EDUC 5: Social Dimensions and Educational Philosophies

• The document is titled EDUC 5 | The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational Leadership

Social Dimensions of Education

• Educational institutions instill shared values and norms to maintain social order, stability, and regulation, as per the consensus theory.
• Conflict theory emphasizes the role of power and inequality in education as a social institution.
• Functionalist theory suggests that education serves societal functions, like socialization and social control.
• Symbolic Interaction Theory focuses on how individuals interpret social interactions to create meaning in education and schooling.

Philosophies of Education

• Naturalism advocates for children learning and exploring in natural settings.
• Idealism claims that reality is mental, with the idea behind an object being more important than the object itself.
• Realism posits that the real world exists independently of human experience, with truth verified scientifically through empirical and scientific inquiry and experimentation.
• Pragmatism(philosophy of action) expects learners to learn best through experience.
• Humanism emphasizes individuals' holistic development with teachers encouraging students to develop their full potential in a safe environment.

Five Pillars of Education

• Learning to Know involves developing concentration, memory skills, and the ability to think.
• Learning to Do means applying learned knowledge into practice.
• Learning to Live Together involves developing an understanding of others' history, traditions, and spiritual values.
• Learning to Be concerns understanding what it means to be human and learning more about themselves.
• Learning to Transform Oneself and Society focuses on creating change in communities and societies.

The Teacher and Community

• Teachers are responsible for imparting knowledge and skills to students(Educator).
• Teachers guide students academically, personally, and socially(Mentor).
• Teachers demonstrate values like respect, integrity, and a strong work ethic to their students(Role Model).
• Teachers facilitate problem-solving and decision-making skills(of Critical Thinking).
• Teachers help students with academic and personal issues(Counselor).
• Teachers contribute to building a sense of community within a school(Community Builder).
• Teachers instill a love of learning and encourage lifelong pursuit of knowledge and self-improvement(Promoter of Lifelong Learning).
• Teachers help preserve and transmit cultural and historical knowledge(Cultural Preserver).
• Teachers are at the forefront of educational innovation, transmitting existing knowledge(Innovator).
• Teachers advocate for their students' needs individually and collectively(Advocate).
• Teachers ensure the safety of students while they are under their care, both in the classroom and on school property(Safety Monitor).
• Teachers equip students with the knowledge and skills they need for the future workforce and society(Bridge to the Future).
• Alternative Learning Systems give an education to those who cannot access formal education because of poverty, distance, or other challenges.

Social Institutions

• The family imparts values, norms, and social roles.
• The school is where students receive formal education and learn to interact in a larger society.
• Religion provides moral guidance, community, and answers to existential questions.
• Government creates and enforces laws to maintain order and protect citizens.

Principles and Theories of School Culture

• School culture is the shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that shape how a school operates.
• School culture encompasses how things are done during the process of education.
• School culture is maintained through interaction, communication, and shared experiences by stakeholders
• Building a positive school culture can be achieved by building relationships, modeling positive behavior and set goals that elevate school expectations. Share the school's vision and appreciate people.
• Unity of Purpose means shared vision.
• Learning Partnership acknowledges the importance of educator and parents.
• Empowerment coupled with responsibility can improve motivation and capacities of teachers as well as school climate and environment.
• Building on strengths makes learning and teaching more effective.

Types of School Culture

• Collaborative school cultures involve open relationships of openness, trust, and support.
• Contrived Collegial school cultures are leadership enforce collaboration, demanding meetings with the proof of report.
• Fragmented school cultures have teachers that function as individuals, working apart from other staff.
• Toxic school cultures involve blaming others for failure.
• Balkanized school cultures have a perceived disunity between staff.
• Comfortable Collaboration school cultures value cooperation, courtesy and compliance.

Factors That Cause Schools to Improve Academically and Culturally

• Teacher Efficacy is the teacher's belief in their ability to improve student outcomes.
• Collegiality involves collaboration and support among colleagues.
• Collaboration between teachers and staff is key.
• Shared Planning involves teachers and staff working together to develop lessons and curricula.
• Transformational Leadership.

Theories of School Culture

• Typology-Functionalism categorizes school cultures based on functions within an educational system, maintaining social stability and ensuring students acquire shared values, knowledge, and behaviors.
• Process Approach focuses on the mechanisms by which school culture is developed and maintained.
• School effectiveness research can offer guidance for school improvement.

Cultural Changes and Multicultural Education

• Multicultural education introduces students to diverse cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and values.
• The major goals are improving academic achievement, promoting cultural values, and advocating for human rights.
• To implement educators should be aware of biases, value life experiences, understand student learning styles, and assign multicultural projects.
• Implementing a multicultural education helps students in multicultural environments learn to value all cultures.

Dimensions of Multicultural Education

• Content Integration is the process of incorporating a variety of cultures to the school curriculum, using authentic content to accurately represent the cultures being taught.
• Knowledge construction involves helping students understand how biases and perspectives within a discipline influence construct knowledge.
• Prejudice Reduction describes the lessons that will develop positive attitude among students.
• Equity Pedagogy facilitates the academic achievement of students with diverse cultures etc.
• Empowering school culture and social structure will promote equality.
• Implementing multicultural education benefits both individual students and society as a whole

Student Subcultures

• They have cultures with different values from what is dominant.
• Subcultures can permit specialized activity, aid in identity, and help in culture adaptation/change.
• Social, educational, technological, and personal factors affect change.

Cultural Dimensions of Learning, Teaching, and Educational Processes

• "Different" is not "deficient" diversity is strength
• Promote inclusion while encouraging self acceptance
• Recognizing diversity communicates positive communication for all backgrounds
• It is important to build on students' cultural backgrounds and encourage culturally responsive teaching.
• Being responsive to the different student learning styles builds on students' strengths.

Aspects of Culture

• Aspects are the social relationships, beliefs and temporal perceptions.
• Cultural values get acquired early in life.
• Cultural practices are the norms that are more observed.
• Social Relationships are Equality or Authority.
• Individualistic approach is more toward cognitive skill, collectivist is leaning to content
• Nurturing is the promotion of growth.
• A stability seeking approach is the goal of maintaining a structured activity.
• Logical reasoning approaches are the belief to single truth being based on reasoning.
• Causality is the students knowledge and skills
• Focus on system and situations is the knowledge in these scenarios.
• It is important to look into Temporal Perceptions(clock and event)
• With a linear time, time must be managed.
• Cyclical time makes opportunities to occur.

Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions in Learning

• The Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede studied cultural dimensions. -Low PD countries: The relationship between students and teachers is informal and students can argue and question teacher in Germanic and English-speaking countries
• High PD Countries: Formal relationships exist between students and teachers in East European and Asian countries Individualism/Collectivism
• Individualist Countries:Academic certificates enhance worth and self-respect because of the perception of achievement, like in Developed and Western countries
• Collectivist Countries:Academic certificates a means to improve social status, like in Less developed and Eastern countries Masculinity/Femininity
• Masculinity Countries: learners compete with high performance, like in Japan and German
• Femininity Countries: students value coop, less class competitiveness, like in Sweden, some Asian and Latin Uncertainty avoidance/acceptance
• Uncertainty acceptance of the students are more comfortable in an unstructured learning environment in Nordic culture and English-speaking countries
• Uncertainty avoidance is observed when students cannot openly disagree with teachers or other students in Central and East European countries Long-Term/Short-Term Orientation
• LTO Countries: Success/failure is purely accidental and can be seen in East Asia and European countries
• STO Countries: Students' academic failure or success is attributed to their effort in Australia, Latin, USA and Muslim countries