Tools of Inquiry

Social theory contributes to interpretive understanding of how or why something occurs. It is an explanation of a social phenomena.


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.

  • Example-What's one belief about how people get rich in the US? - hard work.
  • What's the ideology that was used to justiy 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?