SOCIOLOGY OF
EDUCATION
SOCI5122
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you
can use to change the world”~ Nelson Mandela
LU1: The sociology of education
◦ Objectives
1. Define the sociology of education
2. Discuss the theoretical frameworks of
education
3. Explain the historical background of
education in South Africa
4. Discuss the restructuring of education in
post-apartheid South Africa
5. Explain the challenges facing the education
system
6. Discuss the role of the various institutions
of society in understanding the relationship This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
between education and sociology
◦ Formal social institution
◦ Role= Transmit and uphold society’s values,
morals and traditions
= Contributes to the benefit of the entire
society
o The right to education is a fundamental
human right
o Opens opportunities for personal growth,
social mobility and the capacity to be useful
members of society
o Our education system is part of a
transforming society that is still marked by
vast inequalities and poverty
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
Sociology of Education
◦ “Defined as the systematic study of the
formal learning institutions and the
interrelationship between these institutions
from a sociological viewpoint” (Stewart and
Zaaiman 2019: 114).
◦ Viewed from a broad or macro perspective
◦ Focuses on how institutions such as
economics, politics and religion influence
and mould the education system
◦ Two dominant streams of thought
◦ Those who view education as imparting
science
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◦ Those who argue that education serves
broader social functions
Theoretical framework of education
◦ Positivist perspective
◦ Conflict perspective
◦ Interpretivist perspective
Positivist perspective
◦ Ideas from Emile Durkheim
◦ Structural Functionalist,
functionalists
◦ Durkheim reflected on how
education equipped children for their
positions in later life
◦ Focused on analyzing the
relationship between schools and
other public institutions
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Conflict perspective
◦ Ideas from Karl Marx
◦ Conflict perspective
◦ Highlights two main groups
The dominant group &;
The subordinate group
o Points out tensions in society
resulting from social groups
competing for resources
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Interpretivist perspective
◦ Ideas from Max Weber
◦ Bureaucracies, organizations and
status
◦ Agreed with the conflict perspective
that status and power could sway
the education system to benefit the
dominant group
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Historical background of education in
S.A
◦ J.N le Roux: “We should not give natives any academic education, if we do, who is going to do all the
manual labour?”
◦ The only schooling available in the 1600 to 1700s was a few church-run schools and ‘two slave
schools’ for Africans
◦ Formal education was introduced by the British in 1806
Used to teach and enforce the language and the British culture
o Because of the war between the British and Afrikaner, the Afrikaner culture and language were
systematically excluded from the formal educational system
o Education was used as a means to control the society
History cont….
◦ In 1839, the Department of Education was set up
◦ It was at that time private schools, state schools and mission schools emerged
◦ Access to schools due to social class was already taking place
◦ Rich families= private schools
◦ Initially, schools were racially mixed
◦ Poor Afrikaners and Africans were competing for the same jobs which led to the Afrikaners fighting
towards a separation between them and Africans
◦ Schools then became racially separated.
History cont….
◦ Education was used as a tool to subjugate a
black labour force that was denied both
political and social rights
◦ African schools were handled by missionaries,
were poorly funded and of varying quality.
◦ After the pressures from the Afrikaners, the
British withdrew from supporting African
schools
◦ Africans had to finance their own schooling
◦ Race, lines of hierarchy and stratification were This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC
being established
◦ All the issues continued into the apartheid era
in 1948
◦ Bantu education was introduced in 1953
History cont….
◦ Coloured Person’s Act introduced in
1963, education for mixed race people
◦ In 1965, The Indian Education Act was
introduced
◦ Further segregating different racial
groups
◦ In 1967, the National Education Act
was introduced enforcing the principles
of Christian National Education
◦ In 1976, protest against Afrikaans as a
medium of instruction and better
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education occurred
History cont….
◦ Universities were created in 1960s in line with being racially/ethnically separated and unequal
◦ 17 institutions restricted to the enrolment of black students become known as the Historically
Disadvantaged Institutions
◦ Under-funded and under-resourced
◦ UCT, UP, WITS, Stellenbosch and Rhodes became known as Historically Advantaged Institutions
◦ Most students attending HDI come from underprivileged backgrounds
◦ Limited educational facilities, administrative incapacities, reduced academic offerings, with few
sporting and cultural facilities and opportunities.
Restructuring education- post
apartheid S.A
◦ A new South African meant a complete overhaul of the country’s major educational institutions and
schooling system.
◦ Addressing the three main issues of access, equity and redress
◦ In 1994, a large percentage of the workforce was unskilled- one of the manifest functions of the
Bantu Education
◦ Literacy levels were so low that many were unemployable.
◦ Severe shortage of professional, technical and skilled expertise in the country, even after the year
2000.
◦ Graduates were being offered lucrative work in foreign countries
Restructuring education…
◦ A new educational system was being engineered that would meet the demands of the global
economy and the be able to produce a skilled workforce
◦ Different stakeholders such as COSATU, Eskom, Transnet, the National Education Department were
tasked to create a new curriculum that prepared learners for the future
◦ Clear example of structural functionalist.
◦ Training was then introduced which is a form of learning that can take place at work, improving
skills, knowledge and competencies of workers.
◦ The ministers of Labour and Education introduced SAQA to oversee the development and
implementation of the National Qualification Framework (NQF)
Restructuring education…
◦ The NQF has three sub-frameworks
General and Further Education and Training Quality managed by Umalusi
Higher Education Quality managed by the Council for Higher Education
Trade and Occupations Quality managed by the Quality Council for Trade and Occupation
o The NQF wanted to ensure a new way of thinking, a paradigm shift that viewed education as a life-
long experience
The current scenario: challenges
facing the education system
◦ Goals set by the government have
not yet been achieved
◦ Majority still live in poverty and
unemployment remains a pressing
concern
◦ Need to look at education within the
framework of the state, society,
schooling and the family
◦ The relationship thereof
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State
◦ The government has implemented a pro-poor education policies such as fee-free schools, nutrition
and transport programmes
◦ Interactionist perspective where the relationship between poor family background and learning is
looked at/studied
◦ Majority of blacks still live in poverty and the inequalities are evident in the public schools as well.
◦ The Department of Basic Education decided to lower the requirements to pass matric to 40
percentage but there are still high dropout rates
◦ Dropouts are due to poverty, HIV/AIDs, Covid and single-parent homes
◦ Schooling and education cannot be understood without considering the context within which
education functions
◦ Conflict perspective
Society
◦ Community you come from
◦ Children were moved to ‘formally white schools’ as it was believed that they would receive better
education
◦ Poor communities still suffer the effects of the apartheid education (poor infrastructure, poor
funding, etc.)
◦ Children attending private schools outperform those in public schools due to issues of overcrowding
in public schools
Schools
◦ Teachers are not well trained
◦ Sexual abuse
◦ Mismanagement of funds, corruption and fraud affecting schools (sporting and cultural
opportunities).
Family
◦ Education is compulsory in South Africa
◦ Large number of children not attending schools
◦ Issues of HIV, overcrowded homes, single-parent/child-headed homes and Covid in 2020 could
contribute to the high school dropout rate
◦ Education cannot be divorced from society
THANK YOU!!
FOR MORE INFO CONSULT PAGES 111 TO 132 IN YOUR TEXTBOOK!!
