The most important question that arises in the mind of a person is what does a sociological perspective tell us about education in the United States? Education is perhaps the most important factor in shaping a person’s personality. Thus, it is necessary to understand the psychology of education at the same time. In fact, this is one of the primary reasons why a sociological perspective is important in the first place. Sociologists use various methodologies and theories to study schooling and how it impacts personalities. Some of these sociological concepts are discussed below.
According to some social scientists, personality is determined by the society one comes from. Thus, it follows that a person with a strong religious background has a personality that is shaped by religious beliefs. This line of thinking is controversial. People who hold this view believe that a person who goes to church on a regular basis will tend to have a stable personality. On the other hand, people who do not go to church are said to be more unstable and therefore have less stable personalities.
Another school of thought says that schooling actually removes social skills from the students. However, this is also up for debate. Some argue that because of the increasing competition in today’s job market, employers are aware of the need for good staff. It is just that they do not expect employees to posses all the personality characteristics that make up good teachers. Hence, many good teachers are being forced out and this leads to a reduction in the demand for good teachers in schools.
A third school of thought maintains that socialization is important in education. They say that since people come from different backgrounds and interact differently with each other, they learn differently. But this is also a debatable point. There are some who argue that socialization does have an effect on a child’s learning. But there are also those who say that the school cannot work without socialization.
A fourth school of thought says that there are some factors in life which cannot be measured or even controlled. The best way to look at education in the real world is to say that it is a process. Education is not something that happens at a specific point in time and can therefore be compared to a complex process.
What does a sociological perspective tell us about education in the real world?
A fifth school of thought suggests that education has to be integrated with life experience. This is based on the observation that education helps to prepare people for life. This is because education enables people to learn how to adapt to changing situations and circumstances. However, it does not follow that by studying what does a sociological perspective tell us about education in the real world, we can then claim that schooling is useless. We need to approach schooling from many different perspectives.