Role of Social Institutions & Values Transmission in School Education, Lecture notes of Sociology

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Socialization agents

Project-based learning

Sociology of Education

Primary Education Degree

Student booklet Mikel^ Olazaran Rodríguez

baliabideak 13 (201 7 )

1. CONTEXT OF THE COURSE

1.1. General characteristics

Sociology of Education is situated in the first term of the first year of the Child and Primary Education degrees (Donostia-San Sebastian Teaching College). This course has 6 ECTS credits and is taught in Spanish (Child Education), Basque (Primary Education) and English (Child and Primary Education).

Teaching/learning time is organized as follows:

Type On site Off site Total hours Magisterial 12 18 30 Practical 48 72 120 Total 60 90 150

In practice, taking into account that students have five 6-credit subjects in the first term, they should dedicate weekly 8 hours to the Sociology of Education subject, 4 on site (class sessions) and 4 off site (out of the classroom).

The smaller size of English groups favours the implementation of active learning methodologies. Because of that, master lecturing will be reduced to a minimum.

1.2. Description

This subject belongs to the basic training module of the Bachelor Degree in Primary/Child Education. The objective of that module is to make the student aware of the profession which he/she will access and of the environments in which he/she will work. Special attention will be devoted to the origin of the school as a social institution, its functions, its present and its future, as well as to the location of the teacher profession in the social environment. Furthermore, students will be expected to acquire knowledge and tools for analyzing, interpreting and understanding present-day society, and to be able to place the school in its historical, social and cultural context.

3. The student is able to recognize and understand social instruments and practices which can influence educational processes, and is able to make improvement proposals
4. The student is aware of the effects of information and communication technologies upon education and is able to reflect critically about them
5. The student is aware of the importance of gathering relevant information and of critically analyzing it in order to contribute to the improvement of any educational situation. He/she is able to gather, properly select, and correctly analyze and synthesize relevant information about education in different forms (documents, statistical information, etc.)
6. The student is able to adequately use reality observation and registration techniques; to interpret and analyze the data obtained; to critically reflect about those data; and to correctly elaborate a written report of analysis and conclusions
7. The student is able to present information, ideas, arguments, problems and solutions in public
8. The student has acquired habits and skills for autonomous and cooperative learning. He/she is able to work in teams with both responsibility and respect for the others, solving in a peaceful way the conflicts which may eventually arise
9. The student is able to promote measures favouring values education

2. PROJECT FORMULATION

2.1. Driving question

Basic concepts of Sociology (social structure, social control, etc.) were studied in the first topic of the course and a first approach to the study of the social functions of the school was undertaken. Now we begin the second topic, devoted to the socialization process and its main agents: family, school, peer group and communications media. This topic will be dealt with through a team-based project. We defined the following driving questions for this:

 What are the values that are transmitted in the socialization process?  What values are transmitted in the school?  What project for education in values would you propose in your school centre?  What values do you, as a teacher, want to encourage in the school where you’re going to work?

2.2. Scenario

You have just taken up a teacher’s post in a public sector school located in a low-to-medium socio-economic urban environment with a significant presence of ethnic minorities. During the preceding years competition from nearby private and government-subsidized educational centres has become increasingly intense. In their enrolment drives, these centres offer as a selling point the fact that they “educate in values”. In a way, this slogan appears to suggest that there are some school centres that “do not educate in values”. (Might they be referring to the public sector school?)

It is time to renew the Management at the centre, and a group of teachers is drawing up a proposal for an educational project as the foundation for the new management team’s programme. You have been invited to join that group. Within the context of growing competition already referred to, you decide that the issue of education in values should constitute a central pillar of the new project, which must be put to the vote among the teaching staff at the centre.

So, you set out to make a strategic proposal for education in values in the centre. This proposal must be based on an analysis of the state of the question, that is, an analysis of society today: its dominant values, the problems and contradictions that it generates, the role of the different agents who also inculcate values in children, and the legal guidelines affecting education in values. You are also asked to study a case or model of reference. Finally, in the proposal you will want to include suggestions for audio-visual materials on education in values that could be used by the pupils (it would help if these were in English, because the centre also seeks to reinforce learning in this language).

The socialization agents to be analyzed are the following:

 The family and education  History of the school  The peer group  The media and new information and communication technologies  Religion  Political socialization  Gender

1. What proposal are you going to make (including audio-visual materials) when approaching this topic in English in the primary school-cycle?

2.4. Learning objectives

Bearing in mind the competences required both for the degree and for the basic training module, as well as the learning requirements for the Sociology of Education subject, reviewed in the sections above, the objective is that, once the project is completed, the student will:

1. Understand the meaning of the concepts “social value”, “social norm”, “socialization”, and “education in values” (also called values education)
2. Know the relevant aspects of the socialization process: phases, main agents, etc.
3. Understand that one of the principal functions of the educational system is the transmission of social standards and values
4. Have a grasp of the conditioning that the social environment exerts upon the educational system , in terms of the social norms and values that must be transmitted; and be able to identify this conditioning in different historical contexts, countries, and contexts of social class, etc.
5. Comprehend the role of families as transmission agents for social norms and values; understand how this role is affected by the emergence of new family models; and be aware of the interdependence between family and school education
6. Understand the nature of the communications media as transmitters of social norms and values in society today, their relevance and the corresponding consequences on education

To engage in project-based learning (PBL), students will have to manage different information sources (see sections 2.6 and 2.8). Depending on the specific project that each group will have to develop, the most suitable sources will be chosen to carry it out. In addition to the information supplied by the teacher, students must seek out specific materials for their project. The following sources will be used: the catalogue and data bases in the UPV-EHU library (academic bibliography), educational administration documents, audio-visual materials and diverse materials available on the internet.

The project will be carried out by teams of 3 people. Given that the execution of the project will require meetings to be held outside class time, it is recommendable that teams be formed

following criteria based on the affinity of schedules or the proximity of places of residence. The teams should be heterogeneous in terms of gender, within existing possibilities.

2.5. Methodology

“Project-based learning” (PBL) is the methodology that will be employed. This is a teaching- learning method where the student is in charge of his or her learning. The core of this approach is that the pupils, organized in groups, develop projects based on real situations. In this methodology, the path pursued is the opposite of that adopted in conventional learning rooted in master classes given by the teacher, where the latter sets out the information which is then applied in the resolution of a problem. In PBL, the problem is first presented, a diagnosis is made of the learning requirements, the necessary information is sought and, finally, the problem is returned to in order to come up with a solution.

With some driving questions and the presentation of a scenario as the point of departure, various kinds of activities will be engaged in for the resolution of the project, including note-taking pair work, brainstorming, group research, concept mapping, the collaborative creation of information sources and resources, classroom presentations and displays, individual test assessment of minimum knowledge, the development of deliverables and self-assessment.

In the project-related class sessions the following will also be employed: the 1-2-4 technique, word games, shared reading, controversy technique and puzzles (including expert meetings).

The project will be carried out by teams of 3-4 people. Given that the execution of the project will require meetings to be held outside class time, it is recommendable that teams be formed following criteria based on the affinity of schedules or the proximity of places of residence. The teams should be heterogeneous in terms of gender, within existing possibilities.

2.6. List of partial results and hand-in assignments

Graphic 1: Project phases

1. Properly design and hold interviews with experts. a. In some cases, these will be relatives of the different components of the group (fathers/mothers, grandparents, etc.), and they will be asked what education was like in their day: that is, both school education and family education b. In other cases, they will be teachers, who will be asked about their view of the values and social standards transmitted by their school centre: the values that are prioritized; those that are more complicated to tackle; why such complications are experienced, etc.
2. Depending on each project, the groups will complete their research with a search for documents: old text books, bibliography, audio-visual material, school centre and educational administration webs, and suchlike, regarding educational models that have existed at other historical moments, in other countries, in different school centres, etc.
3. A group might even choose to analyse children’s TV programming in order to identify the nature of education in values implicit in some communications media programmes

Deliverable 2 : power point report and its presentation in class (week 9). Please read carefully the criteria for evaluating this power point document and its public presentation in appendix 2. This presentation includes an action proposal on values education based on some audio-visual material.

Also at this time (weeks 9-10), groups will hand in the written document about the conceptual framework. These short written documents (or a selection of them) will be circulated to all groups and will be an input for the second part exam.

The value of the different deliverables related to the project is as follows:

 Deliverable 1: Conceptual framework and presentation in class: 10%  First part exam (in part related to the project): 25%  Deliverable 2: Research power point and presentation in class (including action proposal): 10%  Second part exam (in part related to the project): 25%

The remaining 20% of the evaluation is dedicated to the interdisciplinary, modular project, common to all subjects of the first term.

Coinciding with the different hand-in assignments, the internal functioning of the groups will be both assessed and self-assessed. This evaluation has a bearing on the 10% grading for individual

participation. Should a group member not reach the minimum level demanded for participation and work, then his/her mark will be proportionately downgraded. See the subject syllabus for a description of the evaluation system.

Students who take part in the mixed assessment system, based on cooperative learning, commit themselves to this model’s ethical standards and values of functioning, and especially so because they are future professionals in education. The basic norms of this learning system, based on interaction, the development of interpersonal skills, mutual respect and group reflection, are the following:

 Positive interdependence , flowing from the division of responsibilities in the team. This interdependence makes it possible to attain a far greater amount of content and information than through individual work  Individual accountability : the team members are responsible for all sides of the work. In the presentations of the hand-in assignments, and in the class sessions, the teacher will randomly select team members to present the different parts of the project and answer any questions put to them

2.7. Schedule of the project

Week number, class session, and activity:

1

2 Triggering video

3 Project presentation. Topic selection

4 Conceptual framework phase starts

 People/friends/relatives who are available for interview  Interviews with experts: teaching staff from educational centres (from their old school centres perhaps)  Documents (e.g., text books, stories) from other times or countries  Discourse of actors from the educational world

The combination of different information sources will be a basic criterion of the projects. Tutorials will be given on the search for academic information and other methodological aspects such as the running of interviews.

In the bibliography for the programme of study, which pupils have been provided with, the course reference text books, manuals and basic web pages are mentioned. Here the main text books will be mentioned.

Sociology of education handbooks:

 Apple M, Ball, SJ & Gandin LA (2010). The Routledge International Handbook of the Sociology of Education. London: Routledge  Arnot, M, and Mac an Ghaill, M (eds)(2006). The Routledgefalmer Reader in Gender and Education. London: Routledge.  Arum, R., Beattie, I.R. & Ford, K. (2015). The structure of schooling. Readings in the sociology of education. London: Sage.  Ball, S (ed.) (2006). The Routledgefalmer Reader in Sociology of Education. London: Routledge.  Ballantine, J.H. & Spade, J.Z. (2015). Schools and society. London: Sage.  Cole M (ed.) (2006). Education, Equality and Human Rights. London: Routledge, 2nd edition.

Basic bibliography in Spanish:

 Beltrán, J., Hernández, F.J. (Coord.)(2011). Sociología de la educación. Madrid: McGrawHill.  Fernández Enguita, M. (2004). La escuela a examen. Madrid: Ed. Pirámide.  Fernández Enguita, M. (2016). La educación en la encrucijada. Madrid. Fundación Santillana.  Fernández Palomares, F. (Coord.) (2003). Sociología de la educación. Madrid: Pearson Hall Prentice.

 Taberner Guasp, J. (2008). Sociología y educación: el sistema educativo en sociedades modernas. Madrid: Tecnos. (Basque traslation available).  Trinidad, A.,Gómez González, J. (coords.) (2012) Sociedad, familia, educación. Una introducción a la Sociología de la Educación. Ed. Tecnos. Madrid

APPENDIX 2: RUBRIC FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE RESEARCH REPORT (PPT

DOCUMENT) AND ITS PRESENTATION (DELIVERABLE 2)

Group members :………………………………………………………………………………… EVALUATION CRITERIA BELOW STANDARD STANDARD, AT ALTHOUGH THERE ARE ASPECTS FOR IMPROVEME NT

GOOD

ELABORATION PROCESS AND POWER POINT DOCUMENT They have carried out information searches in at least two academic databases They have found at least two relevant papers/chapters in English They have looked for and used sources from public administrations and educational actors They have processed and synthesized the theoretical and empirical information available They have mentioned what the main authors consulted have said of proved about the points of interest They have formulated the research questions which they would like to answer They have correctly designed the interview/s before carrying it/them out (they have shown the interview guidelines to the lecturer and have agreed them with him/her) They have respected the instructions given for carrying out qualitative interviews They have processed and synthesized the information gathered in the interviews They say in which way the evidence gathered confirms (or not) concrete theoretical points or hypotheses of interest They have made a clear effort to relate the theory and the empirical material They have made an effort to respond to the initial scenario (within reasonable limits of flexibility) The ppt document includes the list of sources used, written in an academic format Throughout the ppt document they cite the sources used in an academic way They have made a clear effort to distinguish what other authors have said and what they say The document is based on truly collective work All group members are able to explain all aspects of the presentation POWER POINT PRESENTATION The presentation concentrates on and synthesizes the most relevant aspects of the research The exposition is clear and ordered The language and terminology employed are appropriate They have actively looked for the audience’s interest and motivation The body language, tone/volume/pace of speech, and communicative attitude of all members have been adequate They have read only at some points (they have almost not read) The graphical design used in the ppt facilitates the

comprehension of concepts They have respected the time limits. They have done an adequate distribution of time among group members All group members are able to explain all aspects of the presentation ACTION PROPOSAL PRESENTATION They have proposed a values education activity with its objectives and instruments They propose some audio-visual material, preferably in English, to be used within that activity The audio-visual material has been appropriately presented and situated The length of audio-visual material is not longer than 5 minutes After showing the audio-visual material, they have briefly analyzed it and have suggested the way in which it should be used They have respected the time limits for the action proposal presentation. They have done an adequate distribution of time among group members

COMMENTS AND ASPECTS FOR IMPROVEMENT :