Teacher & Community

• Structural-Functional Theory


  Views society as a system of inter-connected parts each with a unique function. The parts have to work together for stability and balance of society.
• Structural-Functional Theory


  • Failure of one social institution to do its part means disruption of stability in society
• Cybercrime Actof 2012


  Addresses legal issues concerning online interactions and the internet in the Philippines
• Functionalist Theory of Education


  Focuses on how education serves the need of society through the development of skills encouraging social cohesion
• Components of Society


  • Family
  • The State
  • School
  • Church
  • Mass Media
  • Economics
• Families


  Do their part in bringing forth children, nurturing and socializing them
• Education/Schools


  Effectively transmit knowledge, skills and values
• Politics


  Governs citizens well
• Economics


  Takes care of food production, distribution of goods and services
• Religion


  Strengthens the moral fiber of the members of society
• School


  Prepares students for participation in the institutions of society
• Education


  Concerned with socializing people by bringing together people from different backgrounds
• Functionalist Theory


  • Focused on social stability and solidarity
  • Sees education as a beneficial contribution to an ordered society
  • Does not encourage people to take an active role in changing their social environment even when such change may benefit them
  • Sees active social change as undesirable because the various parts of society will compensate naturally for any problems that may arise
• Functionalism


  A theory of society that focuses on the structures that create the society and on how the society is able to remain stable
• Functionalists


  Are for stability and a state of equilibrium in society. To maintain this state of stability, various institutions are expected to do their part
• Conflict theory


  Welcomes conflict as the way to change, as conflict paves the way to the establishment of a new society
• Symbolic interactionist theory


  Focuses on individuals who act based on meaning which is based on the individual's experience. These meanings are not permanent and change over time as the individual continues to interact with others and with symbols
• Symbolic interactionism directs sociologists to consider the symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how people interact with each other
• Symbolic interactionism states that people interact with one another through symbols
• Symbolic interactionism has its origins in Max Weber's assertion that individuals act according to their interpretation of the meaning of their world
• George H. Mead


  An American philosopher who introduced the symbolic interactionist perspective to American sociology in the 1920s
• Socio-cultural refers to the combined influence of social and cultural factors on individuals
• Strengths of the Filipino character

  • Pakikipagkapwa-tao (relating to others as equals and treating them with respect, empathy, and compassion)
  • Family-oriented
  • Joy and humor
  • Flexibility, adaptability & creativity
  • Hardwork and industry
  • Faith/religiosity
  • Ability to survive
• Weaknesses of the Filipino character

  • Extreme family-centeredness
  • Extreme personalism
  • Lack of discipline
  • Passivity and lack of initiative
  • Colonial mentality
  • Kanya-kanya syndrome, tsismis
  • Lack of self-analysis and self-reflection
  • Emphasis on form rather than substance
• These weaknesses are rooted in many factors including home, social and economic, culture and language, history, religion, educational system, mass media, and leadership and role models
• Purposes of schooling according to Functionalists


  • Intellectual purposes - acquisition of cognitive skills, inquiry skills
  • Political purposes - educate future citizens, instill patriotism, promote assimilation of immigrants, ensure order, public civility and conformity to laws
  • Economic purposes - prepare students for later work roles, select and train the labor force needed by society
  • Social purposes - promote a sense of social and moral responsibility, serve as a site for the solution or resolution of social problems, supplement the efforts of other institutions of socialization such as the family and the church
• Conflict Theory


  Values and agendas of unequal groups usually have conflicting interests, causing them to compete against one another
• According to the conflict theory, education is not truly a social benefit or opportunity as seen by the functionalists
• Education is a powerful means of maintaining power structures and creating a docile work force for capitalism
• The purpose of education is to maintain social inequality and to preserve the power of those who dominate society and teach those in the working class to accept their position as a lower class worker of society
• Hidden Curriculum


  Socializes young people into discipline and conformity for them to be developed as docile workers
• Functionalists disagree strongly with the conflict theory


  They assert that if schools teach adherence to policies, obedience to rules, respect for persons including authorities, punctuality and honesty, civil rights, it is because they are the very principles dear to a democratic way of life
• Symbolic interactionism


  People attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols
• Three tenets of symbolic interactionist theory

  • An individual's action depends on meaning
  • Different people may give different meanings to the same thing
  • Meanings change as individuals interact with one another
• Interaction includes reading, listening, viewing
• Verbal conversation


  Spoken words serve as the predominant system to make this subjective interpretation especially evident
• Words are not static things, they require intention and interpretation
• Conversation


  An interaction of symbols by individuals who constantly interpret the world around them
• Symbolic interactionism traces its origins to Max Weber's assertion that individuals act according to their interpretation of the meaning of their world
• Symbolic interactionism emphasizes the symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how people interact with each other