Tools of Inquiry
Social theory contributes to interpretive understanding
of how or why something occurs. It is an explanation of a social phenomena.
Cartoon
Schooling-The totality of experiences that occur
within the institution called schools, not all of which are educational.
Examples are peer interactions, codes of conduct and dress. Involves planned
instruction and programs of study, learning achieved through the hidden
curriculum, and the state’s goals for its citizens.
Training-A set of experiences provided to some
organism (human or not) in an attempt to render its responses predictable
according to the goals of the trainer. Training is more mechanical with
an emphasis on motor skills or how to perform a particular task.
Education-Involves reason, the intellect, intuition,
creativity. It is a process or set of experiences which allows humans
to “create” themselves.
Analytic Framework
Political Economy-In a society, two of the main groups
that exercise power and influence come from control of the economic resources
and control of political office.
Ideology-An interpretive lens that a society looks through
in order to organize its experiences, the beliefs, value systems, and understandings
of social groups that guide policy formation in any society and that are
intended to explain and justify the society’s institutions and organization...a
set of beliefs, values, and ways of understanding that are intended to
justify and explain social reality.
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Example-What's one belief about how people get
rich in the
US? - hard work.
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What's the ideology that was used to justify why women shouldn't
receive the same opportunities as men?
The dominant ideology is almost always supported by those
who derive the most power, goods and prestige from the community.
Schooling-Curriculum and pedagogy are affected by the
politics, economy, and ideology of the society. Each of the three-schooling,
political/economy, ideology-affects the other.
Key Questions
1. What are schools for?
2. What's the relationship between schools and
the larger society?
3. What did you learn from school?
