Social Institutions: Education and its Functions

Subject Objectives

• Composition of society is based on groups
• Education has multiple functions and is important in society
• Individuals have roles in institutions and social groups

Education

• Education is a social institution
• Education formally socializes members of society through skills, knowledge, and values.
• Education transmits skills, knowledge, and values from educators to learners

Types of Education

• There are two types of education; formal and non-formal
• Formal education takes place in a classroom, and is instructed by trained personnel
• Formal education has an approved curriculum with a course outline and authentic assessments
• Non-formal education occurs outside a formal setup
• Non-formal education is flexible, learner-centered, contextualized, uses a participatory approach
• Non-formal education has no age limit, and is available to kids, youth, and adults

Functions of Education

• There are two key functions of education - latent and manifest
• Manifest Function is primary and intended function
• Socialization is initiated into taking societal roles
• Socialization includes teaching academic subjects, making a line, waiting their turn, and sharing
• Transmission of culture, skills, and values includes academic subjects like history and languages
• School Routines are part of the manifest function
• Latent Function is secondary and unintended, and is brought about by the school environment.
• Education is a venue of expanding people’s network, to find friends, business partners and spouses.
• Education provides the ability to work in groups, both as leaders or members
• Working in groups is indispensable in the workplace and requires collaboration

Goals and Functions of Education

• Education prepares citizens for roles within the family, government, and economy
• Functions include transmission of cultural heritage, selection of social roles and training, integration and mainstreaming subcultures and identity, and source of social and
• descriptions of these include communication and honing knowledge, providing new experiences and offering alternatives, social control mechanism that brings recalcitrant members back, a space where young people are (social)
• These Functions are reinforced by family, religion, state/government, and peers/state
• Major goals of education are productive citizenry and self-actualization
• Productive citizenry is the idea that a citizen must create an environment and opportunities to become productive that contribute to the betterment of the society
• Self-actualization is the desire for self-fulfillment and to actualize personal potential
• Abraham Maslow said, “What a man can be, he must be"

Maslow's List

• Characteristics of self-actualized people include:Acceptance and Realism,Problem-centering,Spontaneity, Autonomy and Solitude,Continued Freshness and Appreciation
• Acceptance and Realism refers to people that have realistic perceptions
• Problem-centering refers to concern with solving problems outside themselves and helping others
• Spontaneity refers to people who are spontaneous in their internal thoughts
• Autonomy and Solitude refers to people who need independence and privacy
• Continued Freshness and Appreciation refers to a constant appreciation, wonder and awe

Education as a Right

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education
• Primary education is free and compulsory
• Higher education should be made available based on merit

Health Introduction

• Wellness and illness are social and cultural constructs
• Health and the health system are products of human experience, which revolves around multiplicity of meaning-making systems of the body, nature and relations

Sociology of Health and Illness

• Sociology of Health and Illness examines interactions between society and health
• Social life impacts morbidity and mortality rates and vice versa

Health Systems in the Philippines

• There is a decentralized health delivery system, which is headed by the Department of Health as their regulatory authority
• The Department of Health develops national plans, technical standards, and healthcare guidelines for all Filipinos.
• Philippines has a health unit with regional, provincial, and local hospitals

Cultural Constructs of Health and Filipino Attribution of Illness

• Cultures have a manifold way of taxonomizing health levels and an esoteric classification of illness that can be culture-specific
• There are Filipino language terms to refer to health and illness, usually pertaining to either the corporeal body or spirit
• Examples are:: “maynararamdaman ka,” masama ang pakiramdam, sakit ng katawan, namamana, lihi, sumpa, gaba, pasma, namaligno, and kaloob ng Diyos

Filipino Beliefs

• Namamana is acquiring a behavioral or disease trait from a parent, and is believed to be passed onto younger generations
• Lihi refers to the first trimester of pregnancy, the pregnant women may experience physical discomforts and develop intense craving for certain foods or objects
• Pasma is an exposure illness that occurs when a "hot" condition attacked by a "cold" element and vice versa
• Sumpa is a curse inflicted by a human being, and Gaba is a curse inflicted by a divine being
• Namaligno is a disease caused by intervention of a supernatural or a mystical being
• Kaloob ng Diyos means God's will, where if unexpected event happens individuals attribute it to God's grace

Filipino Attribution of Illness

• Filipinos have culture-specific syndromes and attributions of illness such as usog and bughat
• Usog describes a visitor/stranger who brings evil discomfort
• Bughat describes a mother who experiences headache, chills, body pains, and malaise after giving birth

Filipino Diagnosis Prevention, Healing, and Health Promotion

• Health promotion and treatment concepts have Filipino beliefs
• They are oriented toward the protection of the body in three metaphoric ways: flushing, heating, protecting
• Flushing stimulates physiological events to cleanse
• Heating is the concept of hot and cold to restore balance
• Protecting is the act to make the gatekeeping system guard the body or cover it

Filipino Theories of Illness

• Mental and physical health are viewed holistically and there is an equilibrium model
• Factors include mystical, personalistic, naturalistic, and viral/bacterial causes.
• Mystical is retribution from ancestors
• Personalistic is attributed to social punishment by supernatural beings - Naturalistic causes factors from nature - Viral/Bacterial is from causes from bacterias and viruses

Types of Personalistic Illness

• Mambabarang (Animal Summoner) uses insects and spirits to enter the body
• Usikan Curse Hexer brings bad luck and trouble
• Mangkukulam (Filipino Witches) has black magic, sorcery, or witchcraft
• Manggagayuma Love Charmer does rituals for love

Cultural Health Actors

• Specific activities that help protect the body and treat it with herbal treatments, incantations, and offerings.
• Albulatoryo is a general medical Practitioner
• Hilot uses Manghihilot and Magpapaanak
• Manghihilot uses techniques to treat sprains, fractures, and musculoskeletal conditions
• .Magpapaanak gives prenatal visits and delivering babies
• Mangluluop / Manghihila /Mangtatawas diagnose
• Medico merges age-old folkloric modalities with ingredients

Health as a Right

• All individuals have the right to health.
• Health is economic, social, and cultural with universal minimum standard.