Introduction to education studies

How does a historical approach help us to understand the relationship between education and social change? Discuss with detailed reference to at least ONE historical example from education in Britain in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Introduction This essay will discuss the relationship between education and social change and how a historical approach helps us to understand it. Education can be defined in many ways, however it does not have a precise definition.

The concept can mean a different thing to each individual. Many will think of ‘school’ and ‘exams’ when the term education pops up. Others may think of the progress of learning things in general, whilst some may consider it as being able to read a book. Within Bartlett and Burtons Introduction to Education Studies (peg 14), Peters (1966) mentioned that the term was used in diverse ways therefore it is difficult to define in an exact way. Education has been an ongoing topic amongst many professionals since its Reform Act of 1870.

The system within the schooling department has been revived and transformed throughout the centuries resulting in today’s modern education. The social change within our society has been tremendous over the twentieth century. We see a constant change In technology, fashion and clothing, architecture, cars, food and many more aspects. Education is seen to have an effect on the change and vice versa. The relationship can be understood through various approaches. I will use an historical approach to understand why and how both topics have influenced each other.

In order to do this, I will use some historical examples from education within Britain over the past two centuries. Without history, change would be a difficult aspect to talk about. Change exists with history. Without history change will be Like a snapshot, very Instant and Just a present entity. L In regards to Education, there has been many aspects within the department which has had changes.

For example, laws and legislation have changed profoundly. These include factors such as the age a child has had to enter schooling from and the school years made compulsory upon them.

As I will be discussing social change and education, bringing in a historical approach will determine the affect education has had on society. We will be able to e the paramount affect history has had over the years and how It has Influenced government and authoresses to make variations within the system. With such an approach, will also see how people have taken up to the importance of Education and what they perceive it as compared to how it was seen to in the past. The relationship between Education and Social Change It is fair to say that the relationship between Education and Social Change is seemingly of a strong one.

The relationship has not only existed recently, as wealth however, this has been evident as far as the history of education goes. I will begin with describing the effect education has on social change. Furthermore, I will continue onto describing the effect of social change on education. This will allow me to establish the relationship between the two and elaborate upon it. According to Bartlett and Burton, (2012) after the Buffalo Act was legislated in 1902, working class students were able to attend school although only up till the age of twelve.

Middle class students however progressed onto secondary school as they were able to afford the fees.

This resulted in children leaving school at the age of fourteen and heading o work in order to provide for their families. Children as young as fourteen were known as responsible young adults at this time, most being sole bread winners for their families. Fourteen was not perceived as a child in comparison to the modern era. It was not until 1944, that the Butler Education act was established. Secondary education had become compulsory on all children.

Students then were to study until the age of sixteen.

The split between primary and secondary schools were put into place. People were now familiar with the term teenager’ which before then was unheard of. From this brief summary of the education acts, it is evident that education and social change were evolved over the years. We can see within the early 20th century, children were perceived as adults by the age of twelve. This was due to education being available to them up till the age.

They were made to go to work and behave like adults.

The earlier education ended, the earlier a child had left his/her childhood. By the mid-20th century, children remained at school until sixteen years of age. They were not made to work and were still under the responsibility of their parents, guardians and teachers. Adulthood began much later than it did in the earlier century.

It is apparent from this that education contributed a huge amount to social change over the years. Due to Education, children remained children. Without the opportunity, they had to endure the harder lives of work and labor.

We see that education was an effective factor of social change however there were other issues ongoing which led to social change effecting the education system. An example is as follows.

During this era girls were made to study feminine’ subjects such as ‘housewifely and women would normally work at home by looking after their implies. They used to study at home whist boys had the opportunity to study at school. However, when women rights came into place, women were more determined than ever to have equal rights which they fought for through protests etc. Government had no choice but to take action by meeting their demands.

This resulted with subjects such as mathematics and science being introduced to female schools and larger number of girls began taking these subjects.

They were perceived as equal people and not inferior to male. They saw themselves as capable as the boys. Other things were also fought for, such as equal pay. Equal opportunities became more recognized and this social change was evidently incorporated into the schooling system such as introducing same subjects and paying female teachers equal to male teachers therefore, we see that Education and Social Change have a constant revolving effect on one another.

In today’s day and age, technology is seen to be a huge contributing factor to social change. Machines and gadgets have taken over our lives at home work and school.

Education is processed through computers had its positive and negative effects on education such as easier access and efficient SE for learners and teachers, however manual sources such as books lay forgotten. Children use technology to learn numbers words etc. And complete their homework. Music is seen to be incorporated with learning especially for younger students.

Children learn by doing things in their social life such as watching a movie and then incorporate that into their school work such as using an example for an essay.

Such things did not exist in the 19th century therefore they will be acknowledged as modern education. We can clearly see that the relationship between education and social change is constantly effecting each other. As the fashion trends continue, they are being incorporated within learning. As people learn more, they are able to come up with ideas to add onto the world of fashion and technology.

From this it is evident that both aspects give the other a reason to enhance, improve and change. In England, particularly within the south Asian communities, girls were always known to be inferior to boys.

This was no doubt evident to have existed in the past before women rights were put in place, however within Asian families women rights were regressing slower. The concept was that boys continued with further education whilst girls left school after college and were wedded soon after. This concept however started transforming rapidly in the earlier 21st century.

Girls were applying to universities, and marriage was for later on in their lives such as after gaining a degree and a Job. They had seen what their parents had gone through and comparing it to the social life of this western country, they saw that making a change to their lives was now imperative.

This was unheard of and frowned upon by Asian households a century before. However this aspect of social change was having an effect on girls and their families to such an extent that parents were encouraging their daughters to aim higher than other girls in their communities and family.

This aspect of social change is effective to education as colleges and universities expand their facilities and courses as larger number of students enroll. More Asian female women take the role of teachers, doctors, nurses and other professionals. Even though the social effect cannot change the past for the parents, they are able to see their offspring take on such opportunities. Many years ago, such professional roles were taken by men and a few women who were not from an ethnic minority.

This has improved over the years as education is spread more diversely.

A historical example from education in Britain in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries http://www. Aim. AC. UK/partner_images/fulfills/118/LARGER.

Jpg taken back in 1908. 2 This will be an example of a used to talk about the relationship between Education and Social Change. Within the photo, we are able to distinguish two female teachers with a group of children of both sexes. The pedagogy evident ere is seen to be physical as they all seem to be participating within an activity. We notice that with such a large number of children there are only two adults present.

The educational aspect here is the physical education. The children are holding hands. They seem to be enjoying themselves, however the picture looks like they’ve been made to walk in a neat form. This is still present in today’s schooling as younger children tend to hold hands during physical activities. We see the continuity of young children holding hands whilst they play games.

Teachers today Join in with their dents in such activities however, the activities are more physical than this one such as climbing apparatus, playing basketball and football.

As the society was a very gender segregated one, girls would not be seen playing such games. Referring back to two members of female staff with a large amount of students, the childcare back then was less effective than now. Schools were only able to afford certain amount of staff. Not many schools existed in the earlier 20th century and only wealthier families could afford an education for their child. Today there is seen to be a great difference in schools.

Not less than six members of staff would be seen with a large amount of students such as this.

However, even today, female are seen to be working with younger children at schools. Male practitioners are very rare. This suggests the continuity of standards. No matter how much equal rights and opportunities were fought for, some things remain the same in that sector. Women are better at looking after children than men as they take to Jobs such as teachers and nursery workers.

If we analyses the picture closely, we can see that the children look very clean and tidy. Their surroundings are spotless.

This suggests that there may be issues of accuracy surrounding this photo. Children at that age do not keep immaculate throughout the day at school. Normally equipment would be littered around the play grounds. There is also a fence visible which suggests that there is a gender segregation in place within the school.

This picture may have been staged to look like this for media purposes therefore we cannot determine accuracy. Looking again at the empty playground, it also suggests that a child friendly environment was not heard of in that era.

Due to economical struggles as well as limited discussions on improvement n child learning, children may have had to make use of the playground by playing physical games of their own. Slides, swings, counting blocks and tricycles were probably introduced into school grounds as compulsory study years increased. According to the Introduction to Education Studies (2012) Britain was known to be a very patriarchal society. Gender segregation was another common factor in history.

Boys studied different subjects to girls.

For instance, boys would study mathematics and science subjects whilst girls played with dolls and were taught ‘housewifely. ‘ This as seen to be norm within the earlier stages of education, and as the education acts progressed on throughout the century, girls gradually took on the same subjects as boys and had choices on what to study. Even though girls and boys have the same opportunities in today’s society within their educational institutes, we still witness are working at a more ‘masculine’ Job.

This affects the education change as students take up subjects according to what they want to do as a career.

So female students for instance, go for careers such as teaching whilst male students study engineering etc. This was the case in the earlier centuries but without choice. Now, even though opportunities are available everywhere, inevitably this is seen to be the case. The picture also depicts this as we do not see a male teacher present. The picture shows the school to have tall Victorian architectural buildings which impose a very school like affect onto people.

These buildings include windows which are situated higher up the wall so that children were not distracted by looking outside. The walls used to be black and empty and children only concentrated on the teacher strictly facing the rent. In today’s schools walls are plastered with school work and posters encouraging a more child friendly environment. This is considered as a development factor for children as it helps them learn and remember by these colorful reminders. It is evident that the method of learning in the earlier nineteenth and twentieth century varied a lot.

Around the I-J, some of these Victorian schools still exist.

The continuity of infrastructure is still in place. These buildings provide the proof of history existing and being the way it really was. The structure of teachers is till familiar to history as they both share the similarity of hierarchy within schools depending on a staff position. Assessing students through tests is also another continuity of education in order to determine how well students learn and are being taught. The 11 plus is still an ongoing process but in the form of Cat’s.

All this may still be in place however, over time it is improved upon as different educational acts are enforced, better facilities are given and the ongoing discussion amongst politicians include bettering education constantly.

Conclusion In conclusion, we have seen many factors which affect education and social change. Bringing in a historical approach, it has been easier to determine how much of an effect they have had on each other and how that relationship exists. Things have taken place in the past in order for changes in education, for example woman rights introduced equal opportunities and fair pay.

Without this fight, the change wouldn’t have existed. Today women are continuously going into further education.

Politicians include women. And as women keep up the determination, more and more women are influenced to follow suit and acquire highly paid Jobs and degrees. The change in-between the 19th and 20th century was tremendous. When the world wars took place, things were built up again from scratch which evidently were slowing up the progress, however after that the education system and social change continued to effect one another, helping the economy and society grow.

The Had Report 1926 mentioned in the Introduction to Education Studies (peg 78) was a prominent impact which introduced the free two-stage education system so that the higher demands for education post war were met. It is rumored that education will become compulsory until the age of 18.

If this does take place, it may have an effect on young adults who may not be seen as free individuals until they finish school. As of today, opportunities. As it is harder to find Jobs compared to a decade ago, younger people are determined to study further so that they find it easier to get a Job.

This social change is seen effective as increasing number of students go into studying. Today, we see students being taught according to the trends in society.

For instance paleography has an influence on the curriculum. Students would study books and films they have heard of recently rather than ones created before the generation existed, in order to keep them learning. Historical content is mainly used to help students distinguish the difference and some so that they may see the importance of appreciation.

As the country becomes more multicultural, children learn about different religion and cultures within schools and they participate within festivities. This again is another example showing how social change effects education, and how education also impacts on social change as children learn different cultures and learn to appreciate them and respect one another. We witness words being used which were never heard of before such as ‘Teenager’.

For instance, a child under the age of 16 was not considered a child in the early 20th century.

Teachers are more interactive with their students which once again was unheard of in the past. This enables children to feel more comfortable with their teachers and encourages them to ask questions when need be. This is also a great factor to social change as children become more confident and loud compared to many years ago when children were seen and not heard. There are many aspects which influence education and social change which has been apparent since the earlier acts of education were introduced.

This is still ongoing and will continue in the future, therefore the relationship between the two is established as a strong one, existing and changing subsequently.