Notes Sociology of Education
, 2. The social functions of the school throughout history
ORIGINS OF THE SCHOOL’
· Ancient Greece: first private lessons in Athens. Professors teached children (only boys)
with political and economic power. Later on, governments started to regularise the schools
and democratised them (except for women and slaves).
· The Peripatetic school was born: it was a philosophical school founded in 335 BC by
Aristotle. They learned through observation, walking in the open air. Teachers and students
shared a dynamic state of thinking - ideas - debates.
· Roman Empire: structure and formalise education. Education = knowledge, harmony and
coexistence.
· Catholic Church: after the arrival of the barbarian tribes and the fall of the Roman Empire,
The Catholic Church took over the educational system.
· Main functions of the new religious schools: 1. to transcribe classical authors into Latin,
the official language of the church 3. to train priests, men 3. the school ceased to be
democratic and the majority of the population was illiterate because they did not know how
to read and write Latin.
· Year 800: Charlemagne introduces free basic education (no evidence for women, “they
were not fit to receive holy orders”). Monasteries became schools. Neither reading nor
writing were taught, only riveting prayers by memory. The cathedral schools appeared; they
were the seed of the first two universities in the world: the University of Bologna, Italy,
founded in 1088 and the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, founded in 1096.
ORIGINS OF MODERN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS
The enlightenment, with its ideas of progress and equality promoted by the French
Revolution (1798) = expansion of education to broad social sectors. In Europe, most
constitutions included the right to basic education for everyone, creating public school at the
service of all.
In Spain, it was not until March 8th, 1910, that the law was approved so that women could
attend high school and university. Until then, women in SPain went to girls’ schools to learn
how to sew. The social function was to raise children.
Industrial Revolution (1750 - 1830): school follows the logic of industrial factories, produces
“academic people” by giving titles.
THE ROLE OF SCHOOLS TODAY
Manifest functions (Iceberg)
- Source of acquisition of knowledge and culture
- Professional training for individuals
- Acquisition of norms and values
- Custody of children and young people
, Latent functions (Merton, R)
- Legitimacy of the political system (now democracy)
- Social selection of people
- Social distribution of people on social structure and job market on the basis of their
academic abilities.
But also…
- Promotes the progress of society: + literacy rate + critical thinking + innovation
- Introduces social changes: training/teaching adults of the future
- Mechanism of social mobility
Ideal functions
- Instrument to provide equal opportunities respecting cultural differences
- The role of the teacher as a companion in the learning and development processes.
"Good teachers are those who love their students" (Freire, 1980)
- Educate the eye/ the gaze in a sea of information and fake news
- Contextualize school knowledge. Tasks make sense for students
- Teaching the 4 C's: Critical Thinking; Collaboration; Communication; Creativity
- "Insist less on technical skills and work more on general life skills. The most
important thing is to adapt ourselves to change and learn new things...we will need to
reinvent ourselves over and over again..." (Harari, 2021).
A fundamental role of the school (especially in kindergarten and primary school) is the
reduction of social inequalities.
Educational reality:
Social class background → Length of Stay in education → IQ score
The Myth of Meritocracy:
IQ score → Length of stay in education → Future social class
, 2. The social functions of the school throughout history
ORIGINS OF THE SCHOOL’
· Ancient Greece: first private lessons in Athens. Professors teached children (only boys)
with political and economic power. Later on, governments started to regularise the schools
and democratised them (except for women and slaves).
· The Peripatetic school was born: it was a philosophical school founded in 335 BC by
Aristotle. They learned through observation, walking in the open air. Teachers and students
shared a dynamic state of thinking - ideas - debates.
· Roman Empire: structure and formalise education. Education = knowledge, harmony and
coexistence.
· Catholic Church: after the arrival of the barbarian tribes and the fall of the Roman Empire,
The Catholic Church took over the educational system.
· Main functions of the new religious schools: 1. to transcribe classical authors into Latin,
the official language of the church 3. to train priests, men 3. the school ceased to be
democratic and the majority of the population was illiterate because they did not know how
to read and write Latin.
· Year 800: Charlemagne introduces free basic education (no evidence for women, “they
were not fit to receive holy orders”). Monasteries became schools. Neither reading nor
writing were taught, only riveting prayers by memory. The cathedral schools appeared; they
were the seed of the first two universities in the world: the University of Bologna, Italy,
founded in 1088 and the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, founded in 1096.
ORIGINS OF MODERN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS
The enlightenment, with its ideas of progress and equality promoted by the French
Revolution (1798) = expansion of education to broad social sectors. In Europe, most
constitutions included the right to basic education for everyone, creating public school at the
service of all.
In Spain, it was not until March 8th, 1910, that the law was approved so that women could
attend high school and university. Until then, women in SPain went to girls’ schools to learn
how to sew. The social function was to raise children.
Industrial Revolution (1750 - 1830): school follows the logic of industrial factories, produces
“academic people” by giving titles.
THE ROLE OF SCHOOLS TODAY
Manifest functions (Iceberg)
- Source of acquisition of knowledge and culture
- Professional training for individuals
- Acquisition of norms and values
- Custody of children and young people
, Latent functions (Merton, R)
- Legitimacy of the political system (now democracy)
- Social selection of people
- Social distribution of people on social structure and job market on the basis of their
academic abilities.
But also…
- Promotes the progress of society: + literacy rate + critical thinking + innovation
- Introduces social changes: training/teaching adults of the future
- Mechanism of social mobility
Ideal functions
- Instrument to provide equal opportunities respecting cultural differences
- The role of the teacher as a companion in the learning and development processes.
"Good teachers are those who love their students" (Freire, 1980)
- Educate the eye/ the gaze in a sea of information and fake news
- Contextualize school knowledge. Tasks make sense for students
- Teaching the 4 C's: Critical Thinking; Collaboration; Communication; Creativity
- "Insist less on technical skills and work more on general life skills. The most
important thing is to adapt ourselves to change and learn new things...we will need to
reinvent ourselves over and over again..." (Harari, 2021).
A fundamental role of the school (especially in kindergarten and primary school) is the
reduction of social inequalities.
Educational reality:
Social class background → Length of Stay in education → IQ score
The Myth of Meritocracy:
IQ score → Length of stay in education → Future social class
