EDTE 102 Social Foundations of Education in Ghana PDF

EDTE 102: SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION IN GHANA Dr. Priscilla Commey Mintah Week 5; Lecture 5 CULTURAL FUNCTIONS OF EDUCATION  In this lecture, you will be able to explain: 1. Meaning of Culture 2. Cultural function of education...

EDTE 102: SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION IN GHANA Dr. Priscilla Commey Mintah Week 5; Lecture 5 CULTURAL FUNCTIONS OF EDUCATION  In this lecture, you will be able to explain: 1. Meaning of Culture 2. Cultural function of education Learning 3. Forces of Social Change Outcomes 4. How educated people contribute to culture? 5. Conservatism, Reconstruction and Progressivism Schools of Thoughts. What Does The Cultural Function Of Education Mean? Cultural function of education means the role of education in the transmission and improvement of the cultural heritage. What Is Culture? Culture refers to the social behavior and norms found in human societies, including the knowledge, beliefs, art, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups (Tylor, 1871)  Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquire by man as a member of society. E.B. Taylor (1871) Scholarly G.F Kneller (1965) sees culture as “the Definitions total shared way of life of a given people, of Culture which comprises their mode of thinking acting and feeling and which is expressed for instance in religion, law, language, art and custom as well as in material products such as houses, clothes and tools.” 1. Culture also includes the food people in a society eat, how it is prepared and how they eat it. 2. It also includes the economic activities they engage in, the tools they use and how they are made. 3. Also includes how they bring up children, who they worship and the how they worship.  Culture is a human creation , and man differs from animals because he creates culture, and because he transmits what he has learned and what he has created from one generation to the next (Havighurst & Neugarten, 1967).  2 COMPONENTS OF CULTURE MATERIAL COMPONENT OF NON-MATERIAL CULTURE COMPONENT OF CULTURE 1. Material Component – ❖The material components of culture refers to all the visible parts of culture which can be seen, felt or touched, and are shared in common by a group of people. ❖Includes all the behaviour and physical objects of a society, such as clothing, food, festivals, dance, buildings, technology, transportation, funerals, occupations etc. 2. Non-Material Component – ❖This components of culture refers to all the invisible parts of culture which cannot be seen, felt or touched, but are shared in common by a group of people. ❖It includes Values, beliefs, religion, language, knowledge, common sense, assumptions, expectations, rules, norms, laws, and morals that govern society. Important Note Culture is said to be a universal phenomenon, as such every society possesses both the material and non-material components of culture.  1. Conservative Dimension – This 2 Dimensions Of Culture deals with the transmission of culture from one generation to the other. 2. Dynamic Or Change Dimension. This deals with the changes that culture is expected to bring to what has been passed on from one generation to the other.  How Does The Change Occur? ❖It occurs through schooling or school education. ❖Every society is constantly changing; but some societies change faster than others. ❖Pre-literate societies are characterized by a relatively slow change; modern literate and complex societies are undergoing very rapid changes which are due to scientific and technological development (Agyeman, 1986).  According to sociologists, change is driven by: 1. Internal or Endogenous Force – this change is driven by accident or chance Two Forces such as an epidemic or by a revolution. Of Social 2. External Or Exogenous Force – this is Change when external factors such as cultural contact, invasion, colonization bring about change in the society. Example western culture is influence Ghanaians to western dishes like pizza and rice  How Does The Change Occur? ❖It occurs through schooling or school education. ❖Every society is constantly changing; but some societies change faster than others. ❖Pre-literate societies are characterized by a relatively slow change; modern literate and complex societies are undergoing very rapid changes which are due to scientific and technological development (Agyeman, 1986)  How Does Education Initiate Change In Society? Education also initiates change directly in the society by … 1. Preparing learners to cope with life. 2. Preparing learners to be critical thinkers – objectively critique the aspects of their culture that needs change 3. Promoting creativity – helps students to develop ways to solv social problems and make cultural changes e.g. gas stove has replaced firewood for cooking 4. Promotes change through research. For example, through research new ways of doing agriculture is discovered to improve agricultural produce. 5. Education, especially school education brings about attitudinal change. For example, bad cultural practices like female genital mutilation has be eradicated from most traditional societies because of formal education  What Contributions Do Educated People Make To Culture? 1. Origination – involves the invention of new things or the discovery of new ideas, techniques and the incorporation of these things into the existing culture or ways of life or cultural heritage of the new people. ❖Because students are exposed to a wide scope of ideas or discipline, they become broad minded and this makes them more creative. ❖Example if we invent new machines or we discover some new ideas and we add these to what we already have in our culture then we say there has been cultural origination. Diffusion – involves the adoption, adaptation or borrowing of elements or things from other culture(s) and adding them to what we have in our own culture. For example, the English language we use in our schools, dressing, wearing of spectacles or wrist watches etc are all borrowed things. Anything which is borrowed from outside our culture or which is not part of our culture is termed as cultural diffusion or cultural borrowing. 3. Re-interpretation – It is the modifications made in an already existing element of culture, making it look as if it was new, that is, something we already know or have but only given a new look. ❖Examples are Royco Dawadawa and Royco shrimps. They are the same dawadawa and shrimps we already know, but they have been modernized to look like something different The Role Of Education On Cultural Change 3 Schools of Thought  Conservativists School Of Thought On The Role Of Education in Promoting Cultural Change ❖According to the conservativists, it is not the prerogative of the school to change the culture ❖For them the main function of education is to transmit the cultural heritage from generation to generation in an unadulterated way, as such school has no business trying to change society. ❖ They argued that to improve society we must improve the individuals who lives in it by using school to transmit all the positive elements of culture to the individual ❖For example, use education to teach the language , that is, teaching the language the people speak. Use education to promote the cultural Economic activities like farming, fishing etc. of the people ❖They also argue that society is improved not by forcing a programme of social reform down the throat of the people through the school but by the improvement of the individuals. ❖The prime purpose of education is to reproduce the type of individuals to transmit the social heritage and to adjust the individual in society. Reconstructionists School Of Thought On The Role Of Education in Promoting Cultural Change They are the direct opposite of the conservativists school of thought. They argue that it is the responsibility of school and teachers to envision the kind of society that it will be in the future and prepare students towards that future. For instance, school and teachers in Ghana should determine the kind of future Ghana has to be and produce people with skills and knowledge needed for that society. The needed syllabus and teaching materials must be designed and used to prepare learners for what society aspires to be in the future. The educational curriculum should use education (school) as an instrument of social engineering Progressivists School Of Thought On The Role Of Education in Promoting Cultural Change 1. According to the Progressivists School of thought, it is not the duty of the school to embark on a deliberate cultural change. 2. School should only perform the duty of teaching students all the things they are supposed to know so that students by themselves can intelligently bring about the kind of changes they consider desirable. 3. For them, students should be exposed to a liberal curriculum to enable them understand the world in which they live. 4. According to them, students must not be narrow specialist but must be exposed to wider areas such as human sciences, social sciences, physical, natural sciences etc in order to fit into the society. 5. This makes the individual intelligent enough to understand the environment he or she lives in. 6. They add also that, we cannot change society unless we understand it and how it works. We can understand it when we study it.  Culture As Content Of Education ❖The ultimate aim of education whenever it takes place is the transmission of the patterns of behaviour, the techniques, the values, the beliefs, the ideals and knowledge which a society has accumulated and uses. ❖“These items transmitted through and in the process of education are described as the culture of that society” (Agyeman, 1986). ❖It can therefore be said that culture is the content of education. Elements Of Culture Transmitted Formally And Informally Through Education ❖Patterns of behavior – E.g. how to greet at various times of the day or on festive occasions or how to address people in various capacities. ❖Techniques, skills and knowhow of some material culture like building of houses, farming, hunting and the tools that are used in various circumstances are transmitted in the course of education. ❖Values of a society from generation to generation. These include respect for old age, patriotism, religiousity, hard work etc. ❖It should be noted that every society’s culture is peculiar to that society. Therefore educational systems in different societies are different in organization and content. It is significant to note that the education given in any society is dictated by the culture of that society. ❖ “consequently, whenever and wherever the content and organization of education are different from the cultural background of the society, that society falters in its progress” (Agyeman, 1986). ❖The reason for this statement is not farfetched because in the opinion of Nyerere (1968) “people find that their education has prepared them for a future which is not open to them”. ❖It should be noted that the adoption of western culture through formal education has greatly influenced the lifestyle of many Africans especially the educated ones. ❖The western education was introduced to Africa by European merchants, missionaries and the colonial administrations. Therefore, the cultural backgrounds of these educational agents influenced the educational systems that were established. ❖Thus, the values, attitudes and skills that were taught were based on European culture. ❖In this regard, the more one consumes these educational experiences the less African he becomes in terms of lifestyle, values and aspirations.