.
Sociology is concerned with the study of groups more specifically social behavior of the groups of
people or those groups in a given culture of a society for example women groups, rural groups,
urban groups, professional groups, church groups and many others. Sociologists are therefore
interested in knowing who interacts with who, what and what are the outcomes of such an
interaction. In the end of it all, sociology provides an understanding of the whole society, for that
reason, sociology is part of our practical life.
Sociology is a study of social interaction seeking to investigate, describe and analyze the origins of
nature and the consequence of social interaction.
Society:
Sociology studies human behavior in groups and these groups exist within large
Set up known as a society.
Society is a congregation of human beings/people who interact in a systematic way with one
another and their environment to promote shared or common culture and possess a comprehensive
social system including all those social institutions required to meet the basic human needs.
A Society can also be defined as an organized group of people established to ensure, nurture and
defend the survival of its members. Every member of society must participate and interact with
others in the activities of the society according to his or her individual expectation in the continued
existence of society/ preserve the existence and continuity of any society, or social unity.
This calls for co-operation in the performance of all the tasks required from each individual. Cite
examples.(political parties, )
Each society has specific features. Society is characterized by:
 People living and working together to ensure defense and survival of its members.

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  People sharing common interests and supporting one another.
 People having common ties
 People having a feeling of belonging and cooperation.
 People bearing and raising children
 People with common norms and values.
 A collection of people who develop with time.
 People staying in one geographical location.
 A collection of people with same aspirations and goals
Therefore society can also be defined as a group of people living and working together
sharing common interests and supporting one another. It is evident that society is
characterized by
 Cohesion: enables the society to exist and maintain continuity.
 Conformity to the norms of that society which helps to preserve the existence and
continuity .For instance a student conforms to the school rules to hold the school together
and maintain its continuity. Failure to conform to school rules leads to indiscipline.
 Cooperation: People who have roles to play in order to enable society to continue
existing .These roles are integrated such that e.g. the number of one
family(father,mother,children and relatives) cooperate to achieve the family goal.
Question: Examine the role of the above three attributes (cohesion, conformity and
cooperation) in determining existence and continuity in society
There are groups found in society who are people of common identity, feeling of unity, a degree of
interdependence and a common goal and norms.
There are several groups and these include:
Primary groups the activities of the society according to his or her individual expectation in the
continued existence of society. To preserve the existence and continuity of any society, or social
unity, all members are expected to conform to the norms of the society or social unity. This calls
for co-operation in the performance of all the tasks required from each.
Secondary groups where there is impersonal social group that involve a segment of members
lives and personalities. Such groups are united by the special interest groups of members and
usually perform specialized functions.
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Reference groups characterized, by normative behavior or occupation e.g. farmers, shoe makers,
intellectuals, thieves etc.
Statistical group usually characterized by non-interaction. These people have a common fashion,
e.g. hair style, dressing etc. and these can be recognized through observation in a certain locality
Implication for education and particularly teachers, is a responsibility to encourage Students to
belong to a good group which can foster their growth and empower them to build good behavior.
Isolation cannot help students, to interact well with others but can also lead to bad habits:
NB: For any group of people to be called society the level of interaction has to be considered
Therefore not every group of people is a society e.g. people in taxi ,bar or club are not a
society ,there is less or no interaction. Some groups of people are more of society than others
depending on the level of interaction Family is more of society than a clan.
Sociology is a science in that it develops a body of organized and verified knowledge which is
based on scientific investigation e.g. identification of a problem, formulation of objectives, method
of data collection e.g. questionnaire, interviews, observation, analysis of data collected,
conclusions and recommendations. The knowledge provided by sociology on human behavior is
based on empirically or scientifically tested information Based on this Ezewu (199fi), defines
sociology as the scientific study of human social life or relationships. Sociologists are interested in
interactions,' customs, traditions, institutions and values which emerge from group and the ay
group living is affected by these customs tradition's institution and values.
Sociology of Education
Sociology of education is sociology applied to the field or institution of education. It is a
combination of two disciplines, sociology and education to form a new discipline called sociology
of education. It is therefore a branch of sociology which examines/ studies important social
activities in schools. It’s concerned with social patterns and processes that exist in educational –
Institution system. Sociology of education provides analysis of social interaction within the school
and between the school and community. It is a study of a set of changing developing relations
between education and other social structures such as classroom, school, colleges and social
systems. It is a combination of two concepts i,e. Education and society. The school and education
are institution that involves social being, social process and behavior.
The social institutions that influence education processes are; the family, the school, religious

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institutions, peer groups and community. These social institutions or structures are known to
cultivate a distinctive patterns of behavior are more or less adapted to the functions they are
expected to execute for society. .
Social institutions are social structures or^ machinery through which human society organizes,
directs and executes the various functions' of activities required to satisfy human needs. Sociology
of education also examines the problems of role structures in schools for example, teachers, tutors,
administrators, students, student leadership etc. In view of this, it is true to say that sociology of
education is concerned with the study of schools as bureaucracy. It also examines the role of the
governing body of the school, e.g. teachers; school administration, student’s prefect’s body, the
school management, finance committee among others. In view of this, it’s true to say that
sociology of education is concerned about schools as bureaucracy,

Sociology of education also seeks knowledge of the effect of the economy on the type of education
provided by the state in terms of finance policy, development of national system of education,
goals of education, UPE, USE, Girl child education eta Therefore in the study of institutions,
‘sociologists marked an effort to recognize its relationship, with the rest of society. This therefore
makes sociology of education to be referred to as the study of the relationship between education
and society (Ottaway).

Sociology of education systematically observes, analyzes, describes or explains education in

regard to its social use and significant in society. It is also concerned with how knowledge is
transmitted in educational institutions, particularly in classrooms.
Sometimes writers also look at sociology of education as a study of social class and social mobility
as will be discussed in the coming lectures.
Other aspects of sociology of education include sociology of a classroom eg. How students in a
classroom relate with one another or how different schools relate with one another. The
relationship that emerges may be harmonious or in conflict. It is also concerned with the teaching
profession as a whole i.e. what are the characteristics of a profession, and how do these apply to
the teaching profession vis-a-vis other professions like medicine, law, engineering accountancy
etc.

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Question: There is an interdependent relationship between the school and other institutions in
the society, Discuss this statement with relevant examples,
The relevancy of Sociology of education to teachers.
a) It enables the teacher to be knowledgeable about the basic sociological concepts, and their
relationship to education
b) The teacher is able to apply sociological concepts to the process of education and
classroom practice
c) The teacher is able to examine critically educational issues in general and those
Affecting society .
d) The teacher becomes more critical of his role in the school and society
e) Sociology of education informs us that society has its unique culture and that culture differs
from society to society. With this in mind, a teacher is therefore able to handle/prepare students of
different backgrounds, accommodate each other-, accept and live in harmony hence promoting
unity and corporation leading to a peace and deeper feeling of patriotism.
f) It helps a teacher to better methods of teaching and improves, the content, of what is taught.
For example, knowledge of the impact of a child’s environment on the performance in the
classroom/school helps a teacher to apply different modes of approach in handling students from
different backgrounds. • '
g) Sociology of education helps a teacher to find out what might be going wrong. It gives
skills of Interacting with the adolescent, communicating with them and convincing them to confide
in the teacher hence being able to understand their problems and offer proper guidance and
counseling.
"h) It teaches a teacher about society. How it is organized, how and why groups are formed for
interaction in society. This information enables a teacher to organize and encourage students to
form’ meaningful groups that enable achievement of educational goals.
i) It examines the significance of education to society hence enabling a teacher to teach with a
purpose. This process enables a .student realize fell benefit of education to society.
j) It helps a teacher identify his/her role as a teacher in the community hence being able to
play his role well and make a school from community. Therefore shows both the academic and
non-academic roles in society. As a teacher is an academic expert, his knowledge is very vital.

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k) The knowledge of sociology helps a teacher to be a guide and counselor, leader,
disciplinarian, facilitator, and evaluator in a learning situation.
l) Sociology of education provides a teacher with his role in socialization process in society,
in this way sociology of education facilitates teacher’s effort in socializing the young members of
society through formal and informal ways of socialization. This has to do with the behavior of the
students in schools and outside the school. Relations with other students and teaching of
knowledge and skills to make one function in society.
m) As agents of change, sociology provides a teacher with ability to understand the whole
educational process in order to bring about effective change. This therefore, enables a teacher to
prepare students for change
n) As a professional teacher, sociology of education helps in understanding the nature of the
teaching profession vis-à-vis other professions like law, engineering, medicine, etc. By looking
critically at the characteristics of other professions, one can assess whether teaching is a profession
or not, differences and similarities to the other professions.
o) It prepares a teacher to manage classroom effectively. Sociology of classrooms reveals the
different dynamics of classroom such as subculture in the class. A teacher is therefore obliged to
handle student from the different subcultures appropriately and encourage teaching and learning. A
teacher therefore, has to play a supportive role.
p) It provides a teacher with ability to understand the nature of conflicts in educational
institutions, be able to manage them and make the teaching and learning enjoyable. It is important
for a teacher to acquire techniques of either avoiding or overcoming them.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGICAL THINKING (THEORY)

A theory is the process of thinking facts in order to explain something. Theories help sociologists
to understand how society operates, particularly in the understanding of human behavior and how
the result s might be best interpreted. Factual research shows how things occur, yet sociology does
not just consists of collecting facts however, important and interesting they may be sociologists
want to know why things happen and in order to do that, it is better to learn to construct
explanatory theories (theoretical thinking).

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Theories involve constructing interpretation that can be used to explain a wide variety of empirical
situations. Factual research and theories can never therefore be completely separated. Theories are
necessary to help us make sense of facts. Facts along do not speak for themselves. Sociologists
therefore work with factual research but unless they are guided by knowledge of theory, the
explanations cannot explain the complexity of modern society.
Early theories (founding fathers of sociology)
Human beings are always curious about the sources of their own behaviors. Understanding of
human beings relies on the way of thinking passed on from generation to generation, often
expressed in religious terms. The background to the origin of sociology was as a result of a series of
events that were ushed in by the French Rev. of 1789 and the emergency of the industrial revolution
in Europe. The shattering of traditional ways of life brought about by these changes result ted in the
attempt of thinkers to develop a new understanding of both social and natural world. The key
development was the use of science instead of religion to understand the world. The type of
questions like what is human nature? Why is society structured like? How and why do societies
change? Etc. These and others are some of the questions sociologists try to answer today. Sociology
therefore has a task to help us understand the world and what future is like to hold.

There are many contributors to early sociological thinking and these include:
Comte Augusts (1798 – 1857)
He was a French scholar who introduced sociology to describe the subject he wished to establish.

He believed that the new subject could produce knowledge of society based on scientific evidence .
He believed sociology should contribute to the welfare of humanity by using science to understand
and therefore predict and control human behavior. Comte isolated three factors as vital to the
maintenance of social order;
(i) Language: This provides medium for behavior.
(ii) Religion: This cements society by providing shared rituals and beliefs.
(iii) The division of labor which brings about mutual interdependence.

Emile Durkheim (1858 – 1917)

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He was also a French writer and drew his views from that of Comte. He thought Comte’s work
was also speculative and vague especially in establishing sociology on a scientific base. He
believed that to make sociology more scientific, sociologists must study facts, respects of social
life that shape action as individuals and state of economy or influence of religion. He looked at
society as interdependent part and that could not be studied separately. However, these have to
work in harmony with one another and for society to have continuity overtime. Its specialized
institutions, for example family political system, religion, education etc must work in harmony
with others and function as an integrated whole.

Karl Marx (1818 -1883)

He was a German and his work contrast sharply with that of Comte and Durkheim. He sought to
explain the changes in society that took place over time of the industrial revolution. As a young
man his political activities brought him into conflict with the German authorities and fled to exile.
From the sociological point of view, Marx sees society as an arena of conflict in which the
advantages lies with those who are already privileged. Marx used society as a place for struggle for
social rewards between a dominant group and exploited groups. The exploiter and exploited
assumed difference of lives and also different points in history, but disparities in power were
persistent characteristics human society. Most of Marx’s writings concentrate on economic issues
but since he was always concerned to connect economic problems to social institutions and has
great relevant to sociological insights.
During his time, the unequal contest was between the bourgeoise and the proletarian. He noted the
bourgeise own the means of production, land capital and money to buy more while the proletarian
was made landless workers who had their labour third means of production. In this case, the
powers of the dominant group are rooted in its control means of producing the goods and services
required by society.

Marx’s important contribution here is his insistence that individual and groups must be studied in
their social context, for example if you are to understand the position of a teacher, one must look at
the value of his or her society, place in education, the way education system is organized, training
required to become a teacher etc. Marx’s views lead to the development of a capitalists system

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that excited in society at that time and was looking forward to the time when this dominant
minority group would be overthrown and create a classless society (socialists/communism).

Marx Webber (1864-1920)

He was German scholar and his work was influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx. He was
particularly critical of Marx’s ideas. He rejected the materialistic concept of history and saw class
conflict as less significant than Marx. In Webber’s views, economic factors are important but ideas
and values have just as much impact on social change. His important contribution was the study of
bureaucracy large organization that is divided into jobs based on specific functions and staffed by
officials ranked according to a hierarchy, for example industrial firms, schools, government
organization, hospitals etc. Webber believed that the advance of bureaucracy to be an inevitable
feature today. It makes large organizations run efficiently but at the same time posses problems for
effective democratic participation in modern society.
There are principal theoretical paradigms used by sociologists. Each theory focuses the research
attention on particular types of questions about how society is organized and each provides a
different explanation about why certain patterns are found in society.

BASIC THEORIES IN SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

1. Functionalists theory
The functional theories view society and education as being made up of interdependent parts each
one contributing to the wellbeing and progress of society. Social institution poses functions which
must be carried out for society to survive and progress. Society perpetrates itself through education
by the process of socialization where society members acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes that
enable them become productive and competent members of society to ensure continuity of society.
Education passes those values skills and attitudes that are relevant to society. Functionalists view
class rooms as small societies which are agents of socialization.
2. Conflict theory
The major proponent of this theory is Karl Marx and Max Weber. It asserts that society is
characterized by a state of tension created by the competing interest of individuals and groups.
Society is comprised of two groups; the haves and the have not who are in constant struggle for the

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control of the means of production. The “have” use coercive power and manipulation to hold
society together but change was seen by Karl Marx as inevitable and the conflict of interest would
lead to overthrow of the existing power structures. According to the conflict theories education
reproduce society with its injustices. Max Webber asserts that the main activity of schools is to
teach a particular status culture both inside and outside classroom. According to him, the purpose
of the dominant group in society is to influences the education.
3. Reproduction theoryd
The reproduction emerged out of the issues raised by the functional and conflict. It says that rather
than educational institutions promoting fairness, social mobility and equality, they produce
ideologies of the dominant social and a hierarchy of the class structure. As such educational
institutions, serves as tools to keep wealth and power in the hands of the dominant group which in
most cases it is the elite and middle class but not peasants.

4. Interpretive theories
This is a new group of sociologist whose concern is an individual’s perception of reality. These
emerged in the 1960s. They are concerned with how an individual sees his environment in order to
state reality. To them education should mature individuals to understand everyday life. Through
interaction individuals construct their actions.

MEANING AND TYPES OF EDUCATION

Meaning
Education is the process of bringing desirable change into the behavior of human being. It can also
be defined as the “process of imparting or acquiring knowledge or habits through instruction or
study”. The behavioral changes must be directed towards a durable end. They should be acceptable
socially and result in change in knowledge skills, attitude and understanding. With the
development of society, education has taken many shapes. Such as child education, adult
education, technical education, health education, physical educational and so on.
A child/individual gets education from his experiences outside the school as well as from those
within on the basis of these factors. So, there are mainly three types of education, namely, formal,
informal and non-informal. Each of these types is briefly described below:

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(a) Formal education (features)
1. Planned with particular end view.
Formal education is planned with particular end view. It is given in school, college and similar
other institutes which are established with the purpose. In this way it is direct schooling instruction
and tuition.
2. Limited to specific period.
Formal education s limited to specific period or stage. It is provided according to certain set rule
and regulations. It is in the form of systematic and guided instructions.
3. Well defined and systematic curriculum
Formal education has well defined and systematic curriculum. This curriculum is based on certain
aims and objectives. These aims are in conformity with the needs of the society and the state.
4. Given by specially qualified teachers
Formal education given by specifically qualified teaches they are supposed to be efficient in the art
of instruction.
5. Includes activities outside the classroom
Observes strict discipline
Formal education observes strict discipline. The pupil and the teacher are both aware of the
fact and engage themselves in the process of education. It may however, be mentioned that
any process of teaching that involves supervision, instructions, set plan, define aims and
principles amounts to formal education.
(b) Informal education
Informal education is a process by which a person imbibes attitudes, develops skills,
cultivates values and acquires knowledge, without being in any organization or system.
This would include the deliberate attempts of parents and elders in the family, and
community to help the young ones grow and adapt themselves to the environment.
Informal education would also include all incidental learning that takes place while at work
place or during travel as well as spontaneous learning through firms radio and television.

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Features of informal education.
(i) Incidental and spontaneous
Informal education is incidents and spontaneous. There is no conscious effort involved
in it. Courtesies gentleness, etc learnt in a market place or in a hotel or in ones sitting
room all amount to informal education.
(ii) Non pre-planned nor deliberate
Informal education is an educative activity which is neither pre-planned nor deliberate.
The child learns many habits, manners and patterns while living with others or moving
in different spheres of life home, society, groups etc.
(iii) Not prescribed time table or curriculum
Unlike formal education, informal education is not imparted by any specialized agency
such as school or college.
(iv) No prescribed time table or curriculum
Informal education is not given according to any fixed time table or through formal
means of education. There is no set curriculum required. Informal education consists in
experiences and actual living in the family or community.
(v) May be negative education
Informal education may take a negative direction also. Instances are not rare when one
learns stealing. Or some other form of misbehavior from the experiences which the child
may casually have in the street in market in the cinema hall or in some other such places.
C) Non formal education
Non formal education is one of the recent concepts getting into use. Many developing
countries have seriously taken on this type of education. In countries like India non formal
education has increased as a result of interests in making education a life long affair rather
than a matter of formal schooling.
Features of non-formal education
(i) Derived from the expression formal education”

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The expression non formal in non formal education has been derived from the expression
formal in formal education using the pre-fix none
(ii) Outside the realm of formal education
Unlike informal education which is unstructured, spontaneous and without formality non
formal education would be structured and planned, but outside realm of formal education
“any organized systematic activity”, carried outside the framework of the established
formal system to serve identified or as an important feature of some broad activity, but is
intended to serve identified clienteles learning objectives.
Conscious and deliberate. Non formal education is consciously and deliberately
organized and is systematically implemented.
To be organized for a homogenous group non formal education should be programmed to
serve the need of an identified group. Such a group has to be identified in terms of the
learning needs of the group member.
Serves the need of an identified group. This will necessitate flexibility in design of the
curriculum and the scheme of evaluation.

Ref. Smith M.K. 2001) what is non formal education? The encyclopedia of informal
education http://infed.org/mobl/what-is-non-formal-education http://infed.org/what-is-non-
formal-education!

Day was requested to go thru types of education and we shall start on inclusion

Inclusion: start here wkd

Inclusion is a state of being valued respected and supposed. It’s about focusing on the
needs of every individual and ensures the right conditions are in place for each person to
achieve his or her full potential. Inclusion should be reflected in an organizations culture,
practices and relationships that are in place to support a diverse workforce. In simple terms,
inclusion is getting the mix to work well together.

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Inclusive education
Inclusive education happens when children with and without disabilities participate and
learn together in the same classes. Research shows that when a child with disabilities
attends classes alongside peers who do not have disabilities, good things happen. Inclusion
education is an idea in the field of education. It means that person with disabilities or
persons who need special care can learn in schools together with people who do not have
special needs. This idea comes from the idea of social justice, which demands that all
people have human rights without any discrimination. The convention on the rights of
persons with disabilities also says that access to education is a right. However, inclusive
education may make special aid, care, or knowledge for persons with disabilities default if
enough reasonable accommodation is not given.
For a long time, children with disabilities were educated in separate classes or in separate
schools. People got used to the idea that special education meant separate education. But
we now know that when children are educated together positive academic and social
outcomes occur for all the children involved.
We also know that simply placing children with and without disabilities together does not
produce positive and commitment by those involved.
The process of inclusion must incorporate fundamental change in the way a school
community supports and addresses the individual needs of each child. As such, effective
models of inclusive education not only benefit students with disabilities but also create an
environment in which every student including those who do not have disabilities has the
opportunity to flourish.
There are three principles that guide quality inclusive education:
All children belong:
Inclusive education is based on the simple idea that every child and family is valued
equally and deserves the same opportunities and experience. Inclusive education is about
children with disabilities whether the disability is mild or severe, hidden or obvious
participating in everything day activities just like they would if their disability were not

18
present. It’s about building friendship membership and having opportunities just like
everyone else.

All children learn in different ways

Inclusion is about providing the help children need to learn and participate in meaningful
way. Sometimes helps from friends or teachers work best. Other times, specially designed
materials or technology can help. The key is to give only as much help as needed.
It is every child’s right to be included.
Inclusive education is a child’s right not to privilege. The individuals with disabilities
education act clearly states that all children with disabilities should be educated with non-
disable children their own age and have access to the general education curriculum.

Diversity
In broad terms, diversity is any dimension that can be used to differentiate group and
people from another. It means respect for an appreciation of differences in ethnicity,
gender, age, national, origin, disability, education, and religion.
But it’s more than this. We all bring with us diverse perspectives, work experiences life
styles and cultures. As a source and driver or innovation, diversity is a big idea in business
and in society. The power of diversity is unleaded when we respect and value differences.
SOCIALISATION PROCESS IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Socialization
Socialization is a process in sociology that enables teaching and learning to take place.
Society therefore educates its young through socialization. Socialization is therefore, a
process of induction through which individuals become competent members of their
society and function in it as responsible adult members such that at the end an individual is
able to live fully the new society. In this process the culture of a society is transmitted to
new members. However, for socialization to be successful there must be the following:

19
 1. Meaningful interaction with others: this enables individuals to gain identity, take or
values and ideas associated with new society.
2. Socialization requires time for it to be successful. For example a new member in
society requires time to learn that is all expected of him, the same for a new student
at the university.
3. Socialization takes place in stages and each stage has its own roles and
characteristics. For this reason socialization is a life long process.

In reference to the schools the characteristics of an individual student are determined by the
type of students that an individual interacts with. In a school setting, students copy each
others actions and behavior and for this reason schools have become key important agents
of socialization of individuals in society.
In a school system as one goes up the academic level he or she acquires values as part of
socialization process. Such values cannot be acquired through the family and so it becomes
very imperative for every one go to school. This process is known as value formation
system, which is also part of socialization. Socialization therefore results in orientation of
individuals in the new environment. This process is also determined by the support given to
the family members.
Aims of socialization
 It fosters basic discipline in people
 It instills inspirations.
 It teaches social laws and values.
 It teaches skills.
 It helps people to conform to norms of the society.
 It motivates people to participate in relationships.
 It transmits culture to new members of the society.
 It transforms human raw materials of society into full members of society.

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Characteristics of socialization process

They include the following:

i) It has a curriculum or content for socializing the learner. This includes knowledge
skills and values.
ii) Socialization is a process, meaning it does not end. It is continuous. This is so
because:
(a) There is a lot to be learnt.
(b) Individuals occupy different statuses in their life cycle as such society has
to provide for its members opportunities for further socialization e.g. the
socialization a child receives in childhood cannot be fully adequate
preparing for the tasks demanded of him or her in later years. The different
stages in the life cycle of an individual include baby, childhood,
adolescence, adult, parent ,widow/widower, old person, deceased.(Masgrave
1979 pg 20) (life is not static) consequently new situations call for new
knowledge, skills and values.
(c) The human brain has a growing capacity by nature; it can not therefore
accommodate all the knowledge instantly.
(iii) Socialization is basically in two types: pgde stopped here/ ????????
(a) Role socialization.
(b) Status socialization.
In role socialization, the individual is prepared for specific tasks or jobs or vocation
in society. It involves professional training e.g. Teacher training colleges, medical
schools for doctors and nurses, business schools etc.
In status socialization, the individuals are exposed to a broad pattern of
socialization designed to prepare the individuals to occupy various sequences of
status corresponding to different stage in their cycle as well as in society. These

21
 statuses include pre-wedding classes, orientation week at Ndejje University, job
description, initiation rites.
Note: Primary and Secondary school education do not role socialize the individuals
but provide the individual with the basic life experience that he or she needs to live
generally in society.
4The socialization process has differently ways or modes in which it is carried out
or takes place. Modes in this context refer to the different mechanism for directing
the individuals conduct a long desired channels and enforcing his/her conform to
social norms. These modes include things like praise, reward, persuasion,
punishments, rebuke guidance and counseling, classroom interaction etc.
All the modes of socialization fall under two basic categories. These are:
(a) Formal process of socialization.
(b) Informal process of socialization.

Formal socialization
This is mainly through schools in class on teaching by acquiring knowledge, values and
attitudes. It’s mainly structured (organized, codified, planned, and programmed). If these
both positive and negative sanctions are used; Positive sanctions include things mainly to
do with motivation which can be in form of reward or praises while negative sanctions
include, things like punishments. These are prescribed by the school administration.
Informal socialization
In this socialization individuals learn skills, norms, values and ideas through interaction
with other people. This is characterized by unconscious learning which is not structured as
in the case for formal socialization. This is mainly through peers, family members and
community influence.
For socialization to take place, there must be a socializer, socialize and socializing
environment. The socializer are the teachers or source of information. These are parents,
peers, and mass media to mention a few. The socialize is the learner. The socializing

22
environment is where the socializing or learning experience takes place e.g. home, school
recreational center, church etc. some of the socializing environment is structured whereas
others are not.
Socialization is result oriented which in most cases should be a behavioural change which
means if there is no change in the behavior then socialization will have not taken place.
Different agents are instrumental in socialization on individual. These are called socializing
agents and these include:
(a) The family
(b) The school
(c) The community/state
(d) Religion
(e) The mass media
(f) The peer groups.

All these socializing agents are important in the socialization process of new members in
society but some are more important than depending on the age, environment, values etc of
the individual.
The school
The school is the first agent of socialization after the family. In complex modern society
schools or educational institutions have become important agents in preparing children to
become full fledged member of society. The day care centre, primary school. Secondary
school to university education children therefore, spends most of their group time in the
schools.

Socialization takes three forms in school.

(a) Official curriculum
This is what the school system and its teachers announce as their content and goals. It
includes knowledge and skills where society transmits its accumulated knowledge and

23
skills from one generation to next. It is also a place where we officially pass on our culture
values, tradition and official heritage. The curriculum reinforces what was learned in the
family but core also change family socialization e.g. by teaching values of tolerance to a
child from a racist, family (unity).

Social curriculum
Here it teaches social behavior appropriate for peer groups which in group for secondary
group interactions e.g. communication, negotiate, dominate etc with peers outside of their
immediate social circle after from diverse social background (e.g. now here is class). The
social curriculum reinforces and deepens gender role socialization started in the family and
continued in the peer groups. By upper primary to secondary ‘o’ level and ‘A’ level, the
teens have learned the social curriculum. This is also achieved through organized sporting
activities in the educational institutions.
Hidden curriculum
This is the learning of rules of behavior needed to function in formally organized groups.
This includes behavior maxims such as:
Negotiation:
(a) Don’t talk when the teacher is talking.
(b) Get your assignment in time.
(c) Not all teachers have the same rules for the classes they teach.
(d) When a teacher tells, another student to keep quiet. It is not good to start talking to
your neighbor since the teachers has already expressed disappointment of that
action.

Position reinforcement.
- Precision clarity /exactness.

- Self reliance.

- Competitiveness.
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 - Obedience.
As a preparation for adult world of formal organization, workplace and authority in these
places, the hidden curriculum stresses things like formalization and standardization,
following instructions, obedience to authority, figure that are not dad and mum, learning to
control behavior and fit into the group.
Schools have three major components.
(i) Teachers classes and texts what is taught and a culture. If all these factors work
together, then the school can be a very effective agent and influence the
development of ideas. These day, because of parents have become too busy, schools
are filling in for such parents to socialize their children. So today schools are very
important agents of socialization.
(ii) Schools also important for political socialization as they teach political ideas to the
young generation. Schools are a reinforcing agent as they teach civic education with
a stress on citizen responsibility. They teach/create positive attitudes among the
young and encourage unity. They teach leadership roles, critical thinking etc.
(iii) The hidden agenda (curricular) seems to be successful at instilling loyalty,
patriotism and obedience to the law (school rules and regulations). This helps in keeping
discipline in schools.
The peer groups
Peers are people of roughly the same age, social identity and close social proximity. Peer
influence is mainly encountered at the age of adolescence up to about 30 years of age. Peer
influence in the earliest year is closely supervised by parents. So it tends to parallel and
reinforce what is learned in the family. As childhood program, peer interaction become less
observed and supervised by parents hence now children learn complex strategies of
negotiating dominance cooperation compromise etc. These are learnt through play and
games. Children also lean to establish platform to begin challenging the dominant power of
parents and family.

25
In adolescence peer relation become extremely important rising up to directly challenge the
family. In direct alliance with the media, teenagers peer from their own sub-cultural peer
socialization. This stage is linked to sexual relationship in life. They therefore, learn about
sex and being sexual and practice the skills of sexuality. The gender role socialization of
the family is therefore deepened and reinforced.
The peer group loosens the child’s bond to the family and provides both and alternative
model for behavior and new social influence on a child. However, interaction with the peer
group loosens the child’s bond to the family and provides both and alternative model for
behavior and new social norms and values.
Peers therefore, provide opportunities to practice social roles and are an important source
of information and greatly influence values and attitudes in mate selection, sex relation and
form of expression in music, sports etc.
Implication of the peer group to a teacher
 The teacher must know how the students behave because this is his responsibility to
mould the child to be a useful asset of the society in the future.
 The teacher must again know how to deal with children of deviant behavior in order
to help them to change their lives according to values of society.
 The teacher must bear in mind that peer group’s influence affects the pupil’s attitude
towards learning. Most prefer to being accepted by the group other than earning
good grades.
 The peer group plays a crucial role in determining what happens to school and also
in the classroom.
 The teacher must know how to handle each student depending on each ones
character.

Mass media as a socializing agent.

The mass media as a socializing agent includes television, magazines, news papers, radio,
movies, films, internet, tapes, discs and videos. These offer a very different form of
26
socialization than any other because the media does not offer any opportunity for
interaction. The media however, is a powerful agent of socialization for teenagers around
the world today as these appeals to the teenage mind. The television has becomes part of
daily expression of million of people of and therefore influence their attitudes and
opinions. The television as a media has great influence n children from a very young age
and affects their cognition and social development which also affects their behavior. The
media introduces world wide culture and norms that a child would otherwise not become
aware of. Mass media therefore enlarges ones, exposure to the world and also helps in
information dissemination.
The media can teach norms and values by way of symbolic reward and punishments for
difficult kinds of behavior as represents in the media. The media are continually offering
pictures of life and models of behaviours in advance of actual experience.
As for the adults the mass media is regarded as sources of information and entertainment
rather than molders of personality.
Research also things like immunity, sexual immorality fighting war related issues, drinking
etc, children tend to take those as passive and undiscriminating in their reaction to what
they see. The games they play relate with characters or stories in films or television
programs e.g. some of these acts at times also not good for adults. These programs may
also affect student concentration and performance at school as these shows keep students
away from reading and other school programs.

However, it is also possible that the video to wider participation in a society. The media
has therefore become significant as a social form in society today.
Religious organizations/house.
Religion may be described as a reflection of man’s attempt to explain those aspects of his
environment which he cannot understand, except in terms of the super natural powers. As a
result in society there are many people’s religions belief are founded on the idea that God
is the supernatural power responsible for the creation of life. For these reason religious

27
beliefs gives rise to certain types of behavior. Religion therefore is a whole way of life.
Therefore, people who share same religious beliefs will hold the same attitudes and
opinions and will behave in the same way. Therefore, religious institutions help the
socialization process of its members. Pastors and other religious leaders are expected to
demonstrate a high level of morality to serve as role models to their followers. Religion
promotes bond of unity and molds the beliefs and ways of life. Religious ceremonies shape
the ideas of individuals and also control the behaviours of an individual, determine the
course of life and show the ideas.
Community
A community is a natural congestion of people who live in a specific location and share
common sentiments. The family being the first community the child comes into contact
which gives the child the first impression. So ones family lineage, his peer relationships,
his means of live hood and his social political life, should be related to life of his
community.
Educative functions of the community: when the child is placed in the community, the
community feels the responsibility to educate the child. The community becomes the
dominant influence in the life of the child.
In the community, the child starts to participate in the communal assignments of the
community. He is attached to the elder members to learn from them.
However, as the Christian missionaries came, they introduced boarding schools which
prevented the child to have contact with their tribe men and this way they isolated the
children from their communities.
Today educators are realizing that it is important to enforce collaboration between schools
and community for better education. The school is part of the community which is
expected to teach the values of the community to the young generation.
It is important to note that the type of family where an individual comes determines the
socialization process. E.g. if a student is in a class of bad norms (unexpected behavior) it is

28
possible to interpreted the result s and behavior on either the school sociology or from the
type of family where the individual originates.
The values of the school therefore determine the characteristics on an individual. In schools
located far a way from the urban especially rural areas, children are at disadvantage since
they have plenty of time on their own and less time with the teacher as compared to those
in urban setting. This also contributes to the differences in performance of students in two
locations.
Conditions necessary for proper socialization to take place.
 The democratic social socialization to take place.
 Effective interpersonal relationship and motivated learning situation.
 Social discipline.
 School community interpersonal relationship.
 A well organized programme of co-curriculum activities.
 Student’s participation in the activities around in their school.
 Active teaching and learning strategies.

Question:
Identify one socializing agent and
(a) With examples, show how it promotes formal education.
(b) Does not promote the formal education of a child.
Education and culture
The word culture was derived from the German word “Kuriltur” which means civilization
scholars have defined culture in different ways. One of the most widely cited definition is
that of E.B. Taylor a British anthropologist (1832- 1917). That complex whole which
includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs and any other capabilities and
habits acquired by man as a member of society.” He looked at culture from three
perspectives the political, social and economic aspects of a group of people. Edward Reuter

29
in 1950 summed up culture as the sum total of human creation, the organized results of a
group experience up to the present time.
Culture is a reflection of what most people believe about ultimate question of life. In other
words culture is the practical application of world view of a group of people. Culture
therefore refers to the way of life of the individuals, member or groups within a society.
Howe they draw their marriage customs and family life their pattern or work their religion,
ceremonies and leisure pursuit. The concept also covers the goods they create and the
goods that become meaningful for them i.e. how and arrow. Plough machine, both
computers so culture is a design of living or tool kit of practices, knowledge and symbols
acquired.
From theses statement one can also argue that culture is an integrated system in which each
trait fits into the rest of the culture. The different parts of the culture most fit together if the
culture is to function efficiency. Therefore, failure to appreciate the integrate of a culture
leads to many failure in dealing with other culture.
Culture consists of:
(a) Values that members of a given group hold e.g. the language they speak, the
symbols they use, the norms they follow and the materials goods they create, from
tools to clothing. Some elements of culture especially the beliefs and expectations
people have about one another and the world they inhabit are a component of all
social relations. Members of a particular group or society therefore, share a certain
way of life and of doing common culture constitutes an important element of group
membership. This forms the aesthetic aspect of culture.
(b) Norms is a definite principle as rules are expected to observe. They present the dos
and don’t of social life and therefore constitute the control aspects of culture.
(c) Values: There are abstract in deals of a society. Norms like values they reflects vary
widely across culture i.e. aspects of eye contact with an in laws as you converse
may be interpreted different (no respect) or politeness.

30
 There could therefore, create a misunderstanding depending on the group.
However, values and norms work together to shape how members of a culture behave
within their surroundings.

(d) Material goods refers to the physical objects that a society creates which influence
the ways in which people live. These include the goods we consume clothes we
wear cars we drive tools and technologies we use. This as a result f the knowledge
and skills that has been inducted into the people and there forms the inductive
aspects of culture.

However, with one society or community, values may conflict and norms like values as
change over time i.e.
(i) Smoking among the Americans was of values but as of now, has changed due, to the
health problems reported with smoking even in Uganda today Uganda has put
serious campaigns against smoking.
(ii) Norms of marriage in Uganda. Marrying many wives the value here changes due to
social economic problem.
(iii) Number of children in a family here also changed.
In supermarkets and Bank – note their smiles statements like have a nice day. (Banks) what
do you say in that hospital?

Creating friendly service technique – in organizations during the training sessions, they
show videos of the different practices so that trainees can learn what to do or how to
behave in such organization.

Characteristics of culture
 Culture is acquired/learned behavior through experience, communication imitation
thinking and socialization.

31
  Culture is transmission through generations, horizontal from one group to another
within same period or age groups.
 Culture is social but not individual and so is shared among members of a group.
 Culture is idealistic, the learned ways of behavior.
 Culture fulfills some needs and desires of individuals to fulfill group functions.
 Culture is adoptive and so changes with the environment.
 Culture is integrative to create a consistent pattern.
 Culture is continuous and cumulative.
 Culture varies from society to society creating uniqueness.
 Culture is gratifying as it provides opportunities for satisfaction of our needs.
 Culture is dynamic and so keeps changing to conditions of the world.
 Culture evolves into more complex forms through division of labour which develops
special skills.
 Culture is super organic e.g. people are proud of their cultural heritage e.g. the
national flag that represents the nation.

Relationship between culture and society:

Culture can be distinguished from society but there is a close connection between these
notions. A society is a system of culture relationship that connects individuals together. No
culture exists without society and equally in society can exist without culture. Without
culture we would not be human at all. We would also have no language in which we
express ourselves, no sense of self consciousness and our ability to think or reason would
be limited. Culture also serves as a society; group because culture is an important source of
conforming since it provides ready made ways of thinking and acting for its members.
Culture therefore varies from society to society. The learning of social norms is what is
called socialization,

32
Specific functions of culture:
 Culture makes man as a social being.
 Defines values, attitudes and goals.
 Broadens the vision of individuals\
 Creates new needs and interests.
 Moulds national character
 Defines myths legends, supernatural believes.
 Provides solutions to complicated situations as it provides traditional interpretations
to certain situation.
 Keeps the individual behavior intact.
 Defines the meaning of situations.
 Regulate the conduct and prepares the human beings for group life through the
process of socialization.
 Provide behavior pattern and relationship with others.

The role of culture in socialization and education

The concept of culture has relevancy to education. Culture is the content of socialization
and education Society education is the initiation into culture of a particular society. It is the
process by which society through schools, colleges, universities and vocational institutions
deliberately transmit cultural heritage. Society, culture and education are strictly
interrelated and each ne is necessary for the continued existence of the others. Society
exposes the teachers to its culture in this way transmitting culture becomes education itself,
since education is possible without a living culture and society. The teachers have the
responsibility to see that culture is preserved from generation to generation. However, in
the African context, culture is generally transmitted through informal education. Parents
take responsibility to bring up their children in the desired values acceptable to the society.

33
Cultural content of curriculum
 Society must provide members with tools of communication; language
 Must provide material traits. Agricultural sciences and vocational studies.
 Must prepare members to live under acceptable social conditions,. History
anthropology, sociology and psychology.
 Must provide them with religious practice: religions knowledge and moral
education.
 Provide people with who can improve on their physical environment. To take care
of their property building technology surveying etc.
 Must prepare their members to be masters of their own environment: geography
philosophy and natural science.
 Must teach members neathetic values: teaching art drama, literature.
 To regulate the governing order: political science, civics and government policy.
 To prepare members to safeguard themselves against external forces: warfare
through military science.
Today our educational system is faced with a challenge of the external forces that
undermine the African traditional culture. Many educators transmit the western culture and
alienate the Africans from their traditional values. The ministry of education sport and
technology and schools still has the responsibility to see that Africans preserve their
relevant cultural value amidst all the western forces. How possible is this in our situation or
country?
Social mobility
This refers to the movement of individual or groups up or down the social scale or
movement of individual from one social class of their birth to others. Social mobility also
takes place through intermarriages by acquisition of cultural capital that is associated with
the news status. It is also a process through which individuals try to overcome the
constraints of race, color, sex, religion, and tribe etc. These are social injuries in society
that have to be overcome in order to enable people move to new status of their own.
34
35
Types of social mobility
1. Horizontal social mobility.
This refers to change of jobs preferably to a better one but still in the same social position
or class, or a situation where people move from rural to urban areas without meaningful
reasons (to work as group employees).
Vertical social mobility
This refers to circulation of individuals in which one raises from low social class (peasant)
to a higher position in society e.g. doctor, accountant and manager etc. this process is
painful and many people tend to resist it.
Vertical social mobility is required through credentials, which is a reflection of the period
one has spent at school. Parents therefore aspire to take their children to right schools with
a hope that there is better expectation in life. They encourage their children to remain at
school and get better qualifications than those of their own.
Studies on social mobility in both developed and developing countries have shown that the
more one is educated the more mobile he or she becomes. This explains partly why people
have to go to school j and why people have to stay longer at school. Mobility here we mean
people move from job to job because they have the qualification and experience in many
fields they become mobile on jobs.
Studies have also shown that children from low socio economic status/background are less
likely to enter more academic schools and even if the are there, they are likely to leave
early before completing. This factor explains the level of poverty in the low status families
because of low ambition or lack of necessary ability to acquire adequate education.
Dropping out of school before reading high levels of education is therefore a characteristic
of low status families. This type f student is also psychologically retarded and is view of
this social mobility for these groups is minimized.
It is also possible for people to move down wards the social scale and this is referred to as
social immobility. However, due to scarcity in the positions of power, there is conflict in
society and this creates educational inflation acquiring more that may not be necessarily

36
used (diploma disease). This has led to student’s alienation (frustration) and unrest, as the
promised life seems further and further out of reach.
Today there is a combination of both ascribed and context social mobility as a way of
getting placed in society. Ascription means being born or being a member of a particular
society e.g. royal family or gender enabling a individual to occupy certain positions n
society. To attain status ion olden days depended so much on ascriptive characteristics,
which of late seem to be dying out where contextual social mobility is now on stage where
credentials are relied upon and without which it becomes difficult to occupy positions of
influence in society. Therefore, ascribed status alone does not hold water in modern times
due to increased capitalism where there is a lot of competition and efficiency which is
highly valued for purposes of maximum production. These therefore call for ability rather
than social status. These depend on achievement rather than position of birth. Achievement
of high status in society is therefore as a result of some ones personal determination for
success.

Power and privilege are the determinants to struggle for higher positions in society. These
are concentrated on top of the academic level and therefore those with low levels of
education do small jobs with little of no privileges a all while those with high levels of
education do big jobs with plenty of privileges. This also explains why people struggle for
more education.
Social distance is yet another concept in social mobility. It refers to the distribution of
wealth as a symbol of status. This is common and associated with scarcity where these who
own rear spices or scarce commodities try to maintain long distance from those without
e.g. types of houses constructed and their location shopping areas for family members,
places of relaxation, interests in games types of schools attended by their children etc. these
things act as membership to social class.

37
The level of interaction between children and their parents also affects social mobility. This
affects the achievement of their children in future. In small families the intensity of
interaction is stronger than that in larger families because of the high support that is given
to children in terms of finance, moral, material and psychological support.
There is shifting of children to other families especially the poor families. This has a lot f
influence on the children as they tend to take on new values. This could have positive or
negative influence depending upon where the children might have shifted.
Classroom interaction
During the process of interaction, students get into group formation. The grouping of
students has an effect on learning. In schools we have groups varying from simple to
complex ones e.g. forming group discussions, from small to large groupings. These create
particular standards of behavior, which members must adopt. These standards of be
haviour are set or provided by the teachers, parents and other stakeholders because of the
influence their have over the student. However, the students also have the capacity to
create their own behavior. Groupings of students result s into peer group formation (people
of the same age group, sharing and interacting).

Factors which influence peer group formation in schools

 Age
 Interest. This varies from group to group and from person to person e.g. smokers,
footballers, born again, social dentists; age goes hand in hand with interest.
 Social economic status.
 Proximity nearness e.g. O.G. and O.B. place f origin, same religion etc.
 Sex (male or female).
 Smartness intellectual ability of an individual (forming discussion groups).
 Level of social skills, which enables an individual to be friendly with many other
students. There people who are loved by every one in class or at the place of work.

38
  Strength or ability to cause others to accept or join group. E.g. teaching or bullying
new students in schools.
 Good looks of particular students.
The social interactions that change in the classroom setting determines the degree of
friendliness that makes students eager to learn and it is the responsibility of the teacher to
create a friendly environment.
How does a teacher create a friendly environment?
This leads to the question of language which is a medium of communication or instruction
which determines the friendly atmosphere.
Note: Interaction takes place through communication e.g. use of gestures, facial
expressions signs etc.
In order for communication to be effective the individual concerned should understand the
language and the signs to be used. It is therefore, the responsibility of the teacher to see that
this is done.
Some teachers uses hard language as they communicate and if this is done, some students
remains at the back of the class (not understanding) and therefore teachers should be
simple, clear and straight forward in the presentation so as students understand. To some
students a lesson gives them an opportunity to express themselves and it is through
language that students can express themselves. So as we teach let us use appropriate
language ask questions and give directions appropriately.
There is a danger of new teachers (novices) who tend to misuse the language i.e. use
complicated terms and in so doing the language used mystifies facts where they tend to use
complicated terms as they try to make themselves complex hoping to win students on their
side.

Sub-cultures in the classroom

There are basically four types of sub-cultures in a classroom setting;
1. Academic sub-culture
39
This is a situation where the majority of students are interested in academic work. Most of
them are eager to learn and therefore come early and patiently wait for the teacher. They
activity participate in classroom activities e.g. discussions, class presentations, exercise
given, note making. These activities make the classroom lively and therefore encourage or
motivate the teacher.
They ask questions which help the teacher to gauge how much of the lesson they have
understood. In such a classroom situation, a stubborn student is contained and therefore,
such classrooms are characterized by higher levels of discipline and in most cases perform
well academically.
Academic subculture however, may be misleading especially for the slow learners who
may be left behind or they are over shadowed. Such a classroom atmosphere requires
during thorough preparations.
2. Fun sub-culture
This is an exciting group of student who want to live a unique way of life, in most cases
these are stylists, fashion lovers, music lovers, etc. Most f the activities that surround these
students are to make them the leading crowed, this gives them an opportunity to seek
identity among others.
Such sub culture type of students at times is good because they tend to break the tension
that might have built up in the classroom. So as we teach it is good for us teachers to crack
a joke but we also are careful that students in the classrooms who want to show off so
much (wiseacres) but as teachers we should be in position to handle these cases and try to
change and motivate them towards academic work. If these are not handled well, they can
bring about poor classroom control which interferences with teachers’ timetabled work.
3. Delinquency sub-culture

In every society there are set standard of behavior that every member has to be abide by.
There are those who don’t keep these standards and these are known as deviants. In schools
we have standards of behavior in form of rules and regulations and it is expected that every
student have to abide by these. However, there are these students who do not abide by
40
these rules and regulations but because some of them are young, they are called
delinquents.

3. Vocational sub-culture
This is where the dominant group of students are those who are not interested in academic
work but they are jut there growing up. They are there to learn a few skills to enable them
fit in society and a few of them go beyond ‘O’ level.
We have already noted that classroom interaction is very important in a learning situation,
where is the relationship between the teacher and the students and it is the responsibility of
the teacher to create this situation. This interaction is based four factors:
 Background of the student
 The intelligence level of the student.
 Motivation and readiness to learn
 Both teachers and students expectation.

Teachers have certain expectations from students and vice versa. If these are not fulfilled
then it is not possible to teach or learn.

Teacher’s expectations
Teacher expects certain behavior from students and students respond to those expectations.
The teacher’s expectations influence the performance of the students. These expectations
include:
 Attention from the class.
 Discipline which affects their performance this encourages students to read and
understand.
 Participation in various class activities e.g. oral questioning, written work in form of
exercise and note taking, classroom presentations and discussions These activities
helps the teacher to assess how much of the lesson students have understood which
in the end promotes academic performance.

41
  Teachers expect students to understand the subject matter and they expect students
to motivate them.

In so doing teachers strive to make the learning environment very conducive and therefore
makes the school a good and satisfying place to enable the teaching and learning process.

Where the teachers’ expectations are not fulfilled, they get frustrated. These expectations
are determined by school objectives and curriculum which also affects teacher’s attitudes
about what to be taught and the kind of response the teacher expects from students.
However, on the whole students will perform well or better where a teacher expresses a
positive attitude and vice versa. In this case a teacher’s belief about the potential for change
in a student is every important. Characteristics that appear to influence teacher’s
expectations include:
 Parent’s occupation.
 Sex of the student
 Social economic status of the student.
 Ability expressed in terms of prior academic achievement or performance e.g.
Previous work in tests and scores/grades, previous schools attended.
 The way students respond to teachers.
 Behaviour of the students e.g. disciplines.
 Status and location of the school.
 Single parent or motherhood status.
 Age of the student.
 Physical appearance or attractiveness of the student. Some students especially girls
tend to take a lot of time on make up instead of concentrating n academic work.

STUDENTS EXPECTATIONS
 Students expect the teacher to be knowledgeable on the subject matter.

42
  Students expect the teacher to make their learning instrumental since they expect
certain goals to be achieved in a clear manner. This helps them to understand and
pass their exams.
 They expect fair judgment especially passing fair decisions on them hence teachers
have to be honest and frank.
 They expect teachers to use proper language as you communicate to them.
 Expect teacher to understand them as a group and as individuals (teacher has to be
good listener).
 They expect teacher to motivate and encourage them to learn.
 They expect teachers to guide them in their work and discuss their problems.
 They expect teachers to be democratic e.g. being supportive to them.
 They expect moral instruction from the leader. So teachers ought to show good
example since they mould human beings and therefore its important for them to be
exemplary. They are also character builders and therefore should show good
example for students to emulate.

Orientation to schooling (school social climates)

Orientation to schooling refers to the values that adults/community members, students and
teachers attach to schools. In other words do schools have value to the various
stakeholders?
Social climate on the other hand refers to the personalities within the school setting or
interaction that creates a set of relationship, for example how students interact among
themselves, teachers with administration, administration with student etcetera. These takes
place in the classroom where most learning takes place and therefore gives a positive
image.

The personality here differs because of the roles and status that also differ from group to
group.

43
Social climate is also affected by the characteristics of the students which reflect on the
home background of students.
We note that school work demands regular interaction among the students and between the
teachers and students. As students interact they learn from one another and research seems
to indicate that students who are well liked by others tend to perform better than those who
are no t liked by the majority of students.
Experience and research findings have also shown that teachers find it difficult to treat
students equally in the classroom m (with justice).

Students who perform better in class are more liked by the teachers who in most cases call
their names more frequently to answer questions. Such teachers tend to wait longer and
more patiently for high achieving students to respond to question than for low achieving
ones.

This is so because the teachers have formed a mental image of the two categories of
students in the class as those who can and those who can not. This is what is called
teacher’s self fulfilling prophecy. So, a question thrown to the low achiever is quickly
passed on to another student as soon as he or she doe not give a quick answer. So teachers
speak differently to students, for whom they have high expectation and low expectation,

Asocial climate of a classroom affects students’ achievement. All learning however needs
security. This is to be guaranteed by the teacher. A teacher who falls short of this, his
classroom will be chaotic as many students will loose their sense of belonging to the
classroom and indiscipline will tend to emerge replacing orderliness.

It is important to note that the norms of the school are created by the students as they try to
identify ad appreciate each other through the process of interaction. Different schools have
therefore different value systems which form functional communities n those groups
through the consensus of values. In school such values are usually encouraged by the

44
parent which also depend on the location of the school. In this respect parental interaction
with the school is very important as it helps in raising resources for socializing students.

In the school system children from LSES background and other disadvantaged groups tend
to benefit from the resource generated by parents from LSES background. The LSES
students’ parents in most cases have low educational background. Such parents also lack
self confidence and have little money. Such parents therefore offer little in terms of
contributions to school programmes. Therefore, the success of any education system is
determined by persistent interactions visits of the stakeholders.

In the adolescent stage, Coleman in a summary of his work (The adolescent society) makes
two important points;
1. He says that adolescents are interested in identification or recognition and in so
doing they look for social prestige.
2. Academic excellence.
Social prestige
According to Coleman, boys want excellence in outdoor activities, for example, football,
basketball, badminton, valley ball, swimming athletics etcetera, so that they become stars.
These bring self esteem to them and therefore, want to be recognized in those activities.
Coleman says that for girls, they want to be recognized by boys. Their interest therefore,
lies in activities like letter writing modeling, listening to music, visiting friends, reading
novels, dancing and other forms of entertainment. Most of these are indoor activities that
are less strenuous.
As teachers and Heads of educational institutions, we used to know the interests of each
sex and if we deny them those things we are likely to be in trouble. So the question is
How supportive is the school able to cater for these activities:
It is important to look at the size of the school in terms of provision of these activities. In
large schools for example the small students may not have chance to participate in most
activities unlike in the small schools and in so doing their may not have their talents
45
tapped. However, to the larger the school the more specialization there is among staff and
students. This provides a more competitive and stimulating atmosphere in the school.

In large schools therefore, some students may not feel that they are fully members of the
school, in the same they would be in smaller schools. This eliminates some students from
participating in the school activities which at times results in absenteeism and bad
behavior.
For the teachers, some of them may not know their colleagues and therefore, coordination
of teaching and participation in extra curriculum activities may become difficult. However,
in small schools most of them offer a narrow range of both academic and extra curricular
activities and also at times such schools have problems of finances to run the school
programmes effectively if properly organized students tend to have better time with their
teachers which helps improve on their academic performance and also have high degree of
discipline assuming other factors remain constant.
It is important for teachers and heads of institutions to avail various facilities to the
students in order to enable them to develop their talents. So school administration should
organize things like seminars and other social academic activities so that students may
exchange and extend their social relations.

However, as all these things are being done there is need to have guidance and counseling
programmes to help students who may have various problems and this require a trained
person. This partly explains why teachers on the training are given courses in guidance and
counseling. It has also been observed that students tend to look at each other rather than the
community for the social world. This has a significant implication for educational theory
and practice. However the most important thing to do is to try and control the adolescent
world, tame it and use it to further the aims of education.

46
In Plato’s works, he makes an assertion that one has to be more careful when dealing with
the young. He says that personality develops from birth and orientation towards others also
develops right from birth and the school only facilitates their development.
School as a social organization:
A school is a form of social organization, which is established for specific goals. Members
of that organization therefore are expected to behave in such a way that they achieve these
goals. Each member of the organization has therefore to participate actively in the activities
of the school. In a school setting activities of the teacher include;
Teaching other responsibilities assigned to the teacher such as attending meetings taking
students for games etc.
Every type of social organization including schools has two major problems to solve:
(a) The tasks to be performed by the organization staff, so members have to be divided
up and allocated duties accordingly. This is the problem of division of labour.
(b) The organization members must agree on how or on the way the tasks are going to
be allocated to each person or must have some tasks forced upon some members
this is the problem of power and authority in an organization.

Max Weber is one of the founding members of sociology and has defined bureaucracy
according to a special way it solves the above two problems. Bureaucracy is one of the
ways of controlling behaviours of individuals in an organization. It controls and directs the
behavior of individuals towards attainment of organization goals. Weber suggests that it is
better to consider the essential characteristics of bureaucracy and use this as a measuring
rod to judge how bureaucratic organizations such as schools have become. There are three
basic features of bureaucratic organizations that we shall consider.

1. The principle of fixed official jurisdictional areas, which are generally adhered to by
rules and regulations. These regulate the behavior and decisions of the key players
in an educational institution. E.g. head teacher, teachers and students. These

47
 regulations control and regulate these who are teaching and those in administrative
positions in the school.
2. The principle of office hierarchy with levels of graded authority between the
subordinates and super ordinates. Unlike in other types of organizations, in
educational institutions, the hierarchy of staff is much flatter and is marked by less
social distance than for example in a factory or military institutions In education
institutions most of the people are with the same qualifications and training.
Education institutions employ specialized personnel e.g. teachers who are recruited
on the basis of their qualification but not much on experience.

3. Management in a modern office is based on written document hence the idea of file
becomes very important. There are files for students teachers non teaching staff,
accounts records minutes of various meetings, marks of students, committee files
etc. Therefore, management requires expertise and training of personnel becomes
very important where qualification is given.

Developing countries however, are still at initial stages of institutional development and
therefore there are a lot of problem in fulfilling the above three characteristics of
bureaucracy.
Bureaucracy exists so as to ensure stability, unity and continuity. In schools the situation
may be a bit different and as a result it is characterized by a lot of conflicts that may be
experienced through sentiments and hostility.

In schools, there are three categories of people:

 Teachers headed by the head teacher
 Students.
 Workers

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A school is therefore, a community ad as such they are always recruiting new members e.g.
new students, teaching and workers. However, schools in most cases are managed in
autocratic way in that there is need to constantly assert adult roles over the learners. This is
done by imposing power, authority upon the members so as to cause effect and change e.g.
head teacher over teachers and support staff, teachers on student’s etc. The result of this is
that there is always persistent conflict and therefore school administering and management
revolve around this. This is a member of conflicts in the school e.g.
 Student – student conflict.
 Teacher – teacher conflict.
 Administrative student conflict.
 Head teacher - teacher conflicts.
 Teacher – teacher conflict.

Student – student conflict arises between the ordinary student and student leaders.
Generally student leaders are at the same level as students. There is also a problem of status
e.g. students leaders with other students. The ordinary students may not see the reason for
respecting student leaders.
There is also a problem of satisfaction and dissatisfy faction, which also causes conflicts
among students. The major issue is that students may not do their work efficiently
/effectively i.e. attend to the needs of their fellow students. So the ordinary students may
not see the reason for respecting students’ leaders. Some student’s leaders also force other
students to conform to school rules and regulations by reporting them to school
administration and teachers for action or give them punishment. At times some students’
leaders free recognition from the rest which also cause conflicts.
The student – student conflict usually leads to teacher student conflict where sometimes the
climax of it may be a strike sometimes called mob psychology or group behavior.
Teacher student conflict may be brought about by:
 Inability or failure by the teacher to teach student properly.
49
  Punishments given by the teacher.
 Inconsideration of students’ problems.
 Lack of transparency.
 Communication to students.
 Methods of teaching.

Teacher student relationship or conflict in most cases results into administration students’
conflict. The teacher student conflict and administration students conflict does not
necessarily cause a strike in the institution. However, a strike may occur after a series of
complaints have not been adequately attended to so student wait for an occurrence which
sparks off a conflict.
How does a teacher escape a strike?
A teacher will escape a strike and will be saved by his/ her excellence in teaching and other
responsibilities held in the school (teacher students warmth) which also a display of a
pleasant personality e.g. dress decently, have right positive attitude towards students and
their work talk totem nicely etc.
In case of a strike such a teacher will be bracketed/protected in the school. Therefore, a
teacher’ traits and behavior impress students and this will help determine the teacher
student relationship.
A teacher can also overcome such a situation by being ideal and fairs all sides of the
school. In this respect a teacher should have his aims clearly defined as a teacher and the
spy of the head teacher.
A teacher should also be an effective one e.g. who is rated very highly in terms of
excellence and tend to overshadow all his/her weaknesses. In a school students may defy
others mainly because they are young and therefore, as teaches we have to be very careful
in handling them. On the side of administration, its effectiveness will determine the rate of
turn over of the students and the teachers, which sometimes results in teacher
administration problems.
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Teacher’s personality practices also differ depending on the nature and location of the
school. (Delegation of duty) This should be done continuously. If this is not done well it
can create problems, which also brings low efficiency. In a school teachers should be paid
their money. Failure to pay them may bring trouble. Head teachers should try to attend to
teachers problems so that they are not frustrated, some of the problems can be solved
through staff meetings, should be attended regularly and by all members.
In order for the schools to avoid strikes, the authorities must put in place the following into
considerations:
 The administrators have attentive ear to listen to pupils problems ad so find ways of
solving them in due time.
 Being ideal trustworthy, fair to all people in the school, and to have well defined
goals and aims.
 Competence in teaching; this creates students teacher warmth in. The student put all
their trust in the teachers.
 To ensure their trust in the teacher.
 To ensure students get good meals.
 Keeping students informed of activities taking place in the school.
 Guidance and counseling of the students and giving them health talks.
 Displaying good personality and attitudes, smartness in dressing and good command
of the language.
 Having good and active student body that is responsive.
In order for the school to avoid strike the authorities must put in place the following into
considerations.
 The administrators have attentive ear to listen to pupils problems and so in ways of
solving them in due time.
 Being ideal trustworthy fair to all people in the school and to have well defined
goals and aims.
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  Competence in teaching this creates student teacher warmth in. The student put all
their trust in the teacher.
 To ensure student get good meals.
 Keeping students informed of activities taking place in the school
 Guidance and counseling of the students and giving them health talks.
 Displaying good personality and attitude smartness in dressing and good command
of the language.
 Having good and active student body that is responsive.
SOCIAL ECONOMIC STATUS (SES) AND SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT
In developing countries society generally divides up into two social classes and the
determining factor for such differentiation is based on three factors:
 Education level of an individual
 Occupation
 Income level of the family.
Based on these three factors the social classes that can be identified are:
 High social economic status (HSES)
 Lower social economic status (LSES)
High social economic status is characterized by people who are found in urban areas in
most cases these are the cities while low social economic status is characterized by people
found in rural areas who are generally peasants.
The status of the family affects the attitudes behaviours values and goals in life of an
individual. This also affects how the family perceives school education. Social economic
status therefore can be defined as the social and economic position of an individual or
family in any given society as determined by those factors given above.
The effect of social economic status on educational achievement of an individual can
therefore be explained as follows:

52
 1. Early attendance of school.
Research findings have shown that people of high social economic stats send their children
early to school as compared to those from low social economic status. This is because they
have the means s and opportunities of sending their children to school e.g. nursery
education which is a transition of a child from home to school at the age of 3-5 and
therefore beginning primary education at an early age of 5 -6 which is the stipulated age of
children to begin primary school,.
Obanya in his study found out that people of HSES send early their children to school such
that at the end of 11-12 years, some of them are preparing to primary leaving examination
as compared to LSES who sit for PLE at the age of 14+.
Prewitt also observed that parents from HSES make pre-conditions for school work which
even start at home for example speaking English at home, newspapers and magazines
home library. These things provide adequate preparation for children before they are ready
for school as co pared to those from LSES.
2. Provision of books and other materials
People of HSES usually earn high income and value education more than those of LSES.
They have the resources and are much willing to provide the requirements like books,
uniform, fees and other materials that may be required at school. Some families have a
standard formula for spending a proportion of the income on these aspects of their
children’s education. These from LSES have difficulties even if their might be willing.
3. Attendance to best schools available.
In many countries of the world, some schools and even universities are more prestigious
than others and so they attract the best qualified teachers and receive more attention from
government. In Uganda some missionary schools fall in this category and also because of
privatization there are private schools that are more prestigious than government schools.
Research findings have revealed that the prestigious schools are attended by sons and
daughters of HSES families because the HSES families in most cases like to maintain their
social status and so they do everything possible to ensure that their children attend the

53
nursery and primary schools which guarantee them admission to high placed secondary
schools, the entry to which is very competitive. These highly placed secondary schools
provided the best route to university education, guaranteeing them access to higher
education and consequently access to prestigious places and occupations which guarantee
them higher income. In this way, children from HSES are likely to retain tat status
themselves and to pass it on to their off springs.
4. Development of interest in school activities
All round education is usually good as it develops the mental and physical potential of the
learner as well as character. The learner is therefore expected to show interest in all school
activities and school subjects. Research seems to indicate that children from LSES have
low interest in schools activities than those from HSES. Those from HSES have interest in
both academic and non academic school programs including various sporting activities.
There from LSES have low interest in academic subjects. However, some of the schools
through which these children go may be responsible for their lack of interest which also
could be caused by social background and surrounding of the students (family) e.g. low
parents look at these activities. We also note here that some families scarcely have the
facilities even a space for sporting activities. This is also true with some primary and
secondary schools of Uganda.
5. Academic and job aspirations
Research has shown that academic aspiration of an individual is positive related to the
social economic status of the parents. This is because children tend to emulate their parents
and so aspire to be as highly educated as their parents Research also shows that HSES
children aspire for those highly related professions e.g. law medicine, engineering, mass
communication as compared to those from LSES who take general courses.
6. Provision of good model of English
Fundamental to learning in schools is the medium of instruction. In Uganda English is the
medium of instruction and therefore its masters is very important so that one is able to
communicate. Children from HSES usually speak English very well even before going to

54
school. This is so because their parents with their good educational background do provide
sound model of English at home for the children to learn. In such families they have books
and children are encouraged to read, they have television, games, parents speak English
with every body at home. This provides a stimulating atmosphere which starts early even
before children start going to school. This gives them an advantage over the other students
from LSES background.
7. Encouragement in school education
Families set lifestyle and influence life choices for their children in a sense that the family
may be supportive, neutral or antagonistic to school education. The value to which a family
attaches to school education determines the motivation with which a person pursues
education. Parents of HSES prepare their children for school early enough they encourage
them to sleep early so as to be able to wake up in time for school so they are not late.
Research seems to indicate that late coming and absenteeism affects academic outcome of
an individual. Such parents also help their children to do homework and are also concerned
about poor performance of their schoolwork; they therefore, visit schools to check on the
academic performance and other issues that may affect children. They talk to teachers to
find out problems of their children and eventually finding out solutions. They are also
interested in attending school meetings, they help their children in areas where they are
weak and hire teachers to teach them.
For LSES parents they have little education and many of them do not understand what goes
on at school neither do they interpret the scores on the report cards of their children; they
do not help their children and can not employ part time teachers for their children. In such
homes, children are hardly encouraged to attend school. Constant late coming to school is
bound to have an adverse effect on academic achievement. The HSES families are in
position to give more potential help and better motivations for their children as compared
to those from LSES families.
However, it is wrong to assume that all children who come from HSES do well at school
and surpasses those from LSES. What is important for us as teachers is to recognize and

55
take into account the concept of social economic status when dealing with students at
school. However, on average high social economic status families encourage schooling
more than low social economic families. So such students are more likely to achieve better
results and re more persistent at school as com pared to those from LSES.

Question: In which ways does social economic status (SES) influence school achievement
of an individual?

SCHOOL DROP OUT AND ADOLESCENT SOCIAL PROBLEMS

The rate of school dropout in many schools across the country remain high and therefore,
efforts to reduce school drop out has become a compelling policy priority or school
personnel, managers, teachers, support staff, community members, politicians and
academicians or researchers. All these groups acknowledge the fact that dropping out of
school is a loss to the individual and society at large when larger number of student fails to
complete their studies. It is also a waste on the side of the government/ Research on
dropout problem seems to focus on children where the argument is that many of those
children who drop out of school is because of their behavior.
However, of late researchers have focused on the issue of dropout and their argument
seems to reveal that the institutional forces are partly responsible for students failure to
complete their studies, this therefore focuses on issues like textural materials relationship
between the teacher and the student, relationship among the students themselves, teaching
methods used by teachers, facilities available in schools, school rules and regulations,
punishment given to student and general school environment (some times the above are
institutional factors).
A dropout therefore is an individual who does not complete a given cycle of education.
Dropping out of school is a voluntary activity and the background activities of students
play a significant role. Generally, the girls are over represented in both urban and rural
areas especially those from low social economic backgrounds.

56
Thee students who drop out of school tend to show different characteristics from those who
remain in schools. There are basically three theories that help to explain the problems of
dropout of school and these are:
 Academic achievement or performance theory.
 Social disability theory.
 Accelerated role transition theory.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE THEORY

Research findings have found out that low grades have a bad social and psychological
effect on students. The reason is that those students who perform poorly come to dislike the
school such students can develop a feeling of helplessness with no self-confidence; they
cannot do much about the law grades and therefore look at school as waste of time. They
also socially feel out of place and cannot do much as compared to others who do well
The unsympathetic teacher becomes critical of the poor grades and the school generally.
This therefore destroys the students’ moral and this likely to influences the student’s
educational plans. Such a student may start absenting himself from class and finally gets
out of the school. For this reason, some scholars have accused schools for chasing students.
SOCIAL DISABILITY THEORY
This theory assumes a number of social and personal factors. It states that individuals who
drop out of schools are misfits and therefore dropping out of school is a consequence of not
making a personal mind and social adjustments expected of them at school. The social
adjustments are a reflection of social background of an individual and failure to adjust in
life may result in dropping out of school, social misfits are people who fail to adjust to the
new social situation.
Characteristics of such students:
They experience detachment from others they have unstable peer relationships this makes
them is to drop out of school. Such individuals also portray the following personalities;
57
  They suffer from irritation
 Suffer from anxiety
 They are introverts and in most cases lack commitment to other achievement
 They are egocentric
People of high social economic status in most cases prepare their children in a supportive
environment for schoolwork and such children adjust quickly at school and therefore come to like
school activities. On the other hand a child brought up in low social economic status family has
feelings of insecurity, and he is constantly finding means of survival. In such families emphasis is
on immediate earning for the family survival and therefore children have to do a lot of work at
home e.g. babysitting, selling things by the roadside, and otherpetty economic activities.
ACCELERATED ROLE TRANSITION
This theory assumes that the life cycle of an individual consists of a series of events governed by a
social-biological timetable. Eg, infancy- child hood- adolescent-adulthood-middle age. Along this
line, there are key works/events that must be performed by the individual. E.g leaving the
school,getting married and parenthood, fulltime employment, leaving the home of parents and
establish independent home, this transition is gradual. However there are some people who do not
aspect this social biological timetable. Eg getting married in S.2 cannot make a student fit in
school system because of divided loyalties i.e being a parent and a student at the same time. One
cannot achieve both because of the multiplicity of roles that came by virtue of the responsibilities.
WAYS OF REDUCING SCHOOL DROPOUT
The problem of school dropout can be reduced through the prevention program (DPP)
1. Improvement on the school environment e.g school location. Stress should be put on the
internal efficiency of the education system at all levels. Internal efficiency is the
relationship between inputs and outs of the education system. There is need to improve on
the inputs of the education system e.g. intake of students “quality” quality of teachers and
their motivation, textual materials, laboratory facilities, physical infrastructure, enough
toilets e.t.c. These inputs make conditions conducive for teaching and learning in the
school system which will generate output –graduates with good grades.
2. There is need to introduce non-formal education programs (NFE). These should focus on
like health and sanitation, family planning, food security literacy, environmental care and

58
 management etc. This would also be one of the ways to improve efficiency in the rural
areas, which are characterized by high school dropout rates. These variables are very
important and if properly addressed they can help raised the performance of students at
school. If these interventions are properly addressed they can be solutions to some of the
family problems.
3. Guidance and counseling should be encouraged in schools by career master. Government
should come in to monitor this program because a lot of money is spent on education of
these individuals. As this is done, whoever is counseling the students should consider the
problems behind such behaviours.
4. There is need to improve on security at school. Most school have been insecure to students
especially where the over age mishandle the young ones. There is also testing/ bullying of
other students, fighting among students, punishment given by teachers, poor relationships
between teachers and students etc these make students hate school. Those who perform
poorly should be handled well i.e. encourage and uplifted, the teacher should be patient
with such type of students and also try to reduce on punishments given to children. There is
therefore need for a parental talk from so that the students can have confidence and
continue liking school. There is also need to improve on the health facilities in schools and
there must be basic requirements.
5. School should encourage parents and other well-wishers to visit, ,the administrators and
teacher to share on a number of issues pertaining performance and welfare of students and
regularity of the stake holders in their work
6. Teachers should go for in-service programs where they are exposed to new development in
education. Workshop. Workshops seminars are important in updating their knowledge.
7. There is need to improve on the relationship between the institution and the community
(catchment area) where the school is located. It is important for the community members to
take interest in the activities of the institution hence reaching an efficient way of running
the school.
8. Organizing flexible programs in school i.e adjust programs to meet the needs and
conditions of the client/ students and the community. Students should be able to relate what
goes at school with environment.

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Question “Dropping out school is largely influenced by in-school factors” To what
extent is this statement true?

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