UNI TONE

INTRODUCTI ONTOEDUCATI ONALPSYCHOLOGY

LearningOut comes
Afterstudyingthisunity
oushoul dbeableto:
• Def ineeducat i
onalpsychol
ogy
• I dentif
ysomeoft hetopi
cscoveredineducati
onal
psychol
ogyand
• Just ifytheincl
usionofeducati
onalpsychol
ogyinthet
eachert
rai
ningcour
se.

I
nt r
oduct i
on
Educat i
onalpsy chologyisoneoft hemosti mpor tantcour sesfortrai
ningand
Pract i
si
ngt eacher [Link] i
onalpsy chol ogyi sabr anchofpsy chology,itisquite
l
ogi caltobegi nthedi scussionwithabr i
efl ookatt hemeani ngofpsy chol
ogy .Ast he
discussionpr ogresses,focusi sshif
tedt oeducat ionalpsy [Link]
entv iewson
whateducat ional psychologyisar
edi scussedt ogivet hereaderagoodunder standi
ng
Oft [Link] epresent
ativ
et opicsar ebr i
eflyout l
ined aswedi scusst he
rati
onaleforthei nclusionofeducati
onal psy chologyi nteachert r
aini
ngpr ogrammes.

Definiti
onofpsy chology
Accor dingt oRuthus(inMwamwenda, 1995:1),psychologyis,“…thesciencethatstudies
obser vablebehav iourandment alpr ocesses.”Child(2007)def i
nespsy chol
ogyast he
studyofani malandhumanobser vablebehav iourandment al [Link]
ti
ons
show t hatpsy chologyi sscienti
fi
cwhi chmeanst hatknowl edgei sobt ai
nedthrough
systemat i
c obser vati
on and i sv eri
fi
ed by exper imentation. Another important
i
mpl icationoft hedef i
nit
ionsist hatpsy chologi
stsar econcer nedwi ththest udyof
obser vablebehav iouraswel laspr ocessest hatarenotdi rectlyobservabl
e,suchas
ment al [Link] udyisdonesot hatweunder standhumanbei ngsbetter
.

Defini
ti
onofEducat i
onalPsy chol ogy
Wool f
olk( 1995)i ndicates thatpsy chologist s do notagr ee on whateducat ional
[Link] oupofpsy chologistst hinkst hateducationalpsy chol
ogyi
ssimpl y
knowledgegai nedf rom psy chol ogyandappl iedt oact iv
iti
esoft heclassr
oom (Zindi
,
PeresuhandMpof u,1997) .Whi leitist ruet hateducat i
onalpsy chologyconsi
der
sand
makesuseofpsy chol ogi
calknowl edge,t hev iewbyt hesepsy chologist
ssuggest
st hat
teacherssi
mpl yapplyknowl edgef rom psy chologywhent eaching.
Suchav i
ew doesnotmaket eacher sv erygoodpr acti
ti
onersast heyarether
ejustt o
applyotherpeople’sfindings.

Anothergroup beli
evest hateducati
onalpsy chol
ogyinvol
vesappl yi
ng methodsof
psychol
ogyt othest udyofclassroom pract
[Link]
ngt oBiehlerandSnowman
(2000)someoft hemet hodsusedi neducationalpsy
chologyinclude:casestudi
es,
acti
onr esearch, experi
ment alresearch,part
icipantobservati
on,longitudinalst
udi
esand
ethnographicst udiesamongot [Link] i
ew inmi nd,thet eachermakesuseof
thegivenr esearchmet hodologiesast heyconductt heireverydaydut [Link],t
his
viewignorest hef actthatteacher salsomakeuseofpsy chologicaltheoriesandother
i
mpor tantpsy chologicalfi
ndingswhent eaching.

Thel astgr oupt obel ookedatar guesthateducat i

onal psy chologyi sadi sciplinewi thits
ownt heor i
es,r esear chmet hods,pr oblemsandt echni ques( Wool f
olk,1995) .Thi sview
suggest sthatt heor iesusedi neducat i
onalpsy chol ogyar edi fferentf rom t hoseusedi n
otherar eaofpsy chol ogy .Itappear sast hought heor i
est hatar eusedi nthedi fferent
branchesofpsy chologyar [Link] actiti
oner si nanyar eaofpsy chologysi mpl y
adoptt hoset heor iesandcomeupwi thimpl i
cat i
onsr elevantt ot hatpar ticularar [Link]
howev ertruet hatt her ear et heor i
esthatar ether ef orpossi bleappl i
cat i
oni neducat ion.
Accor dingt o Wool folk( 1995) ,thisv i
ew i sal so concer nedwi thunder standingt he
processoft eachi ngandl earni
nganddev elopingway sofi mpr ovi
ngt hesepr ocesses.
Thisi sav eryi mpor tantaspectofeducat ionalpsy chol ogyasi tgivest het eachert he
platf
or mt ost udyt hei rexper ienceswi ththel earner sandcomeupwi thgener ali
sat i
ons
thatar eusef ult oeducat i
[Link] eachercanal soconductr esear chesr elatedtopupi ls’
l
earningandcomeupwi thessent i
alknowl edge,whi cht heycandev elopi ntot heories.
Thet heor iest hatt het eacherusual l
ywor kswi thar esomet i
mesbasedoncont rolled
researchesi nlabor [Link] eacherisequi ppedwi tht heexper t
iset ost udyhowt o
teachi nt heact ualcl assr oom basi ngont hel abor atoryf i
ndi [Link] eachersdonot
applyt het heoriesbl i
ndly .Instead, t
heyhav et ober eflectiveast heyappl ythet heor i
es.

Itisi
mpor t
anttonotet hattheviewsdi scussedabov ear ebet t
erunderstoodwhent hey
areseenascompl ement ingeachot [Link] mpor tantideascanbeder ivedf rom the
[Link] ogyhasasi t
si mportantaimt heunder standi ngand
i
mpr ovementofeducat i
[Link] heri mpor tantideai st hateducationalpsy chologi
sts
studywhatpeoplethink,doandf eelast heyt eachorl [Link]
soi mpor tantt onote
thateducati
onalpsychologyfocusesont hepsy chologicalstudyofev erydaypr oblems
of educati
on,f r
om whi ch peopl e der iv
e pr inci
ples,model s,t heori
es,t eaching
procedur
esandpr acti
cal waysofi nstructi
on.

TheRel evanceofEducat i
onalPsy chol
ogy
Accor dingtoMnkandl a(1999),asascienceeducat i
onalpsychol
ogypr ov
idespr i
nciples
thatill
umi nat
ecl assroom inst
ructi
onbypr ov i
dingaf rameworkforstudyi
ngt helearning
process,t hel earning si
tuati
on and theeducat ionalsyst
[Link] ough t hest udyof
educat i
onalpsy chologyt heteacheracquiresv it
alknowledgeont hechar acter
isti
csof
l
ear [Link] ners’
characteri
sti
csshoul dbet akenint
oconsiderati
onast het eacher
plansanddel iverslessons.
Fernald and Fernald(2007)assertt hatone oft he majorthemes i
n educational
psychologyis human dev el
opment .Diff
erentaspect s ofhuman devel
opmentt hat
i
nclude:physicaldevel
opment,socialdevel
opment ,languagedevel
opment,personalit
y
development,mor aldevel
opmentand emot i
onaldev elopmentamong ot hers are
studi
[Link] edgeinthediff
erentareasisessentialasitequipst
heteacherwi t
ht he
necessaryski
llsfordeal
ingwit
hlearnersatdiff
erentstagesofdevel
opment.

Anot heri mpor tantt hemei neducat ionalpsy chol ogyconcer nsi ndi vidualdi ff
erences.
Berk( 2003)showst hatchi ldrendi fferi nabst r actt hinki ngabi lit
y ,genet i
cmake- up,
temper ament ,cogni tiv est yl
es,i ntell
igence,l ear ning st y lesand mot ordev elopment
amongot [Link] edgeofway si ndividual sdi fferenabl est het eachert oadj ust
i
nstr uctional progr ammest othei ndivi
dual needsofl ear ner s.
Anot heri mpor t
antt hemei neducat i
onalpsy chol ogy ,accor dingt oMnkandl a(1999)ison
l
earni ngt heor i
[Link] ear emanyt heor i
est hatat temptt oexpl ainhow humanbei ngs
l
[Link] et her ear ecogni tive,behav iourist ,gest altandhumani stlearning
theor i
[Link] i
onalpsy chologyexposest het eachert osucht heor i
eswi ththehope
thatt het eacherwi llappl yt hem i nt het eachi ngandl ear ningpr [Link] ndicated
earl
ieron,t eachersar eexpect edt oref l
ectont hei rpr acticeswi tht heai m ofimpr ov i
ng
ont hepr act i
cesandt heor i
es.
Mot ivationi salsoani mpor t
antt opici neducat ionalpsy chol ogy .Mot ivati
oni sat er m
usedt odescr i
bewhatar ouses,sel ects,di r
ect sorsust ainsbehav i
our .Onemot i
vation
theor ythathasbeenf oundt obev eryusef uli nt eachi ngi sMasl ow’ shi erarchyofneeds
theor [Link] heor yst at esthatneedspupi l
shav edet ermi net heirmot i
v ati
ont olearnor
nott ol ear ninpar ticul [Link] dingt oMasl ow ( inFer naldandFer nald,2007) ,
peopl e’sneedsi ncludephy siologicalneedst hatar ebasi cneedsf orsur vival
,suchas
food and wat [Link] ety needs,l ove and bel ongi ng needs,sel f-
est eem and sel f-
actual i
sat ion,r espect iv el
yar et he ot herneeds i n Masl ow’ s hi erarchy .Onl ywhen
peopl e’s basi c needs ar e metwi l
lt hey st rivet o sat isfy hi [Link] tht he
knowl edgeofMasl ow’ shi erarchyofneeds,i tbecomest het eacher ’sr esponsibil
it
yt o
know t he needs oft he st udent s and ensur et hatt heyar e metas t heydev elop
appr opr i
at eteachingpr ogrammes.

I
nformati
onpr ocessingisanot herimportantt
[Link]
ng
toSolso(2001)i nformat i
onpr ocessi
ngcov ershow memor ywor ks,par t
icul
arlyhow
humanbei ngspr ocessi nfor
mat i
onf rom thesensoryregisterthrought heshor t
-t
erm
memor ytothel ongt erm memor yandhowt heinfor
mationi nmemor yi
sr etri
evedand
[Link] nfor
mat i
onpr ocessingenablestheteachertoappr eciatetheneed
toemploystrategiestoenhancememor yinpupi
ls.
Thelasttopi
cineducat i
onalpsy chologyt obel ookedati nthissectionisassessment.
HusenandPost l
ethwaite( 1994)identif
yf ormsofassessmentt hatincl
udepl acement
assessment, diagnosti
c assessment ,f ormativ
e assessment and summat ive
assessment among ot [Link] gui des the teacher to come up wi th
appropri
atecont
ent,objectives,materi
alsoract i
vi
ti
esoft heinstruct
ionalprocess.I
tis
al
soaconsequenceofassessmentt hatthet eacherwillseetheneedf orremedialwork
orextensi
onwork,thatarelikelytol
eadt ot heeffecti
venessoft heteachi
ngpr ocess.

Summar y
Educati
onalpsy chologyi sabranchofpsy chologythatenablestheteachertost udyand
focusont heneeds, i
nterest
sandpr oblemsoft hechi l
[Link]
onalpsychol
ogymakes
useofknowl edgeofhumanbehav iourand devel opmenti nclassroom interact
ion.
Psychologicaltheories,pri
nci
plesandr esearchmet hodsar eal
soappl i
edreflecti
vel
yi n
educati
on.
Topics thati ncl
ude:human dev el
opment ,indi
vi
dualdi ffer
ences,learni
ng t heor
ies,
mot i
vat
ion,i nformat i
on processing and assessmentamong ot hers,pointt ot he
rel
evanceoft hest udyofeducat i
onalpsychologybycl assr
oom practi
ti
oners.

Sel
f-
assessmentquesti
ons
• Whati seducati
onalpsychol
ogy?
• St at
eanyfivet
opicsthatarecov
eredi
neducati
onalpsychol
ogy.
• Just i
fyt
heincl
usionofanyofthetopi
csi
denti
fi
edinthequesti
onabov
e.

REFERENCES
Berk, L.E.( 2003)Chil
dPsy chology .NewDel hi:Pear sonEducat i
on.
Biehler ,[Link], J.(2000)Psy chologyAppl iedtoTeachi [Link]:
Hought onMi ff
li
nCompany .
Child,D.( 2007)Psychologyandt heTeacher .London: Cassell
.
Fernal d,L. [Link],D.C.(2007)I nt
roductiont oPsy chol
ogy .
NewDel hi:
A.I.
T.B. S.
Husen, [Link] lethwaite,T.N.( 1994)TheI nternationalEncycl
opedi aof
Educat i
on, [Link] k:Per gamon.
Mnkandl a,M.(1999)“TheRel evanceofPsy chologyt oTeachingandLear ni
ng.
”In
Per
esuh, [Link], T.(edit s)Foundat
or ionsofEducat ionforAf r
ica
Har
are:CollegePress.
Mwamwenda, T.S.( Educat
1995) i
onalPsychology:AnAfricanPer spectiv
[Link]:
But
terworths.
Sol
so,R.L.(2001)Cogniti
vePsy chol
ogy .NewDelhi:PearsonEducat ion.
Woolf
olk,A.E.(1995)Educat
ionalPsy chology
.NewJer sey :Prenti
ceHal l.
Zi
ndi,
F.,Peresuh,[Link] u,E.(1997)PsychologyfortheCl assroom- wi
se.
Har
are: Coll
egePr ess.

UNI
TTWO
SOMEBEHAVI
OURI
STLEARNI
NGTHEORI
ES

Lear
ningout comes
Aft
erstudyingthisunit
,youshouldbeableto:
• compar e cl
assi
calconditi
oning and oper
antcondit
ioni
ng,gi
vi
ng necessar
y
exampl es,
• explaintheusefulnessofeachofthetheori
esand
• Discusshowy oucanuseeachoft hetheori
eswhenteachi
ng.

Introduction
Thebehav i
ouri
stschooloft houghtexplai
nslearningintermsofobservabl
easpectsof
behav [Link] i
ourism isalsoexplai
nedint ermsofl inkbetweenast i
mulusanda
response,usual l
yr ef
erredtoast [Link] scussioninthi
sunitfocuseson
three behav i
ourall earni
ng processes:classicalcondi t
ioni
ng,connecti
onism and
oper antcondi t
[Link]
onofeacht heoryi sfol
lowedbyt heexaminati
onofthe
educat ionalimpli
cat i
ons.

PAVLOV’ SCLASSICALCONDI TI
ONI NG
Pavl
ovwasaRussi anpsy chologistwhodev el
opedal earni
ngtheorycalledclassi
cal
condit
[Link]
scal l
edcl assicalconditi
oningbecausei twast hef i
rstofitskind.
AccordingtoTraver
s,Ell
iotandKr atochwill
(1993),Pav
lovreal
isedt
hateacht imehef ed
hi
sdogs,t [Link],int hi
scasewasanuncondi tionedstimul
ust hat
el
ici
tedanuncondi t
ionedresponse( sali
vati
on).

Spri
nthal
l
,Spri
nthal
landOj
a(1994)indi
cat
et hatPav
lovthenpai
redthef
oodwithabel
l
(somethi
ngthatini
ti
all
ydi
dnotelicitanyresponsefrom thedog)
,unti
lthedoggot
condit
ionedtorespondtosali
vat
etothebel
[Link]
sthatt
hedogwoul
dnow
sal
ivat
ei ft
hebellwasrung,
evenint
heabsenceoffood.

Summar yofPav l
ov’
sf i
ndings
I
nit
iall
y( Bef
orecondi t
ioni
ng)
Food----
--
---
--
--
--
--
--
---
--
--
---
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
---sali
vati
on
(uncondit
ionedstimulus) (uncondi
ti
onedr
esponse)
Bell
---
--
--
--
--
---
--
--
--
--
---
--
--
---
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--nor esponse
Duringconditi
oning
BellandFood- --
--
--
---
--
--
--
---
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
---sali
vati
on
Aft
ercondi t
ioning
Bell
---
--
--
--
--
---
--
--
--
--
---
--
--
---
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
-sal i
vati
on

Theexper
imentcanal
sobecal
l
edst
imul
ussubst
it
uti
on,ast
hebel
ltookt
hepl
aceof
thef
ood.

Emanati
ngi ssues
• Rewar ds:Thedogswer esal i
vati
ngbecauset heywer er ewardedwi [Link]
learningt otakepl ace, rewar dsshouldbeusedi nthelearningprocess.
• Gener alisat
ion:Accor dingt oFer naldandFer nald( 2007),thedogal sol earntt o
respondt odi fferentbel lsounds.I timpl i
est hatt hedoghadgener al
isedt he
diff
erentbel l sounds.
• Stimul usdi f
fer entiation:Pav lov(inTr aversetal ,(1993)obser vedthatt hedog
wasabl et odet ectt hedi fferencesbet weenbel lsoundsandot hersoundssuch
ast hehoot er.I tist hisabi l
itytodifferenti
atebet weent wost imulit
hati scal led
stimul usdifferent i
at i
on.
• Extinct i
on:Pav lovl aterr angt hebellf orsomet i
mewi t
houtpr ovi
dingt hef ood
and not ed thatt he dog woul d stop sal i
[Link] ding to Myer s( 1999),
extinctionist heweakeni ngort otaldisappearanceofapar ti
cularbehav i
ourdue
tolackofr einfor cement .Sof orPav l
ov, whateverhasbeenl earntcanbeunl earnt
throughext inct ion.
• Spont aneousr ecov er y
:Pav lov( i
n Fer nal
d and Fer nald,2007)obser ved t hat
extinctbehav ioursomet i
mesr esurf
[Link] hathadst oppedsal i
vatingi n
responset ot hebel l woul dsuddenl ybegi nsali
vat i
ng.

Educat
ionalimpl i
cati
ons
• Stimulit hatar e associ
ated wi
th pl
easantcir
cumstances wi
llbe l
ear
ntand
strengthened.
• Somel earnersmightwantt ocomet oschoolbecauseofthetr
eat
menttheyget
from theirteachers.
 • Tr ansf erlearninginonesi tuati
ont osimil
arandr elated sit
uations.
(sti
mul us
gener ali
sation)
• St udent sshoul dbet r
ainedt orespondappr opriat
elyt othedemandsofdi f
ferent
tasks( stimulusdiff
erentiat
ion).
• Unl esschi l
drenar ereinfor
ced,t heyar eboundt of orgetwhatt heyhav elearnt
throughext i
ncti
on.
• Appr opriater ewards and r ei
nforcementt echni
ques shoul d be used int he
l
ear ningpr ocesstopromot eef f
ectivelear
ning.
• The t eachershoul dt ake advant age ofand r ei
nf orce st
udents’resurfacing
desirablebehav iours.
Youcancomeupwi thmor eeducat i
onalimpl i
cat
ions.

THORNDI KE’SCONNECTI ONISM

Accordingt oWei t
en(1995),Thorndi
kest udiedcats,chi
cks,dogsandmonkey samong
other
s,i nanef forttoestablishsomeuni [Link] i
ndaccurat
e,
preci
seandquant i
fi
abl
emet hodsofi nvesti
gatingandresolvi
ngproblemsrel
ati
ngt o
l
earning.
ToThor ndike,learni
nginvolvesestablishi
ngli
nksorbondsbet weenoramongmany
event
s.( Trav ersetal,1993).Sot oThor ndikelearni
nginvol
vesstampinginbondsor
connectionwhi l
eforget
ti
nginv ol
vesstampi [Link]
mportant
taskofdi scov er
inghowt hebondsarecr eated.

Lawsofl earning
Basi
ngonhi sexper i
ment s,Thor ndi kecameupwi thanumberofl awsofl ear ning, some
ofwhichar egi venbel ow:
• Thel aw ofef fect :
Sprinthal letal( 1993)i ndicat et hataccor dingt ot hel aw of
effect,an actt hatr esulti n sat i
sfact ion wi llbecome associ ated wi t
ht hat
sit
uat i
onsucht hatwheni tr ecurs,theact ionisal sol ikel ytooccur .Inshor t,the
l
awst atest hatasat isfyingact i
oni sr epeat edi nsi mi larsi tuations.I nt hesame
way ,anactt hatr esultsindi scomf orttendst obedi ssoci atedf rom t hesi tuation
sucht hatwhent hesituat i
onr ecurs,theacti slessl ikelyt ooccur .
• Thel aw ofexer cise:Thel aw ofexer ci sest atest hat ,ar esponset oasi tuation
willbemor est ronglyconnect edt ot hatsi tuationi npr opor t
iont ot henumberof
ti
mesi thasbeensoconnect edandt ot hest r
engt hoft heconnect ions.I not her
wor ds,thelawsay sthatt her eisast rongr elationshi pbet weenast i
mul usanda
response asa r esultofpr [Link] act ice makesper [Link] l aw act uall
y
emphasi sest hei mpor tanceofdoi ngandr epetitioni nt hel ear ningpr ocess.
• Thel awofr eadi ness:Tr av ersetal( 1993)asser tt hatt hel awofr eadi nesssay s
thatal earner ’
ssat i
sfact i
oni sdet ermi nedbyhi s/ herr eadiness.I tf ollowst hat,
givenasi tuationwher eal earneri sr eadyt ol ear nandt het eacherpr ovides
 him/ herwi ththeoppor t
unit
yt olearn,thewhol eexper iencewi llbeasat i
sfyi
ng
[Link] heot herhand,ift
hepupi li
snotr eadyt olearny ethe/ sheisf orced,the
resultwi l
lbedi sappoi
nti
[Link] herdi mensi oni st hati sthati fthepupi lis
readyt ol earnbutnotpr ovi
dedwi t
ht heoppor tuni
tyt ol earn,ther esultwillbe
frustration.
• Ot herl awsofl earni
ng:Otherlawsofl ear ni
ng includet hel aw of :selecti
ve
response,r esponsebyanal ogy,mul tipler esponses,associ ativ
eshi f
ting and
spr eadofaf f
ectamongot [Link] outot hel i
braryf ordetailsoft heseand
otherl aws.

Educat
ionalimpl i
cati
ons.
• Thel aw ofexer cisei simpor tantforpupi l
st omast erwhatt heyar est udying.
Pract i
cecanbeencour agedbyt heuseof :dailyexercises,revisionexer cises,
discussion,extensi onwor kandhomewor kbasedonwhathasbeenl earnt.
• Pupi l
s’readinesscanbef acil
it
atedbycont rol
lingwhat everislikelyt oaf f
ectt he
effecti
venessoft heirst udyorat t
[Link] l
s’inter
estmustbear ousedby
appeal i
ngt ot heirent husiasm andpr esentingl essonst hatarei nt eresti
ngand
challenging.
• Itneedst obeemphasi sedt hatrewardingl earners’behav i
oursi smor eef f
ective
thanpuni shingt hem.
• Teacher sneedt opr ovi
desat isfyi
ngandmeani ngfullearni
ngexper iences.
• Althought hel aw ofexer cisecallsforpr acti
ceandr epetiti
onont hepar toft he
l
ear ner,ther epet i
tionsneednotbet houghtlessr epet i
ti
[Link] sshoul d
guar dagainstr otelearning.

SKI
NNER’
SOPERANTCONDI
TIONI
NG

Skinner ’
st echni ques ofi nvest igation hav e been t o a st udyoft he conditi
ons of
behav i
ourofpi geons, dogs, r
atsandmonkey samongot heranimal s,whichhecl ai
mst o
showsi milarproper t
iesinr el
ationt ot helearningpr [Link] di
ngt otheFer nal
dand
Fernald( 2007) ,Skinner ’
sexper iment swer econduct edi nSki [Link] nner
boxesal l
owedhi mt oobser vet her esponsesofav ari
etyofani [Link] i
ment ,
ahungr yratallowedt oexpl oret heboxandwhent her atspont aneouslypressesasmal l
brassl ever,foodi sdroppedi ntoat ray,fortheratt oeat .
Inoper antcondi ti
oning,theani maldoesnotr espondt oar efl
exbutengagesi nsel f
-
selected behav i
our. Vol untary act ions ( operant behav iour)i s r ei
nforced and
strengthened i n oper ant condi ti
oni [Link] Ski nner oper ant condi t
ioni
ng i nvolves
controlli
ngt her esult
sofoper antbehav iour(Wool f
ol k,1995).

Emanat
ingi
ssues
 • Reinf or cement :Thi si st hest rengt heningofbehav i
ourbyt heuseofr einf orcer s.
ToCur zon( 1990) ,reinf or cementi sast imul uswhi chi ncr easest hechancesofa
[Link] ampl e,i fa pupi li sgi ven a posi t i
ve commentaf terdoi ng
somet hi nggood,t hatpupi li sl i
kel yt or epeatt hebehav iourbecauseoft he
posi t
iv ecomment .Theposi ti
v ecommenti st hest imul ust hati ncr easest he
probabi lit
yoft hepupi lr epeat ingt hegoodbehav [Link] f
ol k( 1995)poi nt sout
thatr einfor cementcanbeei therposi tiveornegat [Link] tiver einf or cement
strengt hensbehav iourbypr esent ingaf av our ablest imul usaf tert hebehav iour
hasoccur [Link] eoft heposi t
ivecommentci tedabov ei sani nst anceof
posi t
iv er einf orcement . Negat i
v er einfor cement st rengt hens behav iour by
remov inganunpl easantst imul usaf terthebehav i
ourhasoccur [Link] e,
somemot or ist st ryt oav oidbei ngst oppedatar oadbl ockbycar ryingapol ice
officeri nt hei rv ehi [Link] easantbehav iourt heyar et ryingt oav oi di sbei ng
stoppedatt her oadbl [Link] iourt hatensur est hatt hemot oristi snot
stoppedi s‘ car ryingapol iceof ficer .
’
• Puni shment :Accor di ngt oWool folk( 1995)puni shmenti spr esent edt odecr ease
orsuppr essbehav iour .Puni shmenti susual l
yadmi nist eredaf teranundesi rable
behav iourhasoccur red, wi tht heai m ofweakeni ngt hebehav i
our .
• Schedul esofr einfor cement :
• Cont inuous r einfor cement : My res ( 1999) and Bor ich and Tombar i
(1997) statet hatcont inuousr einfor cementst rengt henadesi redbehav iour
bypr esent i
ngar einf orcereacht imet hebehav i
ouri sdi splay [Link]
tryingt oest abl i
shanewbehav i
our ,itisi mpor tantt or einf orceev eryact ion
int hedi rect i
onoft hedesi redbehav iour .
• Non- cont inuous ori nter mi ttentr einfor cement :Accor di ngt oTr av er setal
(1993)oncet hebehav iourhasbeenest ablished,r einf orcementcanbe
non- cont inuousandt hist akesf ourf orms:
• Fi xedi nter val-r einf orceaf t
err egul artimei nterval s.
• Var i
abl ei nt erv al-r einforceaf terr andom t i
mei nter vals.
• Fi xedr at i
o-r ei nfor ceaf t
erasetnumberofr esponses.
• Var i
abl er atio-r einf orceaf teradi fferentnumberofeacht ime.

Educat
ionalimpl i
cati
ons
• Learningshoul dber egular
lyrewardedandcont rol
ledbytheuseofschedulesof
continuousani ntermit
tentreinfor
[Link] exbehavi
oursareshapedby
rei
nforcing closerappr oxi
mat ions tothe requir
ed behavi
[Link] (1998)
advisest eachersnottoexpectper fectper
formanceofat askbythestudentson
thef ir
stoccasi onandsuggest sthatteachersshoul drei
nfor
cestepsi nthe
dir
ect i
onofmast ery
.
• Whent eachingnew concept s,t eachersneedt ogi v
ei mmediat
efeedbackby
 reinforcingpupi l
s’ responseswi thoutdel ay.
• Fort het eachert obeabl etoshapebehav i
ourappr opri
ately,he/ sheshoul dbe
awar eoft heobj ectivesandt het echni quesofat tainment .Thisi mpl i
cationgives
suppor tt ot hest atementofobj ect ivesi nbehav ioural ter
ms.
Youar eexpect edt ocomeupwi thmor eeducat i
onalimpl ications.
Summar y
Behav i
our i
stsar ei nt erestedi nhow t heenv ironmenti nfluencesani ndivi
dual ’
sov ert
behav i
our.I ncl assi calcondi ti
oning,Pav lovt rainedadogt osal i
vatet oabel lbefore
maki ng concl usions showi ng the impor tance of :r ewar ds,st i
mul us gener ali
sation,
sti
mul usdi f
ferent iation, extincti
onandspont aneousr ecov eryamongot her
[Link] ndike,
whoconsi deredl ear ningasest abli
shi ngbondsbet weenev ents,cameupwi thlawsof
l
ear ni
ngwhi chi ncl udet hel awsof ; exer cise,r eadinessandef fectamongot hers,on
thebasisofexper i
ment sheconduct edwi thani [Link] nnerconduct edexper i
ment sin
Skinnerboxesi n whi ch an ani mal’soper antbehav iouri sr [Link] nnert hen
concludedt hatpuni shmentandr ei
nf orcementcanbeusedt oweakenandst rengthen
behav i
oursr espect [Link] nnernot est hatr einfor
cementcanbeposi ti
veornegat iv
e
andei t
hercont inuousornon- conti
nuous.
Selfassessmentquest ions
andoper antcondi t
ioni ng
• I dentifyanddi scussanyf ourofThor ndi ke’sl
awsofl earning.
• Whateducat ional impl i
cati
onscanbedr awnf rom oper antcondi t
ioni
ng.

REFERENCES
Borich,[Link] i
, M.L.( 1997)Educat i
onalPsychology:ACont empor ary
[Link] k:Longman.
Curzon, L.
B.(1990)Teachingi nFur therEducat i
on:AnOut li
neofPr i
nciplesand
[Link]:Holt,
Rinehar tandWi nston.
Berk,L.E.(2003)Chil
dPsy chology .NewDel hi:PearsonEducation.
Dembo, M.H.(1998)ApplyingEducat i
onalPsy [Link] k:Longman.
Fernald,[Link],
D. C.(2007)I [Link] hi
:
A.I
.T.B.S.
My r
es, D.G.(1999)Explor
ingPsy chol [Link] k:WordsPubl i
shers.
Sprinthall
,N.A.,
Spri
nthall
,[Link] a,N. S.
(1994)EducationalPsychology:A
Development [Link]:McGr awHi ll.
Travers,J.F.
,Ell
iot
,andKrat ochwi l
l,
T. R.(1993)EducationalPsychology:Effecti
ve
 Teaching,Eff
[Link]
ord:BrownandBenchmar k.
Wei
ten,W.(1989)Psy chology:ThemesandVar iat
[Link]
if
orni
a:Belmont
.
Woolf
olk,
A.E.(1995)Educat i
[Link]:
Prent
iceHall
.

UNI
TTHREE

LANGUAGEDEVELOPMENTANDACQUI SITION
Int
roduction
I
tisimpor t
antt orevisitt heoriesofl anguageacqui siti
onanddev el
opmentast heyr el
ate
toEarlyChi ldhoodDev elopment .Languagei sman’ smostpr eci
ouspossessi on,notonl y
becauseoft heroleitpl ay singener ati
ngknowl edge, butal
soitgivesrisetonewf orms
ofbehav iour .Tothisef fect ,mani sessent i
all
yasy mbolusi ngbeing, t
husenabl i
nghi m
tocreatef orhi mselfani nnerr epresentationofwhathehasexper i
[Link] eov er,t
his
i
nternali
zat ionenabl eshi mt oconst r
uctf orhimsel f“ apastandaf utur
e,ar etr
ospect
andapr ospect ”(Behr ,1975) .Fort hi
sr eason,languagedev el
opmentbecomesoneof
the exper i
ences t hata chi l
d goes t hrough ashe gr ows from bi r
tht o adulthood.
Psychologi stswoul dt her eforewantt of indouthowl anguageisacqui redandi tsef f
ect
upont hegr owi ngchild.
UnitObject ives
Bytheendoft hisunit,y oushoul dbeabl et o:
• Def i
ne“ l
anguage”and“ communi cat i
on”.
• Out l
inet hemai nar gument sembeddedi nthel anguageacquisiti
ontheor i
es.
• Expl ain whaty ou woul d consi dert o be maj orelement s ofa successf ul
 acquisit
ionoflanguage.
• Compar eandcont rastSkinnerandChomsky’stheoryoflanguageacqui sit
ion.
• Discusst hemaj orideasofPi agetwit
hr egardst other el
ati
onshipbet ween
l
anguageandt hought.
• Describe factors af f
ecti
ng language dev el
opment and t heir educational
i
mpl i
cations.
• Discusshowt hesoci alenvi
ronmentaff
ectslanguagedev el
opment .
• Assesshow at eacherpr omotesaconduci vesocialenv i
ronmentforl anguage
developmentint hesecondaryschool.

Def iningLanguage
Accor dingt oBr own( 1965)i nGr oss( 2005: 320), l
anguagei sasetofar bi t
rarysy mbol s:
--
--whi ch,t aken t oget her,make i tpossi bl ef ora cr eat ure wi thl imi ted power s of
discr i
mi nat i
onandal i
mitedmemor yt ot ransmi tandunder st andani nf i
nitev ari
etyof
messagesandt odot hisinspiteofnoi seanddi stracti
on.
Thi s‘ i
nf initev ar i
etyofmessages‘i scal l
edpr oductivity,whi chKuczajandHi l
l(2003)
descr i
beast hemosti mportantchar act er i
sticoft hehumanl anguage.
Lahey( 1978)seesl anguageasacodewher ebyi deasaboutt hewor l
d ar ebei ng
repr esent edt hroughaconv entionofar bi tr
ar ysignalsf orcommuni [Link] ecan
forml anguageanyt imeasl ongast heyagr eeont hemeani ngofcommuni cat i
ve
symbol [Link] er,languagecanbev erbalornon- verbalandani ndi vidualcanuse
eitheroft het wo dependi ng on t hesi t
uat i
[Link] erbalonei sspeech and t his
different iateshumansf r
om ot hercr eat ures.I nv i
ew oft hi s,t hequest i
ont oaski s
whet herornothumanshav esomet hi nguni queorspeci alt hatenabl est hei ndivi
dualt o
acqui r el [Link] hisquest ion, letusexami neaf ewt heor iesandseewhat
theysayaboutl anguageacqui siti
on.
Theor iesofLanguageAcqui sit
ion
Behav iour istTheor i
es
Accor dingt ot heBehav i
ourist
,l anguagei sl earntf r
om t heenv ironmentj ustl i
keany
otherbehav iour .Skinner( 1957) ,cit
edi nNashetal( 1990) ,ar guest hatachi ldacqui res
verbalbehav iourbysel ectivereinforcement .Thismeanst hatachi ldacqui reslanguage,
thati s,soundorwor ds,asar esul tofr einforcementbyt hosear oundhi m orher .
AlthoughSki nneradmi tsthatt hepr e-lingui sti
cv ocalizationsar ei nnat e,hear guest hat
thepar entr ei nforcesappr opri
at ev ocal ization,suchaswhent hechi l
dsay s‘dada’or
‘
mama’ orsomet hingt hatissimi lart ot hepar entsoundsl ike‘ dada’ or‘mama’ (Twining,
1998) .Thr oughsel ectivereinforcement ,thechi l
dpr oducesf urtherv ocal i
zationst hat
soundl iket hosespokenbypeopl ear oundhi [Link] hesamet oken, thesoundst hatt he
childbabbl esbutdonotsoundl i
ket hel anguagespokenar ound, dropawayduet ol ack
ofr einf or cement .Thus,t hroughshapi ng,t hechi l
dlear nshi s/herear lyv ocabul ary,the
samegoeswi t
hphr asesandsent [Link] nationst hatsoundt obecor rectar e
r
ewar
ded,whil
sti
ncor
rectcombi
nat
ionsofwor
dsar
efi
rstcor
rect
ed,t
heni
mit
atedand
t
henr
ewarded.

Int hesamev iew,t hr oughst imul usgener alization,t hechi ldi sabl et ousesent ence
pat ternapar tf rom t hoset heyhav ebeenr ei nforcedt ouseorsay .Throughst imul us
discr i
mi nat i
on,t hechi ldi sabl et odi fferent iatewhatt osayandi nwhatsi tuationsi n
accor dancet osoci al appr ov al from t hosear oundhi m.
Limi tati
onsoft heBehav iour i
stTheor y
Whi lstt heBehav i
our istl ear ningt heor yhaspr ov i
dedabasi sf ort heexpl anat ionof
l
anguageacqui siti
on,i tal sof ai l
st oexpl ainhow somecompl exl anguageski l
lsar e
acqui [Link] ning( 1998)ci t
esBr own( 1973)andNel son( 1973)whodemonst rateda
numberoff lawsoft heBehav iour i
stst heor [Link] e,theBehav i
ouristscl aimt hat
childrenl earnwor dsandsent enceconst ruct i
onst hatt heyhav ebeenr einforcedby
par ents, howcomet heysayt hingst hathav enev erbeenr einforcedbyt heirpar ents?For
exampl e,Br own( 1978)suggest st hatpar ent sr einforcet he‘tr
ut h’ofachi ldst atement
rathert hant hecor rectgr ammarorsy ntax .Thus,‘ Idr inkedmymi l
k’isl i
kel yt obe
reinforceddespi t
ei tsgr ammat icali naccur acy .Nel son( 1973)al sodemonst ratedt hat
children,whosepar entsst rictlycor rectt hei rpoorpr onunciation,dev el
opv ocabul ar y
mor esl owl yt hanchi l
dr enwhosepar ent sar emor et ol
[Link] hercr i
ti
cismsoft he
l
ear ningt heoryar et hat :
• I ti sunabl et oexpl aint hef actt hatchi l
dr en’sl anguagedev elopsi nmucht he
samewayacr osscul tur esandsoci et ies.
• Ther ei snosat isfact or ybehav i
our alexpl anat i
onf orthei rregularrateatwhi ch
chi ldrenacqui rel anguage.
• I tcannotal so expl ain how chi l
dren oradul t s can recogni ze the di ff
er ence
bet weencompl exsent enceswheni ti scor rectandwheni ti sincorrect( Twi ning,
1998) .

TheCogni vi
stPerspect iveonLanguageAcqui si
tion
Accordingt oPiaget ,thechil
d’sphy sicali
nteract
ionwi t
ht heenvir
onmenti st hebasisfor
l
anguageski l
[Link] eason,Piagetv i
ewsl anguageaspar tofthechildren’semer ging
cogniti
veabi li
ti
[Link] guest hatlanguagei sacl uet ot hecompl exi
tyofl evelofone’s
cogniti
vest [Link] fachi ldcannotar t
iculateeffect
ively,itshowst he
chil
d’scogni ti
vest ructuresarenoty etful
lydev eloped,ort hechi l
disnoti ntell
i
[Link]
otherwor ds,wor dsar esimplysy mbolst hatrepr esentunder l
yi
ngcogni [Link]
i
ll
ustratet hi
s,Piagetsay shisconcept sofassi mi l
ationandaccommodat ioni srel
evant
tolanguageacqui siti
on.I nassi milati
on,thechi ldisabl et or epr
esentaser i
esof
experi
encesusi ngasi nglewor de. [Link] mal scouldbecowsordogs.
Simil
arly,new exper i
encesofev entsofwhi chther earenosy mbol sar el i
kelytohav e
wordsat tachedt othem, whichisaccommodat i
[Link], accordi
ngt oPi aget ,
thoughtis
basi
ctol
anguageacqui
sit
ion,t
hatis,t
houghtprecedesl
[Link]
smeanst
hechi
l
d
i
sunli
kel
ytobeabl
etosayt hi
ngsthathecannotconcept
uali
ze.

I
nconcl usion,accordi
ngtoPiaget,languageisactual
lyaf unctionoftheinteract
ionof
theenv i
ronmentandmat urat
ionalthoughtprocessesandt hef unct
ionsaresy mboli
zed
throughlanguage.
Othercogni t
ivi
stssuchasBrunerandVy got
skyagreewi t
hPi agetonhow l anguageis
acquiredbutdifferwit
hhi
m ont herelati
onshipbet
weent houghtandl [Link]
readmor eaboutt hei
rar
gument swhenwecomet othesect i
onunder‘ t
houghtand
l
anguage’ .

Lenneber g’s(1967)Bi ological Theory

Accor dingt ot hebiologicalt heory,humanbei ngsar enat urall
yendowedwi thl anguage
maki ngpr oducingf unctions,f orexample,humanbei ngshav eav ocalt r
actandot her
[Link] sohav especiali
zedbr ai
ncent rest hatar eexcl usivelysetf or
thepur [Link] g(1967)ci t
edbyChi ld( 1973) ,ar guest hatacross
cult
ur es,humansacqui r
espeechbot hquant i
tati
velyandqual i
tat i
velyint hesameor der.
Further mor e,theacqui sit
ionofspeechacr ossculturesisgener all
yaccompl ishedbyt he
ageei ghteen;wher eas,speechcanbel earntwi thmuchdi ffi
cul tyaf teragesi xteen.
Lennenber g( 1967)pr oposeswhathecal lsa‘ cr
iti
calagehy pot heses’ofwhi chspeech
functionsar esupposedt obeacqui r
edf ai
rlyeasil
[Link] ondt hisper iod,whenonehas
neverbeenexposedt ot hel anguageenv ir
onment ,itwillbedi f
ficultforonet oacqui re
l
[Link] ant i
atet his,LenneberginEl l
i
ot( 1981)cl aimst hatpeopl ewhohav e
notlear nedt ospeakbypuber tyarenotli
kelytodoso,andl ear ningaf oreignl anguage
i
sal sohar derandf oll
owsadi ffer
entlear
ningpat t
ernaf terpuber ty.

Psycho-Linguist
icTheor yorNat i
v i
stTheor ybyNaomi Chomsky( 1965)
Chomsky( 1965)seescondi tioningorr einfor
cementasanext remel ylaboriousmet hod
oflearningalanguagei fitisf ollowedt ot heletterandhasdi ffi
cultyaccount ingf orthe
speedwi thwhichchi l
drenlear nt ousesent encef orms,whi char esy ntacti
callyquite
compl [Link],t hetheorypr esumest hatther earesomel inguisticuniversalswhi ch
arebasi csyntacti
cf or
mscommont oalllanguagese. [Link],v erbs,phr aseset c.
Tot hisef f
ect
,thet heoryar guest hatallnormalchi ldrennaturall
yacqui retheirnat i
ve
l
anguagebecausel anguagei snotaski llthatist [Link] hingt hatbiologically
developsorunf ol
dsoni t
sown.I not herwor ds,t herear einnatel anguageacqui siti
on
devices( LAD)thataut omat icall
yunf [Link] ngsar esor tofwi r
edorhav ean
i
nher entcapabil
itytomast ert heirownl anguage( Ell
i
ot ,
1981) .

Chomsky,(
1967)arguesthatnati
vespeaker
s(speaki
nglanguageoft
hemot hertongue)
havel
ingui
sti
ccreati
vit
yt hatenabl
esthem tounderst
andandpr oducesentencesof
theirl anguaget hatt heyhav eneverheardbef [Link] hemast eryofone’ slanguage
dependsoni [Link] e,weof t
enhearchi l
drenofabout2t o3y earsol d
saying,“ Idiggedt hegar den”or“Ieatsadzay ester
day ”
.Noadul twoul dspeaki nt his
waybutchi l
drencomeupwi ththesefreshconst r
uctionsshowi ngt hattheyar esor tof
i
nher entl
ywi redt opr oducesomegr ammat icalconst r
uctionsoft [Link]
i
llustratet hi
sf urther,thet heor
ypr esumesadeepst r
uctureofl earningandt hought,
whi cht hroughsomet r
ansf or
mationwillr
esultinsurfacestructure, whichist heordinary
sent encewehear .

Cri
tici
sm againstChomsky ’sTheory
Chomsky ’stheoryiscr i
ti
cizedforhav i
ngpl ayeddownt her ol
eoft heenv i
ronmenti n
l
anguagel earni
ngcl aimingt hatwidedi f
ferencesinsoci albackground,richnessof
sti
mul at
ion orcul t
ur alor i
gin,chil
dren allmast era setoff undamentall i
nguist
ic
str
ucturesbyr oughlyt [Link] rentev i
denceindicatesthatdi
ff
erencescanbe
shownwhi chdependonwhet herthechildhassi bl
ings(andi fsowhetherthef i
rstborn
orat win);sexofthechi l
dandsoci o-economi cbackgroundoft [Link]
i
nfluencebot hthequant it
ativeandqualit
ativeacquisi
ti
onofl anguage.

Ont hewhol e,Chomsky ’

st heor ydoesnotpr ov ideat heoryofl anguageacqui siti
on
becausehef ailstoexpl aint hedev elopmentoft hespeci f
icpr opertiesoft hel anguage
thechi ldi sl ear ning( Ell
iot ,1981) .
TheSoci al Lear ningTheor yofLanguageAcqui sition-Bandur a’sTheor y
Accor di ngt ot hesoci allear ningt heory,childrenl ear nlanguaget hroughobser v ati
onof
otherpeopl espeaki ngi t,[Link] oughi [Link] smeans,i fchi l
drenar ebor nf r
om
parent st hatar edeafanddumb,t hesechi ldrenf ailt oacqui relanguage,ast heydonot
enjoyt hepr ivilegeofi mi [Link] om t hef oregoi ng,i tisev i
dentt hatchi ldrencanonl y
l
ear nal anguagei ntheear l
yst agesoft heirdev elopmentwhent heyheari [Link] s
meanst hatt hel anguageenv ironmenti nwhi cht hechi ldgr owsupandpar ticularlythe
patter noft hemot her-chi l
dconv ersati
ons,i sofpar amounti mpor [Link] etzky,
(1988)suggest sthemot herwhopr ovidessi mpl eexpl anationsi nanswert ot hemany
quest ionsposedbyherchi ld,di scussest her easonsf orandt helikelyresul tsofcer tai
n
decisions, playsgamesi nv olvingl anguageusage, andsoon, setsal ingui sti
candsoci al
environmentadv antageoust oherchi l
d.
Toi llust ratet hei nfluenceofsoci alinteractiononl anguagedev el
opment ,Ber nstein,
(1962)ci ted i nNashetal ,(1990)hasexami ned t hei nfluenceofsoci alcl asson
l
anguagest y l
esanddi stinguishesbet weenr estrictedcodesandel abor atedcodesof
communi cat [Link] ri
ct edCodecommuni cationst endt obebr iefandl ackspeci fi
c
i
nfor mat ionandar eusedbywor kingcl asspeopl e,wher easel aborat edcodesar e
charact erizedbyst atement s,whi char emor epr eci seandal l
owt heexpr essi onofmor e
extensi v eandcompl exconcept sandt hought sandar eusedbymi ddl eandupper
classes,(Bernstei
n,1962).Ber nst ei
n,(1962)ar guesthatt hesecodesaf f
ectthechild’s
dev elopi
ngpat t
ernandst yl
eorcommuni cat ion.
Inv iew oftheabov ediscussions,Gr oss( 2005)haspr oposedsomeal t
ernati
vest oall
theset heori
[Link] ntsoutt hatrecent l
y,t herehasbeenagr owingacceptancet hat
neitheroper antconditi
oningnornat ivi
stappr oachesof fersacompl eteaccountof
l
anguagedev el
[Link], anintegratedv iewmai ntainsthat:
• Chi l
drencannotacqui r
el anguageunt i
lanappr opriat
emat urat
ionallevelhas
beenreached,butthat
• Language dev elopmenti s mor e cl oselyr el
ated t o envi
ronmentalinputand
cognit
ivedevel
opmentt hanChomskypr oposes.

Activi
ty7(a)
• Def ine“ language”and“ communi cat i
on”i npr i
mar yschool .
• Out linet hemai nar gument sembeddedi nthel anguageacqui sit
iont heori
es.
Whatdoy ousayar et hemaj ordi fferences?
• Whati ny ouropi nionwoul dy ouconsi dert obemaj orelement sofasuccessf ul
acqui sit i
onofl anguageatear l
yst agesofchi l
dhooddev el
opment ?
FactorsAf fect ingLanguageDev elopment
Hav i
nggonet hr ought het heoriesofl anguagedev el
opment ,whatcanwesayar ethe
factorsofl anguagedev elopment ?
• Soci al env ir
onment
Thisdoesnotonl ydeci del anguagedev elopmentbuti talso decidesl anguage
pecul i
ar iti
es.
• Li ngui st i
cabi li
tyandone’ ssoci o-economi cstatus.
(RememberBer nstein’stheor yofr estrictedandel aboratedcodes)
• Pur poseofl anguage( mot i
v ati
on)
Ther eisadesi ret olear nthel anguage; t
hepr ocessisobv iouslyeasierthanwhent he
requirementi si nsomewayi [Link] eforechildrenshoul dbeencour agedto
usesoci alizedspeech.
• I ntel l
igence
Resear cher shav efoundaposi t
ivecor rel ati
onbet weenl i
ngui st
icabil
it
yandi nt
elli
gence.
(RememberPi aget ’
st heor yaboutl anguageandt hought).
• Bi lingual ism (Lear ningoft wol anguages)
Bil
ingualism mayaf fectlanguagedev el opment .Thel earningofasecondl anguagemay
i
nterferewi tht hemot hert onguer esul t
ingi nretar di
ngdev elopment .
• I mi tat i
on
Behav i
our ist sbel i
evet hatchi ldrendev elopl anguaget hroughi mitati
ngt hosear ound
them.
• Psy chol ogical Factor s
Achi l
dwhoenj oysper fectheal thandact i
veint eracti
onswi t
hot her
sisl i
kelytodev el
op
f
ast
ert
hanonewhodoesnot
.

Act i
v i
ty7( b)
• Descr ibe f act or s af fecting language dev el opmentand di scuss educat ional
i
mpl i
cat i
onsatpr imar yschool l
ev el.
• Di scusshow t hesoci alenv ir
onmentaf fectsl anguagedev el
opmenti npr i
mar y
school .
• How doesat eacherpr omot eaconduci v e,soci alenv ironmentf orl anguage
dev elopmenti nschool s?
LanguageandThought
Ther elat i
onshi pbet weenl anguageandt houghthasbeent hesubj ectofmuchr esear ch
anddebat ebypsy chol ogist si nmanypar tsoft hewor ld.
Behr ,( 1975)t akest hev iewsofPi agetandVy got skyaspar t
icular l
ynot ewor thy ,and
concer nt henot ionsofegocent ricandsoci alizedspeechf oundi ny oungchi ldren.I n
egocent r i
cspeech,Behr( 1975)expl ai
ns,t hechi l
dt alkst o himsel fandmakesno
attemptt ocommuni cat ewi thot hers.I nsoci alizedspeech,howev er,t her ei scl ear
i
ntent iont ocommuni cat ei nor dert ocauseorper suadet hel i
st enert oadoptsome
cour seofact [Link] hr eey ear sofage,abouthal fachi l
d’sut t
er ancesar eegocent ri
c
andbyt heageofsev en, tendt odi sappear .
Accor di ngt oPi aget ,egocent r
icspeechi ssi mpl yanaccompani mentt ot hechi l
d’s
actionsandser vesnoot herpur posebecauset hespeechoft hepr e-schoolchi ldi s
cent eredont hechi ld’sownpoi ntofv [Link] agetsaw t helackofsoci aladapt ation
char act eristi
cofegocent r i
cspeechassi mpl yar ef lect i
onoft het houghtpr ocessesof
the y oung chi l
[Link] s emphasi zes Pi aget’s not i
on t hatl anguage pr imar il
yr eflects
thought sanddoesnotshapei t( Ell
iot,1981) .Behr( 1975)ci tesPi aget’sst at ement
whi chsay s,“Languagei snotenought oexpl aint hought ,becauset hest ruct ur est hat
char act erizethoughthav et hei rrootsinact i
on”.
Vygot skyagr eedwi tht hi snot iont hategocent r
icspeechwasat ransitionalspeech
phenomenon,butwhi l
ePi agetsawi tasachar acter isticofani mper f
ect lysoci alphase
oft hechi ld’sdev elopmentsoont odisappear ,Vy got skysawi tasbei ngapr ecur sort o
verbalt hough( Elli
ot ,1981) .Hesaw l anguageandt houghtashav i
ngi ndependent
ori
gi nsandseesv erbalt houghtashav ingasoci alor igin,andt hisnot i
onl eadshi mt o
proposet hatt houghtdev elopmenti sdet erminedbyl anguagei .[Link] hel i
ngui stict ools
oft houghtandbyt hesoci o-cul turalexper i
enceoft hechi l
[Link] smeanst hataccor ding
to Vy got sky,t he i nter nal ized speech,i n whi ch t he chi l
d can t hink wor ds wi t
hout
pronounci ngt hem, f aci l
itat eshi st houghtpr ocesses.

Bruner(1966)cont
endsthatwhil
esomemi nimum l
evelofmentalgrowthi
snecessary
beforel
anguagecanbeacquiredoncethel
att
erisi
nuse,itr
efi
nesthought(
Behr,1975).
WhilstPiagett
houghtt
hatthatdevel
opmentofl
ogi
calthoughti
sduet otheacquisi
ti
on
ofoper ationsr athert hanlanguage,Br unerar guest hatt hecogni tiveleapi sduet ot he
dev elopmentofl anguage( Dworet zky ,1988) .Br unerconsi derslanguageandl ogi cal
thinkingi nsepar [Link] guest hatwi thoutl anguageorasi mi larsor tofsy stem,
humant houghtwoul dbel i
mi tedt owhatcoul dbel earnedt hroughact i
onsori mages.
Sincel ogicalt hi nkingi sbasedonl anguageandt her ulesofgr ammar ,accor dingt o
Bruner , i
tmeanst hatcogni tivedev elopmentcanbesi gnifi
cant l
yaccel eratedbyt raining
i
nt heuseofsy mbol [Link] sreason, hear guest hatl anguagebegi nstohav eanef fect
ear l
yi nthechi ld’slifewhennamedobj ectsbecomemor eclearlyimagi nedandr ecal l
ed
byy oungchi l
dr ent hanobj ectswi [Link],f orBr uner,languagef ormst he
basi suponwhi chanunder st andingoft hewor ldcanbebui l
t.
Mor eev idenceont her el
ationshi pbet weent houghtandl anguagewaspr esent edby
Fur t
h( 1965)ci t edbyBehr( 1975) .Fur th(1965) ,wor kingwi thdeafchi l
drenshowedt hat
thoughtcanoccurwi t
houtl [Link] oundt hatt heper formanceofsev erelydeaf
childrenonnon- v
er balintelli
gencet estitemswasnotmuchdi fferentf rom t hatof
hear ing chi ldren.I n hi sv iew,up t o 12 or14 y ear s ofage,t he basi c abili
tyt o
concept ualize and r eason i slar gelyi ndependentand mai nlyt he out come oft he
exper ienceofl iv i
ng.

Acti
vity7( c)
• Di scuss how l anguage i nfl
uences cogni ti
v e dev elopmentofpr imar yschool
chi l
dren.
• Ev aluat ecogni tivists’v i
ewsoff act
orsaf f
ect i
ngl anguagedev elopment .
• Cr it
ically exami ne t he cont roversi
es sur roundi ng t he r elati
onshi p bet ween
languageandt hought .
• Whateducat ionalpr ogr ammescanat eacherputi npl acet oi mprov el anguage
dev elopmentofpr i
mar yschool chi
ldren?
Summar y
Theuni tdi scussedl anguageacqui sit
ionandst ar t
edbydef ini
ngl anguageasacodeof
symbol st hatgi vemeani ng t o acommuni cat ion.A numberoft heor i
eswer eal so
examinedwi tht hecogni tivistsst r
essingt heneedf ori ntell
ectualgr owthandsoci al
i
nteractionast hemai nf actor [Link]
ngui stssuchasChomskyar guet hathumans
haveani nher entcapaci tyt oacqui r
et heirnat ivel anguagesacr osscul t
ures,whi lst
Behaviour i
stssuchasSki nnerandBandur abel i
evet hatl anguagei sl earntt hrough
envir
onment alf orcesofr einforcementandmodel ingr espect i
[Link] orsaf fecti
ng
l
anguagedev elopmentwer eident i
fi
edast hesoci alenv ironment ,linguisticabi lit
yand
one’s soci o-economi c st atus,mot ivati
on int elli
gence,i mi t
at i
on and psy chol ogical
fact
[Link] gumentsur roundi ngther el
ationshi pbet weenl anguageandt houghti s
sti
llunr esolv ed butmanymoder n psychologi stst hi
nk t hatl anguage dev elopment
faci
li
tatest houghtpr [Link] rueexplanationofl anguagedev elopmentwi llrequi rea
combi nat i
onofi nnat eandenv i
ronment alfact ors,andsor esear cher sneedt ol ook
beyondt
hei
rfav
our
it
etheor
iesandconsi
deral
lpossi
bleexpl
anat
ions(
KuczajandHi
l
l,
2003)

References
Behr,A. L.(1975)Psy chologyandt [Link]
ban,But
terwort
hs.
Chil
d, D.( 1981)Psy chologyandt heTeacher.
London,Hol
t,Ri
nehartandWinston.
rd
Dwor etzky ,J.P.(1993)Psy chology3 edn, NewYork,WestPubli
shingCo.
GibsonJ. T.( 1980)Psy chologyfort heClassr
oom [Link] sey,
Prent
iceHall
Inc.
th
Gross, R.( 2005)Psy chology:TheSci enceofMindandBehav i
our.
5 Editi
on,
London,HodderAr nold

Kuczaj
,S.
[Link]
l
,H.
M.( 2003)Devel
[Link]
ord,
Bl
ackwel
lPubli
shing.

NashE,StockBandHar per 1990)HumanDev

,G.( el
opment,CapeTown,Jut
aandCo
Ltd.
Skinner
,B. 1958)Essent
F.( ial
sofEducat
ionalPsy
chol
[Link]
ewoodCl
if
fs,Pr
ent
ice-
Hal
lI
nc.

Twi
ning, 1988)Successi
K.( nPsy
chol
ogy
.London,
JohnMur
rayPubl
i
sher
sLt
d.

UNI
TFOUR
SOMECOGNI
TIVEDEVELOPMENTTHEORI
ES
Lear
ningOut comes
Aft
erstudyingthi
ssectionstudentsshoul
dbeableto:
• descr i
bePiaget’
s,Bruner’
sandAusubel’
stheori
esofcogni
ti
vedevel
opment,
• compar eandcont rastanytwoofthetheor
iesand
• discusstherelevanceofeachofthetheori
estotheZimbabweanpri
maryschool
.

I
ntr
oduct
ion

Themoder nstudyofcogni ti
onisconcer nedwi thment alprocessessuchasper ceiving,
remember ing,decidingandpr oblem- solvingamongot [Link] tiveperspect iv
e
developedpar tial
lyinr eacti
ont ot henar rownessoft hebehav iour
istS- Rpar adigm.
Mwamwenda( 1995)def i
nescogni t
ivedev elopmentt hedev elopmentofani ndividual’
s
mentalcapaci tyt o engage i n:t hinking,r easoning,i nterpreti
ng,under standi ng,
knowledgeacqui siti
on,r emember ing,or gani singinformation,anal ysisandpr obl em-
solv
[Link] t,cogni ti
vedev elopmentr efer stoqualit
ati
vechangest hatt akepl acein
people’s abil
it
ies t o or gani
se i nformat ion,t hink and reason l ogical ly
,under stand
conceptsandsol vepr oblemsAspeopl echangef ort
hebet terintheat tributesi
dent if
ied,
theywoul dbedev elopingcogni ti
[Link] ewhoar eatahi gherl ev elofcogni tiv
e
developmentar elikelyt osol veapr oblem bet terthanthosest il
latal owerlev elof
cogniti
vedev el
opment .Thisdiscussi onf ocusesont hecogni tiv
edev el opmentt heor i
es
byPiaget,BrunerandAusubel andt heireducat i
onali
mpl i
cations.

PI
AGET’
STHEORYOFCOGNI
TIVEDEVELOPMENT

Todev el
ophi stheoryofcogni t
ivedevelopment,Piagetaskedchildrenofdi f
ferentages
questi
onswi ththeaim ofdeterminingthequali
tyoft heirr
esponsesandt opr obeforthe
reasonsfortheanswer s(RyanandCooper ,1984).Itisaf t
ersuchst udiesthatPiaget
cameupwi thhi stheoryofcogni t
ivedev el
opment .Piaget(i
nWool f
olk,1995)asserts
thatourthinkingpr ocesseschangesl owl yfr
om bi rt
ht omat ur
ityandi dentifi
esfour
factor
sthatinteracttoinf
luencechangesi ncognit
ion.

Fact
orst
hatI
nfl
uenceCogni
ti
veDev
elopment

ForPiaget ,matureintel
l
igentbehaviouristheabil
itytoreasonandt hinkcri
ti
call
yin
Objective,abst r
actand hy pot
[Link] f
olk( 1995)i ndi cat
es thatPiaget
i
dentifies fourfactorst hatint
eractt oi nfl
uence cogni ti
ve dev elopmentand t hese
ar bi
e: ologicalmat urati
on,act i
vit
yi nt he phy si
calwor ld,soci alexperience and
equil
ibrati
[Link] ourfactorswor ktogether;noneoft hef act
orswor ksinisol
ation.
Aggarwal( 1994) descr i
bes mat urati
on as t he unf oldi
ng of bi ol
ogi
calchanges
geneticall
ypr ogrammedi neachindi v
[Link]
ont her efor
er ef er
stot hegrowth
patternst hatt akeplacei nindivi
dualsasar esul toft heirgenet i
cmake- [Link] dingto
Wool folk( 1995)act iv
ityreferstothecapabi l
i
tyt oactont heenv ir
onmentandacqui re
knowl edgef rom i t
.Peopl e’sment alprocessesar eal tered and dev el
oped ast hey
explor e,test,obser veand or gani
sei nf
or mat i
on ast heyi nteractwi ththephy sical
environment .Soci alexper ience i
mpl ies learning f rom ot herpeopl [Link] ding to
Aggar wal( 1994)equi li
brationistheachi ev ementbyt hei ndivi
dualofcogni ti
vest abili
ty
asthei ndivi
dualr econcil
esnewexper ienceswi thol dexper [Link] heex ist
ing
scheme ( ment alstructure),the incomi ng i nfor mation is notf ull
y compr ehended,
i
mbal ance( disequili
bri
um)i [Link] ndiv idualhast or estorebalanceei t
herby
modi fy i
ng exi sti
ng schemes orby dev eloping new ones i n an at t
emptt of ully
compr ehendt hesituati
[Link] est orebal ancedev elopcogniti
velyi nthe
process.

BasicTendenci esallSpeciesI nher

it
Piaget(inBerk,2003)st atest hatallspeciesinher i
ttwobasi ct
endenciesofadaptat
ion
andor ganisati
[Link] f
ol k(1995)descr ibesadapt ati
onast hetendencytosystemati
se
andcombi neprocessesi ntocoher entwhol [Link] ndi
vidual
smeetnewsi tuati
onsinli
fe,
theytryt oorganiset heincomi ngi nformat i
ont omakei tmeaningfultothem andfor
easy retri
[Link] hatpr ocess structures aref or
med and Pi agetrefersto such
struct
ures as [Link] di
ng t o Beihlerand Snowman ( 2000),schemes are
organisedsy stemsoft houghtandbehav i
ourt hatallow ustor epr
esentobject
sand
eventsinthewor ldment ally.

Berk( 2003) indicates t hat adaptation has t wo compl ement ary processes of
assimilati
on and accommodat i
[Link] ndi,Per esuh and Mpof u( 1995) st atet hat
assimilati
onist hepr ocessofappl yingal readyexi stingschemest onew si tuations.
Whenpeopl eencount ernewexper iencest heyt r
yt ocompr ehendt heexper iencesusi ng
[Link] ocessmi ghtl eadt oconf usionast heol dschemesmi ghtf ail
tof i
tt henew si t
[Link] ionont heot herhand,i nv olvesmodi fyingt he
existi
ngschemesi nresponset onewexper iences( WadeandTav r
is,1994) .
Forexampl e,
achi l
dwhoknewoft reesashav i
nggr eenl eavesmaygetconf usedwhenhe/ shef i
rst
meet sat r
eehav i
ngr edl [Link] l
dt orestorebal ancehi s/herment alstructure
representi
ngat r
eehast obemodi f
iedt oi ncl
udet r
eeswi t
hr edl eav es.I
mbal ancei s
createdwhenani ndivi
dualassi mil
atesnew exper iencesandbal ancei sev entual l
y
accommodat estheexper i
ences.

TheSt ageAppr oach

ToPi aget(inSolso,2001)cogni
ti
vedevelopmentproceedthr
oughfourst
agesr
oughly
correspondingwi t
hage,eachwi t
hitsdisti
nct
ivecharact
eri
sti
[Link]
agetal
sobel
iev
es
thatallpeoplepassthroughthef
ourst
agesi nt
hesameor der.
Sensor i-mot orstage
Fernal d and Fer nald( 2007)i ndicatet hatt hef irstst ageofcogni ti
vedev elopment,
accor dingt oPi agetisthesensor i
-mot orst age, whichi sroughl
yf rom zerot otwoy ears
[Link] agetasser t
st hati nfants acqui re knowl edge pri
mar i
lythrough sensor y
i
mpr essionsandmot oract i
vit
ies( Chil
d, 1993) .Ther efore,t
hechildrengett otermswi th
theirwor ldt hrough:lookingat ,t ouching,gr asping,put ti
ngthingsi nt hemout hand
mov ementofbodypar [Link](2003)st atest hatthinkingatthisst ageconsistsofco-
odinat i
ngbodymov ement swithsensor ydat aandt hatthereisrecogni t
ionofcauseand
[Link] hechi l
drendev elop,theiract ionsbecomepur posefulast heyt ryt
oachi eve
certaingoal [Link]
-mot orchildrenal sodev elopobj ectpermanence, whi chisamaj or
accompl ishmentoft hest age( Mwamwenda,1995) .Owi ngt ot hisaccompl ishment,
childrenr ealisethatobj ect
scont inuet oexi stev eni ftheymaybeoutofsi ght
.Because
ofobj ectper manence, chil
drencancr eatement alimagesofobj ect sandt heycanbegi n
tousesy mbol sandwor ds.

Pre-oper ational stage

WadeandTav ri
s(1990)i ndicatet hatPi aget’ssecondst ageofcogni tivedevelopmenti s
thepre- oper ati
onalst agethati sappr oximat elyf rom t wot oseveny [Link] ldren
atthisst agecannowr epresentmanyobj ectssy mbol ically
,canengagei nsy mbolicpl ay
andusel anguaget or epresentobj ect si nt heenv ironment .Accor dingt oPi aget( in
FernaldandFer nald( 2007),pre-oper ational childrenhav eimpediment sof
Centration, egocent rism tr
ansduct i
ver easoni ngandt hei nabil
i
tytoconser [Link] r
ation
meanst hatt hechi l
dr encanonl yf ocusononet hingatat i
[Link] dlyconsider
twoqual itiesofobj ect satt hesamet [Link] rism meanst hatt hechi l
drenv iew
themsel v esast heowner sofev erythingandt hatt heycannotseet hingsf r
om anot her
person’spoi ntofv i
[Link] l
dr enal sof ailtor ev ersement all
yact i
onst heyseet aking
place( i
rrev er si
bili
ty)andt or ecogni set hatcer tainpr oper ti
esofobj ect sarenotchanged
regardlessofchangest hatmi ghtt akepl acet ot heircont ai
nersorar rangement s(fail
ur e
toconser ve) .Forexampl e,ifachi l
datt hepr e-oper ationalstageisshownt woi denti
cal
container sf ul l
ofwat er,
whichi st henpour edint odi fferentcontainer s;onenar rowerand
theot herwi derandt henaskedt ocompar et heamount sofwat er .Thechi ldisl i
kelyt o
i
ndicat et hatt henar rowercont ainerhasmor ewat ert hant hewi [Link] ansduct ive
reasoningr ef erstot hefail
urebyt hechi ldrent oseet hi ngsinwhol es.

Concr
eteoper
ati
onal
stage

Accor
ding to Beihl
er and Snowman ( 2000),Piaget
’sthir
d stage of cognit
ive
devel
opmentistheconcret
eoperat
ionalstagethatr
angesfr
om seventotwelv
ey ears
[Link]
k( 2003)i
ndi
catesthatt
hechildrennolongerhav
et hei
mpedimentsoft he
pre-oper
[Link] st
andpr i
ncipl
esofconservati
onand
reversi
bil
i
tyi ft
heact i
vi
tiesar
ebackedbyconcr [Link]
(focusonmor ethanonequal i
tyofobj ects)andcanr everseacti
onsment al
l
[Link]
childr
encanal sounderstandcompl excauseandef fectrelati
onshi
psandar eablet o
arrangeobj ectsinorderofsi ze,colour
,lengthandhei ghtamongot [Link]
ic
thoughtisreplacedbyoper at
ionalthoughtandt hechi
ldrencannowseet hewor l
dfrom
theperspect i
veofothers.

Formal operat
ionalstage
RyanandCooper( 1984)showt hatPiaget’slaststageofcogni ti
vedev el
opmenti st he
formaloperati
onalst [Link]( inLefr
ancoi s,1982)pr opoundst hatt hechi l
drencan
now reasonandmakeconcl usi onswi t
houtt heneedf orconcr eteexper [Link]
chil
dren’sthoughtpr ocessesar enow sy stemat i
candwel [Link]
withabst r
acti
onsandunder standt hef or m ofpr [Link] l
dr encananal yse
probl
emsandcomeupwi t
hal ternat
ivest hatareev aluatedthroughr [Link]
(i
n Sol so,2001) also states t hat egocentr i
sm r esurfaces int he f orm of sel f
consciousnessatadol [Link] l
drennowhav etheabi l
i
tyt of ormulateandt est
hypothesesinsy st
emat i
cway s.

Educat
ionalImpl icationsofPi aget’sTheor y
• Geari nstruct i
onalmat eri
alsandact iv
iti
est olearners’
developmentall
evels
• Childrenshoul dconstructknowl edgethr oughact i
on.
• Ther eshoul dbephy sicalandment almani pulat
ionofi nf
ormati
oni nthelearning
process.
• Encour agei nteract
ionsot hatchi l
drenlearnf rom eachother.
• Mot ivatechi l
drenbycr eatingacogni ti
veconf li
[Link] eat
et heconflict
,t he
teachershoul d arr
ange f ordi screpancy bet ween env i
ronmentalinputs and
l
earner s’exi st
ingschemes.
• Whenev ert eachingt herei sal way sneedf orteacherst obeginf r
om concr ete
consider ationsbeforei ntr
oduci ngabst ractconcepts.
Youcancomeupwi thmoreeducat ionalimplications.

Sel
fassessmentquest i
ons
• Di scussthefourf actor
sthatworktogethertoinfl
uencecogni
ti
vedevelopment
accordingt
oPi aget?
• Whatar ethe differ
ences bet
ween preoperat
ionaland concr
ete operat
ional
chil
dren?
• Howdoy oucreateacogniti
veconf
li
ctinstudentswhenteachi
ng?
BRUNER’
STHEORYOFCOGNI
TIVEDEVELOPMENT

Spri
nthalletal( 1994)st atet hatBr unerwasapr omi nentcr it
icofbehav iourism andt hat
Bruner’
st heor yi sgearedt opossi blecl assr oom appl icationwi t
ht heai m ofi mpr oving
educationalpr act i
[Link] sdi ffersf rom Pi aget ’
st heor yt hatwasnotdi rectlyai medat
educationalpr act i
[Link] dingt oBr uner ,chil
dr enl earnbet t
erwhent heyar eallowedt o
engagei n di scov eryact i
v i
[Link] unernot est hata t heor yofi nstruct ion shoul d be
organi
sedar oundt hefollowi ngr equi rement s:
• I mplant ing a pr edi sposi tion t owar ds l ear ning .Thi s has t o do wi t
hl earner
mot iv
at [Link] dingt oTr aver setal( 1993) ,t oBr uner,cor rectmot ivational
techniquesdependont hel ear ner ’scul [Link] eacherhast odi rectandsust ain
the l ear ner’s inter est by mai ntaining an opt i
mal l evel of uncer tainty,
communi catingi nst ruct i
onalgoal sandshowi ngt her elevanceofal t
er natives
explored.
• St ructur i
ngt hebodyofknowl edget obet aught .ToBr unert hest ructureshoul d
be made up of essent ials upon whi ch a subj ect i s bui l
t( Borich and
Tombar i,1997).Thesamecont enthast obet aughtt opupi lsatdi f
ferentl evels
butdi fferinginthedept hofcov erage.I not herwor ds,Br uneradv ocatesaspi ral
curri
cul um.
• Sequence. ToBr unert hepr esent ationshoul dpr oceedf rom enact ivet oiconi cand
symbol ic modes,t aki ng i nt o account aspect s of power and economy
(Solso,2001) .Economyr ef erst ot hepi ecesofi nformat ion t hatneed t o be
processedi nthemi [Link] eat ert henumberofpi ecesofi nfor mationt obe
processed t he less t he economy and v ice v ersa i st r
[Link] efer st o
generat ivenessofnewhy pot hesesandcombi nations.
• Rei nforcement .Thenat ureandpaci ngofr ewar dshav et obespeci fi
edaccor ding
toBr uner( Wool folk,1995) .Ther ei sneedt ousebot hi ntri
nsi candext ri
nsic
mot iv
at ioni nthel ear ningpr [Link] sal soneedt obeav ailabl
et ogi ve
i
mmedi atef eedbackt ol ear ner sonhowt heyar epr [Link] hposi ti
v eand
negativef ormsofr einf orcementshoul dbeempl oy edt oensur et hatpupi l
sl ear n.

ModesofRepr
esent
ati
on

Bruner(
inTraverset
al,1993)asser
tsthatchil
dren’
sint
ell
ect
ualcapabi
li
ti
esi
mproveas
theypassthroughthreephasesofi ntel
lect
ualgrowthnamely:enact
ivemode,i
coni
c
modeandsy mbolicmode.
Enact
iveMode

AccordingtoSpri
nthal
letal(1994)t heenact iv
emodeofr epr
esent
ati
onismot or
icor
act
ionbased.I ti
scharacteri
sedbyt ouching,feeli
ng,tast
ingandmov ementofbody
part
[Link]
spercei
veobject
sint ermsoft heirfuncti
[Link]
e,aball
isroll
edor
ki
ckedandar att
[Link] esultofexper i
encesacquiredthr
oughint
eracti
on
wit
ht heenvir
onment,t
hechildreproducessuchact i
onspsychometri
cal
ly.

I
coni
cMode

Accor dingt oBruner( i

nCur zon,1990) ,thechi l
d’ssy stem ofr epresentingi nf
ormation
expandsandheorshenowhasment alimagesofobj ectshe\shei nteractswi t
[Link]
thi
sst age,t hechi
ld’ssy st
em ofr epresent i
ngi nformat i
onexpands sot hatobjects,
i
nformat ionandexper i
ences cont inuet oexi stev enint hei
rabsenceandf orm partof
i
nternal isedexperi
[Link] l
df or msi magesandpi ct
uresofexper i
enceshe\ she
hashadandasar esultcaninteractwi t
hobj ectst hatarephy sical
lyabsentbutr eadil
y
avai
labl ei nthemind. Att hisstage,t hechi l
ddoesnotnecessar i
lyhav et omani pul
ate
realobj ectsbutdevelopmenti senhancedbyseei ngdemonst rations,imagesorpi ctures.
Thei coni cmodeofr epresentati
onbecomesi ncreasinglyimpor t
antwhenwhatt hechi l
d
l
earnsi nv olv
esconcept sandpr i
nciplest hatcannotbedemonst ratedphy sicall
y.

Sy
mbol
i
cMode

ThisisBr uner
’smostadv ancedmodeofr epresentati
[Link] ichandTombar i(1997)
statethattheindivi
dualcanr epresentinformat i
onont hebasisofsy mbols,i
deasand
[Link] i
ct houghti sar esul
tofl anguagewhi chenabl est heindi
vidualto
sy mboli
sehis\
herexper [Link] tainmentofsy mbol i
cthinkingset st
hemi ndfree
from therestr
icti
veenact iveandi coni
cmodesoft hinkingthatar elessf l
exi
bleand
l
imi t
edi [Link] ndi
v i
dualisnow capabl eofengagi ngi nawi der angeof
i
nf or
mat i
on gatheri
ng techniques,such as r eading and discussing among ot hers.
Travers etal( 1993)asser tt hatt he indivi
duali s abl eto const ructhypothesis,
understandmet aphorsandt or easonl ogicall
y .Thet eachercanpr esentinf
ormat i
on
verball
yandexpectl ear
ner storeasoni nabst r
act i
on.

Br
uner
’sVi
ewsonLear
ning

Accordi
ng to Bruner(i
n Solso ,
2001)lear
ning i
nvol
ves the l
ear
neracquiri
ng new
i
nformati
on,transfor
ming knowl
edgewhi ch i
mpli
esmani pul
ati
on ofinfor
mation t
o
makei tf
itnew sit
uati
onsandev al
uati
onoftheinfor
mati
onwhi chinv
olvesassessi
ng
theadequacyoftheknowledget
ot henew si
tuat
[Link]
ndi
cat
edear
li
eron,Br
uner
advocat
esdiscov
eryl
ear
ningandaspir
alcur
ri
cul
um.

Educat
ionalI
mpl
i
cat
ions

• Youngchi ldrenespeci all

yt hoseatpr e-schoolandpr i
mar yschooll earnmor e
effect ivelywhenconcr eteobj ect s,act ions,mat erialsandexampl esar eused.
Ther ef orewhenev erpossi ble, t
hei rsensesshoul dbedr awni nt oexpl ainact i
ons,
concept sandr el
ations.
• Sequenci ngofmat er
ialandact ivitiesshoul dbebasedont helev elofdi ffi
cultyof
the l ear ning t ask [Link] t eacher shoul d begi n wi tht he phy si
cal
mani pul ationofobj ectswhenev erpossi ble.
• Thei coni cmodeoft hi nkingi sf ost eredt hrought heuseofpi ctori
als,dr awing,
fi
lmsandr oleplayamongot hers.
• Sy mbol ict hi
nkingcanbedev elopedbypr esent ingl earner swithpr oblem- solving
situat i
onscal l
i
ngf orabst ractt hinki ngandhy pot hetical r
easoni ng
• Rei nfor cementpl aysacr ucialr oleaccor dingtoBr uner .Thet eacheri sadv i
sedt o
use bot h ext ri
nsicand i nt ri
nsicmot iv ation asessent ialcomponent soft he
l
ear ningpr ocess.
• Thet eachershoul dpl anef fectivel essonst hatencour agepupi l
st oexpl oreand
discov erf orthemsel veswi thmi nimal gui dancef rom t heteacher .
• Thet eachershoul dgi vepupi lsf eedbackonl ear ningandper formanceatt he
cor rectt ime.
• Thet eachershoul dstruct uret hesubj ectmat terinsuchawayt hatt hel earneris
ablet or elateoneaspectofknowl edget oanot her.
• Thef actt hatchi l
drenatdi f
fer entl ev elsofdev elopmentdealwi thi ncomi ng
i
nf or mat ioni ndi ffer
entway shasspeci f
ici mpl i
cat ionsf ort eachingmet hods,
techni quesandmedi ausedbyt het eacher .
• Thet eachershoul dt akei ntoaccountaspect sofeconomyandpowerwhen
planni ngandpr esentingi nfor mat ion.

AUSUBEL’
SMEANI
NGFULLEARNI
NGTHEORY

Li
keBr uner’
stheory
,Ausubel ’
smeani ngfull
ear ni
ngt heoryconcer nsi tsel
fwi t
hschool
l
earni
[Link] heorysuggest sway st hroughwhi cht eacherscanf acili
tat
emeani ngf ul
l
earni
ngbyt hei
[Link] advocat esmeani ngf ullearningandr ecepti
on( r
eceived)
l
earni
ng asopposed t orotel earning and di scov eryl earning (
Trav ersetal ,1993) .
Ausubel’
smeani ngf
ull ear
ningr equirest hatchi l
drenar epr esent
edwi thallimportant
i
[Link] oAusubel ,thel earningi smeani ngfulifitpermit
st he
l
earnert oreproducetheinformationinf ut
urewi t
hunderst
[Link]
spresentedto
thepupi l
sshoul dberelat
edt owhatt heyalreadyknow,accor
dingtoAusubel(Curzon,
1990).Lear ning has t
o be present ed in such a waythatmat er
iali
s sequential
ly
organisedf r
om t heknownt ot [Link] (inBori
chandTombar i,1997)
asserts that l
earning mater
ial
s ar
e
presentedf rom generaltospeci fi
[Link] simpl i
esthatthemosti ncl
usi
veideasar e
presentedfir
stfoll
owedbyl essinclusiveconcepts.

ThePr
ocessofMeani
ngf
ulLear
ning

Accor
dingt oKi ewr aandMay er( 1997)Ausubeli dent ifi
esf ourway st hroughwhi ch
meani
ngf ul l
ear ningt akespl aceandt hesear edi scussedbel ow:
• Der ivativesubsumpt [Link] sdescr ibesasi tuationi nwhi cht hemat eri
alt
obe
l
ear nti sanexampl eofwhathasbeenl earntal r
eady .Forexampl esomeonewho
hasal readyacqui redt hebasi cconceptofat ree,whot henl earnsofabaobab
[Link] earningconf ormst ot hei ndivi
dual’sunder standingoft heconcept
“tree”. Anot herexampl eofder ivativel earningi st hatofst udent swhohav e
alreadygr aspedt heconceptofmammalwho ar el earningaboutaspeci fi
c
mammal .
• Cor relative subsumpt [Link] has t o alterorext end hi s\herconceptt o
accommodat enew i nf ormat i
[Link] esomeonewhoonl ynew ofwhi t
e
mai zehast oal terhis\ herconceptofmai zewhenhe\ shel earnsofy ell
owmai ze.
• Super odinat [Link] otsofexampl esofaconcept
andt henl ear nsoft heconcept .Forexampl e,someonewhoknew ofwat er,
par affin,pet rol,fantaandot herliquidswhot henl earnst hatt hesear eexamples
ofl i
qui [Link] ndividual hasl earntthr oughsuper odinat elearning.
• Combi natoriall [Link] llearning pr ocesses descr ibed abov ei nv ol
ve new
i
nf ormat i
onbei ngat tachedt oahi erar chyt oal evelt hatisei therbel oworabov e
priorknowl [Link] nat oriallearningi sdifferent,ast henew i deai sderi
ved
from anot heri deaatt hesamel ev [Link] e,tot eachsomeoneabout
fertil
isationi nani mal s,onemi ghtr elatet heconceptt ot hepr eviousl yacquir
ed
knowl edgeofpol li
nat ioni npl ants.

HowPeopl
eLear
n

Accor
dingt
oAusubel
,forpeopl
etol
ear
n,t
heyshoul
dhav
eschemat
aforwhat
ever
mat er
ialtobel [Link] epackagesofknowl edgest oredinmemor y( Ki
ewr a
andMay er,1997) .Schemat arefl
ecttheindiv
idual
’spreviousexperiencesandl earning.
Ausubelt hinkst hatschemat aar eusedt oguideencodingofnew knowl edgeandt hat
theindivi
dualshoul dber eadytor el
ateoldknowledgetonewknowl [Link]
(1993)st atet hatcogni t
ivestructur
esneedt ober el
ativel
yst abl
eandor ganisedf or
meaningf ullearningt [Link]
sedandunst abl
ecogni ti
vest r
ucturesar e
l
ikelytoinhibitlearni
ng.

Adv
anceor
gani
ser
s

Ausubelsuggest st hatadv ance or ganisers should be used t o develop cogniti

ve
structur
estolinkwhat everconceptt het eachermaywantt opr esenttopupi l
stot hei
r
prev i
ousknowledge( i
ncogni ti
v estructures).AccordingtoBor i
chandTombar i(
1997) ,
Ausubeli dent
ifi
es two t ypes ofadv ance organisers and these are:compar ati
ve
organisersandexpositor
yor [Link] ati
veorganisersshowt hesimilari
ti
esand
dif
f er
encesbetweenset sofr elatedconcept [Link]
sersareusedwhent he
conceptt [Link] rectt helearnertopriorlear
ningalreadyinmemor y
thatcanber el
atedtotheconcept .

Educat
ionali
mpl
i
cat
ions

• Thet eachershoul densur et hatst udentsar ewi l

li
ngandr eadytolearnany
i
nfor
mat i
ont obepr esented.
• Thet eachershouldmakeuseofadv anceorganiserstobridgethegapbet ween
whatthelearnersalr
eadyknowandwhatt heyaretolearn.
• Althought hecontenttobet aughtt ost udent
st akesint
oaccounttheirneeds,i
ts
pl
anningandpr esentati
onr emai nthet eacher’
sresponsibi
l
ity.
• Thet eachershoul dmov esequent ial
lyf r
om knownt ounknownwhendel iver
ing
l
essons.
• Teachersshoul ddiscourager otelearning.
Youcancomeupwi thmor eeducat ionali
mpl i
cati
ons.

Summar y
Cogni t
ivedev elopmenthast odowi thqualit
ativ
echangest hattakeplaceinpeopl e’s
ment alcapabi l
iti
esast heygr [Link] oPiaget
;mat urati
on,physi
calact i
vit
y,
socialexper i
enceandequi l
ibrati
onwor ktogethertoinf
luencecogniti
vedev elopment .
Piagetal soasser tst hatallspeci esinher
ittwobasi ctendenciesofadapt at ionand
[Link] ation,accor di
ng to Piagetis made up oft wo compl ement ary
processesofassi milationandaccommodat i
[Link] lpeople
passt hrought hef ol
lowi ngstagesofcogni ti
vedevelopment:sensori
-motorst age,pre-
oper ational stage, concrete-
oper ati
onal stageandf ormal operat i
onal st
[Link] unerisan
adv ocat efordi scoverylearni
[Link] uner,at heoryofi nstructionshoul dbeor ganised
around: i mpl ant i
ng a di sposi t
ion t owar ds l earning, st ructure, sequence and
rei
nf orcement .Heal sobel i
evest hatindi vi
duals’cogni ti
vecapabi li
ti
esi mpr oveast hey
passt hrought he:enact i
ve,iconi candsy mbol icmodesofr epr [Link] s
agai nstdiscov eryandr otelear ningbutadv ocatesmeani ngfullear ni
ngt hatt akespl ace
throught he:der ivati
vesubsumpt i
on,cor rel
ativesubsumpt i
on,super odi natel earning
andcombi nator i
[Link] sosuggest st hatcompar at
iveandexposi tory
organi sersshoul dbeusedt oensur et hatmeani ngf
ul l
ear ni
ngt akespl ace.
A goodt eachert akesi nto consi derationt hedi fferentt heorieswhenpl anningand
deliveringlessons.
SelfAssessmentQuest ions
• Descr i
beBr uner’
stheor yofcogni ti
vedev el
opment .
• I nwhatway sisBr uner ’stheor yofcogni ti
vedev el
opmentsi mi l
art othatof
Piaget ?
• Out l
inef ourway sthr oughwhi chmeani ngfullearningt akesplace.
• Whatar eadv anceor ganisers?How doesat eacheruseadv anceor ganisers
whent eaching?
• Whi choft hethreet heor i
esdoy ouf i
ndmostusef ultot eacher s?Whydoy ou
thinkso?

REFERENCES
Aggar wal ,J.C.1994)Essent
( i
alsofPsy chol ogy .NewDel hi
:Vikas.
Beihler ,R.
[Link], J.(2000)Psy chol ogyAppl iedt [Link]:
Hought onMi ffl
i
nCompany .
Berk, L.E.(2003)Chi l
dPsy chol ogy .NewDel hi: PearsonEducat ion.
Borich, [Link] i
, M.L.( 1997)Educat ionalPsy chology:ACont emporary
Approach. NewYor k: Longman.
Curzon, L.
B.( 1990)Teachi ngi nFur t
herEducat i
on:AnOut li
neofPr inci
plesand
[Link]:Hol t,Rinehar tandWi nst on.
Fernal d,[Link] nald,D. C.( 2007)Introduct iontoPsy [Link] hi
:
A.I.
T.B. S.
Kiewr a, K.
[Link] er, R.E.(1997)Ef f
ect sofAdv anceOr ganisersandRepeated
Present ationsonSt udent s’ l
ear [Link] i
ment alEducat i
on,Vol
65,Issue2.
Lefrancoi s,G.R.(1982)Psy chol ogyf orTeachi [Link] mont :Wadswor t
h.
Mwamwenda, T.S.(
1995) Educat i
onalPsy chol ogy:AnAf ri
canPer specti
[Link]
ban:
Butterwor ths.
Ryan, [Link] ,J.
M.( 1982)[Link] on:Hought on.
Spr
int
hal
l,
N.A.,
Spri
nthal
l,R.
[Link],N.S.
(1994)Educat
ionalPsy
chol
ogy
:A
Devel
opment
[Link]:McGrawHill
.

Trav
ers, J.F.
,Ell
iot
, andKratochwil
l,
T.R.(1993)Educati
onalPsy chology:Effect
ive
Teachi ng,Effect
iveLearni
[Link]:BrownandBenchmar k.
Wade, [Link] r
is,C.(1990)[Link]:HarperandRow.
Woolfolk,A.E.(1995)Educat i
[Link] :Pr
enticeHal l
.
Zi
mbar do, [Link], F. 1980)Essent
L.( i
alsofPsychologyandLi [Link]:
Scott
,For esmanandcompany .

UNI
TFIVE
CONSTRUCTI
VISM

Af
terst
udy
ingt
hisy
oushoul
dbeabl
eto:

• expl
ainthemeaningofconst
ructi
vi
sm and
• examineVygot
sky’s andFeuerst
ein’
stheor
iesshowi
ngt
hei
rrel
evancet
othe
pri
maryschoolteacher
.

Int
roduct i
on
Asat eacher ,youneedt othinkaboutyourwor kinrel
at i
ont otheoriesofl earningand
[Link] hecont emporaryt heor
iesin education isconst ructi
[Link]
constructi
vistschoolofthoughtseemstober eemphasisi
ngt heideasofPi aget,Dewey
and Br uneramong ot [Link] tdiscussesthemeani ng ofconst ructi
vism and
i
dentif
yi ts basic pri
ncipl
es,contri
butions and constructi
vistt eaching pr acti
ces.
Vygotsky ’
s and Feuer stei
n’stheori
es ar e analy
sed as r epresenting some t he
constructi
visti
deas.
CONSTRUCTI VISM
Constructi
vism isatheoryofl ear
ningandknowl edgethathasr oot
si npsychol
ogyand
phi
losophy .According t o Woolfolk( 1995) one of the maj or pri
nci
ples of t
he
constructi
vi
stview oflearningisthatthelear
nerhast ot akeanactiverol
ei nbui
ldi
ng
understandingandmaki ngsenseofi nf or
[Link]
passi
v el
yreceivedbutact i
velybui
ltupbyat hi
nkingindi
vi
dual.

Mor ri
son(1995)gi vesthesecondpr i
ncipl
ei ntheconst r
ucti
vistvi
ewofl earningast he
beli
eft hatcogniti
onhasanadapt ivefunctionandt hatitorganisest heexper i
ent i
al
[Link] hi
nkingindivi
dualmeetsnewexper iences,t
heexper i
encesar etakenint o
themi ndandt hemi ndhast het askofmaki ngt henewexper iencesfitintot healready
exi
stingschemes.I ti sessenti
altobeari nmi ndthatnot woi ndivi
dualshav eidentical
cogniti
vestructures,ev enont hesamet [Link] ndivi
dual’
sunder standingofa
concepti st
oagr eatextentinf
luencedbyt hei ndi
vidual
’suniqueexper i
encesandpr ior
l
earning.

Const r
ucti
vist
salsoobser vethatmeaningsusedbyl anguageuser sar econstructedon
the basis ofindiv
idualand soci alexper
[Link] meani ngs r emain subjectiv
e,
regardl
essofanymodi f
icat
ionsthatmighttakeplacet hr
oughi nteracti
onwi thot her
s.
Const r
ucti
vist
salsopoi ntoutthatmeaningsar econceptualst
ruct uresthatinfl
uences
theindivi
dual’
sconstructi
onandor gani
sati
onofhis/herexperi
entialwor l
d.

To constructi
vi
sts,knowledge isrelat
ive as itconst ruct
ed on the basi
s ofpr i
or
knowledgeandt hecultur
alandsocialcontext
[Link] sv i
ewofl ear
ningal
soemphasi ses
theusefulnessoft heknowledgetotheknoweri nsteadofaccur ater
epresent
ati
onof
fact
[Link] r
uctiv
istschoolofthoughtal sost r
essest heimportanceofsoci al
i
nteract
ionsinbuildi
ngunderstandi
ng.

Const
ruct
ivi
stcont
ri
but
ions

Theconstructivistschool oflearni
nghasl ededucatorstot hefollowingr
eal
isat
ions:
• chi l
d- centredmet hodst obeusedwhent eaching, cont
enthast obepresentedin
anumberofdi f
f erentway sandhast obeusef ul t
ot helearner,
• t eacher sandl ear nersandl ear nersamongstt hemsel vesneedt osupportone
anot herint helear ningprocesst hroughtheexchangeofi deas,
• chi l
dr en’sat tempt st o understand conceptsshoul d beatt hecentr
eoft he
educat ional enterprise,
• hi ghercogni ti
vef unctionsarer eachedthroughi nteract
ionand
• lear nersneedt ounder standtheirownmet acognitiveprocesses.
Const
ruct
ivi
stt
eachi
ngpr
act
ices

• Const r
uctivistteacher sencour agest udentenqui rybyaski ngt houghtfulopen-
endedquest ionsandencour agest udent stoquest i
ont hings.
• Students’ autonomyandi niti
ativ
ear eaccept edandencour aged.
• Const r
uctivistteacher smakeuseofpr i
mar ysour cesandr aw dat aandcr eate
oppor t
unitiesforst udentst ointeractwi ththephy sicalenvironment .
• Const r
uctivistteacher susedi f
ferentassessmentt echniquest or eshapet hei
r
i
nstruction.
• Const r
uctivistteacher si nquireaboutst udents’under standingofconcept sat
diff
erentst agesoft hel earningpr ocessandgi vet henecessar yguidancef or
pupilstolear n.
• Const r
uctivistt eacherscr eateoppor tuni
ti
esf ort eacher-st
udentandst udent-
studentexchangeofi deas.
• Const r
uctivistteacher sgi v etheirst udentsenought imet ot hi
nkaf teraski ng
them quest ions.
• Const r
uctivistt eachersusecogni t
ivet erminologysuchas:cl assif
y ,predict
,
create,etc,whenf ramingt asks.
• Const r
uctivistteacher sassi ststudent sbygi vi
ngt hem cueswhent heygetst uck
i
nt ryi
ngt osol vepr oblems.
• Const r
uctivistteacher srelatecont entpupi l
slearnt otheirenv i
ronment .

VYGOTSKY’
STHEORYOFCOGNI
TIVEDEVELOPMENT

VygotskyisaRussi anpsychologistwhowasacont emporaryofPi aget( Ber

k,2003).
AccordingtoTraversetal( 1993),Vygotskychal l
engesPi aget’
sv iewsoncogni ti
ve
developmentanddev el
opedat heorythatemphasi sescult
ur albackgroundandsoci al
i
nteracti
onincognit
[Link] ewupi naMar xistcommunity,
Vygotsky was greatl
yi nf
luenced by t he bel
ieft hathuman bei ngs can only be
understoodi
ntermsoft hei
rsocialhist
ori
cal env
ironment.

Accor di
ng to Husen and Postlet
hwaite( 1994),soci etyexer t
si tsinfluence on an
i
ndividual’
scogni ti
vedevelopmentthrought het echnicaland psy chologicalt ool
sit
providesitsmember [Link]
caltoolsr efertot oolspeopl edev elopt omast erthei
r
environmentandexampl esoft hesei ncludespear s,hoes,axesandkni vesamong
[Link] chologi
caltoolsrefertot he sign sy stems t hatcul tur
algr oups hav e
developedov [Link] mbolst hatdiffer
entcul t
ureshav ecr eatedto
assistpeoplei n: thi
nki
ng,communi catingandsol vi
ngpr oblemsamongot her sand
exampl esofthesear el
anguage,wri
ti
ngsy stem andnumber i
ngsy stem.
MAJORCONCEPTSI
NHOW CHI
LDRENLEARN

Theconceptofsoci
all
ear
ning

BiehlerandSnowman( 2000)i ndi cat ethataccor dingt oVy gotskycogni tivedev el

opment
i
sl argelyar esul toft hei ndi viduali nteracti
ngwi thot herswhoar emor eski l
ledand
compet entinusi ngt hepsy chol ogicalt oolsofacul ture.I
ti scleart hatVy got skysees
cognit i
vedev el
opmentandl ear ni ngast akingpl acet hroughsoci [Link]
(1994)seesl anguageasani mpor t
antmedi atorbet weenl earninganddev elopmentand
hegoesont ost atethatani ndi vidualf ir
stusesl anguageatt heinter-psychol ogicallevel
and t hen att he i ntra-psy chol ogi call [Link] i ll
ust r
ate on t he two l ev els,Dembo
i
dent ifi
esahy pot heti
cal situat iongi venbel ow:
Child :Hav ey ouseenmybook?
Mot her : No, whendi dy oul astseet hebook?
Child :Atschool .
Mot her : Wher edidy ouputy ourbooksaf terschool ?
Child :Ont heshel f.
Mot her : Checkt here.
Thechi l
dint hedi al
oguel ear nst ol ookf orhisorherbookf r om thei nter
act ionwi ththe
mot her( i
nter-psy chologi callev el).Whenf acedwi thasi mi l
arsituationinf uture, t
hechi l
d
mightaskhi msel f/hersel fsuchquest i
ons( intr
a-psy chologicallevel)andgoont of i
nd
[Link] ntra-psy chol ogicall evelisal sor eferredt oassel f-
talkandt hisguides
chil
dr en’sthinkinganddev elopment .

Cogni
ti
veappr
ent
iceshi
p

Cogni t
iveappr
enticeshi
preferstoapr ocessbywhi chalearnerisattachedtoanexpert
andgr aduall
yacqui r
esexper t
isebysoci ali
[Link] got
sky( inHusenand
Postlethwai
te,1994)asser t
st hatimitati
oni sanessent i
alpr ocessi nthecogni
tive
developmentofl ear
[Link] el
atedidea,BorichandTombar i(1997)assertthat
l
earner sbecomemor eskil
ledatgat heri
ngandusi ngknowl edgebyobser v
ingand
i
mi t
at i
[Link] tprovi
desamodelandgi vesfeedbackt ot henovi
ceand
sociali
seshim/herintotheexpectednormsandbehav i
ours.

Zonepr
oxi
maldev
elopment

Vygot
skypropoundst
hatlear
ningtakespl
acewhenstudent
sareoperat
ingwi
thi
nthei
r
zoneofproximaldev
elopment( Z.
P.D.
).Accor
dingt
oBer k(2003)
,theZ.P.
[Link]
di
fferencebet ween thechild’sdevelopmentall evel
,asdet ermined byindependent
problem-sol
ving and the higherlevelofpot ent i
aldev el
opment ,as deter mined by
problem-sol
vingwi thassist
ancef r
om mor ecapabl ei ndi
vi
[Link] ll
ustrat
eont he
Z.P.D.,Vygot
skygav eanexampl eoft woboy swhower egivenpr obl
emst osolv e.
Withoutassistance,both boy sperformed att hel evelofei ghty earoldsbutwi th
guidanceandassi stance,oneboy ’
sper for
mancewasatt helevelofani ney earold
whiletheotherperformedatt hel
eveloftwelveyearol ds.

Theaboveil
lustrat
ionclearl
yshowst hatchil
drencancarryouttaskstheyareincapable
ofcompleting on t heirown ift hey are given the necessary assi
[Link] s
demonstr
atest hatthechildhasr eachedacer t
ainlevel
,fr
om whi chguidancecanbe
gi
[Link]
susual lyprovi
deassistancet othechildwhohast hepot enti
altodev el
op.
So,someone needs assi stance and gui dance fr
om a mor e capablei ndi
vidualif
cogni
ti
vedev el
opmenti stotakeplace.

I
nar el
ated idea,Br uner( i
n Fontana,1995)not es thatlearning and cogni t
ive
developmentdependonscaf fol
dingbymor ecapableindivi
[Link]
ngsimpl y
meansgui dancef r
om adul tsandmor ecapablepeer [Link] hatknowl edgefrom
mor ecapableindividualsbenefi
tsthel
earner,i
ftheindivi
dual
scanscaf fol
dt helear
ner s.
I
nscaf f
oldi
ng,knowl edgehast obepassedt othelearnerinacceptableway [Link] t
ormor ecapablei ndivi
dualhast ouseappr opriat
emet hods,medi aandmot i
vat
ional
techniques among ot [Link] indi
vidualhas to suppor tthe child and organise
meani ngfull
earningexperienceswhichrelat
etothelearner’
sneeds.

Educat
ionali
mpl
i
cat
ions

• Teachersareencour agedt oinvolvechi l

dreni nsoci alinteractionswi t
hpar ent s
andwi t
hmor ecapabl epeer s.
• Teachersneedt oconsi derthechild’
sexper iencesandt hendev elopf r
om t here.
• Theteachermustencompassnotonl ywhatt hechildrenar ecapabl eofdoi ngon
thei
rown, butwhatt heycanl earnwi t
ht hehel pofot hers.
• TheZ. [Link] st hatthet eachershoul dgr aduallyshi f
tr esponsibili
tyf or
probl
em- sol
vingfrom themsel vestot hechild.
• Chil
drenshoul dnotbedi scouragedf rom usi ngpr i
vatespeecht oor ganiset heir
ownt hi
nkingast heyt r
yt osolveproblems.
• Vygotskyobser v
est hatclassroom t estsmeasur eski ll
sandunder standingsa
chil
[Link] ingonl ythi slowerl eveloft heZ. P.D,teacher s
missimpor t
antdev elopment ali
nformat i
onandunder estimatechi l
dren’sabili
ties.
• Teachersshoulduseappr opriat
emedi a,met hodset [Link] i
v eri
ngl essons.
• Pupil
sshoul dbeassi gnedchal l
engingbutmanageabl et asks.
 • Homewor kshoul
dbegivenmoref requentl
yt ofost
erpar
ent-
chil
dint
eract
ionat
home.
• Thelear
ner’
scult
ureshoul
dbet akenintoaccountwhenplanninganddeli
ver
ing
[Link]
l nkofmoreeducat
ionalimplicat
ions

FEUERSTEI
N,ANOTHERCONSTRCTI
VIST

Unli
keVy gotsky’
stheoryt hatismai nlytheoretical
,Feuer st
ein’wor khasf i
rmr ootsina
pract
icalneedandhasf irmi mplicat
ionsf orclassroom teachingandl [Link]
toWilli
amsandBur den( 1997),Feuer st
einhadast rongbel i
eft hatanyonecanbecome
aneffecti
[Link] erylearnerhast hepotentialofbecomi ng
aneffecti
[Link] emi ghtf ai
ltol earnbecauset heyhav enotbeent aught
tobecomeef fecti
velearners.

Will
i
amsandBur den( 1997)indicat
et hatanot
hercomponentofFeuerstein’
stheor
yi s
the notion ofcogni t
ive modi f
iabi
li
[Link] he bel
i
efthatindi
viduals’cogni
tive
str
ucturesar einf
ini
tel
ymodi fiablesuggesti
ngthatnooneeverachi
evest heful
lextent
ofhis/herlearni
ngpotential
.

Feuerstei
n( 1980)asser t
sthatInstrument alEnri
chment( I.
E.)shoul dbeusedt ot each
chi
ldrentobecomeaut onomousandef fecti
[Link].E.,thelearnerisexposedt o
changingenv ironmentsthatteachhi m/hertobecomeanef fectiv
el earnerwiththehel p
ofcapablei ndivi
dual
s, whom [Link] steinalsointroducest he
conceptofdy namicassessmentwhi chall
owst hemedi atortoassesst hetruepot ential
ofthel [Link] oleoft hemedi at
ori sthatofent eri
ngi ntoadi aloguewi tht he
l
earnerst of i
ndoutt heirl
evelsofper f
ormanceonanyt askandshar i
ngwi tht hem
possi
bleway sofimprov i
ngtheirperformance.

Keyf
eat
uresofmedi
ati
on

Feuer
stein(1980)i denti
fiesthef ol
lowingfeatur
est hatarekeyt omediat i
on:
• Signifi
cance:Themedi atorneedst omaket helearnerawar eoft hesi gnifi
cance
ofthel earni
ngt ask,
• Purpose:Thel earnerneedt ounder standther el
evanceoft hetaskt ot hem, now
andi nfuture,
• Sharedi ntention:Themedi atorshouldhav eacl earintenti
onthati sunder st
ood
andr ecipr
ocat edbyt hest udents,
• Senseofcompet ence:Themedi at
orshouldmaket hest udent
sf eelthatt heycan
doi t
,
• Controlofownbehav iour:Thel ear
nersneedt obet rainedtocont rolt heirown
 behav iour,especial
lyinrel
ati
ont olear ni
ngbehaviours,
• Goalset t
ing:Childrenshouldbeabl etosetgoal sandhav eway sofachiev
ing
them,
• Chal l
enge:The medi at
orshoul d createin pupils an internalneed t
of ace
challenges,
• Change:St udentsshoul dbet rainedt oassesschangesast heycome,and be
flexi
bleint hei
rreact i
ontothechanges,
• Bel i
efinposi ti
veout comes:Itisi mpor t
antforthest udentstobelievet
hatthey
canmakei t,
• Indivi
duality:Chil
dr enshouldknowt hattheyar
euni queintheirownway ,
• Asenseofbel onging:Totheirclass,communi t
y,etcand
• Shar i
ng

Educat
ionali mpl ications
• Teacher sshoul dactasmedi at
orsinthel earningprocess.
• Theconceptofcogni ti
v emodi fi
abil
i
tyshoul dgi vetheteachert hehopet hatev er
y
l
ear neriscapabl eofleaning.
• Thet eachershoul dselectandor ganisest i
mul itheyconsi dermostappr opri
ate
fort hel ear ner ,shapet hem and pr esentt hem insui tableway sto promot e
effectivel ear ning.
• Thet eachershoul dshapet helear
ners’responsesandassi stthem incomi ngup
withmor emeani ngfullearning.
• Thet eachershoul dst r
uct uretheenv i
ronmenti nsuchawayt hatiti
sst i
mul ati
ng
andt hatev erylearnerhasachancet ol earn.
• Cont entt aughtt othelearner sshouldbev er
yusef ultothem asi ndivi
dualsandt o
societ yingener al.
• Mat erialt obet aughtt ol earnersshoul dbepr esentedi nanumber ofway sto
i
ncr easeeachi ndividual’
spr obabil
it
yofl earning.
Summar i
set hechapt er

SELFASSESSMENTQUESTI ONS
• Whatisconstructivi
sm?
• I
denti
fyanddiscussanyt wooftheconstr
uctivi
stpri
nci
ples.
• Whateducati
onal i
mpli
cationscanbedrawnf r
om constr
ucti
vism?
• Howdochi l
drenl earnaccordi
ngtoVygotsky?
• Out
li
nethemaj orconceptsinFeuer
stei
n’stheory.

REFERENCES
Beihler,[Link], J.(2000)Psy chol ogyAppl iedt oTeachi [Link]:
Hought onMi ff
li
nCompany .
Berk, L.E.(2003)Chi l
dPsy chol ogy .NewDel hi: PearsonEducat i
on.
Borich, [Link] i
, M.L.( 1997)Educat i
onalPsy chology :ACont empor ary
Approach. NewYor k: Longman.
Dembo, M.H.(1998)Appl yingEducat ionalPsy [Link] k:Longman.
Feuer stein,R.(1980)Instrument alEnrichment .Balti
mor e:
Univ ersit
yPar kPress.
Husen, [Link] lethwaite,T.N. (1994)TheI nter
nationalEncy clopaediaof .
Educat [Link] k:Per
gamon
Mor ri
son, G.
S.(1995)EarlyChi ldhoodEducat ionToday .Newj er sey:Prenti
ceHal l
.
Traver s,J.F.
,Elli
ot,andKrat ochwi l
l,
T.R.( 1993)Educat ionalPsy chology:Effecti
ve
Teaching,Ef f
ecti
veLear [Link] ord: BrownandBenchmar k.
Will
iams, [Link] den,R.L.(1997)Psy chol ogyf orLanguageTeacher [Link] k:
Longman.
Wool folk,A.E.(1995)Educat i
onalPsy chol ogy .NewJer sey:Prent i
ceHal l
.

UNI
TSIX
THENATUREANDPURPOSEOFSOCI
OLOGYOFEDUCATI
ON

Obj
ect
ives

Byt
heendofthi
sunitst
udentsshoul
dbeabl
eto:
• def
inesoci
ologyofeducat
ion,
 • gi
vetherat
ional
eforsoci
ologyofeducati
onintheor
yofeducat
ionand
• i
dent
ifybot
hmacr oandmicrosociol
ogicalper
spect
ives.

I
ntr
oduct
ion

Sociol
ogyofEducati
onisabr anchofSoci
ologyt
hati
sconcer
nedwit
htherel
ationshi
p
bet
weensocietyandeducati
[Link]
tatt
emptstogi
veabri
efvi
ewofthenatureand
purposeofSoci
ologyofEducati
on.

WHATI
SSOCI
OLOGY?

Giddens( 2001)def i
nesSoci ol
ogyast hest udyofhumansoci allifeandsoci [Link]
subjectmat t
eri sourownbehav iourassoci [Link] born( 2008)
stat
et hatSoci ol
ogyi sthescientifi
cst udyoft hebehav i
ourofpeopl ewhent heyinteract
withoneanot herandofchar acteristi
cspeopl edevelopasar esultofsuchi nt
eract i
on.
Anotherdef initi
on byWeberi n Ri t
zer( 1992)shows t hatSoci ologyi s a science
concerned wi tht he accuratei nt er
pr etati
on and under standing ofsoci alact i
on.
Generall
ysoci ologistsareconcer nedwi thsoci alrelat
ionshipsori nter
acti
onpat terns
thatemer gebet weensoci alclassesandbet weeni ndi
[Link] ol
ogyst udies
societyasawhol e,i
tlooksatnor ms, values, cust
omsandi deasshar edbymember sin
groupsandi nst i
tuti
ons.

WHATI
SSOCI
OLOGYOFEDUCATI
ON?

Peresuh and Nhundu ( 1999)def ine SociologyofEducat i

on as a di scipli
ne which
att
empt st odi scernr el
ationshipbet weeneducat i
onandsoci et
yi nagivensoci o-cul
tural
context
.I notherwor ds,thedi sci
plineofeducat i
onusest hescienceofsoci ologytolook
atthepr oblemsr el
atedt ot hechild’sinteracti
onwi t
hin aschoolset ti
[Link] ol
ogical
pri
ncipl
esatagi venpoi ntint i
meat temptt oanswerquest ionsl i
kewhot eacheswho,
forwhatsoci et y,when and why ?Hi stor
icall
ysociologyofeducat ion has al ways
determinedt hecont ent,met hodologies, l
earni
ngact i
vi
ti
esandmedi asinceeducat i
onis
aselectionf rom cul tur
[Link] ologyofeducat ionlooksathowphenomenal i
keculture,
gender,pov erty ,chi
ldabuse,dev ianceandsoci alcl
assamongot her
s,i mpactont he
educabili
tyoft hechild.

THERELEVANCEOFSOCI
OLOGYOFEDUCATI
ON

• f
Haral
ambosandHolborn(2008)stat
et hatSoci ol
ogyofEducat iongivesa
br
oadviewoft
henat
ureofsoci
etyi
nwhicht heschool operat
es.
• I
tchall
engessomeoft hetaken f
orgrant ed assumptionsin educat
ion and
 prov i
desani nsighti ntohow someoft heseassumpt ionsaf f
ecteducat ional
achiev ement .
• Itpr ov i
desani n-depthunder standingofcur ri
culum pl anningandcur ri
culum
cont ent.
• Itenabl est het eachert ounder standhow t hechi ld’ssoci o-
culturalorsoci o-
economi cbackgr oundaf f
ect shis/hereducabi li
ty.
• Itclarifi
eshowt hechangi ngsoci etyaffectsthechi l
daswel lasthet eacher.
• Soci ologyofeducat i
ongui dest het eachert ost udyt hestructureoft heschool ,
organi sationoft hecur ri
culum, classroom management ,groupdy nami cs,andt he
relationshipbet weenl earninganddi scipli
ne.
• Itenabl est het eachert ounder standt heconcept soft hesel f,genderequal ity
,
egalitarianism andmul ti
culturali
sm.
• Italsoenabl est het eachert ounder standt het r
ansmi ssionofnor ms,v alues,
knowl edge, skil
lsandcust omsi nagi vensocialset t
ing.

SOCI
OLOGI
CALPERSPECTI
VES

Sanderson( 1992)expl ai
nst hataper spect
ivei sawayofl ookingatt hi
[Link]
wordsiti sapoi ntofv i
[Link] ol
ogicalperspect i
vesarethereforetheori
esofsociety
.
Hensli
n( 2003)say sthatasoci ol
ogicaltheor
yi sagener al
statementofhowsomepar ts
ofthewor l
df i
tt ogetherandhow t heywor [Link],Mar ksonandSt ein(1998)also
expl
aint hatat heoryisasetofl ogicall
yrelatedstatementst hatseekt oexplai
nan
enti
reclassofev [Link] heorycanbeseenasaseti deaswhi chclai
mt o
expl
ainhowsomet hi
ngwor ks.

I
tisi mpor tanttonotet hatat heor
yisnotaf [Link]
yanat tempttoexplaina
gi
[Link] heoryisapar t
ial
explanati
onsi ncetheori
eshav ebeendev el
oped
byper sonswr i
ti
ngfrom acer t ai
npositi
on,fori
nstancepowerposi ti
[Link]
oft heoriesar edrawnt ogether ,i
ntoasi ngl
eappr oach,wet ermt hisaper spect
ive.
Sander son( 1992)sayst hatt hemai nperspecti
vesinSoci ologyincludeFuncti
onali
sm,
Mar xi
sm andSy mbolicinteract i
oni
[Link]
y,i
nSoci ologywehav etwocategori
esof
perspectiveswhi chare(a)macr operspecti
vesand( b)mi cr
oper specti
ves.

Macr
oSoci
ologi
calPer
spect
ives

Haralambos and Hol bor

n( 2008)sayt hatmacr o sociologi
calper spect
ives t
ake a
holi
sticapproachtot hestudyofsoci et
[Link] herwor dsmacroper specti
vesmakea
broad v i
ew ofsocietybyst udying l
argescal einteracti
on patter
nsbet ween soci
al
i
nstituti
onsorbet [Link] osociologicalperspecti
vesobservethat
societyisst
ructur
[Link] ol
ogicalperspectiv
es,wehav e:
 • Funct
ional
i
sm and
• Marxi
sm/confl
ictper
spect
ive

MicroSociologi
calPerspecti
ves
Giddens (2001)explains t
hatmi cro sociol
ogicalper
spect
ives l
ook atsmallscale
i
nteracti
onpat t
ernsbetweenandamongi ndiv
idualsi
nsoci
ety
.Undermicrosoci
ologi
cal
perspecti
veswehav e:
• SymbolicI
nteract
ioni
sm and
• Phenomenol ogy

Soci
ologi
calper
spect
ivespost
ulatediff
erentassumpti
onsaboutsoci
ety
.Thef
oll
owi
ng
uni
tshall
explor
ethesociol
ogi
calperspecti
vesingreat
erdet
ail
.

ACTI
VITI
ES
• Whati
sSoci
ologyofEducati
on?
• HowcanSoci
ologyofEducati
onassi
stateacheri
nhi
st eachi
ng?
• Whati
sthedi
ffer
encebetweenmicroandmacrosoci
ological
perspect
ives?
REFERENCES
Giddens,A.(2001)soci
ology.
Oxford:Pol i
tyPress.
Haralambos, [Link],M.(2008) Sociol
ogy:ThemesandPer spectiv
es.
London:Coll
i
nsEducational.
Henslin,
J.M.( 2003)Soci
ology:ADownt oEar t
hAppr [Link] k:Al
lynand
Bacon.
Hess, H.
B.,Markson,E.
[Link] ein,P.J.(1998)[Link]:Macmi l
lan.
Peresuh,[Link], T.(1999)Foundat ionsofEducat i
onforAfr
[Link]
e:
Coll
egePr ess.
Ri
tzer,G.(1992)ContemporarySociologicalTheoryandI t
sClassi
calRoots:The
[Link] k:McGraw-Hil
l.

UNI
TSEVEN

SOCI
OLOGI
CALPERSPECTI
VES

I
nt r
oduct i
on
Societycanbev i
ewedf rom differentsociol
ogicalperspecti
[Link] specti
veshelp
thet eachertounderstandt hesoci o-cul
tur
alandsoci o-economicbackgr oundoft he
l
earner [Link] hemaj orassumpt i
onsofFunct ionali
sm,Mar xist
/conf
li
ct
theoryaswel lasSy mbol i
cI nt
er actioni
[Link] ionalimplicat
ionshavebeen
drawnf r
om [Link] husimportantforprospectiv
et eacherstodrawas
manyeducat ionali
mplicati
onsf rom t hesoci
ological
perspectiv
es.

Lear
ningoutcomes
Aft
erstudyi
ngthissect
ion,
youshouldbeabl
eto:
• Identi
fythemajorassumpti
onsofFuncti
onal
i
sm,Conf
li
ctTheor
yandSymbol
i
c
Inter
acti
onism.
• Deduceeducat i
onalimpl
icat
ionsfr
om Functi
onal
i
sm,Marxi
sm and Sy
mbol
i
c
inter
acti
oni
sm.

THEFUNCTI
ONALI
STPERSPECTI
VE
Functi
onali
sm isamacr osociol
ogicalper
spect
ivewhichlooksatsociet
yasawhol e.
Functi
onali
stsareconcernedwithhow order
,stabi
l
ityandharmonyar emaintai
nedin
soci
[Link]
sperspect
ivear
eAugust eComte,Herber
tSpencer,
EmileDurkhei
m andTalcottPar
sons.

TheMai nAssumpt ionsoff unct i

onal ism
Accordingt oRi tzer( 1992) ,Har alambosandHol born( 2008) ,Sanderson( 1992)and
Giddens( 2001)t hef unctional i
stper spect iveisbasedont hef oll
owingassumpt i
ons:
• Funct ional ists per ceive soci ety as a soci al sy stem wi t
h
i
nt egrat ed/ interdependentpar ts.
• Thepar tsar ecal l
edsoci ali nstit
ut i
[Link] ncludef amil
y ,medi a,education,
pol i
ti
cs, religion, economyandot her s.
• Eachsoci ali nstit
utionhasaf unctiont oplaytoensur et hesurv i
valofsoci et
[Link]
exampl eeducat ionsoci aliseschi ldrenintothenor msandv al
uesoft heirsoci
et y
.
• Or der,st abilityandhar monyi nsoci etyarebasedonv [Link] sonsin
Sander son( 1992)st atest hatv alueconsensusi st hegl uet hathol dssoci ety
together .
• Whenonesoci alinst i
tutionbecomesdy sfunct i
onal,order,stabil
ityandhar mony
maybedi sr upted.
• Funct ional istsar guet hatsoci alchangei sanuncommonoccur rencei nsociety.
Wheni toccur s,itgener all
yl eadst obenef i
cialconsequencest osoci [Link]
view, soci al changei sev olutionary .

Funct
ional
i
stv
iewsoneducat
ion

• Durkheimi nHar
alambosandHolbor
n( 2008)maint
ainst
hateducat
ionr
eflect
s
thenor msandv al
uesofthelar
gersociet
[Link]
efor
eeducat
ionisaselecti
on
from cult
ure.
• Educationhasasoci al
i
sati
onfunct
[Link]
soselectsandall
ocat
esrolesin
society
.

Educat
ionalImpli
cati
ons
• Curri
culum int
egr
ati
on:Inf unctionali
stthinkingani nt
egratedsociet
yneedsan
i
ntegr at
edschoolcur
ricul
um t oensur ei t
ssur vi
valanddev [Link]
efore
teachersshoulduset heintegratedt eachingapproachr at
hert hanthesubject
basedone
• Mul t
icul
tur
alEducati
on:To f unctionali
stst he schoolcur r
icul
um isav alue
[Link]
mpliesthatteacher sshoul dusemul t
icul
turalappr
oachessuch
 asthemult
if
aithappr
oachtoensureequal
it
yofeducat
ionaloppor
tuni
tybyal
l
pupi
lsr
egar
dlessofcl
ass,
rel
i
gion,
racee.
t.
c.

Concl
usion
Thefuncti
onal
istperspect
iveisimportanti
nt eachi
ngandl
ear
[Link]
ofthe multi
cult
uralnature o [Link]
dtherefore adoptteaching
appr
oachesthatfostermult
icult
ural
education.

Acti
vi
ty
Drawatleastf
iveeducat
ional
impl
i
cat
ionsf
rom t
hef
unct
ional
i
stper
spect
ive.

THEMARXI
STCONFLI
CTPERSPECTI
VE

Theor igi
natorsoft hismacrosoci ologicalperspecti
veareKar lMarxandFr ederi
ck
[Link] spect
iveof
fersaradicalchal l
engetofuncti
onal
[Link]
struggl
e,classconf l
ict
,di
ssensus,coer cion,dominationandexploit
ati
onr atherthan
order,stabi
li
tyandv al
[Link] xi
stconfli
ctsociol
ogi
stsmai ntainthatthe
educationsystem inacapital
istsociety,servestheinter
estsofthedomi nantorruli
ng
cl
ass.

Mai
nassumpt
ions

Mar xandEngel scitedinHagedor n(1993)per ceivecapi tal

istsociet
yasdi videdi ntotwo
majoreconomi cclassesbasedondi fferenti
alowner shipoft hemeansofpr oduction.
Thebour geoi sieorr ul
i
ngcl assownsandcont rolsscar cemeansofpr oductionsucha
l
and,capi tal,factori
es,raw mat eri
alsandequi pment .Thepr oletar
iatorwor kingcl ass
neit
herownsnorcont r
olsscar cer esour [Link] scl assonl yownsi tsl abourpower
whichi tsel l
st ot hebour geoisieorcapi tal
istatt hel abourmar ketandgetmeagr e
[Link] dingtoMar xi
nHar alambosandHol born(2008)t heunequaldi stri
butionof
economi cr esourcesmakescl assconf lictandcl assst ruggleinevi
tabl
eorunav oidable
i
ncapi talistsoci [Link] ruggleisov ert hedesi retoownandcont r
olt hemeansof
[Link] sclassst r
ugglemayl eadt osoci [Link] xinGi ddens( 2001),
cl
assst ruggl ei sthedriverofsocialchange.

Accordi
ngtoMar xcit
edinHagedorn( 1993)thebour geoisi
eandprolet
ari
atent
erinto
rel
ati
onsofproducti
[Link] eemployer
-employee
rel
ati
[Link]
sieexpl
oit
sthepr ol
etari
atbypay ingthem wageswhicharefar
bel
ow theval
ueoft hei
rlabour(
AdetolaandAdemol a,1980).Thewagesdonotmeet
basicneedsforsurvi
valandthecostofeducat ingchil
dr [Link]
scr essur
eat pl
usval
ue
whichisappropr
iat
edbyt hebourgeoi
sie(Mar xinHaralambosandHol born,
2008)
.The
rel
ati
onsofpr oducti
onar ether
efore expl
oitat
ive si
ncet heweal
thproducedbythe
majori
ty(pr
olet
ari
at)i
senjoyedbythemi nor
ity(bourgeoisie).

According t o Marxin Gi
ddens ( 2001)t his contr
adicti
on makes cl ass st
ruggl
e an
i
nev i
tablephenomenonofcapi talistsoci [Link] xandEngel sdivi
decapi tal
i
stsociety
i
ntoaneconomi cbase( i
nfr
astruct ur
e)andasuper str
uctur e(Sanderson,1992).The
i
nfrastructureconsist
softher elationsofpr oductionandmeansofpr oducti
[Link]
superstructureismadeupsoci ali nsti
tut i
ons,ideasandi deol
[Link] xi
stconfli
ct
sociologist
scl ai
mt hatt
heinfr
ast ructur
eandt hesuper structurei
nfluenceeachot her
butthebasehasmor epr
ominence( Bl
ackl edgeandHunt , 1995) .

Mar xbel i
evest hatinev eryhistor i
calepoch,domi nanti deasar erulingclassi deas
(Giddens,2001) .Thissuggest sthatt hedomi nantcl assusesi tseconomi cpowert o
domi natei deasandi deologiesi ni nstitut
ionsi nt hesuper str
uct ur
[Link] thusseraneo-
Mar xistconf li
ctsociologistconcur swhenhear guest hattheeducat i
onalsy st
em in
capi t
ali
stsoci etydi
ssemi natesr ul
ingcl asscultureandi deology( BennetandLeCompt e,
1990) .Theschoolcur ri
culum ther eforer efl
ectst hecul tur
eandi deologyoft herul
ing
[Link] thusser
,t heeducat ionsy stem inacapi tal
istsocietyi sani deologicalst
ate
appar atus whi ch per petuates,l egitimates,j ustifies and r epr oduces r ul
ing class
domi nance(Bl ackledgeandHunt ,1995) .Int hi
sr egard,Mar xistconf l
ictsoci ol
ogi
sts
believet hateducati
onser v estheint erestsoft herulingcl ass.

Act
ivi
ti
es
• Def ineandexpl ai
nt hef oll
owi
ngconcept s:meansofpr oduct
ion,relat
ionsof
production,classconfli
ct,cl
assstruggl
e,socialchange,prolet
ari
at,bourgeoi
sie,
surplus value,exploit
ati
on,domi nati
on,infrastructur
e,superstr
ucture,social
insti
tut
ions,schoolcur ricul
um,ideology,ideologicalstat
eappar atus,cult
ure,
dissensusandcoer cion.

• Draw educati
onalimpli
cati
onsf r
om theMar xi
stconfli
ctper spect
[Link]
consi
derthefoll
owingsuggesti
ons:
• Howcany ouassistpupil
sfrom pooreconomi cbackgrounds?
• Whosecul tur
eisi ntheschoolcur ri
culum?How cany ouensur eequalit
yof
educati
onalopport
unit
yregardl
essofsoci o-
cult
uralbackground?
 • Theleader shi
psty l
eyoushouldadoptasacl assr
oom pract
it
ionerorhead.
• Expl
oitationinaschoolsy st
em andi t
seff
ects
• Unequal distr
ibut
ionofresourcesataschool
• School confli
ctandconfli
ctresolut
ion
• Teachingappr oachesandmet hodstoov
ercomer el
ati
onsofdomi nance.

• Di
scussatl
eastt
hreeeducat
ional
impl
i
cat
ionsnotsuggest
edabov
e.

SYMBOLI
CINTERACTI
ONI
SM

Themaj orproponentsofsy mbol i

cinteractionism ar eG. [Link],[Link] ,
[Link]
andH. [Link] i
onal
istandconf l
ictper specti
v esarebasedont heassumpt ion
thathumansoci albehav i
ourandsoci etycanbeunder stoodbyt heexami nat
ionof
socialstr
ucturest hatguidebehav i
our( Giddens,2001) .Sy mbol
icinteracti
oni
sm by
contrastdi
rectsattentiontotheanal ysisoft hei nteracti
onofpersonsi nfacetof ace
communi cati
[Link] mbol i
cinteract
ionism f ocusesonsmal lscal
ei nt
eracti
onpatterns
betweenindivi
duals( Haral
ambosandHol bor n, 2008) .Inotherwords,i
tseesmanasan
acti
veandcr eati
vebei ngwhoi sabletocr eatehi ssocialworld.

Def
ini
ti
onofkeyt
erms

• A Sy mboli sanyactorobj ectthatrepresentssomet [Link] nst

ancef l
ags,
l
anguage, gesturesandsigns( Hagedorn,1993).
• Thesel f/selfconceptisament alimageofone’ sphy si
cal’psychologi
cal,moral
andsoci alatt
ri
butesformedf r
om socialint
eracti
on( JaryandJar y,1995).
• Interact
ion isthe process involv
ing reci
procalcommuni cati
on ofmeani ngs
resulti
nginthedef i
nit
ionofself,
othersandsituations.(Datta,1992).
• Signifi
cantothersareimportantpeoplewhoi nfluencet heway t
hewaywedef i
ne
our sel
ves(Johnson,1995).
Teacher s,
parents,peersandl ecturesareexamplesof
signifi
cantothers.

Mai
nassumpt
ionsofsy
mbol
i
cint
eract
ioni
sm

Accor
dingt
oMeadci
tedi
nHagedor
n(1993)Sy
mbol
i
cInt
eract
ioni
sm i
sbasedont
he
f
oll
owi
ngassumpt i
ons:
• Humansar eact ive,creat i
veandi nterpret i
vebei ngscapabl eofcr eati
ngt heir
socialwor [Link]: Thi sisadepar turefrom macr oper spectiveswhi chemphasi se
thedet er
mi ni ngi nfluenceofsoci al str
uctur esonhumanbehav iour.
• Humanscr eat esy mbol st owhi chtheyat tachmeani ngsandr espondaccor di
ngly.
Thesy mbol si ncludesi gns, fl
ags,gesturesandmosti mpor tantlylanguage.
• Symbol sandt heirmeani ngsar elearnedorsoci ali
sedt hroughsoci alinter
acti
on.
• Humansi nter actont hebasi sofshar edmeani ngs,wi thoutshar edmeani ng,
meani ngful soci alinteractionmaynotbepossi ble.
• Symbol s and t hei rmeani ngs ar e notf ixed ent iti
[Link] e modi f
ied and
changedt hr oughnegot iati
on.
• Humansdev elopasel fconceptt hroughsoci [Link] fdevelopsasa
resultofinter pretingandi nternal
isi
ngsi gnificantot hers’reactionst oouract i
ons.

Sy
mbol
i
cInt
eract
ioni
sm dev
elopedt
heor
ieswhi
chdescr
ibet
hedev
elopmentoft
hesel
f.
• Cooley’
sLooki
ngGlassSel
fTheor
y

Cooleyi nHaralambosandHol bor n( 2008)ar guesthatsocietyi sami r

ror
/looki
ngglassinwhi chani ndi
vidualseeshi s/ hersel
fi mager ef
lecti
ngint he
reacti
onsofot herstohi s/herbehav i
our .Justast hepi ctur
eandt hemi r
ror
givetheimageoft hephy sicalself,
theper cept i
onsorr eacti
onsofot hersgive
ani mageoft hesoci [Link] e,i fapupi lthinksthatthet eacher
perceiv
eshim/ heras‘ dul
l’or‘bright’,thenhi s/herselfconceptisshapedby
thepercept
ion.

(
b)BeckerandLemer
t’
sLabel
l
ingTheor
y

Hensl i
n( 2003)expl ainst hatlabell
ingt heoryisthev i
ew dev elopedbyt he
Sy mbolicInteracti
oniststhatthel abelpeopl earegivenaff
ectt heirownand
others’per cepti
onsoft hem,t huschannel l
ing t
hei
rbehav iourei t
heri nto
dev i
anceorconf [Link]
ingtheoristsassumet hatwet endt oliveupt o
thei mpressionsot hershav [Link] tci
tedinGoode( 1997)
claimt hati fani ndivi
duali sconsistentlylabel
ledasdev i
ant ,he/ shemay
behav elikear ealdev iant
.Al abelthereforeistheassignmentofar oletoa
childespeciall
ybyt hechi l
d’ssigni
ficantother.

(
c)TheSel
f-
ful
fi
ll
i
ngPr
ophecy

Accor
ding to Mert
on in Kendal
l(2003)thesel
f-
ful
fi
ll
i
ng prophecytheor
y
ar
guest hatexpect
ati
onsmadebyt eacher
saboutastudent
’sbehavi
ouror
 achievementwillt
endt ocomet rueev enthought heor i
ginalexpectati
onmay
hav ebeenfal
[Link] dst het heorymai ntainst hatpr edict
ionsmadeby
teachersaboutthefuturesuccessorf ail
ureofst udent swi ll
tendt ocometr
ue
becauset hepredi
[Link] ls’sel fconcept swi llt
endtobe
shaped by t he teacher ’
s def i
niti
on,at ti
tudes and expect at
[Link]
classroom t
heselffulfi
ll
ingpr ophecymaywor kliket his:
• Thet eachermaypr edictthatapupi lisdull.
• Thet eacherlabelsthepupi lasdull.
• Thet eacherinteractswi t
ht hepupi l
intermsoft hel abel.
• Thepupi ldevelopst heselfconceptt hathe/ shei sdul l
.
• Thet eacherbelievesthathi s/herini
tialprophecywasr i
ght.

Act
ivi
ti
es
• Def ineandexpl ainthef oll
owingt er
ms: symbol,t
heself/selfconcept
,int
eract
ion,
si
gni f
icantother,selffulf
il
li
ngpr ophecyandlabell
ing.
• Dr aweducat ionali mplicat
ionsfr om t
hesy mboli
ci nt
eracti
onistper
specti
[Link]
mayconsi derthef ollowing:
• Howdoesl abell
ingaf fectacademi cperfor
mance?
• Whatar etheadv ant agesanddi sadvantagesofabili
tygroupingorstr
eaming?
• Thet eacher’
sat t
itudesandexpect ati
onsaffectacademicper for
manceofpupi l
s.
Discuss.

REFERENCES
Bennet t
,andLeCompt e,(1980)TheWaySchool sWor k:ASociol
ogicalAnalysi
s.
London: Rout l
edge.
Blackledge, [Link] ,B.( 1985)SociologicalInt er
pretat
ionsofEducation.
London: Routl
edge.
Giddens, A.(2001)soci ology .Oxford:Polit
yPress.
Hagedor n, R.(1990)Soci ology .Toronto:HoltRei nhart.
Haralambos, [Link] bor n,M.( 2008)Sociology :ThemesandPer spectives.
London: Colli
nsEducat ional.
Henslin,J.M.( 2003)Soci ology :ADownt oEar t
hAppr [Link] k:Al
lynand
Bacon.
Jary,[Link] y
,J.(1995)Col li
nsDictionaryofSoci [Link]
ord:Coll
ins
Educati
on.
Johnson,A.G.(1995)TheBlackwel
lDict
ionaryofSoci
ology
:AUser
’sGui
deto
Soci
[Link]
ord:Bl
ackwellPubli
sher
s.
Sanderson,S.K.(1992)Macrosoci
ology:AnIntr
oduct
iontoHumanSoci
eti
es.
London:Har perandRowPubl i
sher
s.

UNI
TEI
GHT

GENDERROLESOCI ALIZATION
Object i
ves
Byt heendoft hisuni tstudent sshoul dbeabl eto:
• Def i
net het erm genderr ol esociali
zati
on
• Assess t he pr evalence ofgenderr ol
e soci al
ization withi
n a domi nant
pat r
iarchal cult
ure
• Evaluat et her olepl ayed byeducat ionalinsti
tutionsi nreinforcing gender
stereotypes?
• Identifyway sofdeconst ructinggender .
Intr
oduct i
on
Earlysoci ali
zationl ay sdownr ulesandpr escri
besr ol
esf orsexappr opriatebehav i
our
call
edgenderr [Link] olesref ertopatternsofat ti
tudesandbehav i
ourst hatcan
moul d,shape r egul ate and or ganize human behav i
our( Thio,1991) .
Zanden ( 1988)
cont endst hatgenderi sasoci al
lyconst ructedr eal
it
y;hencei tisnotpr i
mar i
lythe
proper tyoft heindiv idual
sbutofsoci eti
es,socialinsti
tuti
onsandcul [Link]
taughtt herolesandbehav iouraltraitsappr opri
atetot heirsexv i
aapr ocesscal l
ed
genderr olesoci alizat ion. Genderr olesoci alizat ionaccor dingt oKombl um ( 1997)r ef er s
tot hoseway si nwhi chpeopl el ear nt hei rgenderexpect ationsi nsoci etyanddev el op
accor dingt ocul tur alnor msofmascul i
nityorf emi ni nity.I tisacompl exandcont inuous
processofcondi t
ioni ngwhi chst ar tswi thear lychi ldhoodsoci alizat i
onv iathegender
rolest hatmember soft hehousehol dt hemsel vesf ulfilso t hatnot i
onsofgender
relationsar et ransmi ttedandmai [Link] spr ocessact ual l
yper vadessoci et yandi t s
soci al inst itutions.
Accor di ngt oShi zha( 2000)i nZi mbabweov erwhel mi ngev idencer ev ealst hatgi rlsar e
subj ect edt oanenv ironmentt hatsoci alizest hem i nt osubser vience,subor dinat i
onand
i
nf erior ityt ot hemal ecount er par [Link] rl
sar eexpl oi tedundert hemy thofgenderdi v ision
ofl aborast heyper f
or m adul tr olessuchast hebul kofdomest i
cwor [Link] st endst o
maket hem t oendupcombi ningwor kingonf ami lyr unent erpr iseswi that tendi ng
school .Inev itabl yt her ei sat radeof fbet weenpar ti
cipat ionandschoolat tendance.
Genderr olesoci alizat i
oncanbeseenasar elat ivedepr i
v ationwhi cht endst ocr eat ea
viciouscy cleofdepr ivat i
onst hatt endst ot rackt hegi rlchi l
dreni nt oat rapwher et hey
exper iencepower lessness, vul nerabi l
ity,isol ationandpov erty( Gaidzanwa1992) .
Theconcept ual framewor k
Ther adi calf emi nist si ll
umi nat ehow genderr ol esoci alizationi sdeepl yet chedi nt he
pat ri
ar chalsy st [Link] eMi l
let( Br yson,1992;184)ar guedt hatt hewor dpat riar chy
der i
v edf rom Gr eekwor dpat riarchi esmeani ngheadoft het ri
be, suppor tedt heabsol ute
rule,i deat hatt hepowerofaki ngov erhi speopl ewast hesameast hatoff at herov er
hisf ami lyandt hatbot hwer esanct ionedbyGodandnat [Link] r i
ar chalsy stem i s
cent er edont hedi v isionofl [Link] ssex ualdi visionofl abori shi erarchicalwi th
menont opandwomenatt hebot t
[Link] rolt hel aborofwomenandchi ldreni n
thef ami l
ybysodoi ngmenl ear nt het echni quesofhi er archi calor gani zat ionandcont rol
(Har tman,1992: 820) .Thi si sbecausesoci ali nst i
tut ionsi nmostpat riarchalsoci eties
repr oduceandr ei nfor cegenderr olest ereot y pest hroughgenderr ol esoci alizat ion.
Accor di ngt oVogel( 1983)t heeducat i
onsy st em i npat riarchalsoci etiescannotbe
neut rali nt erms ofi ts cont entand pr ocess due t ot he inf l
uence ofgenderr ole
soci alizat [Link] ef ore,pat ri
ar chymaynotbeamer eder ivativeofeconomi cpoweror
classsoci etyasi thasexi sted bef or ecapi tal i
sm and cont inuesi n postcapi t ali
st
soci et i
esduet ot hepr ev alenceofgenderr olesoci alizat i
on,( Eisenst ein1979; 678) .
Acqui ringGenderBehav iorsandI dent it
ies
Cool ey( 1929)cont endst hati tist hrought hef ami lyt hatt hechi l
d’ si dent ityisf ormed,
processedbecauset herei soppor tunityf orr eci proci tyandnegot [Link] o
sayt hatt he“ I
”becomest hesoci al i
zedmewher et hesoci ali
zedsel fi sseenasi t s
i
dent ity.I nagr eementGof fman( 1982)cl ai mst hatr ol esar ebestaspl ay edper formedor
dramat izedwi thi nt her ulessur roundi ngt hesoci al [Link], bot hboy sandgi rls`sel f
per cept i
onsal mostr eplicatet hosei nt ernal izedi nt hemodesofsel f-present ationand
selfi mage( Nongogo1994) .
Vander Zanden( 1988)i dent i
f i
est hreemechani smsasoper ati
onali nt hegenderr ole
soci alizat ionpr ocessasobser vat ion, i
mi tat i
on, andr einf orcement .Thr oughobser vation
childr encopyandenactaccept edgenderbehav iorsf rom r olemodel snamel yapar ent ,
siblings,peer [Link] ingsoci ali nt eract i
onchi ldrenacqui rest ubbor nnot i
onsofgender
const ancyi nt heager angeof4- 6year ssucht hatbyt het imet heyar er eadyt oent er
schoolt heyar eact ingoutt hei rr ol
esofboyandgi rl
.I nconsensusMer toni nZanden
(1988)cont endst hatt hr oughpar t
icipat or ysoci ali
zat ionchi l
drenr ehear seadul tr ol es
throughr ol et aki ngt r
y i
ngoutbehav iour soft hei rpr escr i
bedr ol emodel [Link] sen
(1997: 43)submi tst haty oungchi ldrenl ear ngenderappr opr iatebehav iourbymodel l
ing
the behav iour s oft he same- sexpar ent .Soci alizat i
on pr ocess dev elops as y oung
childr ent aket her olesofr olemodel sar oundt hem.
Accor dingt oAnder son( 1997)sy mbol ici nt eract ionistt heor yr efert ot hewaygenderi s
formed as doi ng gender .To t hem genderi s const ructed t hr ough r out ine soci al
i
nt eract ionasi ndi vidual sengagei nbehav i
our si dent ifiedwi thspeci ficgendermeani ngs.
Bysodoi ngchi l
dr enwi l
lbedoi nggendert hr oughchi ldhoodpl [Link],
whenev ersomeone i nter act s wi th anot heri n a way t hatdi spl ay s a par ti
cul ar
conf igur at ionofgender ,genderi sdone.i sseenasanaccompl ishedact ivity,routinel y
repr oducedi nev er ydayi nter act [Link] efor e, genderi snotani ndi v i
dualt raitbutr ather
creat edt hr oughsoci al inter act ion
Agent sofGenderRol eSoci al izat ioni nt heEducat ionSy stem
TheSchool
Inapat riar chalsoci etyt heschool scont inuet or ef l
ectt heexi stingbi asedr olesand
assume non–commi ttalat ti
tude t ot he i mpl [Link] ve as sophi sti
cat ed
mechani smsf orsel ect i
ont hr oughsoci al repr oduct ionandgenderr ol esoci alization.
Ev enschoolpol iciesi nZi mbabwel egal izet heuseofcor por alpuni shmentonboy s
becauset heyar ev i
ewedasst rongandt [Link] sdi fferent ialtreat mentofboy sand
girlst endst oent renchgenderst ereot ypes.I nZi mbabweDor sey( 1996)f oundoutt hat
academi cachi ev ementt endst obehi gheri nsi ngl esexschool st hanco- educat ional
school [Link] sassoci ationi smor esi gni ficantandst rongerf orgi [Link] ngl esexschool s
tendt oof f ergr eat eracademi csuppor tandencour agehi gherachi ev ementt hanco-
educat ional school s.
Thef or mal school cur r
icul um
For malschoolcur riculum r ef erst ot hest ruct uredpl anofact i
onwhi chembr acesa
whol er angeofl ear ningexper iencesandact ivit
iesandexami nat ionsasaf orm of
eval uat i
onofast at eappr ov ededucat ionpr ogr ammeatal earni ngi nst [Link] yson
(1996)per ceiv est hef or malschoolcur ricul um asanagentofr epr oduci ngpat r
iarchal
relationshi pswhi chcont inuest hei deol ogi calf unct ionofgenderr ol esoci alizationi nt o
different l
ywor ki dent [Link] ect sof fer ed t o boy sand gi rl
si n secondar yschool s
per pet uat egenderi nequal itiessi ncesubj ect sl i
kef oodandnut ritionandwoodwor k
por tray di ffer ences i n at titudes and ment alabi liti
es ofdi ff
er [Link] rl
s ar e
educat edf ordomest icit
ywhi l
eboy sar epr epar edf orempl oy menti nor dert ot aket he
roleoff ami lyheadandbr eadwi nner .Accor di ngt oSapi ro( 1986)whati sconsi der edt he
formal cur ri
cul um r ef l
ect sbot ht hedi st r
ibutionofpowerandpr inci plesofsoci al cont r ol
.
Itisagai nstt hi sbackgr oundt hatMar avany ika( 1986: 26)def inest hecur ri
cul um as
somet hingcont ri
v edandar tif
icial l
ydesi gnedt omeetspeci f
icsoci al pur poses.
TheZi mbabweaneducat i
onsy st em i spunct uat edbyqual i
fyingexami nat ions;t hemost
decisivewhi ch det ermi neent rancequal i
ficat ion i ntot hesecondar yeducat ion,and
stream st udent st ot akeupei thert hesci encesort hehumani t
iesandar [Link] ti
nga
nat i
onalexam asaf orm ofev aluat ionf oral lst udent si nbot hpr imar yandsecondar y
school si nal lr egionsi nal ldi str i
ctst hef ormalschoolcur ri
culum f ailst oacknowl edge
thatgi rl
st endt obest artingf rom di fferentposi ti
onsofadv antagewi thboy ssi ncet hey
areexposedt oav i
ci ouscy clewhi chhi nder st heirper for [Link] riculum seems
tobev er ysi lentaboutt hesemul t
ipl edepr iv ati
onsbecauseboy sandgi rl
ssi tf ort he
sameexami nat ionateachl evelwi thoutcushi oningt hegi r
lchild’sdepr iv at i
[Link] don
(1996)and Ohsako ( 1995)concurt hatt he f ormalschoolcur r
icul um of fer s an
i
deol ogi caldi scour sewhi cht racksgi rl
sf ort hedomest i
cspher [Link] ef or e,thef ormal
schoolcur ricul um i sr esponsi bl ef ort het r ansmi ssionofnor msandv al uest hatar e
fundament alt ot hecont inuedr epr oduct i
onofsoci alinequal iti
esduet ot hepr eval ence
ofgenderr olesoci al i
zat i
on.
TextBooks
Genderappr opr iatebehav iouri sal sol ear nedt hrought [Link] booksusedby
teacher si nt he cl assr oom cont ain much i nfor mat i
on aboutappr opr iate sex- role
behav iourandgener al l
yde- emphasi zeonf emal esi nr olesout sidet [Link] rlsar e
oftenmar ginal izedanddev aluedwher et heyar epr esent edaspassi ve,dependent , weak,
[Link] tunedt ot hedualf ormsofcont rolf oundwi thin
theirspeci fi
cwor kl ocat i
onsasr eflect edi nt het [Link] sr einfor cest hegender
rolest ransmi tteddur i
ngpr i
mar ysoci ali
zat [Link] sisbecauset extbooksi ndi catea
process ofexpl icitand i mpl icitgendert ypi ng and di scri
mi nat ion,r esul t
ing i nt he
i
nt ernalizat i
on ofpoorsel fi mage i n gi rl
[Link] Nzi ramasanga Commi ssion ( 1999)
admi tst hatbot hor alandwr ittenev idencesubmi tt
ednat i
onwi dei ndi cat est hatgender
biasi scommonl yr ef l
ect ed i nt het extbooksand cur riculum mat erialt hatatbot h
primar yandsecondar ylev els. Oft he42t extbooksst udiedi nZi mbabwe5canbe
consi der edr easonabl ygenderbal anced, 5neut rali nthatgenderi si nv i
sibl [Link] est32
areov erwhel mi nglychar act erizedbyt hepor tray alofwomenasmot her s,housewi v es
andnur sesper formi ngdomest i
cr olesi nt hebackgr oundofact ionandmal espor trayed
asadv ent urousandi ndeci siv er olesi nt hef or ef rontofact i
on( Brickhi ll,Hopper sand
Pehr sson, 1996) .
TEACHEREXPECTATI ONSANDATTI TUDES
Inmostpat
riar
chalsoci
eti
eswheregenderrol
esoci
ali
zati
onpr
evail
steacher
scanbe
seenasagentsthr
oughwhom societ
alsyst
emstransmitcr
uci
albel
ief
sandv al
ues,
genderr ol es, behav i
our [Link] eacher sspendasubst ant ial amountoft imei n
dailycont actwi t
hpupi lst hei rat titudesandexpect ationscanadv er selyaf fectt he
educat ional exper iencesofgi rl
si nschool [Link] ousl yr einf orcesex
–st ereot ypesandi nflexibl esexr olesi nt hecl assr oom dur i
ngt het eachi ngl earning
process. Inagr eementHar alambosandHol bor n( 2004)poi ntoutt hatev eni fteacher s
makeef for tt ot r
eatst udent sequal lyt hemessageoft hei rv eryst rongki ndof
soci alizat ionst il
lgetacr osssi ncest udent sar ev erysensi tivet oanycuesaboutt hei r
per formanceandt eacher s`at titudest owar dst [Link] s’ expect ati
onsbasedon
theirsoci al izationcanl eadt hem t ounconsci ousl yusesexi stl anguaget ol abel gi rlsas
poorachi ev erst hr oughi nt er actiondur ingt het eachi ngl ear ningpr [Link] di ngt o
Har gr eav es( 1986)suchl abel st endt oaf fectt hesel f-
imageofpupi lst otheext entof
reinfor cingandper pet uat ingdi f ferenteducat ional exper iencesandout comes.I n
agr eementSchul tzi nMei ghan( 1981)submi tst hatl anguageasamedi um f or
typificat ionsenabl est hosei npower ful posi t i
onst ol abel ot her [Link], Kay e( 1994)
per ceiv est eacher sasunconsci ousconspi rat orswhoweav et hemascul inemy st iqueby
l
abel l
ingboy sasmor eint el l
igent , academi cal lyabl eandphy sical st rongert hangi r l
[Link]
addi tiont ov erbal cuesandobser vedbehav iour sdur ingi nter act ion, pupilsr espondt o
theat ti
tudesexpr essedt hr oughphy sical expr essi on, teacher ’
smanner ,toneofv oi ce,
facial expr essi on, post ur e, degr eeoff riendl inessandencour agement .Thesesi gns
gradual lyacqui remeani ngandcanconv eyani mpr essi ont hatcanpr oducet hesel f-
fulfil
lingpr ophecy .I nr elat i
ont ot heabov emeadandCool eyi nCosi n, Dal e,Esland,
Macki nnonandSwi f
t( Eds)( 1980)cl aimt hatt eacher sar et hel ooki nggl asssel fwhose
l
abel scanl eadt osel f-fulf i
lli
ngpr ophecy .Thel abel lingandsel f-f ulfilli
ngpr ophecy
theor iessuggestt hatt heway st eacher sr eactt oi ndi vi
dual pupi lst endt oaf fectt hei r
educat ional exper iences( Cosi ned, 1980) .Mel lori nHal ambosandHol born( 2004)
conf essest hatt eacher scant y pe, classi f yandl abel student sasei therdul lorbr ight .
Thi sleadst ot hest ratificat ionofknowl edget osui tthest reamsespeci allyincont ent
andt eachi ngmet hodsmaybemodi fiedt osui tthiscat egor izat [Link] hei nfluenceof
thet eacher ’sat titudesbecomesasel f-fulfil
lingpr ophecywhi chcansi gnif i
cant l
yaf fect
thegi rl
s`educat ional exper iences.I nZi mbabwest udiesbyGor don( 1995)andOhsako
(1996)r ev eal thatgi rlsoutper for m boy si nt heear lygradesbutt hei rachi evementt est
scor esdecl i
neast heypr ogr esst hroughschool Becauseacademi cexpect ationsby
teacher sf orgi rlsar eof tenl owert hist endst odepr esst hei raspi rat ionsand
achi ev ement .Ther ef ore, teacherexpect ationsandat ti
tudescanbeakeyt ogender
different iat ion.
Educat
ional
Impl
i
cat
ions
Sincegendersensit
ivi
tytendstobefai
rl
yar ecenti
nnovat
ioncurri
culum pl
anner
sneed
tobemor econsciousofgenderissuesregardi
ngmateri
alstheyproduceandtext
books
theyrecommendt hus,formingaspri
ngboardf ort
hedevelopmentofagender
balancedandsensiti
vecurri
culum (
Chagonda,1996).
Genderanal ysis shoul d be used as an i ndi spensabl et oolby pol icy maker st o
mai nst ream agenderper spect iv einor dert or ev isegenderpol iciessot hatt heyr espond
tot hecont empor ar ygenderr olest ereoty pi ngpr oblem byr edressi ngt hepr evalent
genderr olesoci ali
zat [Link],t hepr ev alentgenderi mbal ancesi neducat ionand
training shoul d be cor rected t hrough t he adopt i
on ofgenderequi typol i
ci es and
pract [Link] iciesshoul dcat erf orbot hsexesconcer nsandexper i
encessot hat
ev eryonebenef itsequal l
yi nal lsoci al spher es.
Educat i
onistsshoul dcomeupwi thi nt er v
ent ionpr ogr amssoast odeconst r
uct ,
redef ineandr econst ructgenderst er eot ypedr [Link] i
onshoul dbeagender
transf or mat i
onal pr ocesst ocount eractat titudesaswel l asinadequat eski ll
sand
knowl edgeongendersensi tivit
y .Ref or mssuchast her e-educat ion, tr
aini ngpr e-
ser vicesandi n- ser v
icesf ort eacher s, theedi tingandsel ecti
onoft ext books, moni t
oring
ofcl assr oom pr act i
ceandcur r
icul um gui danceshoul d makeani mpactatal ev elof
genderi dentifi
cat ionsot hatgenderequi t
yi sgr adual lycul t
ivat edr ightf rom t he
grassr oot [Link] eshoul dbeaposi tiveencour agementt omi xpupi lsand
encour agef ul
l par ti
cipat ionoff emal esi nmal edomi natedsubj ectsandv i
cev er sa.
Teachi ngofnat ural sciencesandot hermal est ereot ypedsubj ect st ogi rlsasgener al
educat ionwi t
houtst r eami ngandcl assi fyi
ngt hem coul dbeoneoft hemet hodst odr aw
them i nt oprofessi onal andt echni cal st reamsofeducat [Link] ti
met ablesshoul d
notbecompar tment al i
zedandr igidbutf lexibl et oaccommodat ethegi rl chil
[Link]
cur ri
cul um whi chseemssi l
entaboutt hesoci allyconst ructeddi sadv ant agesgi rlsf ace
alsoneedst ober ev isedsot hati tacknowl edgesbar ri
erssuchaspr epar i
nguni for m
exams.
Act iviti
es
(i
)Ispr imar ygenderr olesoci al
izat ionwi thinadomi nantpat riarchalcul turepr ev al
enti n
Zimbabwe?
(i
i)Whatr ol
edoeducat ionali nst i
tut ionspl ayi nr eproduci ngandr einf orcinggender
stereot ypes?
(i
ii) How cant eacher scr eat eaconduci vegenderbi asf reeenv ironmenti nev eryday
i
nt eract i
onsi nt heschool ?
Althusser( 1971)cont endst hatschool sar er epr essiv eideol ogi calst ateappar atuses.
Howev er ,theschool isal soint hebestposi tiont otakeapr oact i
ver oleagai nst
i
nj ust i
cesbei ngper pet uat edi nsoci et yt hroughgenderdeconst ruction( Br i
ckhill etal,
1996) .Thi sbr eaki ngdownofgenderst er
eot y pedsexi dentitiescanbedonebyi nstil
ling
gender edat ti
tudes, per cept i
onsandi dent it
iest hroughmet hodsoft eachi ngi nt he
l
ear ni ngenv ir
onmentHowev er ,itshoul dbenot edt hatt hebr eaki ngdownofgender
rolesorgenderdeconst r
uct i
onwi thint heeducat i
onsy stem i snotasmoot h
unpr obl emat i
cpr ocess.
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BARNARD,
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.[Link],M.(1992)Gir
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cEducat
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DELAMON,S.(1976)Inter
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FI
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HARTMANN,
H.(
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KORNBLUM,
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R.(
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.
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K.(
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R.(
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T.(
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V.(
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SHI
ZHA,
E.(
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ruct
edMascul
i
nit
ySel
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Boysi
naPr i
maryCl
assr
oom
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nZimbabwe.
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HRRC.

VANDER,
ZANDEN,
J.W.(
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ion
t
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VOGEL,
L.(
1983)Mar
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essi
[Link]
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ck:
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ver
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ess.

WEEDON,
C.(
1994)Femini
sm andt
hePr
inci
plesofPost
str
uct
ural
i
sm.
London:
Heinemann.

UNI
TNI
NE
SOCI
ALSTRATI
FICATI
ON

Obj
ect
ives
Byt
heendoft hisunitst
udentsshouldbeabl eto:
• definetheterm soci
alstr
atifi
cation.
• identi
fythedif
ferencesbetweent hefunct
ional
istandMarxi
stper
spect
iveson
strati
fi
cati
on.
• draw educat ional implications from t he funct
ional
i
st and Mar xi
st
perspecti
vesonsoci alst
rati
ficati
on.

I
ntr
oduct
ion

The st r
ucture ofsociet
yis charact
eri
sed bydif
ferentclasses ofpeople who are
hier
archicall
yst r
ati
fi
[Link]
ifi
edclassesapparent
lyhav edi
f f
erent
ialaccessto
[Link]
suni
tfocusesont heMar
xistandfuncti
onali
stperspecti
veson
socialstr
atif
icati
on.

Def
ini
ti
on

Sander
son(
1992)say
sthatsocialstr
ati
fi
cat
ioninvol
vestheexi
stencewi
thi
nasingl
e
soci
etyoft
woormor edif
ferenti
all
yrankedgroups,themember sofwhichcont
rol
unequalamount sofpower ,pri
vil
egeandpr [Link] hi
sr egard,strati
fi
cat i
oni nv ol
ves
groupsnoti ndivi
dual [Link] al
ambosandHol bor n( 2008)expl ai
nt hatsocialst r
atificati
on
i
sahi erarchicalst ructuringofsoci etyindi catingsoci alinequalit
[Link] herwor ds
socialstr atifi
cationi mpli
esunev endi str
ibut ionofv ari
ablesbet weencl assessuchas
power ,educat i
on,mat eri
alpossessi onsamongot [Link] oWor sel
y( 1981)i n
usingt het erm st r
atifi
cat
iont or efertosoci et y,wear eactuall
ymaki ngananal [Link]
Geol ogy,st rati
fi
cat i
onr eferstot heway sl ay ersofr ockar ear r
angedoneont opoft he
[Link] alstratif
icati
onsi milarl
yreferst ot hedi vi
sionofapopul ationintostrat a,one
ont opoft heot her.

General
lythedegr eeofpower ,pri
vi
legeandpr est
igethatindi
vidual
shavei nstr
ati
fi
ed
soci
etydependont hei
rmember shipinactualsocialgroups,notont heirpersonal
charact
eri
[Link] ff
erent
ial
lyrankedgroupsconstit
utesocialstr
ataorlayer
softhe
overal
lsocio-cul
turalsystem..Thusstrat
if
icat
ionisahierarchi
calstr
uctur
ingofsociety
i
ndicati
ngsoci ali
nequalit
ies.

FUNCTI
ONALI
STVI
EWSONSTRATI
FICATI
ON

Functionalisttheor yofst rati

fi
cat i
on mustbe seen i nt he cont extoff unct ional
ist
theori
esofsoci et
y( Har al
ambosandHol bor n,2008).Whenf unct i
onalistsat temptt o
explainsy stemsofsoci alstrati
fi
cat ion,t heysett hei
rexplanati
onsi nthef ramewor kof
l
argert heor i
eswhi chseekt oexplai nt heoper ati
onofsoci etyasawhol [Link]
thatsoci etyhasbasi cneedsorf unct ionalpr erequi
sit
eswhi chmustbemeti fthe
societyist osur vi
ve(cont i
nuet of unct ion).Theyt heref
orelookt osoci alst r
atifi
cat i
ont o
seehow f ari tmeet st hosef unct ionalpr erequisit
[Link] i
onalistsassumet hatthe
partsofsoci et
yf orm ani ntegratedwhol eandt husexami netheway sinwhi chsoci al
strati
fi
cationi sintegratedwi thinot herpar t
sofsoci et
[Link] ntaint hatacer tain
degreeofor derandst abil
ityisessent ialf ortheoper at
ionofsoci [Link] l
l
thereforeconsi derhowst rati
fi
cationsy stemshel ptomai ntai
nor derandst abili
[Link]
functi
onal i
stsar eprimar il
yconcer nedwi t
ht hef uncti
onofsoci alstrati
ficationandi ts
contri
but i
ont othemai ntenanceandwel lbeingofsoci ety.

• Tal
cot
tPar
sons:St
rat
if
icat
ionandVal
ues

Parsons in Haralambos and Holbor

n( 2008) observ
es thator der,st abil
it
y and
cooperati
oni nsociet
yarebasedonv al
ueconsensus,t hatisagener alagreementby
member sofsocietyconcerni
ngwhatisgoodorwor thwhil
[Link]
ati
fi
cationsy stemsare
basedoncommonv al
[Link]
eareev aluat
edintermsofsoci etalvaluesandt hus
[Link]
hemor epeoplepersoni
fysociet
y’sval
uest hehi ghert
hey
wil
lber ankedandthegreatert
herewardstheywil
lreceiv
[Link]
e
consideredincl
udeeducation/
qual
if
icat
ions,har
dwor kandselfdi
sci
pli
[Link]
e
str
atif
icati
onisbot
hinevit
ableandri
ghtandpropersinceiti
sbasi
cal
lyanexpressi
onof
sharedv al
ues.

Whilstconf l
ictmayoccurbet weent hoseofdi fferentranks,i twil
lbemi nimisedbyt he
commonv al uesy stem whichjust
ifi
esunequal rewar [Link] nGiddens( 2001)sees
soci
alst r
atificati
onasbot hinevit
ableandf unctionalforsoci ety.I
tisinevitablebecause
i
tder i
vesf rom shar edv al
ueswhi chareanecessar ypar tofallsocialsy [Link]
and prestige di ff
erenti
als ar
e essentialfort he coor di
nat i
on and integr ati
on ofa
special
iseddi vi
si
onofl [Link] i
ty,Parsonsf i
ndsi tdiffi
cultt
osee
howmember sofsocietycouldeffecti
velycooper ateandwor ktogether.

• Dav
isandMoor
e:Rol
eAl
l
ocat
ionandPer
for
mance

Dav i
sandMoor earguethatallsociet
iesneedsomemechani smsforensuri
ngeffect
ive
rol
eal l
ocati
onandper f
ormance( HaralambosandHol born,2008).Thismechanism is
socialstr
ati
fi
cationwhicht heyseeasasy st
em whichattachesunequalrewardsand
pri
v i
l
egest othediffer
entpositionsinsoci ety
.Thusthefunct i
onalprer
equisi
temetby
strat
ifi
cat
ionisef f
ecti
ver oleallocat
ionandper f
[Link] lrol
esmustbef i
ll
edby
thosebestabl etoperformt [Link] ainingforcer
tai
nr ol
esi snecessaryandtheroles
mustbeconsci enti
ouslyperformed.

Dav isandMoor ei nHaral

ambosandHol bor n( 2008)ar guet hatifpeopl eandposi ti
ons
whi chmakeupsoci etydidnotdifferinimpor tantr espects,therewoul dbenoneedf or
stratif
icati
[Link] erpeopl edif
feri nter msoft hei
ri nnateabilit
yandt alent .Also
posi ti
onsdifferintermsoft hei
rimpor t
ancef ort hesur vi
val andmai ntenanceofsoci ety
.
Cer tai
n posit i
ons are mor efunctionall
yi mpor tantt han ot [Link] f unct ionall
y
i
mpor tantrolesr equi
respecialski
llsandt herear eonlyal imit
ednumberofpeopl ein
anysoci et
ywi tht heabil
i
tyt operformt heser [Link] uncti
onofst rat
if
icat i
oni sto
mat cht heimpor tantposit
ionstot hepeopl emostabl etocar ryoutt heseposi [Link]
orderf orthistooccur ,hi
ghr ewardsmustbegi vent omot i
vatepeopl et ocompet efor
theseposi ti
[Link] llwi
[Link] dingt oDav i
sandMoor esoci alstr
at i
ficationis
thereforeadev icebywhi chsocieti
esensur et hatt hemosti mportantposi tionsar e
consci enti
ouslyfill
edbythemostqual i
fi
edper sons.

ACr
it
iqueofDav
isandMoor
ebyTumi
n
TumininHar al
ambosandHol born(2008)arguesthatt
osaycer t
ainpositi
onsinsoci
ety
aref
unct i
onall
ymoreimport
antthanot her
[Link]
here
i
smor et al
entin soci
etythan Davisand Moor e [Link] are notalways
moti
vatedbymat eri
alrewar
dst [Link] eareintri
nsi
cal
lymot i
vatedtowork
andtherefor
erewardshaveveryli
tt
letodowi t
hjobperformance.

MARXI
STVI
EWSONSTRATI
FICATI
ON

Mar xi
stsv i
ew socialstr
ati
fi
cationfrom aneconomi cpoi
ntofview andsodefinesa
socialclassasagr oupwhosemember shav eacommonr el
ationtothemeansof
producti
onorpr oducti
veproper t
y(Sanderson,1992).ToMarxt hedeter
minati
ont o
one’s class is not education,ski l
l
s,income or occupati
on but ownership or
nonowner shi
pofthemeansofpr oducti
on.

Iti
simportantt onot et hatbot ht heMar xi stsandt hef unctionalistsacknowl edget he
exi
stenceofsoci alst ratificati
oni nsoci [Link] ert heMar xisttheoryonst rati
ficati
on
cont
rastsfunctionalism ont hef oll
owi ngbasi s:
• Strati
fication i s di visive,di sintegr ativet han i ntegr ati
ve as Par sons say s
becausedi f
fer entcl asseswi t hdi fferentint erest scanonl yexi stinast ateof
antagoni sm andconf li
ctr athert hansoci al sol i
dar i
ty.
• Strati
fication i s noti nevitabl e buti ti s cr eated byt hose who desi r
et o
domi nateot her [Link] hisr egar dMar xidentifiespr i
mi ti
vecommunal ism wher e
therewasnopr ivat
eowner shi pofpr opertyt opoi ntt hatacl asslesssoci et
y
canbeachi ev ed.
• Strati
ficationi sbasedoni njust iceandsocannotbebasedoncommonl y
agreedv aluesasPar sonspr [Link] ei ndi fferentst r
atacannothav e
commonv aluesandso t her ecannotbeanyobj ect i
veev aluat
ionofany
variablest hatl eadt ost ratification.I tist hev aluesoft hepower fult hatare
usedt oev aluat edi f
fer entsoci alv aluesi nor dert oext endthei rpri
vilegesand
sost rati
ficat i
onser vest hei nt erest soft hedomi nantcl ass.
• Ther eisnoi nt erdependenceoft hesoci alclassesonanequalf ootingandso
the f unctional istassumpt ion on speci alisat i
on and i nterdependence i s
fal
si f
icati
onoft heexpl oitativeanddomi nantnat ur eofcapi tal
ism.

ToMar xallsoci
etieshavetwobasi cclasseswhosemember shav edi
ffer
entaccessto
the meansofpr oducti
on (The havesand t he hav
e nots).
Marxin Giddens(2001)
observesthatdi
fferenthist
ori
calepochsshow t heclassesofthehavesandt hehave
[Link]
e( i)sl
avery-master;
slave
(ii
)Feudal
ism-lord;ser
f
 (
ii
i)Capi
tal
i
sm-bour
geoi
sie;
prol
etar
iat

Thusfr
om aMarxi
stpointofv
iewsoci
alst
rat
if
icat
ioni
sani
nst
rumentofexpl
oit
ati
on
rat
hert
hanuni
fi
cat
ion.

Marx’
scharact
eri
sti
csofcapit
ali
stclassstruct
ure
Marxin Haral
ambos and Hol bor
n( 2008)observes t
hatthe bour
geoisi
e and t
he
pr
olet
ari
atarethemajorcl
assesofcapi t
ali
sm whichhehowev
ersubdivi
des.

Bourgeoi
siecl
ass
Thesear etheelit
euppercl asswho arealso t
heruli
ng cl
asswho howev
erown
product
ivebutnonproduci
ngcapi
tal
.Theyar
eami nor
it
yinnumbery
ett
heydominant
.

Peti
tBour
geoisi
eclass
Thesearesomest ablebusinessowner sorindependentselfemployedarti
sanswho
ownsmallholdi
[Link] ruggl
et omaint
ainast at
usabov etheprolet
ari
ator
avoi
dwhatMar xtermedpol ar
isat
ionoft heworki
ngclasswher et
hepet i
tbourgeoisi
e
wouldsi
nkint
othepr ol
etar
iatduetosharpcompet i
ti
venessofcapi
tali
sm.

Prolet
ari
at
These aret he non owning butpr oducing cl
[Link] e pr
opertyless and are
dependentonwagesf rom t
[Link]
agonism ofthebourgeoi
sieas
theirint
erestandtheirsurv
ivalskil
l
sar eovershadowedandexploit
edbythedomi nant
class.

Theunder cl
ass/Lumpenpr ol
etar
iat
Theyhav enof or
m [Link]
eswhomaysur vi
veoncr
iminalact
ivi
ti
es.
Mar xpercei
vest hem ascounterrev
oluti
onari
esbecausetheycanbeeasilybri
bedt o
supportther uli
ngclassduet opov ert
[Link] xsociet
yisstr
ati
fi
edi nt
of our
categor
ies.

Cr
it
iqueofMar
x’st
heor
yofst
rat
if
icat
ion

Mar xoveremphasisedtheimportanceofeconomicpowerindetermini
ngone’scl
ass.
Thereareot herf
actorsthatcanbeconsider
edt odeter
mineone’scl
[Link]
e
presti
ge,stat
uspartyorpoli
ti
calpower(
Weber,inCoserandRosenber
g,1989)
.

Educat
ionandSoci
alst
rat
if
icat
ion

Fr
om t
hef
unct
ional
i
stpoi
ntofv
ieweducat
iont
hroughi
tsexami
nat
ionsy
stem pl
aysa
selecti
onandal l
ocat
ionroleint heworkst ruct
[Link]
deducationplaysa
cri
ticalrol
einthesocialmobil
it
yofi ndi
vi
[Link]
vi
dualswi t
hhighestqual
i
ficat
ions
tendt ooccupyhemostfunct
ionall
yimportantrol
esinsociet
y.

Mar xi
stsobser vethateducat i
onf uncti
onst orepr oducet hest rat
ifi
edsoci ety
.The
economi call
ypowerfuluseeducat i
ont olegiti
mat ethei rpositionsandt heirv al
uesand
beli
efsy stemsaret hebasisbywhi chmostt hi
ngsar ej [Link] ionsy st
em
sociali
sesf al
sev i
ew,providesfalseexpl anati
oni nor dertomakepeopl eacceptt he
statusquoasnor [Link] hisvi
ew Al t
huseri nHar alambosandHol born( 2008)adds
thateducat i
oncanbeani deologi
cal st
ateappar at
ususedbyt hedomi nanttor eproduce
domi nati
onandsubor di
nati
ont hroughfalsif
icati
onofr ealit
[Link] hatfr
om
theper specti
veeducati
onisat oolforempower mentwhi lstMar xi
stsseei tasanor gan
ofmani pulati
onandexploit
ation.

Conclusi
on
I
thas been not ed thatsocialstrat
if
icat
ion i
saf eaturein al
mostev erysociety
.
Functi
onali
stsarguet hatsocialst
rat
ifi
cat
ionisinevit
ableandf unct
ionalbecauseit
deri
vesfrom [Link]
stsvi
ewsocialstr
atif
icati
onfrom aneconomicpoint
[Link] guethatsocialstr
ati
fi
cati
onisnotinev i
tabl
ebutiscr eat
edbyt hose
whowantt odomi nat
eot her
s.

Act
ivi
ti
es
• Compar e and contr
astthe f
unct
ional
i
stand Mar
xistper
spect
ives on soci
al
str
ati
fi
cat
ion.
• I seducat
ionani nst
rumentofempowermentoranorganofmani pul
ati
onand
expl
oit
ati
on?
REFERENCES
Giddens,A.(2001)[Link]
or d:Polit
yPr ess.
Haralambos, [Link] born,M.(2008) Sociol
ogy :ThemesandPerspecti
ves.
London: Col
li
nsEducational .
Rosenberg,M. ,Shaff
ir
,W.,Turowetz, [Link] nf i
eld,
M.(1983)AnInt
roduct
ion
toSoci ol
[Link]:Met huen.
Sanderson,S.K.(1992)Macr osociology:AnI ntr
oduct i
ont
oHumanSoci eti
es.
London:Har perandRowPubl i
shers.

UNI
TTEN
PHI
LOSOPHYOFEDUCATI ON
Obj
ect
ives
Byt
heendoft hisunitthereadershouldbeabl
eto:
• DefinePhilosophy
• Listthemai nbranchesofphi l
osophy
• Definephilosophyofeducation
• ExplaintherelevanceofPhilosophyt
othePr
imar
yschool
teacher

Intr
oduction
Themosti mpor t
antbasisf orunder standingmani st hroughphi l
[Link]
osophyi s
thef i
rststageindev el
opment .Itmakespeopl ethinkandmakedeci [Link] hinks
andi scuriousabouthisexi stence,t hepur poseofl ife,goodnessandev il
.Ifwedonot
haveaPhi l
osophywebecomer obot s.
Whati sPhi l
osophy?
Philosophyisthestudyofknowl edge.I ti
sdi sti
nguishedf rom otherway sofaddressing
suchpr oblemsbyi tscri
ti
cal ,gener all
ysy stematicappr oachandi tsrel
ianceonrat i
onal
argument .Thewor d"phi
losophy "comesf rom theGr eekφι λοσοφία(phil
osophia)
, which
l
iteral
lymeans" loveofwi sdom" ,andwasor igi
nall
yawor dref
erri
ngt othespecialway
oflifeofear l
yGreekphilosopher [Link] nsatiabl
edesi r
eforknowledgeand
[Link] sl ove and y ear ning f orwi sdom emanat es from wonder mentand
questi
oningl eadi ngt ot hesear chf oranswer st osomef undament alquest ionson
i
ssuest hataf fecthumanexi stence.( Makuv aza, 1999) .
[Link] llov ersofwi sdom ar eachi ev ersofwi sdom andnotal lwi sepeopl ear e
phil
osopher [Link] so,wi sdom i snotsy nony mouswi th knowl edge. I ti smor et han
knowledge.
Akinpelu(1981)seest wonot i
onsofphi losophyi .e.t hecommonsenseandt hetechnical
/pr of
essi [Link] sopent oev er ybodywhot hinksandquest i
ons
conditi
onsofhi s/herexi [Link] y( 1968: 51)suppor tst hispoi ntwhenhe
assertsthat ,“aphi l
osopheri snotapar ticularki ndofmanbutr atherev erymani sa
parti
cularkindofphi l
osopher ”.Thedi f ferencel iesi nt hequal ity
, natureanddept hoft he
phil
osophi [Link] ofessional/t echni calsensei sourmai nconcer [Link] sr
egard:
• Phi l
osophy means mat ur er eflect i
on aboutany pr oblem i ni ts compl ete
per spect i
v e.
• Phi l
osophycanbespecul ative:i nt hati tseekst oexami net hepr inci
plest hat
under li
ehumanexi stencee. [Link] st ruth?Whati sgoodness?Whati st he
cri
t eri
onf orBeaut y?
• I tcanbeanal yti
c:int hati texami nest hepar ticul arbeliefswhi chdet ermineideas
orpol icies.
• I tcanbepr escripti
vei nt hati tpr escr i
bessol uti
onst of undament ali
ssuesof
humanexi st
encee. [Link] istianity ,Hindui sm, Buddhi sm
• I tt akes a compr ehensi v ev i
ew by quest ioni ng t he fundament alcondi ti
ons
under lyi
nghumanl i
[Link] st ruth?Goodness?Beaut y?Fr eedom?Just i
ceand
Equal ity
?
• Thr ough answer st ot hese f undament alquest i
ons,t he enqui rerest abli
shes
principleswhi chgi vedi rect i
ont oandconsi stencyt ohi sdeci [Link] reris
incont i
nuoust ouchwi tht hinker si near li
erper i
odsofHi story,menandwomen
whoaskedt hesamequest ionsashehi msel fdoest oday .

Onepecul iarnatur eofPhi l

osophyist hatitisasecondor dersubj ect.I
t
asksf undament alquestionsaboutf i
rstordersubjectswi t
ht hev iew of
cl
arif
y i
ngt heprobl emsint [Link] t
antt ounder standt hat
phil
osophy“ bakes no br ead”butno br ead can be baked wi thouti t
,
meani ngiti scrit
icalthi
nkingappliedt oawi dev ari
etyofl i
fesi tuat i
ons
withav i
ewt oclarify
ingthemeani ngbehi ndthesituati
ons.( ZOUModul e
2008).
Atkinson(1999)ar guest hatitisthesear chfortruthandenl i
ghtenmentt hati sgui ded
bycr i
ti
[Link] i
ti
calthinkingistot hi
nkaboutone’ sthinki
ngi nsuchawayast o
recognisei
tsst r
engt [Link] yitistheabili
tytorecastthet hinkingin
ani mprovedway .
{Thinkingthatassessesi tsel
f}At
kinson( 1999)furtheradv isest hat
cri
ti
calthoughti sonl ypossiblewhenwesubscr ibetothef ourprinci
plesof:
• Fai rness
• Obj ectivi
ty
• Tol er ance
• AndCour age
Fair
nessmeanst hatwemustj udgeequal l
ybet weendifferentalter
nativesapply
ingthe
samecr iteri
at oeach.
Objectiv
ityinv ol
v esplacingour sel
vesatadi [Link] etoputasi deanythoughtof
thebenef it
swhi chwemi ghtgetour selvesf
rom anypar t
icularsoluti
ont otheproblem.
Tolerancemeanst hatwemustacceptt her
ightofotherst odiff
erf r
om us.
Couragemeanswemustbepr eparedtosticktoourdeci sion,regardl
essofdiffi
culti
es,
unti
lnewi nformat ionorf ur
therexperiencepersuadesust ot hi
nkdi ff
erentl
y.
Thefoll
owingbr
anchesar
ethemainareasint
hestudyofphil
osophy
:
Phi
losophyhasanumberofbranchesorcomponents,
thefol
lowi
ngaret
hemai
nar
eas
ofstudy:
• Met aphy sics( Meta–bey ond/af ter+phy sica–phy sical)i st hestudyoft he
nat ureofbei ng,beings, realit
y,includi
ngther elat
ionshipbet weenmi ndandbody ,
subst anceandacci dent,ev entsandcausat i
on.I tisconcer nedwi t
hissuest hat
belong t ot he wor l
d bey ond sense per cept i
on and empi ri
calobser vati
on.
Tradi tionalbr anchesar ecosmol ogy(thephi losophicalst udyoft henatureoft he
univ erse)andont ol
ogy( thest udyoft henat ureofbei ng) .Int heschoolal otof
whati sdone t akespl ace i n communi t
iesofpeopl e who hav e beli
efsand
assumpt [Link] racti ssuessuchast hesoul ,t hemi nd,desti
ny,f ate,
fr
eewi llcannotbei gnor edi neducat i
[Link] ectst aughtandhow t heyar e
appr oached has t o do wi th met aphysi
calconsi [Link] i ssues as
disci pli
ne,puni shment ,freedom andet hi
csar eeducat i
onali ssueswhi chhav ea
directl inkt omet aphysics.
• Epist
emologyisconcernedwiththenatur
eandscopeofknowl edge,andwhether
knowledgeispossi
ble.I
tisconcernedwit
ht r
uthandwor thi
nknowl edge.
Epist
emology(fr
om Greekepi
stēmē, "
knowledge,
science"+"l
ogos")ortheor
yof
knowledgeisthebr
anchofphi l
osophyconcernedwiththenatureandscope
(l
imit
ati
ons)ofknowledge.I
taddressesthequesti
ons:
• Whati
sknowl
edge?Whatshoul
dcountasknowl
edge?
• Whatar
ethesour
cesofknowl
edge?
• Whati
sthedi
ff
erencebet
weenhav
ingknowl
edgeandhav
ingabel
i
ef?
• Whati
sthedi
ff
erencebet
weenhav
ingknowl
edgeandhav
inganopi
nion?
• Howi
sknowl
edgeacqui
red?
• Howdoweknowwhatweknow?
 • Canknowl
edgebet
ransf
err
edf
rom oneper
sont
oanot
her
?
• Whatdowemeanwhenwesayweknowsomet
hing?
Muchoft hedebat eint hisf i
eldhasf ocusedonanal y zingthenat ureofknowl edgeand
howi trelatest oconnect ednot ionssuchast rut h, belief,
andj ust if
ication.I tal sodeal s
wi ththemeansofpr oduct i
onofknowl edge, aswel lasskept icism aboutdi ffer ent
knowl edgef [Link] iousr esponsesar epr offer edi nest abli
shi ngwhatknowl edgei s.
Chemhur u( 2011)seesi tlogical tofirstt ackl et hequest i
on‘isknowl edgepossi ble?’
bef oret akinganyot herst [Link] eepossi bl
er esponsesar eskept icism, agnost icism or
simpl yaccept i
ngt hatknowl edgei spossi [Link] al ofpossi bili
tyofknowl edgel ends
i
tsel ftoscept icism wher eduet oobser v ati
onst hatev ery
thingi si nast ateoff lux
Cr atylusobser vedi nhisdecl arati
ont hatonemaynotbeabl etocr osst hesamer iver
twi ce[ t
hewat eronest epsi ntoisconst antlyf l
owi ngdownst r
eam; Passageoft i
mef rom
secondst omi nutest ohour stoday sweeks, mont hsy ears–poi nt stowar dsone’ sagi ng.
Asy out ryt ocr ossther i
v erforasecondt i
me; Youar enol ongert hesameper sonsi nce
youwi llhav eagedbysecondsormi nut es,hour s, day sandsoon]Pr otagor asf urther
arguest hatwecanonl yknowper cept ionsoft hingsandnott hingst hemsel ves–
sensescanbedecei vedt hroughi l
lusionsandwemaynotper cei vet hesame
phenomenai nexact l
yt hesamedi mensi [Link] ics,subscr ibet ot henot iont hatwe
cannotconf irm ordenyt hatknowl edgei spossi bl [Link] oreper t
inentnott oget
boggeddowni nagnost icar gument si fwear eser iousaboutmaki ngpr ogressi nt he
transmi ssionofknowl [Link] at ochoset hest ancet hatknowl edgei spossi ble,
prov idedt hati tisaj ustifi
edt ruebel ief.I nor derf oronet omakeaknowl edgecl aim
threecondi t
ionsmustbesat i
[Link] rst l
y,ther eshoul dbeev i
denceorj ust if
icat ion.
Secondl y,ther eshoul dbet ruthcondi ti
[Link] hirdcondi ti
oni st hebel ief.
TypesofKnowl edge:
Knowl edgei sdi videdi ntov ari
oust [Link] hisuni tonl yf ourt y peswi l
l bel ookedi nt
o,
namel y;knowl edgebyacquai ntance, knowl edgebydescr i
pt ion, procedur alknowl edge
andpr oposi tional knowl [Link] edgebyacquai ntancei st het y peofknowl edgeone
getsasar esul tofdi rectexper i
ence( Chemhur u2011) .Itist hr oughdi rectcont actwi th
persons, obj ectsorev entsthatweacqui r
ethi skindofknowl [Link] ,
pain,j
oyandpl acest hr oughdi r
ectexper i
[Link] si st heknowl edget hatpupi lsmust
acquirei nsci enceeducat ionthr udoi ngexper i
ment [Link] edgebydescr i
pt i
oni s
i
nferent i
[Link] sthisknowl edget hroughext rapol ation.I tisnotf i
rsthand.
Procedur al knowl edgecanber ef err
edt oaspr act i
cal, knowhoworcompet ence
knowl edge( Chemhur u2011) .Itisknowl edgei nvolvedi nl ear ningaski llorbei ngabl eto
execut ethepr ocedur [Link] esar er i
dingabi cycle, driving, playinganyoft hev ar i
ous
sporti
ngact iviti
esorev enwr iti
[Link] opositional knowl edgeal sor ef err
edt oas
theoreticalknowl edgeorknowl edget hatistheknowl edget hatwehav eaboutt het r
uth
ofsomest atement sorpr oposit i
ons( Chemhur u2011) .Thi st ypeofknowl edgei s
uniquei nthatwedonothav eadi r
ectacquai ntancewi t
hwhatwi l
lbeconsi [Link] s
i
nv ol
v essuchpr opositionsas‘ t
hecapi t
alcit
yofZi mbabwebei ngHar are’orMount
Everestbeingt hehighestpeaki nthewor l
[Link] hetr ut
hoft hesest atement s
withoutget t
ingtoMountEv erestorev engett i
ngtoHar [Link] edgeismost l
y
theoreti
[Link]
mpor tantt onot ethattheconceptofknowl edgeonehol dshasadi rect
bearingont heeducat iononewoul drecommendorpr [Link] i
efin
theoreti
calknowl edgel eadst oat eachercent r
edl ecturedel iv
er edtypeofeducat i
on.
Procedur alknowledgewoul dl eadtoski l
l
sbasedchi l
dcent rededucat [Link] edgeby
descripti
onwoul dnat urallylendonet oabel iefininnat eknowl edgeandaSocr atictype
ofappr [Link] edgebyacquai nt
ancewoul dleadt ohandsoncur r
iculum basedon
dir
ectexper ience.
Sourcesofknowl edge:
Wehav eav ariet
yofsour cesofknowl edgenamel y ;r
ev elati
on,Intuit
ion,Author i
tati
ve,
rati
onalit
yandempi ri
cal .
• Reveal
edknowl
edgecomest hr
oughdr
eams,v
isi
onsandprophecy
.Iti
sdiv
inel
y
aut
henti
cat
ed.I
tsmajorweaknessi
sit
sobj
ect
ivi
tyandr
eli
anceonfait
h.
• Int
uit
iveknowl
edgeisstri
ctl
ypersonalandoccursbeneaththethresholdof
consci
ousness.I
toccursasasuddenf lashofinsi
ght
.Iti
sinsti
nctiveoratmost
aneducatedhunch.I
tisther
efor
et oosubject
iveandcannotbev eri
fied.
• Authori
tat
iveknowledgecomesfrom exper
ts,
encycl
opaedi
a,andpeopl
ewi t
h
hi
gheducat i
onalcr
edenti
[Link] i
mesacceptsuchknowledgewi
thout
subject
ingi
ttoscruti
ny.
• Rati
onalKnowledgeisderi
vedf r
om reasoni
[Link]
oughr
eflect
iononissuesof
concernonecany i
eldknowledge.I
nlogicandmathemat
icsweuser easoni
ngto
proveproposi
ti
onsortosolveproblems.
• Empiri
calknowledgeisknowledgethatwegett hr
[Link]
sboth
exper
imentalandprobabil
isti
[Link].(Consi
dera
si
tuati
onwheny ouseear ainbow,amirageorwheny oudif
ferontheamountof
sugaroneoughttouset osweet enabeverage)Ther
efor
easasour ceof
i
nformati
on/knowl edgeitcannotbefull
yreli
edupon.
I
tisther
efor
eadvisabl
etocr
ossv
ali
dat
eourknowl
edgeusi
ngasmanyoft
hesour
ces
att
hesamet ime.
Reflectonhowusef
uleachoft
hef
ormsofknowl
edgei
stot
hesecondar
yschool
teacher

• Axi
ologyi
sthebranchofPhil
osophyconcer
nedwi
thv
aluesandst
andar
dsi
tis
di
vi
dedint
oethi
csandaesthet
ics.
 • Ethics,or"moralphil
osophy"
,isconcernedwit
hquestionsofhowper sonsought
toactori fsuchquesti
onsareanswerable.I
tdeal
swithissuesofri
ghtandwrong.
I
ssuesl ikeaborti
on,adul
ter
y,sui
cide,homosexual
it
y,andcapit
alpuni
shmentar e
oftenlytopi
calinthi
sarea.
• Aest het i
cs deals with beaut y
,ar t,enj oyment ,sensor y-
emot i
onal v alues,
percept i
on,andmat tersoft asteandsent [Link] heti
cVal uesv aryf rom
culturet ocultur
[Link] estandards,whichar eappl i
edt omusi carchit
ect ur
e
natur alsceneryandt hehumanbody .Gener al
l
yaest heticvaluesaddr esssuch
quest ionsaswhatki ndofmusi cdoesonef indbeautif
[Link] ?Whatki ndof
architect ur
eisbeaut i
ful?Whatki ndsofscener y,f
loralar r
angement ,Human
voicesandHumanbodi esar ebeautiful
?Whydowef i
ndt hem beaut i
ful?In
answer ingsuchquestionswewi l
lbeest abli
shingorexpl ori
ngaest het
icv alues.
Answer stendtobeobj ect
ive/univ
er salorsubj ect
ive/situati
onal/relati
v eor
uti
litarian.
Whi
chi
ssuescany
ouf
indet
hical
andaest
het
ici
nacl
assr
oom?

• Logicisthest udyoft hest

ructur
eandpr i
nci
plesofsound/v al
idargument/
reasoni
[Link] eideaisthedevelopmentofcoherentandclearthi
nki
[Link]
studyhelpsonet ohaveski
ll
st oidenti
fyfl
aws( weaknesses)i
none’ sorother
person’
sr [Link]
sdi vi
dedi nt
ot womai nf or
ms,i e.I
. nduct
ive and
deducti
ve.
• Induct
ivel
ogicar
guesfrom t
het r
uthofanumberofpar
ti
cul
arcasesthat
ageneralrul
eisprobablyal
sot r
[Link]
henumberofpart
icul
ar
casesconfi
rmedthestr
ongertheconcl
usi
on.

Thi
stypeofl
ogicisapparentinr [Link] ci
nesf orpar t
icul
arail
ments
canonl
ybesancti
onedafterseveraltr
ials.
• Deductiv
el ogicist he kind ofr easoni
ng wher et he concl
usion i
s
inf
erredfrom generalpri
nci pl
es.I
tisanargumentf rom ageneraltr
uth
thatthepart
icul
arappl i
cationofthattr
uthi
salsot r
ue.E.g.
• Al lSeket eacher
s’Coll
egestudent sarebri
l
li
ant
• Susani saSekeTeachers’
Col l
egest udent
• Ther eforeSusanmustbebr i
ll
iant.

Thisf ormiscalledasy ll
[Link]
scor r
ect
nessdependsont hev al
i
dityofthefir
st
[Link] s need f
ort he common ter
ms int he middl
e stat
[Link]
reasoningiscommonl yusedi nMat hemati
csi.
[Link]
atet heareaofpart
icul
ar
rectanglebyusi
ngagener alf
ormulaLxW.
Twoi mportantdi
ff
erencesshouldbenot [Link]
stl
y,Deducti
v elogicarguesf r
om general
topar ti
cul
ar,andinductiv
ear guesfrom par t
icul
artogener alapplicati
[Link],
vali
dity/soundnessofadeduct i
vear gumentr estont hev ali
dit
yoft hef i
rsttwo
premises(stat
ements)whilsti
nduct
ivelogicreachesconclusionsthatar eprobablyt
rue.
[Link] ci
neshav ebeenremovedf rom shelv
esafterfurtherresearchhasshown
thattheyareharmful
.

• Semant i
csisthebr anchofPhi l
osophyconcer
nedwi t
[Link]
vi
talwhenonecommuni cat
esthattheint
endedmessageget sacrossascl earl
y
[Link] atementstendtohavesev er
almeani
[Link] i
ce
presi
dentar r
ivedatt heHeroesacreat1030. [Link] ivercrossedt he
bri
[Link] eaderblewhist r
umpet.
Consi
dereachofthebranchesofphi
l
osophyment
ionedabov
[Link]
ular
ethey
tot
heprimaryschool
teacher?

Phi
l
osophyofEducat
ion
PhilosophyofEducat ioni saf i
eldofappl iedphilosophy ,drawingfrom thet r
adi ti
onal
fi
elds of phi l
osophy ( ont ol
ogy ,et hics,epi st
emol ogy,et c.
) and its appr oaches
(speculativ
ephi losophy,pr escripti
ve,and/ oranal yti
c)t oaddr essquesti
onsr egar ding
educat i
on pol i
cy,human dev elopment ,and cur ri
culum t heory,to nameaf [Link]
anot herway ,phi
losophyofeducat i
oni sthephi l
osophi calst
udyoft hepurpose,pr ocess,
natur eandi deal
sofeducat [Link] e,itmightst udywhatconst it
utesupbr inging
andeducat ion,thev aluesandnor msr evealedt hroughupbr i
ngi
ngandeducat i
onal
pract i
ces,thelimitsandl egiti
mi zati
onofeducat ionasanacademi cdiscipl
ine,andt he
rel
at i
onbet weeneducat ional theoryandpr act
ice.
Phil
osophyofeducat i
oncanbeconsi deredabr anchofbothphilosophyandeducat ion.
The mul ti
ple ways ofconceiving education coupled wi
ththe mul ti
plefi
elds and
approachesofphi losophymakephi l
osophyofeducat ionnotonlyav erydi
versefiel
d
butalso one t hatis [Link] t
hough thereis overl
ap,phi l
osophyof
education should notbe conflat
ed wi th educati
onaltheor
y,whi ch is notdefined
specif
ical
lybyt heappl i
cat
ionofphilosophyt oquest i
[Link]
osophyof
educationshouldnotbeconf usedwi thphilosophyeducati
on,thepr acti
ceofteaching
andlearningthesubjectofphi
losophy.
Alt
houghphil
osopher
saroundtheworldhaveaskedquesti
onsr egardi
ngeducat
ionfor
mil
lenni
a,asanacademicdisci
pli
newithit
sownpl aceintheuni ver
sit
yiti
srel
ati
vely
[Link]
ess,i
tisaninter
nati
onal
lywell
-est
abl
ishedfi
eld,withdepart
mentsand
pr
ogr
amsar
oundt
hewor
ld.

Ther
elev
anceofPhi
l
osophyofEducat
iont
othet
eacher

Chit
umba( 2008)ar guest hatt hrought hestudyofPhi losophy, theteacherwi l
lnotonl y
understandhis/hereducat i
onalchal lengesandt hei rpossiblesoluti
ons, r
at herhe/she
fi
ndst hatheorshei schangi ngi nt hewayshe/hel ooksatt hingsandi ssues.
Phil
osophyt endst ohav eat ransf ormativeeffectont [Link] y:
• Phi losophymakesat eacherr efl
ectiv
e
• At eachergai nsadeeperi nsi
ghtandhi s/herout l
ookandhabi tsofmi ndal so
change.
• At eacheri sabl et oseehi swhol ewor l
dandal li
tspr oblemsi nacompl etel
y
diff
erentlight.
• Phi losophyofeducat i
onhasat r
ansformat i
v eeffectont helearner.
• I tempower st hel earner,notwi thinformationgai ned,butwi t
ht hei nsi
ght sand
habitsthatev olveal mostunnot i
ceablywi t
hinhi m /her.
• Teacher s’pract i
cesi mpr ov egr eat
lyandt heybecomeenl i
ghtenedwhent hey
considerideasofphi losopher s.
• Phi losophyenabl est eacher stomakef air
,soundandcr iti
caldecisions,choi ces
andj udgement s.
• At eacherwho hasst udiedphi l
osophyofeducat ioni smor el i
kelyt o bea
refl
ectiveteacher .
REFERENCES:
Akinpelu,
J.( 1981)AnI ntroducti
ontothePhil
osophyofEducati
on:London,
Macmi l
l
an.
Atkinson,N.D.(1997)Ani nt
roducti
ontoref
lect
iveTeachi
ngforteacher
sin
Af r
ica;Harare,Universit
yofZi mbabwe.
Chitumba, N.(2008)Phi l
osophicalPer
specti
ves;[Link]
mbabweOpen
Universit
y .

Lawy
ers,
S. 1968)Essay
J.( sonCompar
ati
veEducat
ion:London,
EvansBr
other
s.

Makuv
aza,
N.(1999)InFoundat
ionsofEducati
oninAf
ri
ca;
Nhundu,
[Link]
Peresuh,M.(
eds)Macmi l
lan,Gweru.

UNI
TELEVEN
SOMETRADI
TIONALPHI
LOSOPHI
ES

Inthepr ev i
ousuni t,welookedatphi l
osophyasadi sci
plinewhichexami nest hebasic
pri
nciplesunder l
y i
ngnat ure,r
eali
tyexistenceandst andar [Link]
adit
ional
lywehav e
somephi losophi eswhichhav ebeeni nexi st
enceandhav edef i
[Link] etri
ed
toprov i
deex planati
onsandanswer stothef undament alquesti
onsaboutexi stence,
knowledge, r
eal i
tyandv [Link] hesephilosophiesar ei
deali
sm,r eal
ism and
pragmat [Link] llbr
iefl
ygot hroughthemai ntenetsoft hesephi
losophical doct
ri
nes
anddr awupt heiri
mpl i
cationstoeducat ion.

Byt
heendofyourr eadingyoushouldbeableto:
• Defi
neideali
sm, reali
sm andpragmatism
• Outl
inetherelevanceofeachphilosophytoZimbabweancont
ext
s
• Li
stthestrengthsandweaknessesofeachphi l
osophy
.
• Compareandcont rastt
hethreephil
osophies.

Themai ncharact
eristi
csofI deali
sm
Ideali
sm isoneoft heol destt r
aditi
onalphil
[Link] heor yofr eali
tyandof
knowledget hatgiv
espr omi nencetoconsciousness, ortheabst ractmi nd,akeyr olei
n
theconst i
tut
ionoft hewor [Link] enarrowly,wit
hinmet aphy sics, i
dealism i
st heview
thatallphysi
calobjectsar emi nd-dependentandcanhav enoexi stenceapar tfr
om a
mi ndthatisconsciousoft [Link] svi
ewi scontrast
edwi thmat eriali
sm,whi ch
mai nt
ainsthatconsciousnessi tsel
fisreducibl
etopur elyphy sicalel ementsand
processes—t hus,
accor dingt othemat eri
ali
sticvi
ew, thewor ldi sent ir
elymind-
i
ndependent ,composedonl yofphy si
calobjectsandphy sical i
nt er
act i
[Link]
epistemology ,
ideali
sm i sopposedt oreal
ism;t
hev i
ewthatmi nd-i
ndependentphy sical
objectsexistthatcanbeknownt hr [Link]
ism has
tr
aditional
lyledt oepistemological scepti
cism,
thedoctri
nethatknowl edgeofr eal
ityi
s
i
mpossi bl
e,andhast herebyprovidedani mportantmoti
vati
onf ortheoriesofideal
ism,
whichcont endt hatreali
tyismind- dependentandthattr
ueknowl edgeofr eali
tyis
gainedbyr elyi
nguponaspi r
it
ual orconscioussource.

KEYCONCEPTSI NI DEALI SM:

Metaphy sics:Totheidealist
,onl
ythement alorspirit
ualisul
[Link] hem the
uni
versei sanexpr essi
onofahi ghlygeneral
isedintell
i
genceandwi l
l–auni versal
mi nd.
Theindividual’
sspiri
tualessenceorsoul i
sdur abl
eandper manent .One’smi ndorl i
fe
for
cegi v
esonev it
alit
yanddy [Link] ldofmi ndandideasi seternalor
permanent ,regul
arandor derl
[Link]
ngaper fectorder
,theeternalideasar e
unalt
[Link] aluesareabsoluteanduniversal.

Somei deali
[Link] r
anscendent ali
stshav eusedt heconcept soft hemacr ocosm and
themi crocosm t oexpl aintheirversi
onofr [Link] ocosm r eferstot heuni v
ersal
mind, t
hef ir
stcause, creator,[Link] dlessofwhatt erm maybeused
macr ocosmi cmi ndi sthewhol eofexistence.I tistheoneandal li
nclusi vecompl ete
selfofwhi chthel essersel vesar epart
[Link] crocosm i salimitedpar tofthewhol e
anindiv i
dualandl essersel [Link] eritisoft hesamespi ri
tualsubst anceast he
macr ocosm.I neducat ional ter
mst hestudent/pupi l
canbeconcei vedofasaspi ri
tual
entit
ythati salsopar toft hel ar
gerspiri
tualuni [Link]
stagr eet hattheuni v
erse
i
smadeupofspi r
itualreali
tiesthatarepersonal andt hatthei ndivi
dual ormi crocosmi c
selvesar epartoft heonecompr ehensiveuniv ersal whole.

Epist
emol ogy :I
dealistknowledgei sbasedont her ecognit
ionorr eminiscenceofl at
ent
i
deast hatareal readypresentint hemi [Link] deasar eapr i
ori–[Link]
knownorexi stindependentofexper i
[Link] oughintrospecti
ont heindividual
examineshi s/hermi ndandf indsacopyoft hemacr ocosmi [Link] stobe
knowni salreadypr esentinthemi [Link] askofthet eacheriscompar abletothe
midwifeinthatheassi stslat
entknowl edget ocomet oconsci [Link] othe
i
deali
stlearni nginvolvesrecal
lingandwor kingwithideas.

Axi
ology:Tothei
deal
istval
uesr ef
lectwhati
sworthwhil
eintheuniv
[Link]
s
val
uableshoul
dbeuniver
sal,absol
uteandeternal
.Moralconductgr
owsoutof
per
manentaspectsofcul
tureandher it
age.

Real
i
sm (
phi
l
osophy
)
Realism (phi l
osophy)isadoct r
inewhi chholdsthatt rut
hexi st
sint heeffecti
veuseof
mat t
er.
Inmoder nphi l
osophy ,
itisappl i
edtot hedoctri
net hatordinaryobjectsofsense
perception, suchast ablesandchai rs,haveanexi stenceindependentoft hei
rbei
ng
perceived.I nthissense, i
tiscontrarytotheideali
sm ofphi losopher ssuchasGeor ge
BerkeleyorI mmanuel Kant .Init
sext r
emef orm,somet i
mescal lednaiv ereal
ism,the
thi
ngsper ceivedbyt hesensesar ebeliev
edt obeexact lywhatt heyappeart [Link]
mor esophi st
icatedversions,somet i
mesr eferr
edt oascr i
ticalreali
sm, some
explanationi sgivenoft her el
ati
onshipbet weentheobj ectandt heobser verthat
account sf orthepossibili
tyofill
usion,hall
ucinat
ion, andotherper ceptualerr
ors.
Basi
c/Keyconcept
saboutr
eal
i
sm:
• Ther
eisawor
ldofr
eal
exi
stencet
hathumanshav
enotmadeorcr
eat
ed.
• Thi
sreal
exi
stencecanbeknownbyt
hehumanmi
nd
• Suchknowl
edgei
stheonl
yrel
i
abl
egui
det
ohumanconduct
,indi
vi
dual
andsoci
al.
• Thereal
i
stseesamater
ial
wor
ldexi
sti
ngi
ndependentofandext
ernal
tot
he
mindoftheknower
.
• Thebasi
stounder
standreali
tyi
sfoundi
nthewor
ldofobj
ect
sandi
nthe
per
cepti
onoft
heseobjects.
• Al
lobj
ect
sar
ecomposedofmat
ter
• Humanbeingscanknowt heseobject
sthrought
hei
rsensesandt
hei
rreason.
Knowi
nginvol
vessensat
iont henabst
ract
ion.
• I
nter
msofv al
uesi
ndi
vi
dual
soughtt
obehav
einar
ati
onal
wayaccor
dingt
othe
l
awsofnat
ure.
I
neducat
ion:
• Knowl
edgeisaproductofsenseexper
ience–(empi
ri
cism)sol
ear
ningshoul
d
i
nvol
veexposur
etoconcretesit
uat
ionsexper
iment
ati
onandobser
vati
on.
• Thel
ear
nershoul
dbeanact
ivepar
ti
cipanti
nthepr
ocessofl
ear
ning.
• Thet
eacherdoesnothav
emonopol
yov
erknowl
edge.
• Thecur
ri
cul
um shoul
dbeconst
ant
lyr
evi
ewedt
oav
oidt
eachi
ngobsol
ete
knowl
edgeandski
ll
s.
Pr
agmat
ism
Pragmati
sm isaphil
osophical
mov ementthathashadamaj orimpactonAmerican
cult
urefr
om thelate19thcentur
ytothepresent.I
tisder
ivedfr
om thewordpr
agma–
[Link]
sm cal
lsforideasandtheor
iestobetest
edinpract
ice,
byassessingwhetheracti
ngupont hei
deaortheoryproducesdesi
rabl
eorundesir
abl
e
[Link]
ngt opragmatists,allclai
msaboutt rut
h,knowl edge,morali
ty,
and
politi
csmustbet estedinthi
sway .Pr agmatism hasbeencr i
ticaloftr
adit
ionalWest er
n
philosophy,especial
lythenotionthatt hereareabsolut
etruthsandabsol utevalues.
Althoughpr agmat i
sm waspopul arforat imeinFrance,England, andIt
aly
,most
obser versbel
ievethatitencapsulatesanAmer i
canf ai
thi
nknow- howandpr actical
i
ty
andanequal l
yAmer i
candistr
ustofabst r
acttheori
esandi deologies.
CHARACTERI STICSOFPRAGMATI SM
Pragmatist
sr egardallt
heori
esandinstit
uti
onsast ent
ati
vehy pothesesandsol uti
ons.
Forthi
sreasont heybeliev
edthateff
ortstoimprovesociety,t
hroughsuchmeansas
educati
onorpol it
ics,
mustbegear edtowardproblem sol
vingandmustbeongoi ng.
Throughtheiremphasi sonconnecti
ngtheorytopracti
ce,pragmat i
stthinker
s
att
emptedt ot r
ansform al
lar
easofphilosophy
,from metaphy si
cstoet hicsandpolit
ical
phil
osophy.
Pragmatism soughtami ddlegroundbet weent radi
ti
onalideasaboutt henat ur
eof
real
it
yandr adical
theor i
esofni hi
lism andirr
ationali
sm,whi chhadbecomepopul arin
Europeinthelate19t hcent ur
[Link]
onalmet aphysi
csassumedt hatthewor ldhasa
fi
xed,i
ntell
i
giblestructur
eandt hathumanbei ngscanknowabsol uteorobjecti
v etruths
aboutthewor l
dandaboutwhatconst i
tutesmor albehavi
our .Ni
hil
ism andirrat
ionalism,
ontheotherhand, deniedt hosev eryassumptionsandt heircert
it
[Link] ists
todaysti
llt
rytosteerami ddlecour sebetweencont empor aryof
fshootsoft heset wo
extr
emes.
Thei deasoft hepr agmat istswereconsi deredrev oluti
onarywhent heyf i
rstappeared.
Tosomecr i
ti
cs, pragmat ism’srefusaltoaf f
ir
m anyabsol utescar r
iednegat ive
i
mpl icationsforsoci [Link] e,pragmat i
st sdonotbel i
ev ethatasi ngleabsolute
i
deaofgoodnessorj usticeexists,butratherthatt heseconcept sar echangeabl eand
dependont hecont extinwhi chtheyar ebeingdi [Link] hese
absol utes,cri
ticsfear ed, couldresul ti
nadecl i
nei nmor al standar [Link] agmat i
sts’
denial ofabsol utes, mor eov er,
chal l
engedthef oundat i
onsofr eli
gion, government,and
school soft hought .Asar esult
,pragmat ism i
nfluenceddev elopment sinpsy chol
ogy,
sociology ,educat i
on, semi oti
cs(thestudyofsi gnsandsy mbol s),andsci entif
icmethod,
aswel lasphilosophy ,cul t
uralcri
tici
sm, andsoci alreform mov ement [Link] i
ouspolit
ical
groupshav eal sodr awnont heassumpt i
onsofpr agmat i
sm, fr
om t hepr ogressiv
e
mov ement soft heear l
y20t hcenturytolaterexper imentsi nsoci alreform.

HI
STORY
Pragmati
sm i
sbestunderst
oodinit
shi stor
icalandcultural
[Link]
osedur ingt
he
l
ate19thcent
ury
,aperiodofrapi
dscientifi
cadv ancementtypi
fi
edbyt hetheori
esof
Bri
ti
shbiol
ogi
stCharl
esDarwin,whoset heori
essuggest edtomanyt hi
nkersthat
humanit
yandsociet
yareinaperpetualstateofpr ogr
[Link]
ngt hissameper ioda
declineint
radit
ional
rel
igi
ousbel
ief
sandv al
uesaccompaniedtheindust r
iali
zati
onand
mat eri
alpr
ogressoftheti
[Link]
ytor ethink
fundamentalideasaboutval
ues,
rel
igi
on,science,
community,
andindividualit
y.
Thet hreemosti mpor tantpragmat istsar eAmer icanphi l
osopher sChar lesSander s
Peirce,Wi l
liam James, andJohnDewey .Pei rcewaspr imar i
lyinterestedi nsci entifi
c
met hodandmat hemat ics;hisobjectivewast oinfusescient i
ficthinkingi ntophi l
osophy
andsoci ety ,andhebel ievedthathumancompr ehensionofr ealit
ywasbecomi ngev er
greaterandt hathumancommuni ti
eswer ebecomi ngincreasingl yprogr [Link] rce
developedpr agmatism asat heoryofmeani ng—i npar t
icular,themeani ngofconcept s
usedi nsci [Link] ngoft heconcept“ britt
le,
”forexampl e, i
sgi venbyt he
observedconsequencesorpr opert
iest hatobj ectscalled“ bri
ttle”exhi bi
[Link] rce,t
he
onlyrationalwayt oi ncreaseknowl edgewast of orm ment alhabi tsthatwoul dt est
i
deast hr oughobser vat i
on,exper i
ment ation,orwhathecal ledi [Link]
phil
osopher sknownasl ogi
cal positi
vists,agr oupofphi l
osopher swhohav ebeen
i
nfluencedbyPei rce, beli
evedt hatourev olv
ingspeci eswasf atedt ogetev ercl oserto
[Link] calposit
ivistsemphasi zet hei mpor tanceofsci ent if
icv eri
fication,rejecting
theasser ti
onofposi tiv
ism thatpersonal exper i
encei sthebasi soft r
ueknowl edge.
Jamesmov edpr agmat i
sm indi rectionst hatPei r [Link] al
ized
Peirce’sdoct rinestoencompassal lconcept s,bel i
efs,andact i
ons; heal soappl i
ed
pragmat i
stideast ot r
uthaswel last omeani [Link] i
mar il
yinterestedin
showi nghowsy stemsofmor ali
ty, r
eligion,andf aithcoul dbedef endedi nasci entif
ic
civi
li
zat i
[Link] guedt hatsent iment ,aswel lasl ogic,iscrucialtor ati
onalit
yandt hat
thegr eatissuesofl i
fe—mor alityandr eli
giousbel ief,f
orexampl e—ar eleapsoff ait
[Link]
such, theydependuponwhathecal led“ thewi l
ltobel i
ev e”andnotmer elyonscientifi
c
evidence, whi chcannev ert
ell uswhatt odoorwhati swor [Link]
cschar ged
Jameswi hr
t elati
vism (thebelieft hatv aluesdependonspeci ficsituations)andwi th
crassexpedi encyf orproposingt hati fani deaoract i
onwor ksthewayonei ntends,it
mustber ight .ButJamescanmor eaccur atelybedescr i
bedasapl urali
st—someone
whobel i
evest hewor l
dt obef art oocompl exf oranyonephi l
osophyt oexplain
everything.
Dewey ’
sphi l
osophycanbedescr i
bedasav er sionofphi losophicalnat ural ism, whi
ch
regar
dshumanexper i
ence, intelli
gence, andcommuni tiesasev er-evolv ingmechani sms.
Usingtheirexperienceandi ntelligence,Deweybel i
eved, humanbei ngscansol ve
probl
ems, i
ncludi
ngsoci alprobl ems, throughi [Link] , natural ism l edtothe
i
deaofademocr at i
csoci etythatal lowsal lmember stoacqui resoci ali nt elli
genceand
progressbothasi ndividual
sandascommuni [Link] dthatt r
adi tionali deas
aboutknowl edge, trut
h, andv alues, i
nwhi chabsol utesar eassumed, ar ei ncompat ibl
e
withabr oadlyDar winianwor l
dv i
ewi nwhi chi ndi v
idualsandsoci etyar epr ogr essi
[Link]
consequence, hef eltthattheset radit
ionalideasmustbedi scardedorr ev [Link],
forpragmat i
sts,ev ery
thingpeopl eknowanddodependsonahi st oricalcont extandi s
t
hust
ent
ati
ver
athert
hanabsol
ute.
Manyfollowersandcr i
ti
csofDeweybeli
eveheadvocatedeli
ti
sm andsocial
engi
neeringinhi
sphi l
osophi
calst
[Link]
sthi
nkofhim asaki ndofr
omanti
c
[Link]
esareevi
dentinDewey’
swrit
ings,al
thoughheaspir
edt
o
synt
hesizethetwor eal
ms.
Thepr agmati
sttradi
ti
onwasr evi
tal
izedinthe1980sbyAmer icanphilosopherRichard
Rorty,
whohasf acedsi mil
archargesofel i
ti
sm forhisbel
i
efintherelati
vism ofvalues
andhisemphasi sont herol
eoft heindiv
idualinatt
aini
[Link]
renewedintheclassicpragmat i
sts—Pierce,James,andDewey —asanal ternat
iveto
Rorty’
sinter
pret
ationofthetradit
ion.
Inaneverchangingworld,
pragmati
sm hasmanybenef it
[Link]
exper
imentati
onasameansofi mprovi
ngsociety,
acceptsplural
ism,andreject
sdead
[Link] l
osophythatof
fer
snof inal
answersorabsol utesandthatappear
s
vagueasar esul
toftr
yingtoharmonizeopposit
esmayal sobeunsat i
sfactoryt
osome.

JohnDewey( 1859-1952) , Amer icanphi losopher ,psychologi st,andeducat [Link] i

nghi s
tenureatChi cago,Deweybecameact i
vel yinterestedi nther efor m ofeducat ionaltheory
andpr acti
[Link] est edhi seducat ional principl
esatt hef amousexper iment al
LaboratorySchool ,theso- calledDeweySchool ,est abli
shedbyt heUniv ersityofChi cago
[Link]
i i
nci pl
esemphasi zedl ear ningthroughv ariedact i
vi
ti
esr athert han
formalcur riculaandopposedaut hor i
tarianmet hods, which, Deweybel iev ed, offer
ed
contempor arypeopl enor eal i
sticpr eparat i
onf orlifeinademocr ati
csoci et [Link] el
t,
mor eover,thateducat i
onshoul dnotmer elybeapr eparationf orf ut
urel i
febutaf ulll
ife
i
ni t
[Link] kandhi swr it
ingswer elar gelyresponsi blef orthedr asticchangei n
pedagogyt hatbegani nt heUni tedSt atesear l
yint he20t hcent uryasemphasi sshi ft
ed
from theinst it
uti
ont ot hest [Link] ’stheor i
eshav eof tenbeenmi sinterpretedby
theadv ocat esofso- calledpr ogressi veeducat i
on; alt
houghDeweyopposed
authorit
arianmet hods, hedi dnotadv ocat el ackofgui danceandcont [Link] iti
cized
educat i
ont hatemphasi z edamusi ngt hest udent sandkeepi ngt hem busy ,aswel las
educat i
ont hatwasor i
ent edt owar dpur ev ocational tr
aining.
Asaphi l
osopher ,
Deweyemphasi zedt hepractical,str
ivi
ngt oshowhowphi losophical
i
deascanwor kineverydaylif
[Link] ogicandphi losophywasev er-
changi ng,
adapti
vetoneedandci [Link] ocessoft hinking, inhi
sphil
osophy ,i
sa
meansofpl anningacti
on, ofremov i
ngt heobst aclesbet weenwhati sgi
venandwhati s
[Link] hathaswor kedinpr acticalexper [Link]
lowedt he
Amer i
canphilosopherandpsy chologistWil
liam Jamesasal eaderoft
hepr agmat i
c
mov ementinphilosophy ;
Dewey ’
sownphi l
osophy ,cal
ledei therinst
rumentalism or
experi
ment al
ism,stemsf rom thepragmat i
sm ofJames.
Dewey
’si
nfl
uencecanbeseeni
nmanyf
iel
dsbesi
deseducat
ionandphi
l
osophy
.A
poli
ticalacti
vist
,headv ocatedpr ogr
essi
veandsomet i
mesr adi
calapproachesto
i
nternati
onal aff
airsandeconomi cprobl
[Link] svoluminouswrit
ingsincl
ude
Psychology( 1887),TheSchoolandSoci ety(1899),DemocracyandEducat i
on(1916)
,
ReconstructioninPhilosophy( 1920)
,HumanNat ur
eandConduct( 1922)
,TheQuestfor
Certaint
y( 1929),ArtasExperience(1934)Logi
, c:TheTheor yofI
nqui r
y(1938)
,and
ProblemsofMen( 1946).
I
nSummar yweshoul dt akenot eof :
• Hi sbr andofpr agmat ism –i nst rument alism wher ei deas, v
al ues, beliefsand
knowl edgewer er egar dedasi nst rument si nsol vingdayt odaypr oblems.
• Exper iment alism; -subj ect i
ngi deas, values, beliefsandknowl edget oconst ant
exper imentt opr ov ethei rworthandut i
li
ty .Rej ect ionofper manencei ni deas
valuesbel iefsandknowl edge–gi stofr eal ityischange; infl
uencedbyDar win’
s
theor yofev ol uti
on–ev eryt
hingi sinast at eoff lux.I deas, values, beliefsand
knowl edgear econst antlyevolv i
ngt owar dsul t
imat eper f
ect i
on.
• Chi l
dcant er edappr oacht olear ning
• Schoolasasoci allabor atorywher ei deasar et est ed
• Educat ionaspar ticipationinlifeandnotpr epar ationf orli
fe
Appli
cati
oni nt heZi mbabweancont exti sseeni n:
• Focusi ngont hechi ldasorpl aci ngt hechi ldatt hecent r
eoft het eachi ng
learningpr ocess–t hisiswhatZi mbabweaneducat i
onadv ocat es
• Emphasi sesl ear ningbydoi ng–i deasneedt obet r
iedoutpr actically.
• Engagi ngi nexper iment sleadst olear ningt hroughdi scov ery.
• St ressi ngont her elev anceofwhatpupi lsl ear n
• Thecent rali
tyoft heschool i
npar t
icipatingi nf i
ndi ngsol uti
onst ocommuni t
y
probl emsl eadi ngt odev elopment .
• Basi ngt hecur r
iculum ont heneedsoft hechi l
drenateachpr ogr essiv estage.
However: Weneedt ot akenot eofsuchweaknessesasi nadv ocatingr elativityinmor al
s;
Somev aluesandi deasar eper manent ;Notev er ythi ngpr ogr essest owar dsul t
imate
per
fecti
on.

• Taki
ngfrom whatyouhav ereadabov
ehowr el
evantaret
hethreephil
osophiesto
Zimbabweancontexts?
• Compareandcontrastideal
i
sm andreali
sm
• Whataretheweaknessesofeachoft hethr
eephi
losophi
esi
.[Link]
i
sm, Reali
sm
andPragmati
sm
SUMMARIESOFPHI
LOSOPHIESOFEDUCATION(Or
nist
enandLev
inepg188;1984)
Phi
l
osophy Met
aphy
sics Epi
stemol
ogy Axi ol
ogy Pr oponent
s

I
deal
i
sm Reali
tyi
s Knowl edgeis Val uesare Ber kely
spi
rit
ualor therethinki
ng absol ut
e But l
er
mentaland oflatentideas and Froebel
unchangi
ng eternal Hegel
Pl
at o
Real
i
sm Real
it
yis Knowi ng Valuesare Aqui nas
obj
ecti
veandis consi stsof absol e Ar
ut istotle
composedof sensationand and Broudy
matt
erandform; abstr
act i
on eternal Mar t
in
i
tisfi
xedbased basedon Pest alozzi
onnatur
all
aw nature’
s
l
aws

Pr
agmat
ism Reali
tyisthe Knowing Valuesare Dewey
i
nteracti
onofan r esul
tsfr
om si
tuatonal James
i
i
ndividualwith experi
enci
ng /relat
ive Pi er
ce
theenv i
ronment
orexperience;i
t
i
salway s
changing

Exi
stent
ial
i
sm Realit
yis Knowingisf
or Values Sarte
subjecti
vewi
th personal shouldbe Buber
exist
ence choice fr
eely Heidegar
preceding chosen Kei
kergaard
essence

REFERENCES:
Aki
npel
u, 1981)AnI
J.( nt
roduct
iont
othePhi
l
osophyofEducat
ion:London,
Macmil
l
an.

Chi
tumba,
T.(
2008)Phi
losophi
cal
Per
spect
ivesofEducat
ionModul
eDEP105;
ZOU,Harare.
Or
nist
en,
[Link],
D.U.(1984)Ani
ntroduct
iontot
heFoundat
ions
ofEducati
on;HoughtonMif
fl
[Link].

UNITTWELVE
CURRICULUM I
DEOLOGI
ES

I
ntr
oduct
ion

Therear ethreemai ncur r

iculum i deologieswhi char elikel
ytoi nfl
uencey ourthi
nking
andpr acti
ceasast udentteacherwhet hery ouar econsciousoft hem ornot.I nfact
,
mostofwhaty ouhavelearntsi nce y ouent eredt heformaleducat i
onsy st
em upt othe
presenthasbeenshapedbyt hesei deologi
esi rrespecti
veofwhet heryourteachersor
parentswer eawar eoft hesei deologiesornot ;f ort
heirinfl
uencecanbesubt l
eand
hi
dden, especiall
ytotheuninitiatedey [Link] hreecur r
iculum i
deologiesare:
• Per enniali
sm (Classical humani sm)
• Pr ogressivi
sm (Pragmat ism/Exper i
ment alism)
• Reconst r
ucti
onism (Mar xi
sm)

Obj
ect
ives

Byt
heendoft hisuni
tthestudentt eachershoul
dbeableto:
• explainhow ideologyi nfl
uencest heeducati
onsy st
em inZimbabweandt he
worldov er,
• i
dent i
fythemajorproponent sforeachofthethr
eeideologi
es,
• analysethemaj orcharacteri
sti
csofeachofthethr
eeideologi
esand
• giv
er el
evantexampl es f r
om t he Zi
mbabwe pri
mar yschoolcurr
icul
um t
hat
ref
lecttheinfl
uenceoft heseideologi
es.

Definit
ionofideol
ogy
Ideologyisasy st
em ofval
ues,beli
efs,theori
esandv i
ewsthatareheldtobet
ruebya
parti
culargroupofpeopleorsoci [Link] oup/cl
asssharesacommonpast ,
socialstatus,economi
cpowerand aspi rat
ions;forexamplepeasantsareasocial
groupwhi chhasacommoni deologyofco- operat
ionandcommunal ism,andv
eryl
it
tl
e
economi cpower .
Anideol
ogyisassumedtobet r
uebyi tsadvocat
es, andit’snotever
ybodyorever
yclass
whi
ch acceptsthe val
ue/usef
ulness ofa particulari deol
ogy,[Link]
ali
sm is an
i
deologywhichisregar
dedaswor thwhil
e byitspr oponentsbutcapit
ali
stsmaynot
bel
i
ev eorev
enacceptthi
sideology.

I
deol
ogyandt
hecur
ri
cul
um

Apple( 1979)obser vesthati deologyisnotneut ralandi tdirectl

yaffectstheschool
curr
iculum t otheextentthatwhati staughti nschool si swhatt herulingclasswants
andsel ects.I
nhisownwor dsAppl e(1979:)say s:
Schoolsdonotonl yprocesspeopl e, t
heypr ocessknowl edgeaswel l
Theyactasagent sofcul turalandideological domination…t heyhelp
creat
epeopl ewithappropr iat
ev al
ueswhoseenoot herser i
ouspossibil
it
y
totheeconomi candcult uralstr
ucturesexisting.
Inver ysimpl elanguageAppl ei ssayingt hatthesubj ectsandcont entwet eachin
schoolsar eselectedbyther ulingclasstoser vet heiri
nterestsandpr eserv
et hestat
us
quo( exist
ingpolit
ical
,economi candcul turalset-
up) .

Thewayt extbooksarewr i
ttenandt heil
lust
rati
ons/ examples/pict
uresinthem reflect
thedominantideologyatapar ti
cularpoi
ntortimei nthehist
oryofapar ti
cularsociety;
[Link]
oni
altextbooksusedi nRhodesianschoolshadpi ctur
esofbl ackmendi ggingor
doingsomeot hermanualtaskswhi l
ethewhitemanst oodnearbyinhishatandshor ts
(armsakimbo)ast hesuper i
or(baas)!Suchpictureshada“ hidden”messaget ot he
Afri
canchil
dabouthi sr
ole/occupationaft
ercompl eti
ngschool atgradesevenleveland
whot hemaster/bosswas!

Schoolsandt hecurr
icul
um theyteacharethetransmi t
tersofideologytot heext
entthat
onecannott alkofideologi
calneutr
ali
tyi neducationev eninsubj ectslikeMathsand
Science(whichar ewidelyseenaspol it
ical
l
yandi deological
lyneut r
al).InMaths,for
exampl e,
oncey outeachprofi
tandloss,i
nterestsrates,mar k-
upanddi scount
,y ouare
unconsciousl
ypr omot i
ng capi
tali
sm and pr epari
ng chi l
dren fora f utureli
fei na
capital
i
stsociety.

Sel
f-
checkquesti
ons.
• I nwhatway swasyourpr
imaryandsecondaryeducati
onaffectedbythepol
i
tics
andideol
ogyoftheti
me?
• Li stdownasmanychangesasy oucanfindthattookplaceint he Zi
mbabwe
primaryschoolcur
ri
cul
um inthe yearsafter1980t hatr ef
lectachangeof
 i
deologyi
nt hecount
ry.
• Towhatext entdoyouagreewit
htheobser
vat
iont
hat“
Ideol
ogi
calchangeand
cur
ri
culum changearei
nsepar
abl
e.”

PERENI
ALI
SM (
CLASSI
CALHUMANI
SM)

Perenni
almeanssomethingwhichisal
waysther
e( per
manent)
,li
keari
verwhi
chflows
thr
oughoutthewholey ear
.Themai nassumptioninthi
sideologyi
st hatt
rut
hand
knowledgear
epermanent(per
ennial
)andabsol
ute(
unchangi
ng).

Maj
orpr
oponent
s

Perenniali
sm hasi t
srootsinancientGreeceandRomewhi charehighlystr
ati
fiedslave-
owningsoci eti
[Link] orproponents,theref
ore,ar
etheGreekphilosophers–Pl ato,
SocratesandAr i
stotl
ewhodecl aredt hattheirmaintaskwas“ t
hesear chf oreternal
tr
uths”( Atki
nson,1977:
9).Mordenper enniali
stsincl
[Link],[Link]
iot,P,Hirst
[Link] nol
d.

Vi
ewofknowl
edgeandt
rut
h

AccordingtoAt ki
nson( 1977:10)Socr atesbel i
evedthat“tr
uthisabsol ute”andi tisther e
i
nouruni versewaitingf orust [Link] rom truthandsoi ftr
ut h
i
sper manentknowl edgeisal soper manent .Thismeanst hattherear ecer t
ainf ormsof
knowledgeort rut
hswhi chnev erchangeov erti
[Link] earecertainr eali
ties
orfactsofl i
fewhi char esoper manentt hatgener ati
onshav ef ail
edt ochanget hem.
Theseper manentt ruthsorf ormsofknowl edgemustbet aughtt oal lgenerati
onse. g.
ski
ll
sofaddi t
ion,subt r
actionet c–ar i
t hmet i
candsci enti
fi
cski l
lsar epermanentand
absol
ut [Link]
slikehonest yandr espectf orelder
sar eal soper ennialinmost
soci
[Link]
nson( 1977:9)summar i
esi twhenhesay s“Therer emai ncertai
net ernal
val
ues, whicharestillworthyoft r
ansmissionf rom onegenerati
ont othenext.”

Knowledgeforper
ennial
ist
s,i sfoundinthe“Bigbooksofknowl edge”li
keclassical
worksbyancientGreekphi losopher
s,Encycl
opaedi
as,thebibl
e,lit
erat
urebygr eat
thi
nkersl
ikeHomer,Chaucer,Shakespear
eandclassi
calsci
ent
if
icworksbyt hel
ikesof
Archi
medesandIsaacNewt on,

Per enni
ali
stsinsi
stthatschool
smustteachonlyknowl
edgewhi
chhasstoodthetestof
ti
mei .
[Link]/conceptswhichhavebeentest
edt i
meandagainandfoundtobet rue
i
rrespectiveofsociety,t
[Link]
uedf
ortheanti
qui
ty(ol
dage)
ratherthanitsutil
it
y(pract
ical
val
ue).
Emphasisi son theoret
icalknowl edge (knowl
edge f
orthe know that
)r at
herthan
practi
calknowl
edge( knowl edgefort heknowhow).Perennial
i
sm ai
msatpr oduci
ng
“phil
osopherki
ngs”[Link] ul
ersoftomorrow andpract
icalsubj
ectsare
underrat
edanddespised.

Selfcheckquest i
ons
• Identi
fyanddi scussthet radi
ti
onalval
uesandski ll
swhichthepri
maryschooli
n
Zimbabwehast r
iedtopreserve.
• Whydoy out hinkthatt
hesev aluesandski l
l
sarewor t
hpreserv
ingandincl
udi
ng
i
nt hecurri
culum?
• Giveexampl esofconcept swhi chhave“stoodthetestofti
me”andare (
i)
arefoundint hepr i
maryschool cur
ri
culum
(ii
)Shouldbei ncludedi
nt heprimaryschoolcur
ricul
um

Thenat
ureoft
hechi
l
d

Mostanci entandt raditionalsocietieshadanegat i

v ev i
ewoft hechi l
[Link]
of“ t
heor iginalsi n”(Bar ker ,1986:43)whi chhasi tsr ootsint heOl dTestament
assumest hatt hechi ldwasapr oductofman’ ssinagai nstGodi ntheGar denof
Edenandt hereforet hechi ldwasconcei vedi nsinandwasbor nwithevilwi
thi
nhim.
Barker( 1986: 47)apt lysummar ieshow anci entand t r
adit
ionalsocieti
es,withi
n
whichPer enni alism ev olved,treatedthechi l
d:
…chi ldrenwer ebeat enunmer ciful
l
yt oexpunget hebadnessf r
om
Theirsoul s;‘spar ether odandspoi lthechild’ wastheuni versall
y
Acceptedmaxi [Link] ldrenwentt oschool ;mostl abouredin
fields, minesorf act ori
es…t heywer enott r
eatedaschi l
drenin
thei rownr ight,butasmi ni
atureadults.

Perennial
ist
s,bor rowingfrom Locke( 1632-1704)saw t hemindoft henew- born
chil
dasabl anksheetor“ t
abularasa”uponwhi challtheexperi
encesofli
fewer et
o
bewr it
tenast hechildgrewup( Barker,1986:
43).Thechild’
s‘bl
ank’mind,
therefor
e,
hadt obef i
l
ledwi thknowledgefrom theteacherand“TheBigBooksofKnowl edge.”
Thechi l
dwast odov eryl
it
tlet
hinki
ngofhi sown, i
fanyatall
,ashewassupposedt o
reproducethet eacherandthebooksal mostwor dforword.

Cur
ri
cul
um Cont
ent

Educati
on was t
otrai
n“ mentaldi
sci
pli
ne”and perenni
ali
sts adv
ocatef ort
he
teachi
ngofthesevenli
beralart
s:gr
ammar,logi
c,rhetor
ic,ar
it
hmet i
c,geomet
ry,
ast
[Link]
otr
ansmi
tcont
entf
rom hi
s“ov
erf
lowi
ng”
mindint
othechi
l
dren’
s‘empt
y’minds.

Today’selit
eschoolsi nZimbabwe,l i
keint hecolonialera,f
oll
ow aper ennial
ist
curri
culum which places emphasis on theor
eti
calsubjects atthe expense of
practi
[Link] he‘good’school
sf ocusonEnglish,Maths,Science,
Geography,Histor
y,Liter
atur
e,andMusi c– subjectswhi chareveryclosetot he
sevenliber
alart
sadv ocat
edforbyPlato.

Perenniali
stsinAncientGr eeceandRomebel ievedt hateducationwasnotf or
everybody,itwasapr eserveforchi
ldr
enofar i
stocracy
/ rul
i
ngclass( ManofGol d)
.
Chil
drenoft heGuardians(ManofSi l
ver
)wer etogetonl ymili
taryeducat i
ont o
protectthestate-
astheirnamesuggeststheywer eguar dstot
hest [Link]
ldr
enof
theslaves(ManofBr onze)weretogetnof or
mal educati
onatallandt hei
r“l
ear
ning”
focusedonpr acti
cal
wor kli
kearti
sanshi
p,agri
cul
tureandmanual wor k.

Teachi
ngmet
hods

Perenni
ali
sts’view ofknowl edgeandt hechildnat ur
all
yinfluencedt heteachi
ng
methodst radit
[Link] assumpt i
on thatthe child wasempt y-
headedlogical
lyimpactedont heteachingmet hodswhi chareteacher-cent
redwhile
thechil
drenl i
stenedpassivelyli
kef r
ightenedsheepbei ngtakent ot heslaught
er.
Learni
ngwasar out
inewhichi nv
olveddictati
on,reci
tat
ion,i
mi tat
ion,memor i
sati
on,
dri
ll
ingandsingingwi t
hnol ear
nerinput.

Chil
drenwer esupposedt oreproducewhatt heyweret aughtbythei
rt eacher
sand
whatt heyreadwi thoutanycont ri
[Link]
etodosor esul
tedin
severe beating “to chase t he dev i
loutoft he chil
d.”Corporaland phy si
cal
punishmentwer e,t heref
ore,verycommon.I ncolonialRhodesia,ev enChrist
ian
missionari
esr el
i
gi ouslyadheredtot hemaxim“ spar
et herodandspoi lthechi
ld”to
theext entthatt hemor eenthusiasti
conescoul dext endthebeatingst oallthe
Afr
icansatt hestat i
onincludi
ngadul tmales!
 Sel
fcheckquestions
• Compar eandcont rasttheper enniali
stv i
ew ofthechi ldwi t
hhow chi ldren
wer etaught and t reated in:( i)indigenous African soci eti
es (before
coloni
sati
on) (i
i)col
onialAfri
canschool s
(i
i
i)Primaryschoolsafterindependence
• Howf arhavetoday’steachingmet hodsinZi mbabwepr imaryschool s
Changedf rom t
hoset hatwer epracti
sedint hetr
adit
ional westerneducation?
• Ci t
ingappropri
ateexampl es,exami nehowt heperenniali
stideologyhas
thepri
maryschool curri
culum inZimbabwe

PROGRESSI VI
SM
The term comes f r
om t he simple word“ progress.
”Pr ogress assumes for
war d
mov ementandt hechangeofanyphenomenonf rom onest ate/st
ageint
oabetterora
moredev elopedst age.I
tischangef orthebett
erintoani mprovedorrefi
nedst
[Link]
i
deologyi sar eact i
onagai nstpereni
ali
sm andpl acest hechildatthecentr
eoft he
curr
icul
um.I talsoassumest hattrut
handknowl edgear enotper manentandabsolute,
buttheyareconst antl
ychangi ngandcanbei l
l
usive(unclear
).

Maj
orpr
oponent
s/adv
ocat
es

I
nAnci entGr eecetherewer etheSophi st
swhoputf orwardt hephi l
osophyof “ the
rel
ati
vityofknowledge.”Andchal l
engedanyabsol utest andardsofmor ali
ty(Atki
nson,
1977:8).JeanJacquesRousseau( 1712-1778)isregardedt he“fatherofprogressiv
ism.”
Disci
plesofRousseaui ncl
udeJohannPest al
ozzi(1746- 1827),JohannHer bart(1776-
1841)Fr iedr
ichFroebel(1782-1852).Twent i
ethcent urypr ogressi
vistsincl
udeJohn
Dewey ,PauloFrei
re,
Will
iam Kil
patr
ickandJoy ceChildamongt hemostf amous.

Vi
ewofKnowl
edge

TheSophist
si nAncientGreecechall
engedtheexist
ingv i
ew ofknowledgeandtrut
h
whentheyarguedthatthesearenotpermanentandabsolut
[Link]
rut
h
andknowledgearerelati
veconcepts-
ital
ldependsont heeyeofthebeholder(seer
).
Whatmaybet ruetosomeonemaynotbet ruet ot heot her;andwhatmayber egarded
astruthtodaymaybeseenast ot
alli
eorhalftruthst omor [Link](1977:
8)quot es
theSophi st
swhoar guethat:
Not hingabsoluteexists,
Eveni fitexist
ed,itcannotbeknown
Eveni fitcanbeknown, i
tcannotbecommuni cated.
Progressivi
stsar guet hatknowl edgeisdiscov eredt hroughpr oblem-solv
ingandnot
memor i
sationoft he“ GreatBooksofKnowl edge.”Knowl edgecanal sobedi scovered
accidentall
ylikewhatt heAncientGreekmat hemat icianAr chimedesdi dwhenhewent
totakeabat hinov erfi
l
[Link] dentallyspi l
ledwat erfrom thetubhecame
upwi ththef ormulaofhowt hev ol
umeofa“ shapeless”obj ect(l
ikeahumanbody )can
becalculated.

Vi
ewoft
hechi
l
d

Forthepr ogr
essiv i
ststhechi l
di st hemeansandendsofeducat i
onandthechi
ldcomes
before knowl edge and t he t eacher i nt er
ms of i mpor t
[Link] argued
aggressi
v el
yagai nstthet heor yof“ theori
ginalsin”say
ingthat:
Ther ei
snoor igi
nal sinint hehumanhear [Link]
dis
conceivedi nhoper athert hansi n,t
hechildisborngood
ratherthanbad.( Barker, 1982: 47)
Rousseauhadar omant i
cv i
ewoft hechildashesawt hechildasinher
ent
lygoodand
arguedthatitwassoci etywhi chcor ruptedhim.

Healsospokest ronglyagainstthet reatmentofchi ldrenas“ mini

atur
eadults”,asthey
weregiventasksanddut i
eswhi chwer efarabov etheiragesandcapabi li
ti
[Link] hey,
nat
urall
y,fai
ledtoper formthem t heywer esavagelybeat [Link] ( 1982:47)quotes
Rousseauapt l
yobser vesthat(asi nwr it
ingtoday):
Ourteacher sdevotethemsel vest owhatamanoughtt oknow,
withoutaski ngwhatachi ldiscapabl eofl earni
[Link] e
alway slookingforthemani nt hechildwithoutconsi deri
ng
whathei sbeforehebecomesaman.
Forprogessivi
stschi l
drenar echildr
ennoty oungadul [Link] hewaychi l
drent hi
nkis
ver
ydiffer
entf r
om t hewayadul tsthink.

Cur
ri
cul
um Cont
ent

Since knowledge i
s dynamic and r
elat
ivef
orpr ogressi
vi
sts,they ar
gue t
hatthe
curri
cul
um mustbeconst ant
lychangi
ngsoast orefl
ecttheotherchangest
hatwil
lbe
taki
ngpl aceinthewidersociet
[Link]
icul
um cont
entmustber elev
anttothechi
ld’
s
everydayexperi
encesandsot heyareagainstthet eachingofclassi
calsubj
ects,l
ike
phil
osophy ,
whichtheyregardasoutdatedandir
rel
ev anttotheneedsoftoday’
schil
d.
Knowl edgemustbeofpr acti
caluseandmustbev aluedf ori
tsuti
li
ty(Pr
acti
caluse)
rat
hert hanit
santiqui
ty(oldage)
.Perennial
i
stsvalueknowl edgefori
tsoldage,asthey
saysuchknowl edgeistruefori
thasstoodthetestoft i
me.

Progressivi
stst her
efore,arei nfavouroft heinclusionpr acticalandnew subj ect
sinto
the curri
culum r at
hert han f ocus on the tradit
ionalt heoret [Link] new
subjectsmustsol v
et hepr oblemswhi cht hechildmeet sint oday ’sworld;forexample
comput ers,Accounts,HIV/AI DSeducat i
on( Healt
handLi feSki l
ls)andpr acti
calsubj
ects
l
ikeAgr icul
ture,Woodwor k,Met alwork,FashionandFabr ics,FoodandNut ri
ti
onet c.
focusshoul dbeonsubj ect sthatall
ev i
atehunger ,pov er
tyanddi seaseswhi charethe
greatestenemi esfaci
nghumani t
ytoday,andsi ncecr eati
on.

Teachi
ngMet
hods

Thet eacher’sphilosophy,natur
ally
,inf
luenceshis/herpracti
ceandi nteractionwi t
ht he
chil
[Link] ogressiv
ists,becausetheybelievet hatt
hechi l
dist hemeansandt heendsof
educationadv ocatedf orchi
ld-
centredteachingmet hodsthatincludediscov erylearning,
probl
em- solving,pr oj
ectwor k,group wor k,exper i
mentati
on,educat i
onalt ours and
excursions,amongahostofot herapproachesthei nnovati
veandpr ogressi v
et eacher
cancomeupwi t
hconsi deri
ngtheenv i
ronmenthe/ sheisoper at
inginandt her esources
avail
able.

Ornstein and Lev ine (1985:203) accuratel

y summar ise the t eaching strat
egi
es
advocat edforbypr ogressivi
stswhentheysay :
Progressiveeducationfocusedont hechildasthelear
nerr atherthanon
thesubj ect;
emphasi sedonactivi
ti
esandexper i
encesr at
hert hanv erbal
andl i
teraryskil
l
s;andencouragedco- operat
ivegr
oupl earningactivit
ies
ratherthancompet it
iveindi
vi
dual l
essonlearni
ng.

I
ttheref
ore,neednotbeemphasisedthatt
oday’
sstudentteacheront
eachi
ngpr
act
ice
hastomakeuseofchild-
cent
redstr
ategi
esinal
lhi
s/herlessons.

Sel
fcheckquest i
ons
• Di scussRousseauandotherprogr
essivi
sts’v
iew oft
hechi
[Link]
hwhat
j
ustifi
cati
oncanthi
sper
specti
veber egar
dedast he“r
omant
icvi
ew oft
he
chil
d”?
 • Compar eandcont r
astthebehav i
ouroft hechi l
drenyouareteachi
ngwit
ht he
progressi
vists’vi
ewoft hechi
ld.
• Towhatext entdoy ouagreewi t
ht hev iewt hat“
thechil
disborngoodrather
thanbad;itssocietywhichcorruptst hechild” ?
RECONSTRUCTI ONISM/SOCI ALRECONSTRUCTI ONI SM
Tor econstructistor ebuil
dsomet hi
ngbecausey ouar enotsati
sfi
edwi t
htheexi
sting
str
uctureorst at
eofaf fai
[Link]
uctionistsbel ievethatsociet
yi sinapoli
ti
cal-
cul
turalcrisisandt hisexisti
ngsocio-poli
ti
calor dermustbedest r
oyedandanew
soci
et yhast obecreat ed.

Thiscurri
cul
um i deol
ogyhasi tsrootsint hepr ogressi
vemov ementineducati
on.
Howev er
,reconstruct
ionism goesbey ond progressi
vism byargui
ng thateducat
ion
shoulddomor ethanjustseeksocialandeducationalr
ef or
m;“
Educati
onshouldseekto
creat
eanewsoci ety”(Ornstei
nandLev i
ne,
1985:205).

Maj
orPr
oponent
s

Reconst ructi
onism has of ten been associ ated with soci alMar xi
stt hi
nker s who
advocat eforrev olut
ionarychangesi nsoci etyandt hecr eat i
onofanewsoci etyanda
new “ man”( per son).Suchphi l
osophersi ncludet hefounderofMar xi
sm,Kar lMarx
(Ger many ),V.I
.Leni n(Russia),MaoTseTung( China),
Jul iusNy erer
e(Tanzani a),Paul
o
Frei
re( Brazil
)andCheGuev ar a(Ar
gentina).Theysawr evol utionandt heestabl i
shment
ofanew soci ali
stsoci etyast heulti
mat egoalofeducat [Link] er
,therear esome
reconstructi
onist swhoar enon-Marxists,butl i
beralwest ernphi losopherswhosought
forradicalchangesi neducat ionbutwithoutchangi ngtheexi stingcapital
i
stwor l
dorder.
Thesei ncludeJohnDewey ,[Link],[Link] [Link] l
l.

Vi
ewoft
heChi
l
d

AlthoughReconst ructi
onist
sacceptt hateducationmustser v
et heneedsoft hechi l
d,
theygoont oarguet hattheneedsofsoci et
ymustcomebef oret heneedsoft hechi l
d.
Sot hisideologyissoci etycentredasReconst ructioni
stsarguet hateducat i
onmust
stri
keabal ancebet weensoci etalneedsandi nterestsandtheneedsandi nt erestsof
the chil
[Link] ding to Ornstein and Lev i
ne ( 1985:206)soci alReconstructionists
postulat
et hatsoci etyisin“ ast ateofpr ofoundcul t
uralcri
sis”andi fschool sar e
transmitt
ersofdomi nantsocialv al
uest hentheyar eonlytr
ansmi tt
ingsociali l
[Link]
l
egi t
imategoal ofeducationshouldbet hecreationofanewwor l
dor deri
nwhi chpeopl e
areincont r
oloft heirowndest i
ny .Brameld(1965: 63)assert
st hatinaneraofnucl ear
weaponsi nwhi chwear eli
vi
ngt hereis“anur gentneedf orsocietytoreconstructi t
self
beforeitdestroysit
self.
”
Reconst
ructionists,t
herefor
e,arguethateducati
onmustbeanagenti
nthecr
eat
ionofa
new j
ustandf airsocietywhichadv ocat
esf orequal
it
yandbr
other
hoodamongalli
ts
ci
ti
zens,i
rrespect i
veofgender ,
colour,cl
assorcreed.

Vi
ewofKnowl
edgeandTr
uth

Forr econst
ructioni
sts,knowledge and tr
uth are dynamici .
[Link] are constantly
changing and whatmaybe t rue t
odaymaynotr emai n so i
nt he futur
[Link] al
reconstr
ucti
onistsar econvinced t
hata new wor ld ordermayonl ycomeabouti f
educatorschall
engeabsol ut
eandt r
adit
ionalconcepti
onsofknowl edge,educati
onand
i
nstructi
[Link] i
evethatnewknowledgeandcar efull
ydir
ectededucationalchange
canleadtosoci alchange.

Likeprogressiv
ist
s,reconstr
ucti
oni
stsv al
ueknowledgeforitsutil
i
ty(socialpract
ical
use)andar epar t
icul
arl
yinfavourofthesocialsci
encesli
keanthropol
ogy ,economic,
sociol
ogy,poli
ti
calscienceandpsychol
ogy( Or
nstei
nandLevine,
1985:207).Theyargue
thatthesesocialsciencesprovi
deinsightandmet hodst
hatcanbeusedi ncreati
ng
strat
egiesthatcanbringaboutsoci
alchangeincontempor
arysociet
y.

Sel
fcheckquest ions
• Exami net hesocial,pol i
ticalandeconomi ccircumstancesthatgaveri
setot he
reconst
ructi
oni
stmov ementi neducation
• Pi ckupanddi scussaspect sofr econst
ructi
onism thatwereinfusedint
ot he
Zimbabweschool curriculum intheyearsaft
er1980.
• Whosei nt
erest
sshoul dt heZi mbabweschool curr
icul
um ser
v eandwhy?
• Towhatext enthasr econst ruct
ioni
sm infl
uencedt heZimbabwepr i
maryschool
curri
cul
um?
Cur
riculum Content

Forreconst
ruct ioni
sts,whatist aughtinschoolsmustr ai
set hestudents’socialand
poli
ti
calconsci ousness (awareness)so t hatt heyare awar e ofthe contempor ary
probl
[Link] ectstaughtatschoolmustenabl ethest udentt oengageact i
v elyin
seeki
ngsolutionst otheseproblemsf acingtoday’ssoci
[Link] ocus
onev er
ydaypr oblemswhi chstudent sencounterrat
herthanonsomer emote,abst r
act
andtheoret
ical knowledgewhichi sfardi
v or
cedfrom thechil
d’sexperi
ences.
Reconstructi
onist
s,ther ef or
e,arei nfav
ourofsoci alsciencesandpr actical/techni
cal
subj
[Link] nstei
nandLev i
ne( 1985:
207)summar isereconst r
ucti
onists’v i
ew ofwhat
shoul
dbet aughtinschool swhent heysay :
Toawakensoci al consciousness,studentsareencour agedtoquest ionthe
statusquoandt oi nvesti
gatecontroversi
ali
ssuesinr eli
gion,economi cs,
pol i
ti
csandeducat ion.I
tisbyexami ningcontrover
sial i
ssuesthatthe
studentwi l
ldevelopal t
ernati
vestotheconv enti
onalwi sdom.

Curri
culum cont
entmust,ther
efor
e,pr
omotesoci
al-
pol
i
ticalconsci
ousness,cr
eat
ive
thi
nking,di
gni
tyofl
abour
,equal
it
yandbrot
her
hoodamongt hel
earner
s.

Teachi
ngMet
hods

Ashasal readybeenshowni nthisunit

,aneducat or ’
sv i
ew oft hechi ld,natureof
knowl edge and soci ety is bound t o influence t he way he/ she t eaches.
Reconst r
uctioni
st s,becauset heyai m atcreati
nganew wor l
dor der( inapr oblem-
i
nf estedwor ld),adv ocateforpr obl
em-sol
v i
ngst rategiesast hecor nerst
oneofal l
l
ear ning activit
ies.I tist hr
ough pr obl
em sol v
ing t hatstudent s become pol it
ically
consci ous and st r
ivef orthe creati
on ofa new soci etyi n which theyar e act iv
e
par t
icipantsandcr eatorsofthei
rownhi st
[Link] ngmet hodsthatmayi nclude
discov erylearning,exper i
mentati
on,groupwor k,projectwor k,r
esear chwor k,practical
exercises, r
olepl aying,si
mulati
on,educati
onaltoursandexcur si
ons.

Sel
fcheckquest i
ons
• Compar eandcont rastper enniali
sts’andr econsruct
ioni
sts’
viewson
(i
)nat ur
eofknowl edge
(i
i)thechi l
d
(i
ii
) curri
culum cont ent
(i
v)t eachingmet hodsandev aluati
on
b) Towhatext entdoy ouagr eewi t
hther econstruct
ioni
stson
(i)whatshoul dbet aughtinschool sand
(ii
)howi tshouldbet aught?
Supportyourargument swi thexampl esfrom theZimbabwepr i
maryschool
syst
em.

REFERENCES
Atki
nson,
N.(1972)Teachi
ngRhodesians:AHistor
yofEducati
onalPol
i
cyon
Rhodesi
a,Longman,London.
Atki
nson,
N.(1977)HandbookofCur r
icul
um Tradi
ti
ons,
Univer
sit
yofZimbabwe,
Harar
e.
Barker,
R.E.(1986)Phil
osophi esofEducat i
on:AnI ntr
oductoryCourse,College
. Press,Harare.
Brameld,T.(1965)Towar daReconst ructedPhilosophyofEducat i
on,Dryden,New
York.
Mungazi,D.A.(1991)Col oni
alEducationforAf r
icans:GeorgeStark’
sPol i
cyin
Zimbabwe, PraegerPublishers,NewYor k.
Ornstei
n,[Link] i
ne, D.
U.(1985)AnI ntroducti
ont otheFoundationsof
Educati
on,Hought onandMi f
fl
inCompany ,Boston.
Zvobgo,[Link]
mi ngEducation:TheZi mbabweanExper i
ence,Coll
egePr ess,
Harar
e.

UNI
TTHIRTEEN
COMPARATIVEEDUCATI
ONVI
S-À-
VISPOLI
TICALI
DEOLOGY

Int
roduct i
on
Asast art
ingpoint,weneedt oacknowledgethathumanbei ngsev er
y wherehavesome
educationsy stem whichononehandpossessespar ti
cularfeat uresuni quetot hat
societywhi l
eont heotherhandhav i
ngelement sthatt
ranscendnat i
onali
ti
[Link] his
meansi sthateducati
onalsystemsdiff
erfrom eachotherbyv i
rtueoft heway sinwhi ch
eachi sinterwovenwi t
hthemanyaspect soft heparti
cularenvironment .Howev er
,this
uniquenessi snotast ati
cconditi
onast herei
sal wayscontinualchangeasar esul
tof
naturaldynami sm andotherfact
ors.

Althoughacer t
ainbasi
cchar acterisr etainedeveninthiscontinuousdev el
opment,the
dynami csofanyeducat i
onsy stem st i
llrefl
ectsomedi versi
tyandcertainfacet
sthatcut
across geogr aphic,et
hnic and t empor albounds so t hatithas v ali
dityforother
communi ti
[Link] callyt hiscommonnesst hatbecomest hebasisfor
compar isonstobemadebyeducat ionistsbet weentheirownsy stem ofeducati
onand
thatofot [Link] lseewhyi tisper ti
nentfornationstowantt omakei nf
ormed
compar isonsbetweeneducat i
onsy stemsal ongtheway.
Objecti
v es
Byt heendoft hisunity
oushoul dbeabl et o:
• definecompar at
iveeducat i
on.
 • art
icul
atethemaingoal
sofsociali
steducat
ion.
• compar eandcont
rastt
heeducati
onsy st
emsofCuba,TanzaniaandZimbabwe.
• explai
ntheli
nkbetweenthei
deologyofacountryandi
tseducati
onsystem.

OnCompar ati
veEducat ion
Stones( 1981:5)say scompar i
soni sasol dasmanandt hat,“iti mpli
esanalysis,
discri
mi nati
on,classif
icationandev aluati
onoft woormor ethi
ngsexi sti
nginacertain
relat
ionshipt oeachot her.”Tot hi
sef f
ect,therei
sneedf orobjecti
veandsy stemat i
c
obser vati
oni nordert obeabl et odet ectthecommonspi r
it
,generalpr i
nci
plesand
postulatest hatexistbet weent hesystemsbei ngcompar [Link] i
ti
cal
analysishasbeendonecant herebeasel ecti
veborrowingofi deas,i
nsightsandev en
practicestohel pi
nt hedev elopmentofowneducat ionalsystems.

Compar ativeeducat i
onbynat ureischar acterisedbyast rongawar enessofsi mil
arit
ies
anddi f
ferencesi ntheeducat i
onofmanki [Link] ethef actorsaffect
ingsy stems
andar eresponsi bl
eforthei runiquenat ure,individualit
yandt hecauseoft heat t
endant
probl
[Link] soi ncompar ati
veeducat ion,ther eisaconsci ousawar enessoft hecer t
ain
generalnat ureofeducat ion-itsuniversalit
[Link] inkbet weeneacheducat ionsy stem
andi t
si mmedi ateenv i
ronmenti sconsi der edt oo,i nor dertobeabl etor econci l
e
chosenel ement stot henewenv ir
onment [Link]
ngsy stemswhol esalewoul dbeaki nt o
forci
nga‘ mor selofsadzadownaday -oldbaby ’
st hroat.
'Problemsofi ncompat i
bili
ty
woulddef init
elymaket hebor rowedel ement suni mpl ement abl
ei nthenewenv ir
onment .

Si
ncetheult
imategoalformaki
ngcompari
sonsistoimprovet heeducat
ionsystem i
n
ourowncountry,wemustadoptandadaptthoseelement sthathelpusf or
mv i
abl
e
al
ter
nati
vepoli
ci
esandlearnfr
om ourownandotherpeople’
smi stakes(
Jones,1971).
Bydoingsuch,t hebel
i
efiswecanunder standourownsy st
em betterandmor e
obj
ecti
vel
y.

Somet hi
nghasal r
eadybeensaidaboutt hemaj oraim behi
ndcomparati
veeducation.
Howev er,thereasonsorcausesl eadingtoorf orci
ngsociet
iestowanttoref
ormt heir
systemsofeducat i
onmaybeasv ari
edast hereareissuesofgoodgov er
nanceand
responsibi
lit
yoft hepeopl ein gener al
.Therei salwaysneed to prov
idenew and
effect
iveformt oexist
inggener
alpr i
ncipl
esofeducat i
onunderthechangi
ngcondit
ions
i
nor derthattheyoungmaybepr epar edforady namicsociet
y.

Educati
onalrefor
m and/orr econstr
uct
ionmaybenecessar ywher etherehasbeena
tot
alshift
/swit
chi npoli
ti
calideologysothattheschoolsy stem oper
atesintandem
withthenewpol i
ti
calwil
l
.Asect i
onont heli
nkbetweenideologyandeducati
onfoll
ows
towardstheendoft hi
sunitanditshoul
dclar
ifyt
hisasser
tion.
Acasei npointisZi
mbabweatt heatt
ainmentofi [Link] nthe
educati
onsystem hadtoberadicalandfastsot hatthemajori
tyofZimbabweanswoul d
benefi
tespecial
l
yaftert
heprotract
edwarofl iberat
ionfrom Br
itai
[Link]
alsyst
em
ofeducati
onhadbeenexpor t
edbyBr it
ainandi mportedbythesettl
erregi
me( Rhodesi
a)
wholesal
[Link] hredundantandi rr
elev
antt ot heexi
stenti
alneedsoft henewly
l
iberat
ednation.

And,justli
keal lforeignsyst emsofeducat i
onelsewhere,Brit
isheducationi nRhodesia
(Zimbabwe)wasal i
enat i
ngt ot hemaj ori
tyofthei ndi
genouspeopl es.I
twasbasi call
y
eli
ti
standper pet
uat edcol onialgoalsofwhi tesupr emacy,separat
edev elopmentand
thesubjugationofbl [Link] i
ousl
y,thiscouldnotbeal lowedt ogoonunderanew
blackgov er
nment .Whathadt obedonewassi mpleandj ust
ifi
[Link] ndof
affi
rmati
veact ionhadt obet akeninordertoaddr esstheevil
sofcol oni
[Link] y
sureroutetot akewast hereforetorelookatandr econstr
uctthewhol eoft heeducation
system i
nor dertoachi evet henewgoal ssetbythenewpol i
ti
calr
egi me–t heZANUPF
gov er
nment.

Howev er,asthenew governmentsoughtt obr i

ng‘sanity’i
ntot heeducati
onsect or,i
t
wasf acedwi t
hverydaunti
ngy etr
[Link] eadershi
phadnopr acti
cal
experi
enceofwhatorhowt oformulat
e‘sound’ educati
onalpr i
ncipl
esandenactpr oper
struct
[Link]
sdomainhadbeent hepr eserveandconcer noft hewhitemast [Link]
seemedt obethemostsanet hingtodot hen,wast olookel sewherefor‘sal
v ati
on’in
ordertocraftt
hedocumentaboutwhatwasenv i
sagedasani dealeducati
onsy stem.

Wet her eforebegi ntoseehow compar ativ

eeducat ionbecomesausef ult oolt hat
aff
ordspeopl eanoppor t
unitytoconsidersomeot hernat i
onalsystemsi nordert odr aw
parallelst ouseasa spr ingboar [Link] t ur
nt oTanzani aandCubaf rom whose
poli
ticalandeducat ionali deol
ogiest henew gov er
nmentofZi mbabwedr ew some
i
nspir [Link] sofCubanandTanzani aneducat ion(underFi delCast
roandJul ius
Nyerer erespectively
)wer e adopted and adapt ed int o Zimbabwean postcol onial
educat [Link] herdoi ngthishast odateachi evedthedesi r
edr esultsornoti snott he
objectofdi scussionatt hi
spoi nt
.Thereisr oom todoanownassessment ,
juxt aposing
whati nitial
lywast heideal andwhati sactuall
yobt ai
ningont hegr ound.

CUBA:
HISTORI
CALBACKGROUND

Tosettherecordsri
ghti
tispr
udentt
obeginbylooki
ngatthehi st
[Link]
i
slandi
sthebiggesti
nLati
nAmeri
caandgoti
ndependentf
rom [Link]
ncei
t
i
scloset otheUSA,t heAmer i
canshav eal wayshadenormousi nter
est [Link],
aft
eri ndependenceCubabecameaneo- coloni
alstat
ewi thstrongAmer i
cancontrol.
Thebaseoft heeconomywasagr icult
uralandmostoft heact i
vepopulationwerewage
worker [Link]
alr el
ati
onsofpr oductionweretypi
call
yofacapi tali
stnaturewhere
thev astsugarplantati
onswer eownedbyf orei
gner
[Link] t
ali
stindust
rial
sett
ingi nwhi chtheCubanwor ker sdidnothav eanyintr
insicmotivati
ont owor kbut
rat
herwor kedinordert [Link] kednotbecausehewant edt odoso,but
becausehewant edtogainmat erialrewardsf orhi
slabouri
nt heform ofpay .

UnderBaptist
a,the nat
ion was dict
atori
alwi t
hi nequal
i
tyand unempl oy
mentst i
l
l
conti
nui
[Link]
onwasel i
ti
standt herewasmassi veil
li
ter
acy .I
twast her
efore
i
ncumbentuponCast rowhenhecamei ntopowert hathecor rectsthewr ongsof
col
onial
i
sm aswel lasthoseofBapt i
[Link],thecountr
yhadt obef reedfrom the
economic,
poli
ti
calandcult
uralhegemonyoft heUni
tedStates(
Bowel s,1971).

Castrol i
ke Guav ara( hisr i
ght -
hand man i nthe war )saw t he rev oluti
on and the
establ
ishmentofaMar xistgov ernmentasessent i
al“i
nt her estorati
onandr edemption
ofmanf rom thepitofal ienationi ntowhi chthecapital
istandcol onialmast ers’val
ues
hadcasthi m”( Barker,1986: 134) .Thust hroughtheireducat ionsy st
em,t hecapital
i
sts
hadbeenabl etosubjugat eandr [Link] lyactiviti
esandr elati
onsbet ween
‘
mast er’and‘servant’
resul tedini dentit
ydi st
ort
ionsfort heor di
narypeopl ewhogotso
dehumani sedt hattheybegant obel ievet heywer emer e‘ tools’tobeusedf orthe
fur
theranceoft hecapitalistgoal [Link],t her ev
oluti
onariesident if
iedwi tht hemasses
andst r
ov eforjusti
ce,liberty,peaceandequal i
[Link],then,t obr i
ngaboutdesi red
changei nCuba,ev er
ymaj oreconomi candsoci aldevelopmentpl ani niti
atedbyt he
Cubanr evolut
ionhadt obeaccompani edbysomeaspectofeducat i
onal change.

Soci
ali
stEducat
ioni
nCuba

Asi ndicat
edabove,meaningf
ulchangecouldonl
yber eal
i
sedbygoingtheMarxist
-
Lenini
stway .Thi
ssocial
istdoct
ri
newasembr acedbecausei
twast heonl
ywayby
whicht heoncedi
sadvant
agedmajori
tywouldbeenabl
edtopart
ici
pat
einmainst
ream
acti
viti
es.

TheCubangov ernmentthenenact edsomeeducat i

onalpol
ici
estobri
ngaboutthe
necessaryr
eform andtr
ansfor
mat i
[Link]
hesewer eai
medat :
• Thecr eat
ionofanewmanwhowasnotal ienated
• provi
dingeducati
onf oreconomicgrowt
hsi nceenoughmanpowerwasneeded
t
ocutdependenceonf or
eigners.
 • t
hepr
ovi
si
onofmasseducat
ioni
.e.t
hedemocr
ati
sat
ionofeducat
ion.

Foll
owing these resolut
ions,allschool
si n Cuba wer e nat i
onali
sed and massive
educati
onalcampai gnsthatinvol
vedever
yonewer [Link] eclosedsothat
teachersandst udent
swoul dcampaignforal i
terat
esoci [Link]
ybodywasexpect ed
togettot hesixthGradeandt [Link] m was:Ifyouknow,
teach,ifyoudon’ tknow y ouhav etolearn( Thompson, 1981).Ther esultofthese
campaignswasadr amat i
creducti
onofilli
ter
acyl ev
elsf rom23.6% to9. 3% wi
thi
na
periodofoneyear .

Also,ruralar
easwer egiventopprior
itysincet heyhadbeendi sadvantagedduringthe
coloni
alt i
[Link] pr ogrammedubbed“ Schoolst ot heCount ry
side”wasl aunched
andsecondar yschoolsweretransf
erredtor uralareaswher et [Link] h
theteachersandt hestudentsworkedsidebysi dei nt hefi
[Link] ethat
someki ndofpolytechni
caleducati
onwasbei [Link] npoi ntwastogive
studentsachancet oexperi
enceandappr eciaterurall
ife.

Eachboar di
ng schoolhad af arm and t heeducationwasf [Link]
educati
onwi t
hpr oduct
ioninor derthatt he‘far
m-school
s’wouldbesel f–suff
ici
ent
i
nstead ofbeing a burden t
ot he economy .So fr
om 1961 t o 1968,emphasi sin
educati
onwaspl acedonsci entif
icandt echni
calsubj
[Link]
calsubject
st ook
precedenceoverhumani t
iesl
ikel i
terat
urewhi chdidnothav eanobv iousproducti
ve
sl
ant.

Byengagi ng st udentsi nsuchaneducat i

ont hatmar ried theorywi thpr acti
ce,the
governmentbel ievedthatt hesesamest udentswoul dbemor er adicall
ydiff
erentintheir
atti
tudetowor kthant hoseeducat edundercol onialsystems.I nst
eadofshunni ng
manualwor korwor ki
ngf orpay ,t
heywoul ddosobecauset heysi mplylovedt owor k.
Wehowev ermaynotwor r
yourselvesatthispointwhet hertheCubanst udentsreally
appreciat
edt hegov ernmentchangesornot .Weonl yneedt oappr eciatethisendeavour
asanobl ecausesi ncet heulti
mat egoalwasf oreducat ion toi nsti
lacol l
ecti
ve
consciousnesswi t
hint hepeopl e-asenseofbel ongingandt ogethernesst hatwould
promot eselflessnessamongt [Link] etywoul dbemor ehumaneandgood,
enablingeveryoneachancet oli
vewhatAr i
stotl
ecalled‘t
hegoodl i
fe.’

TANZANI
ANEDUCATI
ON

Wecannotstudyt
heeducati
onsyst
em ofTanzani
awithoutfi
rstlear
ningabouttheman
whoAf r
icani
sedit.I
ndeedJuli
usKambarageNyerer
ereconstr
uctedandt ransformed
Tanzani
aneducat
ionfr
om bei
ngfor
eign(
Bri
ti
sh)ori
entedtobecomi nglocal
l
yrelevant
.
Backgr
oundt
oNy
erer
e’sI
deas

Mwal i
muNy erere( 1922-
1999)wasoneoft hegr eat
estAf r
icanthinker
[Link] ssocial
poli
ti
calphi l
osophywasessent i
all
yhumani tar
ian and based on Afri
can val
[Link]
essence,hisideaswer eablendofsoci
ali
sm andcommonl i
fewi t
htheobject
ivetobuil
d
asocietyinwhi challmembershadequalright
sandequal opportuni
ti
es(Nyer
ere,1968).

Mostofhisr
efor
msarecontai
nedi
ntheArushaDeclar
ationof1967inwhi
chheshowed
greatcommit
mentt
or ai
singthebasi
cst andardsoflivi
ngoft hemajori
[Link]
ough
educati
onNy
erer
eai
medt obri
ngsoci
alref
ormi ntoal
lspheresofli
fef
ortheTanzani
an
people.

Hi
sEducat
ionalI
deas

BeforeNy erer
e’sr eforms,educat i
oni nTanzaniawasmodel l
edont heBr i
ti
shsy stem.
Besidesbeingel it
ist
, t
hesy stem al i
enat editsparti
cipant
sandinducedinthem atti
tudes
ofhumani nequal i
ty.I
tpr omot edwhi t
esupr emacyanddev el
opedasl avement ali
tyin
thebl ackmaj orit
[Link] onialsy stem alsofocusedonexami nat
ionsandr equired
paperqual i
fi
[Link] elopedinstudent sahi
ghsenseofcompet it
ionand
i
ndividual
ism coupl ed wi th cont emptf ormanualwor k(Kassam,1995) .Ny erere’
s
approachwast hereforever yradical i
nsuchascenar i
o.
Tounder standhi seducat ionalpol iciesmor eeasily,wecanapproacht hem undert wo
dist
inctsubheadi ngsi.e.(i)
Educat ionf orselfrel
ianceand(ii
)AdultEducati
on,Life-
long
l
earningandEducat ionforLi berati
on.

• Educat
ionf
orSel
f-
Rel
i
ance

I
nl inewi t
ht henot ionofself
-reli
ance,educati
onhadtowor kf orthecommongood,
fostercooper at
ionandpr omoteequalit
[Link]
sohadtoaddressthereali
ti
esofthelocal
people(Smith,2004).We need her etor eali
se t
hatNy erer
e’sfocus was on r ur
al
development .Thisr esul
tedint hedev el
opmentofv i
l
lagesoruj amaas( famil
yhood)
wher epeoplewor kedonacooper at
ivebasisther
ebyextendi
ngt r
adit
ionalval
uesand
responsibi
li
tiesaroundkinshi
p.

I
nt heujamaas,educat i
onwoul dservetodev elopthesamel ocal
sandt heirki
nsmen.
Nothingcoul
dbemor e“peopleori
ented”and‘peoplecent
red’t
hansuchani deologyas
[Link]
stphi
losophybasedont hr
eeprinci
pleswhichwere:
(a)workbyeveryoneandexpl oit
ati
onbynone.
(
b)fai
rshar
ingofr esourcesproducedbyjointeff
ort
 (
c)equal
i
tyandr
espectf
orhumandi
gni
ty

So,amongot hert hings,productivewor kwast obecomepar toft hecur

ri
cul
um to
provi
de meaningfull earni
ng exper i
ences t hr
ough mar ry
ing theor
y and pr
act
ice.
Examinat
ionswer etobedowngr [Link],pri
mar yeducati
onhadt obecomplet
ein
i
tsel
finst
eadofbei ngapr eparationf orsecondaryeducati
[Link]
tat
ages7or8sot hatoncompl et
ingpr imaryeducat i
on,thestudentwouldbemat ur
e
enoughtoengageinsel f-
rel
iantandpr oducti
vewor k.

Av eryper
tinentpointf
orNyererewasthattheschoolandthecommuni t
ymustbei nter
-
[Link] obeaf ar
m andwor kshopwheretheteachers,pupi
l
sand
parentsconstit
utedthesoci
alunitt
hatengagedinthepracti
calf
armingactivi
ti
eswhich
benefit
[Link] ng,thelocalpeopl
ebecamecr eat
orswhodet erminedthei
r
owndest i
ny .

• Adul
tEducat
ion(
Lif
elongl
ear
ningandl
ear
ningf
orl
i
ber
ati
on)

InhisdeclarationofDar -es-Sal
aam,Ny er
erecont endedthatonl ymancanliber
ateand
develophimsel [Link] ronglybelievedt hateducat ionwast heonlysuretoolbywhich
manwoul dbef reedf r
om ther estrai
nsandl i
mitationsofignoranceanddependenceon
others(Smi th,2004) .ForNy erere,Tanzanians had been exposed to an educati
on
system whichat tackedtheirmi ndstoi nduceasl av emental
ityorasenseofimpotence.
This,however ,
heconsi derednot aseducat ionatall.

Weneedt or eal
iset henthatNy erereenv i
sagedadul tswhocoul dexamineallthe
possiblecoursesofact iontoproblemsoft hei
rli
[Link] edal ladult
stobeableto
makechoi cesbet weenal t
ernat
ivesinordertogetr easonedsolut
[Link]
tobegr oomedt obeamor econsci ousandunder standi
ngbeinginsteadoflearni
ngto
hangcer ti
fi
catesont hewall
sort obecomepr of
essor sofknowledget hatwasusel
ess
totheirexi
stenti
al needs.

Inhisview,educat i
onext endedbey ondt hecl assroom si nceitis“ anythingwhi ch
enl
argesmen’sunder standi
ng, act
ivatesthem, helpsthem t omaket heirowndeci si
ons
andtoimplementthosedeci si
ons”( Ny er
ere,1978:30).Tot hi
seffect,Nyerer
ewant edto
seemenbei ngchangedi natti
tudesandski ll
sinor dertobringaboutsoci al
,pol i
ti
caland
economicchangesi nTanzani [Link] oughadul teducat i
on,menwoul dbel iberatedto
becomef ul
lpart
ici
pant sintheissuesoft heircountryinsteadofj usttowingt heli
neas
wasdemandedbyt heirfor
eignmast ers.
Thoughthepolici
esmetwi t
hmanychal lenges,wecannotf ai
ltoapplaudt
hegreatjob
donebyMwal i
muNy erereinbri
ngingaboutchangeandr ef
ormi nmanyAfri
cansystems
ofeducati
[Link],anAf ri
canident it
yt osocial
ism wascr eat
edandZi mbabweas
wellasmanyot herf or
mer l
ycol onised countr
ies,tookal eaff r
om theTanz ani
an
exper
iencewhi
chhel pedto‘bett
er’theirsystemsofeducation.

ZI
MBABWE:
ACASEI
NPOI
NT

Li
keanyot herf
ormer l
ycolonisedcountr
y,Zi
mbabwei nheri
tedaneducationsyst
em
quit
ei nadequat
et o meet the needs ofthe newlyindependentcountr
yf orself
-
governmentandsocio-economicgrowth(Chi
zi
nga,inPeresuhandNhundu,1999)
.This
wasbecausecol onialpoli
cieseverywher
eleftbehi
ndal egacyofinequal
iti
esinthe
provi
sionoftheeducati
onser v
ice.

I
n Zimbabwe,pr ovision ofeducati
on forblacks had been,i nt he main,leftto
missi
onari
eswhose pr i
me concern wast he spread ev
angeli
calwor kamong t hei
r
worshi
[Link] oni
ali
st’
sobject
iveherewast oascert
ainthatblackswoul dnot
r
eceiveanymeani ngfuleducati
[Link] ernmentknew thatthemi ssi
onari
es
l
ackedresourcest
opr ovideadequat
eandbet t
erqualit
yeducati
ontotheciti
zens.

Itwasatindependencet hatthenewgov ernmentwaschallengedtoaddr

essthev
arious
typesofdi spari
tiesthroughappr opri
ateeducat
[Link]
ori
tywasgivent o
educati
onbecauseoft heconvi
ctionthat:
• i
twoul dreduceunempl oyment
• i
twoul densurepol i
ti
calsocial
i
sati
onoftheciti
zens
• i
twoul dfosternati
onalunityandeconomicgrowth
• i
twoul d helpi nt he achievementofequi ty and equal
it
y ofeducati
onal
opportuni
ty
• i
twoul d provi
de manpowerneeded f orr api
d socio-
economic gr
owt
h and
i
ndust r
ial
isat
ion.

Witht hisinmi nd,wemustl ookclosel

yatt hei deologythatnowinformedt hef l
edgl
i
ng
governmentsi ncethenatureofeducationi nherit
edwasatv ar
iancewi t
hthepeople’s
expect at
[Link] odeconstructthe‘ coloni
almental
it
y ’ofthemassesso
thatjusticeandhumani sm wouldpr ev
ail
.Themaj ori
tyhadtoassertt hemsel
v essoas
toresur recttheiri
dent
itythathadbeencor r
odedander odedbyt heexpl oi
tati
veand
oppressiv epoli
ciesoft
hecol oni
almaster.

TheZANUPFgover
nmenttur
nedtosoci
ali
sm whi
chitadapt
edtosuitl
ocalcondi
ti
ons.
Theycal
l
edt
henewideol
ogySci
ent
if
icSoci
ali
sm,wherethewor
dscient
if
icdoesnotdo
mucht ochanget hebasi cconst i
tutesofsoci ali
sm ascont ainedinMar xi
sm- Leninism.
Wewantt oappr eci atethatt hesoci ali
sti deologyappeal edt othenew gov ernment
because:
• i tupholdst hesupr emacyoft hewi shesoft hemaj ori
tyoverthatoft hemi norit
y
asdidcoloni ali
sm.
• soci ali
steducat ioni seducat i
onf orl iberation/
awareness/conscienti
[Link]
developsint hei ndividual,acr i
ti
calawar enessofhi mselfandt hewor ldar ound
him.
• soci ali
sm consi der s educat ion as pol ytechnic wherebythe t r
aining is both
cogniti
veandpr [Link]
scent redont heinteracti
onbetweenmanandhi snon-
humanenv ir
onmentt opr oducea‘ wor ker-
intel
l
ectual’
,onewhor espectst he
dignit
yoflabouraswel l asacademi cs.
• emphasi sineducat ioni scooper at
ionandt hebettermentoft heindividualfor
thebenefitoft helargersoci ety.

Somespeci
fi
cai
ms/
goal
s:

Deri
vi
ngf rom t hesocialistappr oacht olif
e,ther
ewer esomespecificgoal
ssetupt o
achi
eveequi t
y .Thesewoul dbet hebasisforplanningt henew curri
cul
um andwoul d
permeat
eal leducati
onal practi
[Link] er
nmentai medt o:
• pr ovi
deaneducat ionf orallcit
izensasabasi chumanr i
ghtincl
udi
ngt heri
ght
tolit
eracyandadul teducat i
onforalladul
ts.
• dev elopanon- racial att
itudeamongy out
hs.
• createanat ional identity.
• pr ovi
de a r elev antcur ri
culum emphasi si
ng the acqui
siti
on of scient
if
ic,
technicalandv ocat ionalskill
s.
• pr omot etheat tainmentofeconomi candsoci algr
owththroughdevelopment
ofhumanr esour ces.
(Zvobgo,1986)

Inordertoachi
ev etheabov e,manypr ogrammeswer eengagedi n,thef i
rstofwhi ch
wast heexpansionofschool sinr uralar [Link] yschoolsmushr oomed
ever
ywhereandpr imaryeducationwasf reeandcompul sor
[Link],therewas
anaffir
mati
vetypeofst ancetakent omakesur etheoncedisadvantagedblackper son
gotasmuchqual i
tyeducationasonedesi [Link]
alassi
stancewas gi vent othose
whower epoorandpr oper‘ v
oc-tech’educat ioncomplementedt heacademi csubjects
tr
adi
tional
l
yacclaimedasbet terthroughthei ntr
oducti
onofv ar
iouspracti
cal subj
ects.

Forthefi
rstt
imepract
icalsubj
ectsst
art
edgetti
ngther
espectt
heydeserv
eassubject
s
di
rectl
yli
nkedwit
hindustri
aldevel
[Link],Zi
mbabwehadlear
nedfrom ot
her
show
meani ngf
uldevelopmentcould be ‘
fasttrekked’wit
hin an envi
ronmentthatcoul
d
otherwisehavebeeninhi
bit
iveespeci
allyconsider
ingthatpeople’
satt
it
udesweresti
ll
coloni
ally
-or
ient
ed.

I
DEOLOGYANDEDUCATI
ON:
THEI
NTERFACE

Beforeweexpl oret hel i

nkbet weent heeducat ionsystem andt hepolit
icsofacount r
y,
we mustbe cl earon whatan i deologyi s.
Lamm i n Zvobgo (1999)sees pol it
ical
i
deol ogies as cogni t
ive struct ur es cont aini
ng t he inter
dependentbel i
efs,values,
pri
nci pl
esandmy thsofagi v ensoci algroup. Clear
ly,theseideologi
esar eabstractor
theoreti
calandsincet heyar epol i
t i
cal,theyar eusuallycontainedinpoli
ticalmanif
estos
andpar tydecl
arationsf ormul at edandcr aft
edbyt her uli
ngcl asswhi chclaimst o
representthesociety ’
sinter
estwi thi
nast atee. [Link] ecti
onmani f
[Link]
i
deol ogyisther
eforeasetofsy st emat i
ci deasandnor mst hatactasagoalor i
entati
on
towar dstheachiev ementofnat ionalpol i
[Link] hefundament alpri
ncipl
e
guidingapeople’slife.

Goingbywhathasbeendescr i
bedabov e,itwouldbef oolhar
dyf orusnott oappreciate
theexistenceofasy mbi oti
crelati
onshipbetweenpolit
icalideologi
esandt heeducation
system inanyst [Link] eci
atethatonedev elopsandshapest heother,with
poli
ticsmaki ngmor edemandsoneducat ion-educat i
onbei ngthepr ocessbywhi ch
i
ndividuals are pr epared/sociali
sed t ol i
ve effectiv
ely and ef f
icientl
yi nt heir
communi t
[Link] fect,educationdir
ectlybecomesapubl icenter
priseasobser ved
byGi rouxinZv obgo( 1997:56)t hat;“
Inessenceallpedagogyi sessent i
allyapol i
ti
cal
i
ssueandal leducational t
heori
esar epoli
ti
caltheor
ies.
”

Thei
nter
play
:

TheformerJamai canPrimeMi nister,Mi

chaelManly,hadt histosayaboutt
hei
ssueat
hand.I
nThompson( 1981:48)hesay s:
Eveninthemul t
i-
part
ysituati
on,thecentralt
ruthremainsthateducation
i
sapolit
icalagentbecausei tmust,i
nitsverynature,eit
hertendto
preser
vet hestat
usquoor pr omotechange,dependingonhow
i
tisor gani
sed,whoor ganisesitandt hepurposetowhichi tisput.

Assuch, weseet hatthereis,toal

lintentsandpur poses,noneutraleducati
onanywhere.
The educat i
on insti
tuti
on is deli
berately enacted and mandat ed tor ei
nfor
ce and
butt
resst heexist
ingpolit
icalandeconomi csy st
[Link] [Link]
societ
ies,theschool i
stheprinci
pal i
nstrumentt hroughwhichthoseindivi
dualswhowill
takeupf utur
eposi t
ionsofleadership,power ,pri
vi
legeandstatuswi t
hinthesociet
yare
sel
[Link]
sherear
eusedasi
nst
rument
sfort
heal
l
ocat
ionofj
obsandr
ewar
ds
exi
sti
nginthatsoci
ety
.

Inacapi t
ali
stsociet
y,educati
oni spursuedf
orsel
f-inter
estbecauseiti
st heonewhich
determinesoneman’ sstatus,hisincomeandpower .St
udentsaregroomedt obeli
eve
thatindivi
dual
ism andcompet i
ti
onar [Link] heot herhand,t
hesameeducat ion
system canbeusedt ousheri nandpr omotecer
tainkindsofchanget akenasradi
cal
underthetradi
tional
modesofbel i
efs.

Summar
y

Ashasbeenshowni nthi
suni t,t
hecasesst udiedi .
[Link],Tanzani aandZimbabwe,
arepracti
calexamplesofnationst hatexperi
encedat ot
alshi f
tfrom onediamet r
icall
y
opposedi deol
ogyt [Link] tchwasr adi
calandassuch,t heeducat ion
systemsneededr econstr
ucti
onsoast obei ntandem wi thpost -col
oni
albeli
[Link]
objecti
veforef
fecti
ngchangesi [Link](1982)wouldseepr oper
educationsyst
emsast hoset hatar erootedint hespecificphi l
osophi
esofspeci fi
c
peoples-whathecal l
s“peopl
er ootedness”and“peopleorientedness.”

Act
ivi
ti
es

• Whywoul dy ouwantt ocomparey oureducati

onsy st
em withthatofanother
country
?
• Drawuat ableofsimil
ari
ti
esbetweent heZimbabweanandCubanorTanz anian
educati
onsy stems.
• Whati sther elev
anceofJul i
usNy erer
e’si
deastot heZimbabweaneducation
system?
• Discussthemaj orachi
evementsofpostcoloni
aleducat
ioni
nZimbabwe.
• “Thereisnoneut r
aleducat
ion.
”Discuss.
REFERENCES
Barker ,R.E.( 1986)Phi l
osophi esofEducat ion:AnI nt
roduction,Coll
egePr ess,
Har are.
Bowel s, S.( 1971)“ CubanEducat ionandRev olutionaryIdeology”intheHar v ar
d
Educat ional Rev iew, Vol ume41, Number4.
Gwar inda, T. C.( 1985)Soci ali
sm andEducat i
on:AnI ntr
oduct i
on,CollegePr ess,
Har are.
Jones, P. E.( 1971)Compar ativeEducat i
on:PurposeandMet hod,Universi
tyof
Queensl andPr ess, StLuci a.
Kassam, Y.( 1978)TheAdul tEducat i
onRev olutioninTanzani a,Shungway a
Publisher s, Nai robi.
Kassam, Y.( 1995)‘ Juli
usNy erere’[Link] sy(ed)Thi nker sonEducat ion,
UNESCOPubl ishi ng,Par is.
Luthuli,P.C.( 1982)AnI nt roductiont oBlackOr ient edEducat i
oninSout hernAf r
ica,
Col l
egePr ess, Har are.
Nyerer e,J.K.( 1968)Uj amaa- Essay sonSoci ali
sm, O.U.P.,Nairobi.
Nyerer e,J.K.( 1978)Adul teducat ion:ADesi gnf orAct i
on, Pergamon, Oxford.
Peresuh, [Link], T.(1999)( eds)Foundat ionsforEducat ionforAf r
ica,
CollegePr ess, Har are.
Smi t
h, M. K.( 2004)Jul i
usNy erere,Lifel
ongLear ni ngandI nformalEducat i
on, i
n
htt
p:// www. infed. org/thi nkers/[Link]

Stone,H.J.
S.(1981)TheCommonandt heDi v
erse:AProf
il
eofCompar ative
Education,
McGr aw-Hil
l,I
sando.
Thompson, A.R.(1981)Educati
onandDev el
opmentinAfri
ca,Coll
egePr ess,Har
are.
WikipediaFoundation(2010)ht
tp:
//en.
wiki
pedia.
org/
wiki
/Educati
on-
in-Cuba
Zvobgo, R.
J.(1986)Tr ansf
ormingEducati
on:TheZimbabweanExperience,Coll
ege
Press,Harare.
Zvobgo, R.
J.(1997)State,I
deol
ogyandEducat i
on,MamboPr ess,
Gwer u.
 UNI
TFOURTEEN
EDUCATI
ONANDCONTROL
Int
roduct i
on
Threer easonshav ebeenpr off
er edast owhyeducat ionisconnect edwi thcont rol
(Barker1994).Fi rst ,formaleducat i
oni sani nstit
utionali
zedsy st em needsor ganized
managementt oensur eitssmoot handef fici
entf unctioni
[Link] y,
ther
ear edefinit
e
rul
esandpr ecept swhi char eintri
nsi ctobot hlear ni
ngandgener alandt ot hespeci fic
formsofknowl edgeordi sci
pli
nesi npar ti
[Link] rdl
ysincet heschoolr epresent s
societyinmi crocosm i tmust ,ofnecessi t
y ,refl
ecti tsrole–gov er
nednat ur
[Link] s
meanst hatthewhol esy st
em ofeducat ionneedst obest ructuredaccor dingt owel l
-
defi
nedandsoci ally
-acceptabl
er [Link] ulesensur eeffect iv
econt rol,andt his
controlcentrer oundf ourkeyconcept s,authorit
y,freedom, di
sciplineandpuni shment .
Unitobjectiv
es
Bytheendoft hisuni tyoushoul dbeabl eto:
• def ineaut hor i
ty,
freedom, discipl
ineandpuni shment
• concept ual izeeachoft het ermsofcont rol
• i l
lustr
atehowt heconceptsappl yinat eaching/ l
earni
ngsit uation

Authorityandeducat ion
I
nt hissection,wedef ineauthor
it
yandgoont odi
scusst heconceptofauthorit
y.
Defini
tionofaut hori
ty
Clei
fei nLloyd( 1976)def i
nesaut hor
ityast heexerci
singofl egi
timatepowerandt hi
s
al
lowst heuseoff orceinordertocompel thosebeingruledt oconfor
mt othelaw.
Authorityisalsoviewedort hatwhichexer ciseaforceori nf
luenceoverus(Nashi n
Schof i
eld,1972).Authorit
yistherefor
et her i
ghtorpowert oenf or
ceorgiveorders/
Offi
cialpermi ssi
ontodosomet hing/asour ceofreli
ableinformati
ononasubj ect.

Theconceptofaut horit
y
Ther ei
swi lli
ngcompl i
anceofpeoplebasedont hebeli
efthatiti
slegi
ti
mat ef orthe
designatedleadert oimprovehi
swillont
hesubordinat
es(MaxWeberi nMupa, Chiome
andChabay a, 2011).
-author
itycanbei mposedinwhichcasether
eisasuggestionofphysi
calpowert ogive
backingtotheaut hor i
ty.
Ty pesofaut horit
y
I
nt hissection,wedi scussthr
eetypesofauthor
it
[Link]
ti
onal
,legal
/rati
onal
andper sonalauthor i
ty.
• Per sonal authori
ty
Thi si sani mpor tantchar act er i
sticoft heteacher ;itistheaut hor i
t yt hatoneacqui resby
virtueofhi s/hercr edent ialsorexper ti
[Link] eacherhasaut horityduet opr ofessi onal
qual ificat i
onswhi chmaket het eacheranexper t
.Academi cwr i
tersar eaut hor i
tiesi nt he
areaswher et heyspeci al i
seandar ewor thyofbei ngci t
ed
• Tr aditional aut hority
Thi sr est sonest abl ishedbel iefsi nthesanct i
tyoft raditi
onandl egi timacyoft hest at us
whi ch t his best [Link] es i nclude t he mor alaut horityoft he Roman Empi re,
tradi ti
onalchi efsi nZi mbabweandt her oyalf ami lyi nBr i
tainandSwazi l
[Link] si san
extr emel yconser vat i
v et r
adi tionwhi chissummedupt hus“ whatwasgoodenoughf or
myf at heri sgoodenoughf orme” .
• Legal rat ional aut hor i
ty
Thi st ypeofaut hor itymakescl aimsandi ssuescommandswhoser i
ghtr est sont he
l
egi timacyoft hedemandst [Link] esubj ectedt odemandsmustunder st and
acceptt her ationalj ustifi
cat [Link] ersandt eacher spossessl egal–r ationalaut hor ity.
Bot hhav etomakel awsandr ul est oguideconduct .Bot har ebackedbyt heaut hor ity.
Nat ur eoft eacher s’ author ity
Thi si sder ivedi nsomewayort heot herf rom soci etyi nwhi cht eacher sf unct ion.
Soci et yhasent rust edt eacher swi t
ht her esponsi bili
tyf ort het ransmi ssionofcul tur e
andf orhel pingadaptt ocul tur [Link] hor it
yt eacher sr ecei v ef rom soci etyi s
usual lyv eryexpl i
cit l
ydef inedbyeducat ionact s,andot herl egi sl
at ivemeasur esandby
thewi dev ar i
et yofr ul esandr egul ationswhi char ebasedont hem.
Way sofenf or cingt het eacher ’saut horit
y
[Link] cion,t hati sf orcingpupi lstoobeyt het eacher swi l
[Link] civeappr oachesar e
l
ikel yt oensur et hepassi veobedi enceofpupi [Link] ewi l
lbenodegr eeofact i
veco-
oper ationbet weenpupi lsandt het eacher .
[Link] eeact ivitywhi chl eav est hepupi lsfreet obet hemsel ves,ar emar kabl eabdi cat i
on
ofaut hor it
yt eacher sr ecei vef rom soci et yaspupi lsr ecei veno di rect ionf rom t he
teacher .
[Link] nst rument alt echni queswhi chi nvolveswi nni ngchi l
dr en’sco- oper at i
onby
relat i
ngcl assr oom wor kt ospeci alindividuali nter estsoft hei rv ocat ionalambi ti
ons.
Chi ldrenar er eadyt obei nv olv edi nprojectsorassi gnment sr elatedt ot heirownspeci al
i
nt er est s.
[Link] ngt hef al laut hor it
yr eceivedf r
om t hesoci etybydoi ngwhatsoci etyr equir es
teacher st odowhi chi ncludespassi ngonknowl edgeanddi scipliningchi l
dr enwher e
thesear ewar rant ed.
Act ivity
• Di scusst hreet ypesofaut hor i
ty.
• Exami neanyf ourway si nwhi cht het eacher ’saut hor itymay beenf or cedi na
classroom si t uation
.
Fr eedom andeducat ion
Def iningf reedom
Kanti nWi kipedia( 2011)def i
nesf r
eedom asi ndependencef rom any thingot herthan
themor allawal [Link] ,freedom si gni fi
espr oper l
ytheabsenceofopposi t
ion.
Thenat ur eoff reedom
Freedom meansabsenceofconst r
aintbei ngf rom i ndoctrinat i
onandbei ngf r
eef r
om
unjusti mpr i
sonmentoft hemi nd.
Freedom i nschool
Thedegr eeoff r
eedom i nt hecl assr oom wi l
ldependont heext enttowhi chsuch
freedom ser vest heendofeducat ion.I fgr anti
ngf reedom r esultsi nimpr ovedpupi l
per f
or mancei tmustbegr ant ed.I ffreedom l eadst onoi se,di srupti
on,indiscipl
ine,
i
ndi fferentorshoddywor k,i
tshoul dbedi scouraged.
Pupi lfreedom
Pupi lsmusthav efreedom t oat t
endschool .Theyshoul dbef r
eet oparti
cipatei nwhat
goesonatschool .Pupi l
shav ef reedom t omakeuseoft hef acil
iti
esav ail
ablet othem.
Theyar ef reet owor kwi t
hot herchi l
[Link] lmustbef reet ochoosehi sownwayof
wor king.
Teacher ’sfreedom
Teacher smusthav esomef reedom i nor dertot eachatal l.A t eacher’
sf reedom is
j
ust i
f i
edi nsof arast heygener all
yser vet heendofeducat [Link] eacheri sfreeto
organi zehi swor k,toadopthi smet hodst ot her equir
ement sofhi spupi l
sandt o
exer ciseaut hor i
tyov erhi
spupi ls.
Freedom oft hepar ent
Thepar enti sf r
eet oeducat ehi schildrenashet hinksf i
t,whi chi sdescr i
bedast heri
ght
tonour ishmentandi mprov ementoft hei [Link] ehischi l
drenina
privateschooli fheshoul dwi sht ospendhi smoneyt hi
sway .Somepar entschoose
i
ndependentschool st oenhancet heirchi ldren’
spr ospectsofhi ghsoci alstatusort o
combi neacademi cachiev ementwi t
hchar actertraining.

Act
ivi
ty
• Defi
nefreedom.
• Canfreedom bej
ust
if
iedi
nteachi
ng/
lear
ningsi
tuat
ions?

Disci
pli
neandpuni shment
Disci
pli
ne
Disci
pli
neisdefined
ForBarker(1994)di sci
pli
neist
heconsci
ousandwi l
l
ingaccept
anceof,
andsubmission
to,acodeorf r
amewor kofrul
esandregul
ati
ons,desi
gnedtoorder
,manage,conduct
andcontrolasy st
em.
Kasambira(
citedinAt ki
nson,1999)vi
ewsdisci
pli
neast heactofusi ngr
easonable
cont r olsinanef f
or ttopr oducedesi redbehav i
our .
Causesofi ndi scipl i
ne
Teacherr elat edpr obl ems
Thesei ncludei nexper i
ence, thet eacher’sper sonalpr oblems, l
ackofpl anni ng, fail
ur eto
usepr operi nst ruct i
onal mat erial andthecl assr oom set ti
ng.
Studentr elatedpr obl ems
Among t hese,peerpr essur e,l ackofacademi csuccess,l ackofnour ishmentand
bor edom.
Someconcl udi ngr emar ks
For maldi sci plinecanr ar elybei mposedoneducat i
onalclasses( Waddi nCur zon1990) .
It
sexi stenceof tent est ifiest ocl assmot iv
at ion,t het utor’
sski lloni nst r
uct ionandhi s
i
nt er esti nt hepr ogr essofhi sst [Link] sciplineusual lyr eflectsa
breakdowni nt hepat ternsofcommuni cationandcont rol,themai ntenanceofwhi ch
mustbeanobj ectiveoft het eacher -
manager .
Disci plinecanandmustbeposi t
iveandconst ruct i
v e;hence, iti
sawor thwhi leobj ect i
ve
i
nt hecl assr [Link]( quot edi nBowen,2011)- -
--
--
--
--
inwi derter ms.“ Di sciplineis
necessar yf ort hei nt er nal izationofmor alst andar dsandobl igations-i not herwor dsf or
thedev elopmentofconsci ence.
Puni shment
Def ini t
ionofpuni shment
Atki nson( 1984)def inespuni shmentast hei nflictingofpai norsomet hingun- pleasant
ont hosewhohav ecommi tt
edabr eakofr ules.
Puni shmenti sdef inedbyCur zon( 1990)ast heuseofsomeav ersiveev entcont ingent
ont heoccur renceofani nappr opr i
atebehav iour .
Puni shmentandeducat ion
Effect i
ve puni shmentwi llresul ti n a decl i
ne i nt he efficiencyori ntensi tyoft he
undesi redbehav i
our( Gut hr i
ei nCur zon1990) .Thepsy chologyofl ear ningadv isest hat
i
ft het eacherwi shest odi scour ageat y peofbehav i
ourheshoul dat temptt odi scov er
thecuesl eadi ngt ot hatbehav [Link] dar rangeasi tuat i
onsot hatt heundesi red
behav i
ourwi llnotoccuri nt hepr esenceoft hosecues.
Ther ei sl essemphasi sonpuni shmenti nschool st [Link] fecti st hedecl i
ning
standar dsi nmor albehav iourandl ackofdi sciplinei nschool sandsoci etyi ngener al
.
Thet endencyi nt hewor ldi sper mi ssi
veness, relaxingmor alsandf reedom ofcont rol.
Argument sagai nstpuni shment
Puni shment i s an i nf ringement of human r ights. Iti s an ov er -
react i
on t o
aut hor itari
ani [Link] shmenti nfri
ngesoni ndiv i
duali [Link] ehar mt han
good as i tal ienat es t he chi ldf r
om wor k,t he t eacher,t he schooland l ear ni
ng.
Puni shmentcausesr ebel liont hanobedi encei fnoti mmedi ately,thenl at eron.
Argument sf orpuni shment
Ar
gument
sforpuni
shment
scent
reont
hedesi
rabi
l
ityofdi
sci
pli
newher
eBowden(
2011)
cl
aimthatdespit
et hesehurdles,st
udent
sagr
eethatdisci
pli
neisneededinschool
s.
Onehighschoolstudentstated:"I
fther
ewerenodisci
pli
ne,theschoolwoul
dnotbe
di
sti
ngui
shedfrom t
hest r
eet.
"
Soi fev eryoneagr eest hatdi sci
pl i
nei skeyt osaf etyinschool ,whydowest i
llhav ea
problem?Whatcanbedonet ostopt hismenacei nlear ners?Thef actoft hemat teris
thatitisdi f
ficul
ttodoawaywi thpuni shmenti fwewantdi scipl
i
net opr evailinschool s.
Thear gumentoforagai nstpuni shmenti smer elybasedont hephi l
osophi calbeliefsof
thosei nchar ge.
Summar y
Inthisuni t,wet ri
edt omakei tcl eart oyout hatt hesubj ectofdiscipli
nei scent ralt o
successf ulschooloper [Link] sopoint edoutt hatphi l
osopher sdiffermai nl yon
how t odi scipli
net hest udent sbutt hereisconsensusoni tsnecessi tyi nal ear ning
environment .The t erm di sci
pli
ne i s also appl ied t ot he punishmentt hati st he
consequenceofbr eakingt [Link] er ealizedthatdiscipli
nei st hesy stem
ofr ules,puni shment s and behav i
our alstrat egies appr opriat
et ot he regulation of
l
earner sandt hemai ntenanceofor deri nal ear ni
ngenv i
ronment .Theai m ofdi scipline
i
st osetr easonabl elimitswhi chpr otectstudent sf r
om har m andt eacht hem whati s
safeandwhati snot .Int henextuni t,wet ackl et hei ssueofeducat i
onalt houghtand
practiceint r
aditi
onal Africansoci ety.

References
Atki
nson,N.D.(1999).IssuesinEducat ion:APhi l
osophicalPerspecti
ve.
Harare:ZimbabweOpenUni versi
ty.
Barker,R.E.(1994).Phil
osophiesofEducat i
[Link]:CollegePress.
Bowen, S.H( 2011)Discipl
ineinschool :Whatwor ksandwhatdoesn’ t.
Retri
evedf r
om: htt
p://www. [Link]/ l
i
brary/vi
ewarticl
e/553/on
13June2011
Curzon,L.B.(1997)Teachingi nFurtherEducat i
[Link]:Cassel l
.
Mupa, P.;Chabaya,[Link] ome, C.(2011)Leader shipinorganisati
ons:
LAPLamber tAcademi cPubl i
shers:Saar brucken:Germany
Wikipedia (
2011) School Disci
pli
ne. Retri
eved f
rom
htt
p://en.
wikipedi
[Link]/wiki/
School _
disci pl
ine"On13June2011