ASSIGNMENT 04: PART B - SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION
(PARAGRAPH- AND ESSAY-TYPE QUESTIONS)
DUE DATE: To be communicated on myUnisa UNIQUE
NUMBER: To be communicated on myUnisa
SECTION A (ESSAY-TYPE QUESTION) [50 marks]
Write an essay in not more than five typed pages (10 marks per page, bibliography
excluded) on the following topic:
Diversity in school context and its impact on classroom practices
Structure your essay as follows:
1. Introduction: Introduce what you intend to discuss in the essay and define your keyterms. (5)
(Page 77)
Diversity refers to unlikeness or to being of a different kind. It refers to a range of differences, it
is about what makes each of us unique and includes our backgrounds, personality, life experiences and
beliefs, all of the things that make us who we are. It is a combination of our differences that shape our
view of the world, our perspective and our approach. The study of diversity includes:
Learning about group differences in the opportunities that are presented by society.
Addressing how different social factors influence social institutions.
The development of group and individual identity.
The process of social change.
2. Body of the essay, in which you should deal with the following:
Discuss the three theoretical perspectives on diversity: Race, class and gender. (20)
Discuss why an understanding of the concepts race, class and gender is essentialand how such an
understanding can assist with classroom practice and insight into learners’ social contexts. (10)
Provide three short, relevant educational examples to substantiate the above point. (10)
Everything is discussed bellow per each perceptive you need to put educational examples for each.
Race refers to a genetically isolated group with distinctive gene frequencies. (Gene frequency
refers to the frequency of occurrence or proportions of different alleles of a particular gene in a
given population. Allele refers to the variant in a gene. The gene frequency is used to depict the
amount of genetic diversity in an
individual.) The social construction of race refers to a process by which people define a group as a
race based on their physical characteristics as well as historical, cultural and economic factors.
According to Andersen and Taylor (2009: 234-235), 'society assigns people to racial categories,
such as Black, White, and so on, not because of science, logic or fact, but because of opinion and
social experience.' This is why it is said that race is socially constructed.
Research has suggested some ways of dealing with racial integration in schools. Naidoo (1996: 11)
says that 'integration requires fundamental changes in personal attitudes and behavior patterns. It
, requires major changes of deep-seated attitudes and behavior patterns amongst learners and
teachers of minority and majority groups.' Rist (1979) contends that integration occurs only when
positive interaction occurs. Soudien and Sayed (2009: 95) assert that 'what counts is not physical
contact but how yielding and open to engagement the universes people are carrying around with
them are.' Similarly, Gurin et al. (2004: 17-3) believe that schools should go beyond simply
increasing their enrolment of students of different racial backgrounds. They maintain that schools
need to pay attention to the quality of their racial climate and the actual interactions amongst
diverse students. Symbolic interactionists make use of the contact theory to argue that interaction
between races reduces prejudice. However, they believe that this will happen if three conditions are
met (Andersen & Taylor, 2009: 243):
The contact must be between individuals of equal status, in other words, the parties must
interact on equal grounds.
The contact between equals must be sustained. Short-term contact will not decrease prejudice.
Social norms favoring equality must be agreed upon by the participants.
Gender refers to the distinctive qualities of men and women. According to Kendall, these qualities are
created by culture. Sex, on the other hand, 'refers to the biological and anatomical differences between
females and males' (Kendall, 2012: 307). As far as sociologists are concerned, gender is the more
significant concept. Andersen and Taylor (2009: 263) believe that gender is 'the socially learned
expectations and behaviors associated with members of each sex'. Sociologists believe that gender is a
social fact. In other words, who we become as men and women is largely determined by cultural
and social expectations. Do you think, given the circumstances in which Genie lived, that she was even
aware of her gender? Since Genie was denied any contact with the world around her, she would find it
difficult to behave as society has come to expect of females.
Having looked at the different sociological perspectives on gender, we will now consider some of
the educational implications. Whichever perspective is used to analyze gender roles in society, one
fact remains: education has become a site where sexual domination operates (Goduka, 1999: 53).
According to Cock (1980: 265), 'in South Africa education has been an important agent of social
control and a crucial means of maintaining class relations'. The teacher's role is to ensure that all
learners break free of gender stereotypes. To this end, Goduka suggests the following guidelines
for gender-fair teaching 0999: 137):
Gender-fair teaching should be continuous and integral to daily instruction.
It must direct attention towards the stereotypes and problems that affect both boys and girls.
It must also be concerned with discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, class, age
and disability.
Gender-fair teaching should be a partnership amongst teachers, parents and community
members.
It is a total process that should involve all aspects of the classroom environment.
It must include both the affective and the cognitive domains.
It must be active and affirmative.
Class: Giddens (1993: 215) defines class as 'a large-scale grouping of people who share common
economic resources [that] strongly influence the types of life style they are able to lead.' Some of
the important aspects of class are as follows:
Class is generally fluid, with the boundaries between classes blurred.
Class is generally achieved and not simply given at birth.
Classes depend on economic differences.
According to Karl Marx in Kendall (2012: 115), class position is determined by our relationship to
the means of production. There are two classes of people in society: the capitalist class (the
(PARAGRAPH- AND ESSAY-TYPE QUESTIONS)
DUE DATE: To be communicated on myUnisa UNIQUE
NUMBER: To be communicated on myUnisa
SECTION A (ESSAY-TYPE QUESTION) [50 marks]
Write an essay in not more than five typed pages (10 marks per page, bibliography
excluded) on the following topic:
Diversity in school context and its impact on classroom practices
Structure your essay as follows:
1. Introduction: Introduce what you intend to discuss in the essay and define your keyterms. (5)
(Page 77)
Diversity refers to unlikeness or to being of a different kind. It refers to a range of differences, it
is about what makes each of us unique and includes our backgrounds, personality, life experiences and
beliefs, all of the things that make us who we are. It is a combination of our differences that shape our
view of the world, our perspective and our approach. The study of diversity includes:
Learning about group differences in the opportunities that are presented by society.
Addressing how different social factors influence social institutions.
The development of group and individual identity.
The process of social change.
2. Body of the essay, in which you should deal with the following:
Discuss the three theoretical perspectives on diversity: Race, class and gender. (20)
Discuss why an understanding of the concepts race, class and gender is essentialand how such an
understanding can assist with classroom practice and insight into learners’ social contexts. (10)
Provide three short, relevant educational examples to substantiate the above point. (10)
Everything is discussed bellow per each perceptive you need to put educational examples for each.
Race refers to a genetically isolated group with distinctive gene frequencies. (Gene frequency
refers to the frequency of occurrence or proportions of different alleles of a particular gene in a
given population. Allele refers to the variant in a gene. The gene frequency is used to depict the
amount of genetic diversity in an
individual.) The social construction of race refers to a process by which people define a group as a
race based on their physical characteristics as well as historical, cultural and economic factors.
According to Andersen and Taylor (2009: 234-235), 'society assigns people to racial categories,
such as Black, White, and so on, not because of science, logic or fact, but because of opinion and
social experience.' This is why it is said that race is socially constructed.
Research has suggested some ways of dealing with racial integration in schools. Naidoo (1996: 11)
says that 'integration requires fundamental changes in personal attitudes and behavior patterns. It
, requires major changes of deep-seated attitudes and behavior patterns amongst learners and
teachers of minority and majority groups.' Rist (1979) contends that integration occurs only when
positive interaction occurs. Soudien and Sayed (2009: 95) assert that 'what counts is not physical
contact but how yielding and open to engagement the universes people are carrying around with
them are.' Similarly, Gurin et al. (2004: 17-3) believe that schools should go beyond simply
increasing their enrolment of students of different racial backgrounds. They maintain that schools
need to pay attention to the quality of their racial climate and the actual interactions amongst
diverse students. Symbolic interactionists make use of the contact theory to argue that interaction
between races reduces prejudice. However, they believe that this will happen if three conditions are
met (Andersen & Taylor, 2009: 243):
The contact must be between individuals of equal status, in other words, the parties must
interact on equal grounds.
The contact between equals must be sustained. Short-term contact will not decrease prejudice.
Social norms favoring equality must be agreed upon by the participants.
Gender refers to the distinctive qualities of men and women. According to Kendall, these qualities are
created by culture. Sex, on the other hand, 'refers to the biological and anatomical differences between
females and males' (Kendall, 2012: 307). As far as sociologists are concerned, gender is the more
significant concept. Andersen and Taylor (2009: 263) believe that gender is 'the socially learned
expectations and behaviors associated with members of each sex'. Sociologists believe that gender is a
social fact. In other words, who we become as men and women is largely determined by cultural
and social expectations. Do you think, given the circumstances in which Genie lived, that she was even
aware of her gender? Since Genie was denied any contact with the world around her, she would find it
difficult to behave as society has come to expect of females.
Having looked at the different sociological perspectives on gender, we will now consider some of
the educational implications. Whichever perspective is used to analyze gender roles in society, one
fact remains: education has become a site where sexual domination operates (Goduka, 1999: 53).
According to Cock (1980: 265), 'in South Africa education has been an important agent of social
control and a crucial means of maintaining class relations'. The teacher's role is to ensure that all
learners break free of gender stereotypes. To this end, Goduka suggests the following guidelines
for gender-fair teaching 0999: 137):
Gender-fair teaching should be continuous and integral to daily instruction.
It must direct attention towards the stereotypes and problems that affect both boys and girls.
It must also be concerned with discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, class, age
and disability.
Gender-fair teaching should be a partnership amongst teachers, parents and community
members.
It is a total process that should involve all aspects of the classroom environment.
It must include both the affective and the cognitive domains.
It must be active and affirmative.
Class: Giddens (1993: 215) defines class as 'a large-scale grouping of people who share common
economic resources [that] strongly influence the types of life style they are able to lead.' Some of
the important aspects of class are as follows:
Class is generally fluid, with the boundaries between classes blurred.
Class is generally achieved and not simply given at birth.
Classes depend on economic differences.
According to Karl Marx in Kendall (2012: 115), class position is determined by our relationship to
the means of production. There are two classes of people in society: the capitalist class (the
