Understanding School as a Social Institution

What is School?

• School is a social institution established by society to accomplish its goals.
• It is one of the most important sources of education, especially in today's rapidly developing society.
• Rabindranath Tagore viewed it as a place where people of all ages come together for learning and connection.
• John Dewey saw school as a special environment that provides activities and opportunities to ensure a child's development.
• School is an environment where children receive practical life preparation, shape future citizens' minds, and develop their habits, perspectives, and attitudes.

The Behavior of People in School

• An individual's behavior in school is unique.
• It is also powerfully shaped by the social norms and expectations of the school culture.

Assumptions, Beliefs, And Behaviors

• Every culture has basic assumptions about people, their human nature, relationships, activities, and the relationship between people and the environment.
• Basic assumptions are learned in infancy and develop throughout maturity and education.
• They become internalized and taken for granted, often without questioning.
• From basic assumptions flow values and beliefs, and subsequently, actions, sometimes leading to dissonance and counter-behaviors.

The Need for Early Childhood Education

• There's a common assumption that early childhood education strengthens children's foundation for later success.
• However, the persistent lack of funding for preschool and early education contradicts this belief.

Fostering Actionable Change in Schools

• Actionable change in schools requires making basic assumptions manifest.
• It also requires careful consideration of the relationship between assumptions, values, beliefs, and organizational behavior in professional practice.

Importance of Critical Thinking

• It is important to challenge traditional educational practices and cultivate creativity.
• Schools should acknowledge multiple types of intelligence and embrace a more scientific approach to teaching and learning.

Paradigms in Education

• A paradigm is a way of seeing something, a point of view, frame of reference, or belief.
• Social and political realities play a significant role in shaping scientific paradigms.
• Paradigms consist of interlocking scientific, social, and political views and commitments.
• Perceptions, often inaccurate or incomplete, can create limitations.

Progressive Education

• Progressive education emphasizes learning by doing and learning by discovery.
• It is a belief that education should be based on social learning and real-life activities.
• Progressive education views children as scientists who learn through active engagement.

Impact of Behavioral Science

• Behaviorism focuses on extrinsic rewards and punishments to control behavior.
• This is particularly influential in curriculum and instruction, classroom management, and teaching methods.
• Operant conditioning, a key principle of behaviorism, states that behavior followed by pleasant consequences is more likely to be repeated while unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated.
• B.F. Skinner, a prominent behaviorist, had a significant impact on how teachers view students, teaching methods, and educational leadership.