Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

Schools As Instruments for Socialization

Schools are the instrument for socialization of the population; as such, the school system is the ultimate "institutional actor" in American society. There is nothing new or revolutionary in that statement. Plato draws out the point often in his Socratic dialogues on the education of rulers (The Republic, Books III and Book VII). John Dewey, the father of "Progressive" modern American educational theory, based his reasoning upon the same idea of the school system as institutional actor, albeit with political philosophy as the driving force of his beliefs: that the "melting pot" of American society required a school system that facilitated the integration of diverse cultural and economic groups into a unified, democratic whole (Bernier & Williams, 1973, pp. 290-334).

The beliefs of Plato, Dewey and their kind in the social function of the school system as institutional actor is constantly given lip service in the educational environment of America today. Those beliefs, however, are largely ignored in the practice of education as expounded on all levels: in the experience of day-to-day schoolyard reality; by policymakers and administrators of the educational "establishment;" and in the dialogues and funding priorities of the body politic (Illych, After Deschooling, What?, 1973, pp. 1-21).

In the day-to-day reality of American schools, there is reflected all of the diversities, tensions and conflicts of the society as a whole - and few of the positive, cohesive values (Silberman, 1970, pp. 58-61). "Multicultural studies" form the core of urban school systems, an attempt to provide minority ethnic and cultural students with a sense of pride and understanding in their own heritage. Lost in the shuffle, however, are the "mainstreaming" incentives of the earlier, admittedly ethno-European-biased school system programs. Examined closer: in the earlier models large chunks of the student population were left with the simple optio...

Page 1 of 9 Next >

More on Schools As Instruments for Socialization...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
Schools As Instruments for Socialization. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 10:37, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1690210.html