1
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
ED OU 703
Sociological
Anthropological
Historical
ROLANDO D. DOLLETE
Open University
Central Luzon State University
Science City of Munoz
Student’s Guide
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FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
Course Description
The course Foundations of Education or OU 703 aims to give you
adequate understanding of fundamental, psychological, anthropological,
sociological data and principles as they apply to education. This also deals with
the philosophy, history, development of education theory and practice as they
relate to the national goals and ideals of education. This combines the
Foundations I and Foundations II offered in the undergraduate courses.
COURSE OBJECTIVES AND CONTENTS
A. Psychological Foundations
1. Discuss the different principles and theories of growth
and
development and their implications to educational practice.
2. Explain the learning process from different theoretical perspectives.
3. Explain the different models of teaching and the roles of the teacher
under each.
B. Sociological Foundations
1. Describe how stratification in society began.
2. Relate the function of the family to nation building.
3. Explain the role of the school, church and other social institutions in
socialization and societal change.
C. Anthropological Foundations
1. Show a comprehensive view of the beginning of the Filipinos as
people.
2. Appreciate one’s cultural heritage and participate actively in
preserving, conserving, and transmitting it to the next generation.
3. Discuss the importance of language in the development and
transmission of culture.
D. Historical Foundations
1. Discuss the historical development of education from ancient to
modern times.
2. Appreciate the aims and contributions of the different periods
3. Discuss the implementation of the different movements as they
influenced the shaping of Philippine education
E. Philosophical Foundations
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1. Familiarize with the different philosophical outlooks that have influenced
educational theory and practice
2. Gain ideas from philosophy that may develop insights that may develop
insights into the solution of educational problems; and
3. Appreciate the aspirations of the Filipinos especially in education.
F. Legal Foundations
1. Discuss the historical influence on Philippine education.
2. Explain the legal bases of Philippine education
3. Trace the organizational set up of the Philippine education.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
In order to pass this course, you have to submit two long papers, four reaction
papers, four web quest/annotations, reflective journal, and participate in the
discussion. Here is the grade distribution of the class requirements:
Final Examination
Two long Papers
Four reaction papers
Web quest/annotated journal
One reflective journal
Attendance/Discussion
Total
30%
20%
20%
10%
10%
10%
100%
The table of equivalent for your scores is as follows:
Scores
100-98
97-93
92-88
87-83
82-78
77-73
72-68
67-63
63-60
59-55
54 and below
Grade Equivalent
1.0
1.25
1.5
1.75
2.0
2.25
2.5
2.75 ( No Credit )
3.0
( No Credit )
4.0 Conditional
( No Credit )
5.0 Fail
( No Credit )
There
are five papers
to
work
on
every after the
module except
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is module 6. Write a 2-page reaction on the questions given. It should hear an
introduction, the body and the conclusion.
· Web Quest/Annotation
Aside from your assignments, you are required to do web quest or research for
sources in the Internet and annotate these sources. In doing the web quest, you
have to look for a source in the internet that is related to the lessons you are
supposed to read for your papers and reaction papers. For example, for your first
web quest you are to look for resources in the Internet that are related to Module
1 for your second web quest the resources should pertain to Module 2 and so
on. Your annotation for the web quest should not be less than eight but not more
than ten sentences. You are only required to submit the Internet address and the
annotation and not the entire article.
· Reflective Journal
The reflective journal allows you to record your thoughts and feelings about the
changes or transformations that happened in your thinking and life in general
upon taking up this course. Specifically, you will record here how the course has
affected your way of thinking about issues presently confronting our educational
system and how the course affects your personal growth. I would also like to
read in your journal your opinions about the course and modules (Were the
objectives met? Did you find the lessons interesting?).
Your journal should be 3-5 single-spaced pages long.
· Final Examination
Your final exam will cover all the modules we will be taking up in class. Anticipate
objective and essay questions in your exam, which will be a sit down, close
book/notes type of exam. Remember, you are not going to pass the exam without
reviewing all our lessons. Also, as I have stated earlier, you will not be allowed to
take the exam if you have not submitted at least one of each your required paper
and reaction paper.
Use a bluebook for your exam, you are not allowed to write anything on the
questionnaire.
Discussion Questions (To be posted on the discussion boards)
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Module I
Psychological Foundations of Education
1. What is learning? Why it is important to a teacher to have a clear
understanding of the learning process?
2. What are the three distinct types of learning? What does each type of
learning involve?
3. What is learning theory? Why it is important for you as a would-be teacher
to understand the different learning theories?
4. How does each of the different theories of learning view the learning
process? What is, for you, the significance of each theory to teaching?
Reaction Paper # 1
From among the theories of development, what theory do you think best fit the
Filipino learners of today?
Module II
Sociological Foundation of Educations
1. What are the major concerns that society has to cope with?
2. What are the determinants of social status? What is social mobility? Social
stratification?
3. Why are groups important? What are their roles in the society?
4. Describe the relationship between the family and the school and the
community. Differentiate divine, social and cultural values.
Reaction Paper # 2
What are the prevailing social problems that you think should be addressed of?
What measures to be done to at least if not totally eradicate help to prevent these
problems.
Module III
1.
2.
3.
4.
Anthropological Foundations of Education
What makes man different from other forms of animals?
What is culture? How culture and society are related?
Discuss the importance of language and writing to humans.
What are the Filipinos values? What is valuing?
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Reaction Paper # 3
Do you think there is a need to re-examine the Filipino values? Why or why not?
Module IV
Historical Foundations of Education
1. Trace the historical foundations of Philippine Educational System. What
are the aims, types and content of each era?
2. What are the movements in education? What were the contributions of the
different religious orders and what educational practices today that were
gleaned from these.
Reaction Paper # 4
Do you believe that government should control education?
Module V
Philosophical Foundations of Education
1. What is philosophy? Discuss the educational implications of the
different philosophical theories.
2. What are the contributions of the different philosophies to the shaping
of Philippine education?
Reaction Paper # 5
Given the different philosophies of education, what do you think has the greatest
impact on Philippine Education?
Module VI
Legal Bases of Education
1. Discuss the different educational theories, aims, curriculum and the
content.
2. Why is education a function of the state?
3. Explain the acts constitute the legal bases of education in the Philippines.
What are the legal rights of the students?
YOUR FACULTY TUTOR
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Hi! I am your faculty tutor, ROLANDO D. DOLLETE. I have been in
teaching for almost thirteen years. I am an Associate Professor here at Central
Luzon State University and presently the Dean of the College of Education. I am
a true blue Education graduate from BS to doctoral degree. I also took Master of
Professional Studies in Development Communication in UPOU. I am also the
Chairperson of the Department of Education and Related Studies in the CLSU
Open University. I am teaching Education courses both in the undergraduate and
graduate levels. My contact points are: +639163044402, +63444565476,
+63444565195. You can YM me at rollydoll@yahoo.com.
Happy learning.
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INTRODUCTION
Education is the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes. It is not only a
preparation for life but it is life itself. This is so because throughout man’s life, he
learns many things, may it be formally or informally. The components in the
educative process are the learner, the teaching-learning process, the teacher and
the policy maker. The most important of these is the learner who occupies the
center stage in the educational system.
Foundation is a base upon which any structure or system stands. A strong
foundation makes the structure or a system firmly established and strong enough
to be able to serve its purpose.
This course Foundations of Education covers the six foundations of education:
psychological, sociological, anthropological, historical, philosophical and legal
bases. This tackles the Foundations 1 and 11 offered in the undergraduate
courses separately.
Psychology is the study of human behavior, of how person acts and reacts under
different situations, consciously or unconsciously, mentally, physiologically,
physically, overtly, or covertly. It is the study of man’s reactions to life’s
simulation.
Sociology deals with study of human beings living in groups, of how people act
and interact under different social situations, and how they relate themselves to
one social situation, and how they relate themselves to one another. Terms that
indicate group actions are used here such as cooperate, team work, sociable,
conflict, etc.
Anthropology is the study of civilizations and cultures of people: their origins,
customs, traditions, beliefs, mores, folkways, and practices. This also includes
languages, forms of writings, tools and weapons, buildings and other physical
structures.
History is the study of past events that makes us understand the present
situation, and to enable us to predict future events.
Philosophy is a systematized truth or principles that serve as guide for conduct or
thinking. Philosophy is a fixed idea or principle arrived at after a very rigid
scrutiny or study of the state of things, situations, or events.
Legality refers to the conformity to the laws passed by the State to establish and
guide the conduct of an educational system. The Constitution is the most
important legal document that establishes and guides in understanding the
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educational system of any country. It contains the philosophy of education of any
country.
Module 1
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The Psychological Foundations of Education
It is said that education depends on psychology because the kind and amount of
education that the learner acquires is conditioned by the psychological traits such
as general mental abilities, aptitudes, temperaments, interests, effort making
capacity, physical condition etc, hence the principles of education are basically
based on psychology.
The Learner
Teaching and learning are psychological processes. The teacher is in a
better position to select and use methods and techniques that will promote
effective learning. There are three components of the educative process which
have been the concern of both psychologists and teachers. These are the
learner, the learning process, and the learning situation. This module discusses
the principles of growth and development, the learners stages of development
and the different theories of development.
Understanding Growth and Development
The terms growth and development have been continually used in most
readings in psychology. many times, these terms are used interchangeably;
although in certain respects both terms, though parallel, imply different
definitions.
Growth essentially refers to quantitative changes in an individual as he
progresses in chronological age. It may refer to increases in size, height, or
weight.
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Development, on the other hand, refers to the progressive series of change of
an orderly and coherent type leading to the individual’s maturation. This definition
implies that for development to be progressive, there is a direction in the manner
in which changes occur. Development is also coherent, essentially because the
sequence of changes that occur are related to each other and do not occur
haphazardly or abruptly.
From these definitions, one can see that although both growth and
development imply contrasting types of changes in the individual, both are,
nonetheless, related and complementary processes.
The Importance of Studying the Stages of Development
In many instances, people meet children of varying ages and wonder why
each of them displays different characteristics. The focus of the study of
development precisely points to these observations. A teacher, who expects to
meet the needs of his /her learners, must be aware of the various developmental
differences among his/her learners.
The knowledge of the pattern of human development will certainly help a
teacher to know what to expect of children, and at what approximate ages certain
patterns of behavior may appear or are expected to appear. Planning for
instruction should also be based on certain developmental principles, which to a
great extent, determine what types of learning and amount of learning are
appropriate for different age groups. In other cases, knowledge of developmental
patterns will allow teachers to identify learners with developmental lags or delays
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so as to provide guidance and intervention as early as possible. Thus, teachers
must learn to recognize the significance of this knowledge to their teaching
success, as well as to the learning process.
Factors in Growth and Development
Two general factors influence human development; namely, 1) maturation
or natural growth resulting from heredity; and 2) environmental influences in and
through which the growing takes place. These two factors are so thoroughly
interrelated that it is impossible to isolate their specific influences.
Every individual is born with definite potentialities of development passed
on to him by his parents through heredity. These heredity potentialities for many
kinds of behavior patterns continue to develop for months or even years. This
process by which heredity exerts its influence long after birth is called maturation.
Studies have shown that a number of physiological structures are essentially
mature and ready to function at birth or even earlier. Others, however, such as
certain nervous, muscular and glandular structures are not ready to function until
after months or even years later. Certain types of behavior which are made
possible by these structures cannot be developed unless these structures are
sufficiently mature. No amount of instruction and practice, for example can make
a six-month old child walk or talk because the nueral and muscular structures
involved are not yet ready for such activities.
Although an individual inherits trait potentialities from his parents, the direction
that these characteristics follow during the process of growth and development
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depends upon the individual’s environment. Behavior traits develop only after
interaction with environmental influences.
Modes of behavior at a given time in the life of an individual are not
determined by heredity or environment working alone. Instead, they are the
product of the interaction between his inherited tendencies and potentialities and
those environmental influences by which he is stimulated. For example, while the
ability to vocalize and the capacity for learning to make intelligible sounds are
inherited, the language a child speaks is the result of the language he is exposed
to during the growth process. A child is not born with skills, emotional controls, or
attitudes. It is only when his inherited adaptable nervous muscular systems are
given the proper stimulation at a time when they are maturationally ready that
such traits are learned and developed. It is at this point where education plays an
important role in the development of an individual.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
From numerous studies conducted on growth and development, developmental
psychologists have established some basic principles of developmental change
that occur over the life cycle.
These basic principles are outlined below and explained in succeeding
paragraphs.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Development follows an orderly sequence which is predictable.
The rate of development is unique to each individual.
Development involves change.
Early development is more critical than later development.
Development is the product of maturation and learning.
There are individual differences in development.
There are social expectations for every developmental period which are
often referred to as developmental tasks.
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1. Development follows an orderly sequence which is predictable.
The first basic principle relates to the orderly sequence of developmental change.
The developmental process, guided by the interaction of maturation and learning,
follows a predictable pattern. It is a continuous process that proceeds according
to a definite direction and uniform pattern throughout the life cycle.
Although physical growth attain its maturational level and stops as a
process, developmental change continues as long as life continues. As individual
continuously adapts to changing physical and mental abilities age increases.
Such developmental changes which occur throughout the life cycle follow a
sequential pattern which is predictable. The stages which an individual goes
through from birth to death are always of the same order from infancy to old age.
They have never occurred in reverse.
This predictable sequence is also observable in the phylogenetic skills –
those skills which are universally of the human race. Thus, regardless of the
culture, all babies proceed from supported sitting to unsupported sitting to
creeping, crawling and, finally walking. Similarly, babies produce unrecognizable
sounds to babbling before producing understandable speech.
The two predictable directions during the pre-natal and infancy periods
illustrate the uniform pattern of physical development. These directions are
cephalocaudal and proximodistal. In the cephalocaudal trend, development
proceeds in the head-to-foot direction in the body. Changes in motor
performance and function, for instance, take place first in the head region and
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last in the foot region. In the proximodistal trend, parts of the body nearest to the
center are the earliest to develop. Infants, for instance, are able to use to their
arms before they acquire hand skills while their finger skills follow the
development of hand skills.
2. The rate of development is unique to each individual
The second basic principle relates to the rate of development changes as
unique to each individual. Although developmental changes follow a predictable
pattern, the rate at which changes may occur may be different from one
individual to another. Such differences in rate of change are determined by the
interaction of heredity and environmental factors. As an example, some children
will change faster than others in almost all areas of development while some will
be much slower than others. Or, some children will have faster rates of
development in the physical and social aspects while at the same time be slower
in the mental aspect of development.
This second principle stresses the fact that it is futile to try accelerate an
individual’s development if he is not ready to develop or experience a change.
This means; for instance, that any new ability will emerge only if the essential
physical or mental foundations are already existing. Training can produce results
only if the individual has reached the level of maturation necessary for an activity.
Such readiness for an activity is determined by his rate of development.
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3. Development involves change.
This principle implies that the human being is always evolving based on
theories by developmental psychologists. As stated earlier, children undergo
physical, emotional, and mental changes.
4. Early development is more critical than later development.
The studies of Freud, Erikson, and Piaget on early patterns of behavior led
to the conclusion that early development is very important. It is at this stage of
development where individuals develop the foundations for social relatedness,
emotional well-being, and personal adjustments. It has been widely accepted that
the first two years of life, often called the “formative years”, greatly dictate the
course of an individual’s growth and development. This principle is also the
rationale behind early childhood education.
5. Development is the product of maturation and learning.
As discussed previously, development is an outcome of both maturation
and environmental influences. Although people are genetically endowed with
certain characteristics, learning allows individuals to develop these innate
potentialities. Through exercise and effort, people can act on their environments
and develop their competencies. In most cases, individuals learn through
imitation and observation of other role models.
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6. There are individual differences in development.
Although children follow a predictable pattern of development, a step-bystep progression, all children do not reach these developmental stages all at the
same time or all at the same age. These differences in development are often
ascribed to both genetic and environmental influences, where each individual is
either born or exposed to varying factors.
For instance, physical development depends largely on inherited
characteristics, such that children will grow in height differently form each other.
Similarly, intellectual growth is contingent upon one’s educational exposure or
family environment.
7. There are social expectations for every developmental period which are often
referred to as developmental tasks.
This principle clearly states that at any point in the individual’s
development, each one is expected to fulfill certain social expectations. As will be
seen in a later discussion, these social expectations vary from one stage to the
next.
THE LEARNER’S STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
There are eight stages of development usually ascribed to the life span of
human beings. These stages which are based on chronological age are listed
below. Corresponding to each stage are characteristics often achieved by
individuals within each specified age group.
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Since school learners who are the main concern of teachers in the
elementary and secondary schools are in stage 2,3,4, and 5, the discussion in
this section will only focus on the significant changes during these stages.
Mention will also be made of the social expectations for each stage.
These social expectations which Robert Havighurst, a well-known
developmental psychologist, labeled as “developmental tasks”, are skills and
patterns of behavior every cultural group expects its member to master or
acquire at various ages during the life span. These tasks are physical, cultural,
and psychological in nature.
Infancy and Early Childhood
The period which covers from birth to six years is generally referred to as
the pre-school years. It is characterized as the time when neuromuscular
functions basic to development of motor skills are developed. It is the time when
a child is extremely dependent upon adults and seeks their affection and care.
Inquisitiveness is characteristic of this stage. After his spoken language skills are
developed, he begins to ask endless questions about everything. His tendency to
imitate the actions of his elders is reflected in his play activities.
The developmental tasks during these early years are based mostly on
the successive maturation of various parts of the body and on the family
environment. Success or failure in the performance of these tasks will affect
considerably the performance of other tasks in the succeeding periods of
development.
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The principal tasks of infancy and early childhood are: (1) learning to walk;
(2) learning to take solid foods; (3) learning to talk; (4) learning to control the
elimination of body waste; (5) learning sex differences and sexual modesty: (6)
achieving physiological stability; (7) learning to relate emotionally to parents,
siblings, and other people; and (8) learning to distinguish between right and
wrong and developing a conscience (Hurlock, 1982:10)
Although individuals differ in the rate at which they learn tasks, children
are expected to learn these tasks fairly well by the time they begin formal
schooling. After the basic motor skills have been fairly well developed, the degree
of success with which they accomplish these early tasks will depend to a large
extent on experiences they have with such tasks. It is at this point where nursery
and kindergarten education can be very valuable in helping the child succeed fail
in these tasks.
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Developmental Stage
Characteristics
1. Pre-Natal
(Conception to Birth)
Age when heredity endowments and
sex are fixed and all body features,
both external and internal, are
developed.
2. Infancy
(Birth to 2 years)
Foundation age when basic behavior
patterns are organized and many
ontogenic maturational skills emerge.
3. Early Childhood
(2 to 6 years)
Pre-gang exploratory, and questioning,
when language and elementary
reasoning are acquired and initial
socialization is experienced.
4. Late Childhood
( 6 to 12 years)
Gang and creativity age when self help
skills, social skills, school skills, and
play skills are developed.
5. Adolescence
(puberty to 18 years)
Transition age from childhood to
adulthood when sex maturation and
rapid physical development occur
resulting to changes in ways of feeling,
thinking and acting.
6. Early Adulthood
(18 to 40 years)
Age of adjustment to new patterns of
life and new roles such as spouse,
parent, and bread winner.
7. Middle Age
(40 years to retirement)
Transition age when adjustments to
initial physical and mental decline are
experienced.
8. Old Age
(Retirement to Death)
Retirement age when increasingly rapid
physical and mental decline are
experienced.
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Late Childhood
This period covers from 6 to 12 years which are the elementary school years. It is
a period when a child begins to develop a feeling of independence. His attitude
towards adults is different from those of his early years. At this stage, association
with one’s age-mates becomes uppermost in a child’s life. It is a period of strong
individual friendships and group relations. As adolescence approaches, a change
of attitude between the sexes occurs.
During this period, the child attains good physical development an motor
control. He can learn to do a great many things and to develop the fundamental
skills needed in later life.
The principal developmental tasks of late childhood are: (1) learning
physical skills necessary for ordinary games; (2) building wholesome attitudes
toward oneself as a growing organism; (3) learning to get along with age-mates;
(4) learning an appropriate sex role; (5) developing fundamental skills in reading,
writing, and calculating concepts necessary for everyday living; and (7)
developing attitudes toward social groups and institutions (Hurlock, 1982:10).
Since the late childhood period covers the elementary school years,
guiding and helping a child to achieve mastery of these tasks becomes a major
concern of the school. Although the family and community environment continue
to provide experiences to the child in learning these tasks, the school gradually
assumes a large share in this responsibility during this period.
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Adolescence
This period covers from 12 to 18 years. These are generally the high
school years. These years are often referred to as the transition years. It is a
transition from childhood dependence upon others to assumption of adult
activities and responsibilities. This transition is not and cannot be sudden. Adult
status can be achieved-only through carefully guided preparation for adult
responsibilities.
The adolescent stage is characterized by significant physiological changes
that bring about changes in the adolescent’s ways of feeling, thinking and acting.
Physically, he goes through a spur of growth and development of certain parts of
the body which becomes a concern for him at the early stages. During this period
he achieves mental maturity within his potential limits. He may be intellectually
curious and may be interested in learning many things. However, his learning
interests may not be in accord with his learning potentialities.
Emotionally and socially, the adolescent wants independence; yet he has
a strong desire for security. He wants to feel secure in the affection and regard of
persons of his own age and of adults. This is a period of strong personal
attachment which starts with sudden infatuation and goes to controlled
attachment to members of the opposite sex.
The developmental tasks for this period are: (1) accepting one’s physique
and accepting a masculine or feminine role; (2) forming new relations with agemates of both sexes; (3) developing emotional independence from parents and
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other adults; (4) achieving assurance of economic independence; (5) selecting
and preparing for an occupation; (6) developing intellectual skills and concepts
necessary for civic competence; (7) desiring and achieving socially responsible
behavior; (8) preparing for marriage and family life; and (9) building conscious
values in harmony with an adequate scientific world picture (Hurlock, 1982:10)
Teaching adolescents is not easy. An adolescent spends less and less
time at home. And more and more outside the home. In most cases he spends
his time in school and in school-related activities. Although to the adolescent
school may seem to be a burden, he finds it a source of friendship and a place
for sharing social activities. In view of this, the school has significant role in
guiding the adolescent learner in achieving mastery of the developmental tasks.
If the adolescent achieves success in these tasks through the school, in
cooperation with the home and the community, then he will proceed through this
period to adulthood with relatively little difficulty.
Early Adulthood
This period covers from 18 to 35 years. By this time, definite habits of
behavior control have become more of less fixed. An adult has developed certain
attitudes and opinions towards people and things that are more or less
satisfactory to him. This period is often one of marriage, raising a family, initial
full-time employment in a career, and forming new associations. Such
characteristic developments in early adulthood are rooted in the psychological
needs of an individual for love, companionship, security, and achievement.
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The developmental tasks during the early adulthood period are those
which are considered necessary for happy and successful participation as an
adult member of society. These tasks are: (1) selecting a mate; (2) learning to
live with a marriage partner; (3) starting a family; (4) rearing children; (5)
managing a home; (6)getting started in an occupation; (7) taking on civic
responsibility; and (8) finding a congenial social group. (Hurlock, 1982;10).
A number of adults go back to school because they feel certain
inadequacies in their previous education to achieve these developmental tasks.
As a result, there has been an increasing interest in college education. An adult
who goes to school usually does so because he wants to. He has a definite
educational aim in view and he wants to achieve this aim as quickly and as
completely as possible. Hence, he expects the content of learning materials and
teaching techniques to be clear, definite, and suited to his needs. Schools
involved in the education of the adult will have to provide such education that will
satisfy his needs.
THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT
In the study of human development and behavior, developmental
psychologists have come up with a variety of theories. These theories which
have served as tools in teaching their ideas and concepts have helped them in
understanding the organization and course of human development.
To gain further insight into the behavioral changes at various stages of
development, four theories of development which have influenced contemporary
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concepts about the nature of individual development are presented in this
section. These are Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical theory, Erik Erikson’s
psychosocial development theory, Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
and Laurence Kohlberg’s Theory of moral development.
Summary of Categories for Developmental Tasks
STAGES OF
DEVELOPMENT
Physical skills
INFANCY TO EARLY
CHILDHOOD
Learning to walk
Learning to talk
Learning to take solid
foods
Learning to control
Elimination of body
wastes
Getting ready to read
Intellectual Skills
Learning sex
differences and
sexual modesty
Social Skills
Emotional Skills
Learning to
distinguish right and
wrong and beginning
to develop a
conscience
LATE CHILDHOOD
ADOLESCENCE
EARLY
ADULTHOOD
Maintaining physical
health and well-being.
Learning Physical
skills necessary for
games
Accepting changes in
one’s physique and
using the body
effectively.
Developing
fundamental skills in
reading, writing, and
calculating.
Developing concepts
necessary for daily
living
Learning to get along
with age-mates
Beginning to develop
appropriate
masculine or
feminine social roles
developing attitudes
toward social groups
and institutions
Preparing for an
economic career with
knowledge gained
from academic
Exposure
Getting started in an
occupation
Achieving new and
mature social
relations with
agemates of both
sexes achieving a
masculine or
feminine social role
desiring, accepting,
and achieving
socially responsible
Behavior
Achieving emotional
independence from
parents and other
adults preparing for
marriage and family
life acquiring a set of
values and an ethical
system as a guide to
behavior depending
on ideology.
Learning to live with a
marriage partner or
independently
selecting a mate
taking an civic
responsibility finding
a congenial social
group
Building a
wholesome attitude
toward oneself as a
growing individual
developing a
conscience, a sense
of morality, and a
scale of various
achieving personal
independence.
Starting a family
rearing children
managing a home
Freud’s Theory of Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939), Austrian physician
and founder of
psychoanalysis. He was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Freiberg,
Moravia (now Pribor in the Czech Republic) on May 6, 1856.
26
Freud believed that people are born with biological drives that must be
redirected so as to live in society. He proposed that personality is formed in
childhood, as children deals with unconscious conflicts between these inborn
urges and the requirements of civilized life. This conflict occurs in an unvarying
sequence of five maturationally based stages of psychosexual development, in
which sexual or sensual pleasure shifts from one body zone to another- from the
mouth to the anus and then to the genitals. At each stage, the behavior that is
the chief source of gratification (or frustration) changes- from feeding to
elimination and eventually to sexual activity.
Freud considered the first three stages - those of the first few years of lifecrucial. He suggested that if children receive too little or too much gratification in
any of these stages, they at the risk of fixation – an arrest in development that
can show up in adult personality. For example, babies whose needs are not met
during the oral stage, when feeing is the main source of sensual pleasure, may
grow up to become nail bitters or smokers or to develop “bitingly” critical
personalities. A person who, as a toddler, had too-strict toilet training may be
fixated at the anal stage, when the chief source of pleasure was moving the
bowels. Such a person may have a “constipated” personality: obsessively clean
and neat or rigidly tied to schedules or routines. The person may be defiantly
messy.
According to Freud, a key event in psychosexual development occurs in
the phallic stage of early childhood. Boys develop sexual attachment to their
mothers and girls to their fathers, and they have aggressive urges toward the
same-sex parent, whom they regard as a rival. Children eventually resolve their
anxiety over these feelings by identifying with the same sex-parent and move into
the latency stage of middle childhood, a period of sexual calm. They become
socialized, develop skills, and learn about themselves and society. The genital
stage, the final one, lasts through adulthood. The sexual urges repressed during
latency now resurface to flow in socially approved channels, which Freud defined
as heterosexual relations with persons outside the family of origin.
27
PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
Oral Stage (birth to 12-18 months) to other accounts (0 to 2 years)
Baby’s chief source of pleasure involves mouth-oriented activities
(sucking and feeding).
Anal Stage (12-18 months to 3 years) to other accounts (2-4
years)
Child derives sensual gratification from withholding and expelling
feces. Zone of gratification is anal region, and toilet training is important
activity.
Phallic Stage (3-6 years) to other accounts (4-6 years)
Child becomes attached to parent of the other sex (boys-Oedipus
Complex; girls- Electra Complex;) and later identifies with same-sex
parent. Superego develops. Zone of gratification shifts to genital region.
Latency Stage (6 years to puberty) to other accounts (6-12 years)
Time of relative calm between more turbulent stages.
Genital Stage (puberty through adulthood) to some accounts
(12 years and up)
Reemergence of sexual impulses of phallic stage, channeled into mature
adult sexuality.
Freud proposed three hypothetical parts of the personality: the id the ego,
and the superego. Newborns are governed by the id, which operates under the
pleasure principle – the drive to seek immediate satisfaction of its needs and
desires. When gratification is delayed, as it is when infants have to wait to be
28
fed, they begin to see themselves as separate from the outside world. The ego,
which represents the reason, develops gradually during the first year or so of life
and operates under the reality principle. The ego’s aim is to find realistic way to
gratify the id. The superego develops during early childhood. It includes the
conscience and incorporates socially approved “shoulds” and “should nots” into
the child’s own value system. If its standards are not met, a child may feel guilty
and anxious. The ego acts as a mediator between the impulses of the id and the
demands of the superego.
Freud himself was impresses by the instinctual aspect of man’s
development and particularly with his sexual drives. His theory of personality
development
consequently
was
organized
around
vicissitudes
in
the
development of sexual instinct. While this view has proved too restrictive to
many scientists for its lack of emphasis on the socio-cultural determinants of
behavior and development, Freud did call attention to the fact that psychological
development begins at birth passes through predictable stages, and is molded
for good or ill by the emotional climate surrounding significant development
milestones. The child’s success in coping with the various developmental
milestones largely dictates how adequate he will be in meeting life stresses as an
adult.
Critique / Reaction:
This dynamic approach places special emphases on the continuity of
personal development, beginning with early infancy, and on emotional reactions
to the multitude of forces and challenges which all persons must encounter.
Freud’s original formulations are still highly useful but have been modified
considerably by subsequent theoreticians such as Sullivan, Adler, Jung, Horney,
Erikson, and others.
29
Erickson’s Psychosocial Theory Of Development
"Human personality in principle develops according to steps predetermined in the
growing person's readiness to be driven toward, to be aware of and to interact
with a widening social radius"
Erik H. Erikson (1902-1994), American psychoanalyst who made major
contributions to the field of psychology with his work on child development and
on the identity crisis.
Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Erikson was an artist and teacher in the late
1920s when he met the Austrian psychoanalyst Anna Freud. With her
encouragement he began studying at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute, where
he specialized in child psychoanalysis. In 1933 he emigrated to the United
States, where he became interested in the influence of culture and society on
child development.
After emigrating to the U. S. in 1933, Erikson taught at Harvard (1933–36;
1960–70) and engaged in a variety of clinical work, widening the scope of
psychoanalytic theory to take greater account of social, cultural, and other
environmental factors. In his most influential work, Childhood and Society (1950),
he divided the human life cycle into eight psychosocial stages of development.
His psychohistorical studies, Young Man Luther (1958) and Gandhi's Truth (1969;
Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award), explore the convergence of personal
development and social history. His later works dealt with ethical concerns in the
modern world.
Babies are born with some basic capabilities and distinct temperaments.
But they go through dramatic changes on the way to adulthood, and while
growing old. According to psychologist Erik H. Erikson, each individual passes
through eight developmental stages (Erikson calls them "psychosocial stages").
Each stage is characterized by a different psychological "crisis", which must be
resolved by the individual before the individual can move on to the next stage. If
the person copes with a particular crisis in a maladaptive manner, the outcome
will be more struggles with that issue later in life. To Erikson, the sequence of the
stages are set by nature. It is within the set limits that nurture works its ways.
30
Erikson's Eight Stages of Human Development
Stage 1: Infancy -- Age 0 to 1 to other accounts birth to 12-18 months
Crisis: Trust vs. Mistrust
Virtue: Hope
Description: In the first year of life, infants depend on others for food, warmth,
and affection, and therefore must be able to blindly trust the parents (or
caregivers) for providing those.
Positive outcome: If their needs are met consistently and responsively by the
parents, infants not only will develop a secure attachment with the
parents, but will learn to trust their environment in general as well.
Negative outcome: If not, infant will develop mistrust towards people and things
in their environment, even towards themselves.
Stage 2: Toddler -- Age 1 to 2 to other accounts 12-18 months to 3 years
Crisis: Autonomy (Independence) vs. Doubt (or Shame)
Virtue: Will
Description: Toddlers learn to walk, talk, use toilets, and do things for
themselves. Their self-control and self-confidence begin to develop at this
stage.
Positive outcome: If parents encourage their child's use of initiative and reassure
her when she makes mistakes, the child will develop the confidence
needed to cope with future situations that require choice, control, and
independence.
Negative outcome: If parents are overprotective, or disapproving of the child's
acts of independence, she may begin to feel ashamed of her behavior, or
have too much doubt of her abilities.
Stage 3: Early Childhood -- Age 2 to 6 to other accounts 3 to 6 years
Crisis: Initiative vs. Guilt
Virtue: Purpose
31
Description: Children have newfound power at this stage as they have developed
motor skills and become more and more engaged in social interaction with
people around them. They now must learn to achieve a balance between
eagerness for more adventure and more responsibility, and learning to
control impulses and childish fantasies.
Positive outcome: If parents are encouraging, but consistent in discipline,
children will learn to accept without guilt, that certain things are not
allowed, but at the same time will not feel shame when using their
imagination and engaging in make-believe role plays.
Negative outcome: If not, children may develop a sense of guilt and may come to
believe that it is wrong to be independent.
Stage 4: Elementary and Middle School Years -- Age 6 to 12 to other
accounts 6 years to puberty
Crisis: Competence (aka. "Industry") vs. Inferiority
Virtue: Skill
Description: School is the important event at this stage. Children learn to make
things, use tools, and acquire the skills to be a worker and a potential
provider. And they do all these while making the transition from the world
of home into the world of peers.
Positive outcome: If children can discover pleasure in intellectual stimulation,
being productive, seeking success, they will develop a sense of
competence.
Negative outcome: If not, they will develop a sense of inferiority.
Stage 5: Adolescence -- Age 12 to 18 to other accounts puberty to young
adulthood
Crisis: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Virtue: Fidelity
Description: This is the time when we ask the question "Who am I?" To
successfully answer this question, Erikson suggests, the adolescent must
32
integrate the healthy resolution of all earlier conflicts. Did we develop the
basic sense of trust? Do we have a strong sense of independence,
competence, and feel in control of our lives? Adolescents who have
successfully dealt with earlier conflicts are ready for the "Identity Crisis",
which is considered by Erikson as the single most significant conflict a
person must face.
Positive outcome: If the adolescent solves this conflict successfully, he will come
out of this stage with a strong identity, and ready to plan for the future.
Negative outcome: If not, the adolescent will sink into confusion, unable to make
decisions and choices, especially about vocation, sexual orientation, and
his role in life in general.
Stage 6: Young Adulthood -- Age 19 to 40
Crisis: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Virtue: Love
Description: In this stage, the most important events are love relationships. No
matter how successful you are with your work, said Erikson, you are not
developmentally complete until you are capable of intimacy. An individual
who has not developed a sense of identity usually will fear a committed
relationship and may retreat into isolation.
Positive outcome: Adult individuals can form close relationships and share with
others if they have achieved a sense of identity.
Negative outcome: If not, they will fear commitment, feel isolated and unable to
depend on anybody in the world.
Stage 7: Middle Adulthood -- Age 40 to 65
Crisis: Generativity vs. Stagnation
Virtue: Care
Description: By "generativity" Erikson refers to the adult's ability to look outside
oneself and care for others, through parenting, for instance. Erikson
33
suggested that adults need children as much as children need adults, and
that this stage reflects the need to create a living legacy.
Positive outcome: People can solve this crisis by having and nurturing children,
or helping the next generation in other ways.
Negative outcome: If this crisis is not successfully resolved, the person will
remain self-centered and experience stagnation later in life.
Stage 8: Late Adulthood -- Age 65 to death
Crisis: Integrity vs. Despair
Virtue: Wisdom
Description: Old age is a time for reflecting upon one's own life and its role in the
big scheme of things, and seeing it filled with pleasure and satisfaction or
disappointments and failures.
Positive outcome: If the adult has achieved a sense of fulfillment about life and a
sense of unity within himself and with others, he will accept death with a
sense of integrity. Just as the healthy child will not fear life, said Erikson,
the healthy adult will not fear death.
Negative outcome: If not, the individual will despair and fear death.
Critique / Reaction:
Erikson modified and extended Freudian theory by emphasizing the
influence of society on the developing personality. He was a pioneer in a lifespan perspective. Whereas Freud maintained that early childhood experiences
permanently shape personality, Erikson contended that ego development is
lifelong.
In Erikson’s theory, eight stages of development unfold as we go through
the life span. Each stage consists of a “crisis” in personality – a major
psychosocial theme that is particularly important at that time and will remain an
issue to some degree throughout the rest of life. These issues, which emerge
34
according to a maturational timetable, must be satisfactorily resolved for healthy
ego development.
Each stage requires the balancing of a positive tendency and a
corresponding negative one. Although the positive quality should predominate,
some degree of the negative is needed as well. The critical theme of infancy, for
example, is trust versus mistrust. People need to trust the world and the people
in it, but they also need to learn some mistrust to protect themselves from
danger. The successful outcome of each stage is the development of a particular
“virtue”, or strength- in this case, the “virtue” of hope.
Erikson’s theory has held up better than Freud’s, especially in its
emphasis on the importance of social and cultural influences and on
development beyond adolescence. However, some of Erikson’s concepts (like
Freud’s) do not lend themselves to rigorous testing.
35
PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Jean Piaget was born in Neuchâtel (Switzerland) on August 9, 1896. He died in
Geneva on September 16, 1980. He was the oldest child of Arthur Piaget,
professor of medieval literature at the University, and of Rebecca Jackson. At
age 11, while he was a pupil at Neuchâtel Latin high school, he wrote a short
notice on an albino sparrow. This short paper is generally considered as the
start of a brilliant scientific career made of over sixty books and several
hundred articles.
His interest for mollusks was developed during his late adolescence to the
point that he became a well-known malacologist by finishing school. He
published many papers in the field that remained of interest for him all along his
life.
After high school graduation, he studied natural sciences at the University
of Neuchâtel where he obtained a Ph.D. During this period, he published two
philosophical essays which he considered as "adolescence work" but were
important for the general orientation of his thinking.
After a semester spent at the University of Zürich where he developed an
interest for psychoanalysis, he left Switzerland for France. He spent one year
working at the Ecole de la rue de la Grange-aux-Belles a boys' institution created
by Alfred Binet and then directed by De Simon who had developed with Binet a
test for the measurement of intelligence. There, he standardized Burt's test of
intelligence and did his first experimental studies of the growing mind.
In 1921, he became director of studies at the J.-J. Rousseau Institute in
Geneva at the request of Sir Ed. Claparède and P. Bovet.
In 1923, he and Valentine Châtenay were married. The couple had three
children, Jacqueline, Lucienne and Laurent whose intellectual development from
infancy to language was studied by Piaget.
36
Successively
or
simultaneously,
Piaget
occupied
several
chairs:
psychology, sociology and history of science at Neuchâtel from 1925 to 1929;
history of scientific thinking at Geneva from 1929 to 1939; the International
Bureau of Education from 1929 to 1967; psychology and sociology at Lausanne
from 1938 to 1951; sociology at Geneva from 1939 to 1952, then genetic and
experimental psychology from 1940 to 1971. He was, reportedly, the only Swiss
to be invited at the Sorbonne from 1952 to 1963. In 1955, he created and
directed until his death the International Center for Genetic Epistemology.
His researches in developmental psychology and genetic epistemology
had one unique goal: how does knowledge grow? His answer is that the growth
of knowledge is a progressive construction of logically embedded structures
superseding one another by a process of inclusion of lower less powerful logical
means into higher and more powerful ones up to adulthood. Therefore, children's
logic and modes of thinking are initially entirely different from those of adults.
Piaget's oeuvre is known all over the world and is still an inspiration in
fields like psychology, sociology, education, epistemology, economics and law as
witnessed in the annual catalogues of the Jean Piaget Archives. He was awarded
numerous prizes and honorary degrees all over the world.
37
How we as human beings develop cognitively has been thoroughly
researched.
Theorists
have
suggested
that
children
are
incapable
of
understanding the world until they reach a particular stage of cognitive
development. Cognitive development is the process whereby a child’s
understanding of the world changes as a function of age and experience.
Theories of cognitive development seek to explain the quantitative and qualitative
intellectual abilities that occur during development.
Piaget believed that cognitive development begins with an inborn ability to
adapt to the environment. By rooting for a nipple, feeling a pebble, or exploring
the boundaries of a room, young children develop a more accurate picture of
their surroundings and greater competence in dealing with them.
Piaget described cognitive development as occurring in four different
stages which differ not only in the quantity of information acquired at each, but
also in the quality of knowledge and understanding at that stage. Piaget
suggested that movement from one stage to the next occurred when the child
38
reached an appropriate level of maturation and was exposed to relevant types of
experiences. Without experience, children were assumed incapable of reaching
their highest cognitive ability. Cognitive growth occurs through three interrelated
processes: organization, adaptation, and equilibration.
Organization is the tendency to create increasingly complex cognitive
structure systems of knowledge or ways of thinking that incorporate more and
more accurate images of reality. These structures, called, schemes or
schemas, are organized patterns of behavior that a person uses to think about
and act in a situation. Schemas can be characterized by:
1.
mobility of schemas –
that it can applied to a variety of objects even objects never encountered before;
2.
sensorimotor schemas – involve overt actions;
3.
cognitive schemas – include
the number system, concept of space, or the laws of logic. As children acquire
more information, their schemes become more and more complex. An infant has
a simple scheme for sucking, but soon develops varied schemes for how to suck
at the breast, a bottle or a thumb. At first schemes for looking and grasping
operate independently. Later, infants integrate these separate schemes into a
single scheme that allows them to look at an object while holding it.
Adaptation is Piaget’s term for how children handle new information in
light of what they already know. Adaptation involves two steps: assimilation,
taking in new information and incorporating it into existing cognitive structures,
and accommodation, changing one’s cognitive structures to include the new
information. Assimilation is classified into four types: 1. reproductive assimilation
– where the schema tends to be repeated over and over again, coming to
function stably and smoothly in the process, which is achieve through exercise;
2. generalizing assimilation – where schemas accommodate to the range of
specific stimulus objects that occur in the child’s particular environment;
recognitory assimilation – the fitting of a schema to the demands of the objects
and acknowledging the familiarity of the object and the fact that one has fitted;
and mutual coordination and assimilation of schemas – two schemes are
interacting with each other and assimilating each other. Equilibration – a
constant striving for a stable balance, or equilibrium – dictates the shift from
39
assimilation to accommodation. When children cannot handle new experiences
within their existing cognitive structures, and thus experience disequilibrium, they
organize new mental patterns that integrate the new experience, thus restoring
more comfortable state of equilibrium. A breast or bottle fed baby who begins to
suck on the spout of a “sippy cup” is showing assimilation- using an old scheme
to deal with a new situation. When the infant discovers that sipping from a cup
requires different tongue and mouth movements from those used to suck on a
breast or bottle, she accommodates by modifying the old scheme. She has
adapted her original sucking scheme to deal with a new experience: the cup.
Thus, assimilation and accommodation work together to produce equilibrium and
cognitive growth.
Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development are known as the
sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational
stages.
The sensorimotor stage in a child is from birth to approximately two
years. During this stage, a child has relatively little competence in representing
the environment using images, language, or symbols. An infant has no
awareness of objects or people that are not immediately present at a given
moment. Piaget called this a lack of object permanence. Object permanence is
the awareness that objects and people continue to exist even if they are out of
sight. In infants, when a person hides, the infant has no knowledge that they are
just out of sight. According to Piaget, this person or object that has disappeared
is gone forever to the infant.
40
Sub-stages
Use of reflexes
Ages
Birth to 1
month
Description
Infants exercise their inborn reflexes and
gain some control over them. They do not
coordinate information from their senses. They do
not grasp an object they are looking at.
Primary circular
reactions
1 to 4
months
Secondary
circular
reactions
4 to 8
months
Infants become more interested in the environment; they
repeat actions that bring interesting results (such as
shaking a rattle) and prolong interesting experiences.
Actions are intentional but not initially goal-directed.
Coordination of
secondary
schemes
8 to 12
months
Behavior is more deliberate and purposeful (intentional)
as infants coordinate previously learned schemes
(such as looking at and grasping a rattle) and use
previously learned behaviors to attain their goals
(such as crawling across the room to get desired toy).
They can anticipate events.
Tertiary circular
reactions
12 to 18
months
Toddlers show curiosity and experimentation; they
purposely vary their actions to see results (for
example, by shaking different rattles to hear their
sounds). They actively explore their world to
determine what is novel about an object, event, or
situation. They try out new activities and use trial and
error in solving problems.
Mental
combinations
18 to 24
months
Since toddlers cam mentally represents events, they are
no longer confined to trial and error to solve problems.
Symbolic thought allows toddlers to begin to think
about events and anticipate their consequences
without always resorting to action. Toddlers begin to
demonstrate insight. They can use symbols, such as
gestures and words, and can pretend.
Infants repeat pleasurable behaviors that first occur by
chance (thumb sucking). Activities focus on infant’s
body rather that the effects of the behavior on the
environment. Infants make first acquired adaptations;
that is they suck different objects. They begin to
coordinate sensory information and grasp objects.
Object Permanence
This is Piaget’s term for the child’s realization that an object or person
continues to exist when out of sight. According to him, object permanence
develops gradually during the sensorimotor stage. At first, infants have no such
41
concept. By the third substage, from about 4 to 8 months, they will look for
something they have dropped, but if they cannot see it, they act as if it no longer
exists. In the fourth substage, about 8 to 12 months, they will look for an object in
a place where they first found it after seeing it hidden, even if they later saw it
being moved to another place. Piaget called this the A, not B error. In the fifth
substage, 12 to 18 months, they no longer make this error; they will search for an
object in the last place they saw it hidden. However, they will not search for it in a
place where they did not see it hidden. By the sixth substage, 18 to 24 months,
object permanence is fully achieved; toddlers will look for an object even if they
did not see it hidden.
The preoperational stage is from the age of two to seven years. The
most important development at this time is language. Children develop an
internal representation of the world that allows them to describe people, events,
and feelings. Children at this time use symbols, they can pretend when driving
their toy car across the couch that the couch is actually a bridge. Although the
thinking of the child is more advanced than when it was in the sensorimotor
stage, it is still qualitatively inferior to that of an adult. Children in the
preoperational stage are characterized by what Piaget called egocentric
thoughts. The world at this stage is viewed entirely from the child’s own
perspective. Thus a child’s explanation to an adult can be uninformative.
Three-year-olds will generally hide their face when they are in trouble-even though they are in plain view, three-year-olds believe that their inability to
see others also results in others’ inability to see them. A child in the
preoperational stage also lacks the principle of conservation. This is the
knowledge that quantity is unrelated to the arrangement and physical
appearance of objects. Children who have not passed this stage do not know
that the amount, volume or length of an object does not change length when the
shape of the configuration is changed. If you put two identical pieces of clay in
front of a child, one rolled up in the shape of a ball, the other rolled into a snake,
a child at this stage may say the snake piece is bigger because it is rolled out.
Piaget declared that this is not mastered until the next stage of development.
42
Cognitive Advances during Preoperational Stage
Advance
Use of symbols
Significance
Children do not need to be in the sensorimotor contact with an
object, person, or event in order to think about it.
Children can imagine that objects or people have properties
other than those they actually have.
Understanding of identities Children are aware that superficial alterations do not change the
nature of things.
Understanding of cause and Children realize that events have causes.
effect
Ability to classify
Children organize objects, people, and events into meaningful
categories.
Understanding of number Children can count and deal with quantities.
Empathy
Children become more able to imagine how others might feel.
Theory of mind
Children become more aware of mental activity and the
functioning of the mind.
Limitations of Preoperational Thought (according to Piaget)
43
Limitation
Description
Centration: inability to decenter
Children focus on one aspect of a situation and
neglect others.
Children fail to understand that some operations
or actions can be reversed, restoring the
original situation.
Children fail to understand the significance of
transformation between states
Children do not use inductive or deductive;
instead they jump form one particular to
another and see cause where non exists.
Children assume every one else thinks,
perceives, and feels as they do.
Children attribute life to objects not alive.
Children confuse what is real with outward
appearance.
Irreversibility
Focus on states rather than
Transformations
Transductive reasoning
Egocentrism
Animism
Inability to distinguish appearance
from reality
The concrete operational stage lasts from the age of seven to twelve
years of age. The beginning of this stage is marked by the mastery of the
principal of conservation. Children develop the ability to think in a more logical
manner and they begin to overcome some of the egocentric characteristics of the
preoperational period. One of the major ideas learned in this stage is the idea of
reversibility. This is the idea that some changes can be undone by reversing an
earlier action. An example is the ball of clay that is rolled out into a snake piece of
clay. Children at this stage understand that you can regain the ball of clay
formation by rolling the piece of clay the other way. Children can even
conceptualize the stage in their heads without having to see the action
performed. Children in the concrete operational stage have a better
understanding of time and space. Children at this stage have limits to their
abstract thinking, according to Piaget.
Cognitive Advances During Concrete Operational Stage
Description
Advance
44
Space and causality
Children at this stage have a clearer idea of
how far it is from one place to another and how
long it will take to get there, and they can more
easily remember the route and the landmarks
along the way.
The abilities to use maps and models and to
communicate spatial information improve with
age
Categorization
Inductive and Deductive
Reasoning
Although 6 year olds can search for and find
hidden objects, they usually do not give clear
directions for finding the same objectsperhaps because they lack the proper
vocabulary or do not realize what information
the other person needs.
The ability to categorize helps children think
logically. Categorization now includes such a
sophisticated abilities as seriation (ability to
order items along a dimension), transitive
inference (understanding of the relationship
between two objects by knowing the
relationship of each to a third object), and
class inclusion (understanding of the
relationship between a whole and its parts.
According to Piaget, children in the stage of
concrete operations use inductive reasoninga type of logical reasoning that moves from
particular observations about members of a
class to a general conclusion about that class.
Deductive reasoning- type of logical reasoning
that moves from a general premise about a
class to a conclusion about a particular
member or members of the class. Piaget’s
belief that this type of reasoning does not
develop until adolescence was opposed by
new researchers for they have found that
second graders (but not kindergartners) were
able to correctly answer deductive problems
which
45
sought not to call upon their knowledge of the
real world.
Conservation
In solving various types of conservation problems,
children in the stage of concrete operations
can work out the answers in their heads; they
do not have to measure or weight objects. At
this stage
children understand the principle of identity,
reversibility, and can decenter. Typically,
children can solve problems involving
conservation of substance at 7-8 years old,
and conservation of weight at 9-10 years old;
in conservation of volume, on the other hand
correct answer are rare before age 12.
Horizontal decalage –a term given by Piaget to the inability of the child at this stage
to transfer learning about one type of conservation to other types, which causes a
child to master different types of conservation tasks at different stages.
The formal operational stage begins in most people at age twelve and
continues into adulthood. This stage produces a new kind of thinking that is
abstract, formal, and logical. Thinking is no longer tied to events that can be
observed. A child at this stage can think hypothetically and use logic to solve
problems. It is thought that not all individuals reach this level of thinking. Most
studies show only forty to sixty percent of American college students and adults
fully achieve it. In developing countries where the technology is not as advanced
as the United States, almost no one reaches the formal operational stage.
Contemporary theorists suggest that a better description of how children
develop cognitively can be provided by approaches that do not employ concrete
fixed stages. Research also has proven that children are not always consistent in
their performance of tasks at each stage. Furthermore, developmental
psychologists imply that cognitive development proceeds in a continuous fashion;
they propose that such development is primarily quantitative, rather than
qualitative.
Most developmental theorists have agreed that Piaget has provided us
with an accurate account of age-related changes in cognitive development.
Piaget’s suggestion, that cognitive performance cannot be attained unless
cognitive readiness is brought about by maturation and environmental stimuli,
has been instrumental in determining the structure of educational curricula.
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Cognitive Advances During Formal Operational Stage
Advance
Description
Combinatorial thinking
Hypothetic thinking, or
Hypothetico-deductive reasoning,
or
Hypothetical deductive reasoning
According to Piaget it is a young person’s
ability to conceive possibilities and
organize situations and problems.
Ability, believed by Piaget to accompany the
stage of formal operations, to develop,
consider, and test hypotheses.
Assumptions that are Involved in this theory:
1. Development is an unfolding of the growth process or maturation. A child’s
development is essentially the accumulation of the learning acquired from
experiences within the environment.
2. Development is brought about by experiences with the environment.
3. Development is the result of explicit and implicit teaching of the child by
other people.
4. Development is brought about by the process of equilibration where the
child’s beliefs become organized into a system.
Analyzing Piaget’s Theory in the Primary Classroom
Preoperational
1. Use concrete props and visual aids whenever possible.
2. Make instructions relatively short, using actions as well as words.
3. Do not expect the students to be consistently; to see the world from
someone else’s point of view.
4. Be sensitive to the possibility that students may have different meanings
for the same word or different words for the same meaning. Students may
also expect everyone to understand words they have invented.
5. Give children a great deal of hands-on practice with the skills that serve as
building blocks for more complex skills like reading comprehension.
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6. Provide a wide range of experiences in order to build a foundation for
concept learning and language.
Concrete Operational
1. Continue to use concrete props and visual aids, especially when dealing
with sophisticated material.
2. Give students the opportunity to manipulate and test objects.
3. Make sure presentations and readings are brief and are well organized.
4. Use familiar examples to explain more complex ideas.
5. Give opportunities to classify and group objects and ideas on increasingly
complex levels.
6. Present problems that require logical and analytical thinking.
Critique / Reaction:
Piaget’s observations have yielded much information and some surprising
insights. Who, for example, would have thought that most children younger than
7 do not realize that a ball of clay that has been rolled into a “worm” or “snake”
before their eyes still contains the same amount of clay? Or that an infant might
think that a person who has moved out of sight may no longer exist? Piaget has
shown us that children’s minds are not miniature adult minds. Knowing how
children think makes it easier for parents and teachers to understand them and
teach them.
Yet Piaget seems to have seriously underestimated the abilities of infants
and young children. Some contemporary psychologists question his distinct
stages, pointing instead to evidence that cognitive development is more gradual
and continuous (Flavel, 1992 as cited by Papalia, et.al. 2004). Research
beginning in the 1960s has challenged Piaget’s idea that thinking develops in a
48
single, universal progression of stages leading to formal thought. Instead
children’s cognitive processes seem closely tied to specific content (what they
are thinking about), as well as to the context of a problem and the kinds of
information and thought a culture considers important (Case and Okamoto, 1996
as cited by Papalia, et.al. 2004). Finally, research on adults suggests that
Piaget’s focus on formal logic as the climax of cognitive development is too
narrow. It does not account for the emergence of such mature abilities as
practical problem solving, wisdom, and the capacity to deal with ambiguous
situations and competing truths.
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
Lawrence Kohlberg spent many years researching how an individual
develop his or her own moral codes. First, Kohlberg was born into wealth on
October 25, 1927 in Bronxville, New York. Even though he was wealthy, he
chose to become a sailor; and after World War II, he helped to smuggle Jews
through the British blockade of Palestine.
In 1973 Kohlberg developed a tropical disease, and while hospitalized in
1987, was reported missing on January 17. His body was later recovered from a
marsh; however, the exact date of his death remains unknown. Rumor is that he
committed suicide.
For his doctoral research Kohlberg studied differences in children's
reasoning about moral dilemmas. He hypothesized that moral difficulties
motivated their development through a fixed sequence of increasingly flexible
kinds of moral reasoning. He also helped to clarify the general cognitive-
49
developmental view of age-related changes. Thereafter, Kohlberg became a
leader in moral education.
Kohlberg was a psychologist who applied the developmental approach of
Jean Piaget, who he studied under, to the analysis of changes in moral
reasoning. Kohlberg was a professor at Harvard University and did most of his
research in the said institution.
Kohlberg believed and was able to demonstrate through studies that
people progressed in their moral reasoning (i.e., in their bases for ethical
behavior) through a series of stages. He believed that there were six identifiable
stages which could be more generally classified into three levels.
Kohlberg's classification can be outlined in the following manner:
LEVEL
Pre-conventional
Conventional
Post-conventional
STAGE
1
SOCIAL ORIENTATION
Obedience and Punishment
2
Individualism, Instrumentalism, and
Exchange
3
"Good boy/girl"
4
Law and Order
5
Social Contract
6
Principled Conscience
The first level of moral thinking is that generally found at the elementary
school level. In the first stage of this level, people behave according to socially
acceptable norms because they are told to do so by some authority figure (e.g.,
parent or teacher). This obedience is compelled by the threat or application of
punishment. The second stage of this level is characterized by a view that right
behavior means acting in one's own best interests.
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The second level of moral thinking is that generally found in society, hence
the name "conventional." The first stage of this level (stage 3) is characterized by
an attitude which seeks to do what will gain the approval of others. The second
stage is one oriented to abiding by the law and responding to the obligations of
duty.
The third level of moral thinking is one that Kohlberg felt is not reached by
the majority of adults. Its first stage (stage 5) is an understanding of social
mutuality and a genuine interest in the welfare of others. The last stage (stage 6)
is based on respect for universal principle and the demands of individual
conscience. While Kohlberg always believed in the existence of Stage 6 and had
some nominees for it, he could never get enough subjects to define it, much less
observe their longitudinal movement to it.
Kohlberg believed that individuals could only progress through these
stages one stage at a time. That is, they could not "jump" stages. They could not,
for example, move from an orientation of selfishness to the law and order stage
without passing through the good boy/girl stage. They could only come to a
comprehension of a moral rationale one stage above their own. Thus, according
to Kohlberg, it was important to present them with moral dilemmas for discussion
which would help them to see the reasonableness of a "higher stage" morality
and encourage their development in that direction. The last comment refers to
Kohlberg's moral discussion approach. He saw this as one of the ways in which
moral development can be promoted through formal education. Note that
Kohlberg believed, as did Piaget, that most moral development occurs through
social interaction. The discussion approach is based on the insight that
individuals develop as a result of cognitive conflicts at their current stage
I Preconventional Level
At this level, the child is responsive to cultural rules and labels of good and
bad, right or wrong, but he interprets the labels in terms of either the physical or
hedonistic consequences of action (punishment, reward, exchange of favors) or
the physical power of those who enunciate the rules and labels. The level is
divided into the following three stages:
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Stage 0: Egocentric judgment. The child makes judgments of good on the basis
of what he likes and wants or what helps him, and bad on the basis of
what he does not like or what hurts him. He has no concept of rules or of
obligations to obey or conform independent of his wish.
Stage 1: The punishment and obedience orientation. The physical consequences
of action determine its goodness or badness regardless of the human
meaning or value of these consequences. Avoidance of punishment and
unquestioning deference to power are values in their own right, not in
terms of respect for an underlying moral order supported by punishment
and authority (the latter is stage 4).
Stage 2: The instrumental relativist orientation. Right action consists of what
instrumentally satisfies one's own needs and occasionally the needs of
others. Human relations are viewed in terms such as those of the market
place. Elements of fairness, reciprocity, and equal sharing are present,
but they are always interpreted in a physical, pragmatic way. Reciprocity
is a matter of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours", not loyalty,
gratitude, or justice.
II Conventional Level
At this level, the individual perceives the maintenance of the expectations
of his family, group, or nation as valuable in its own right, regardless of
immediate and obvious consequences. The attitude is not only one of conformity
to personal expectations and social order, but of loyalty to it, of actively
maintaining, supporting, and justifying the order and identifying with the persons
or group involved in it. The level consists of the following two stages:
Stage 3: The interpersonal concordance or "good boy-nice girl" orientation. Good
behavior is what pleases or helps others and is approved by them. There
is much conformity to stereotypical images of what is majority or
"natural" behavior. Behavior is frequently judged by intention -- "he
means well" becomes important for the first time. One earns approval by
being "nice".
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Stage 4: The "law and order" orientation. The individual is oriented toward
authority, fixed rules, and the maintenance of the social order. Right
behavior consists in doing one's duty, showing respect for authority, and
maintaining the given social order for its own sake.
III Post-Conventional, Autonomous, or Principled Level
The individual makes a clear effort to define moral values and principles
that have validity and application apart from the authority of the groups of
persons holding them and apart from the individual's own identification with the
group. The level has the two following stages:
Stage 5: The social contract legalistic orientation (generally with utilitarian
overtones). Right action tends to be defined in terms of general
individual rights and standards that have been critically examined and
agreed upon by the whole society. There is a clear awareness of the
relativism of personal values and opinions and a corresponding
emphasis upon procedural rules for reaching consensus. Aside from
what is constitutionally and democratically agreed upon, right action is a
matter of personal values and opinions. The result is an emphasis upon
the "legal point of view", but with an additional emphasis upon the
possibility of changing the law in terms of rational considerations of
social utility (rather than freezing it in terms of stage 4 "law and order").
Outside the legal realm, free agreement, and contract, is the binding
element of obligation. The "official" morality of the American government
and Constitution is at this stage.
Stage 6: The universal ethical-principle orientation. Right is defined by the
decision of conscience in accord with self-chosen ethical principles that
appeal to logical comprehensiveness, universality, and consistency.
These principles are abstract and ethical (the Golden Rule, the
categorical imperative); they are not concrete moral rules like the Ten
Commandments. At heart, these are universal principles of justice, of the
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reciprocity and equality of the human rights, and of respect for the dignity
of human beings as individual persons.
Kohlberg used a method called clinical interview in his study of how
children develop moral reasoning. The problem asked was this.
In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There
was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium
that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was
expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost
him to make. He paid $2000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman’s
husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but could only
get together about $1000, which was half of what it cost. He told the druggist that
his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the
druggist said, “No I discovered the drug and I’m going to make money from it.”
So, Heinz got desperate and considered breaking into the man’s store to steal
the drug for his wife. Should Heinz steal the radium?
The table below shows how people in each stage of Kohlberg’s Moral Reasoning
usually respond to Heinz dilemma.
Levels
Level I:
Preconventional
morality
(ages 4 to 10)
Stages of
Reasoning
Stage 1:
Orientation
toward
punishment
and obedience
Stage 2:
Instrumental
purpose and
exchange/
instrumental
relativist
orientation
Typical Answers to Heinz Dilemma
Pro: “He should steal the drug. It isn’t really bad to
take it. It isn’t as it he hadn’t asked to pay for it
first. The drug he’d take is worth only $200; he’s
not really taking a $2,000 drug.”
Con: “He shouldn’t steal the drug. It’s a big crime. He
didn’t get permission; he used force and broke
and entered. He did a lot of damage and stole a
very expensive drug.”
Pro: “ It’s all right to steal the drug,
because his wife needs it and he wants her to
live. It isn’t that he wants to steal, but that’s what
he has to do to save her.”
Con: “He shouldn’t steal it. The druggist isn’t wrong or
bad; he just wants to make a profit. That’s what
you’re in business for – to make money.”
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Level II:
Conventional
morality
(ages 10 to 13
or beyond)
Stage 3:
Interpersonal
concordance or
"good boy-nice
girl"
Pro: He should steal the drug. He is only doing
something that is natural for a good husband to
do. You can’t blame him for doing something out
of love for his wife. You’d blame him if he didn’t
love his wife enough to save her.”
Con: “He shouldn’t steal. If his wife dies, he can’t be
blamed. It isn’t because he’s heartless or that he
doesn’t love her enough to do everything that he
legally can. The druggist is the selfish or
heartless one.”
Stage 4: Social
concern and
conscience /
"law and order"
orientation
Pro: “You should steal it. If you did nothing
you’d be letting your wife die. It’s your
responsibility if she dies. You have to take it
with the idea of paying the druggist.”
Level III: Post
conventional
morality (early
adolescence, or
not until young
adulthood, or
never)
Stage 5: Social
contract
legalistic
orientation
Stage 6:
Universal
ethical-principle
orientation
Con: “It is a natural thing for Heinz to want to save his
wife, but it‘s still always wrong to steal. He knows
he’s taking a valuable drug from the man who
made it.”
Pro: “The law wasn’t set up for these circumstances.
Taking the drug in this situation isn’t really right,
but it’s justified.”
Con: “You can’t completely blame someone for
stealing, but extreme circumstances don’t really
justify taking the law into your own hands. You
can’ t have people stealing whenever they are
desperate. The end may be good, but the ends
don’t justify the means.”
Pro: “This is a situation that forces him to choose
between stealing and letting his wife die. In a
situation where the choice must be made, it is
morally right to steal. He has to act in terms in
the principle of preserving and respecting life.”
Con: “Heinz is faced with the decision of whether to
consider the other people who need the drug
just as badly as his wife. Heinz ought to act not
according to his feelings for his wife, but
considering the value of all the lives involved.”
Critique / Reaction:
Results of modern researches supported some aspects of Kohlberg’s
theory but have left others in question. Researchers today discovered that
children could reason flexibly about legal issues earlier than Kohlberg proposed.
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Even children as young as 6 weighed the perceived justice of a law, its social
purpose, and its potential infringement on individual freedoms and rights in
evaluating whether the law was “good” or “bad” and whether or not it should be
obeyed.
Furthermore, research has generally noted the lack of a clear relationship
between moral reasoning and moral behavior. People at post conventional levels
of reasoning do not necessarily act more morally than those at lower levels.
Perhaps one problem was the remoteness from young people’s experience of
such dilemmas as the “Heinz” situation.
Critics claimed that cognitive approach to moral development gives
insufficient attention to the importance of emotion. Moral activity, they say, is
motivated not only by abstract considerations of justice, but such emotions as
empathy, guilt, and distress and the internalization of prosocial norms.
Some
theorists
today
seek
to
synthesize
Kohlberg’s
cognitive-
developmental approach with the role of emotion and the insights of socialization
theory. Kohlberg himself did recognize that non-cognitive factors such as
emotional development and life experience affect moral judgments. One reason
the ages attached to Kohlberg’s levels are so variable is that people have
achieved a high level of cognitive development do not always reach a
comparably high level of moral development. A certain level of cognitive
development is necessary but not sufficient for a comparable level of moral
development. The others processes besides cognition must be at work.
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THE LEARNING PROCESS
The Nature of Learning
There are almost as many definitions of learning of learning as there are
authorities on the subject. However such definitions may be summarized into one
more direct and comprehensive definition as the following:
Learning is the acquisition, through maturation and experience, of new
and more knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will enable the learner to make
better and more adequate reactions, responses, and adjustments to new
situations and conditions.
Types of Learning
The types, kinds, or outcomes of learning are the following:
1. Cognitive learning. This is the acquisition of knowledge, facts and
information, principles, ideas, concepts, understanding, reasoning, etc.
There are two types of cognitive learning these are:
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a) Associative learning
This is establishing the relationship between words or ideas and
their meanings, between words or ideas and the things they refer
to, between principles and the situations and conditions they are
applied to, etc. This involves an accurate understanding of the
relationships of things /or situations. Facts and materials learned
are systematically organized and integrated with previous learning
experiences by establishing meaningful relationships between the
two. For instance, in a learning session, a green mango is
associated with the green color, sour taste, an oblong shape and
texture characteristics of the fruit. So when the learner sees one in
the future he knows it is a green mango. This is especially true in
mathematics. A new lesson, to be fully understood, must be linked
to a previous lesson.
b. Problem-solving learning
Problem-solving is the process of overcoming difficulties that hinder
the attainment of a goal by using knowledge and skills gained from
associative learning and other types of learning. In this type of
learning, reflective, analytical, and constructive thinking are very
much needed. This type of learning is used in all subjects. When
the problem has several aspects to be tackled, the class may be
divided into several groups, each group tackling one aspect of the
problem.
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Generally, cognitive learning is verbal and ideational learning.
2. Attitudinal or affective learning.
This type of learning is the formation of good and acceptable attitudes,
judgments, appreciation, and values. It is the acquisition or development
of sound moral and spiritual values such as honesty, integrity, punctuality,
piety, etc. There are two types of appreciative learning. These are:
a). Aesthetic learning
The appreciation of what is good and abhorrence of what is bad.
Appreciation of the good includes noble traits of people, good music and
other expressions of art.
b). Intellectual learning
This may be developed by reading good and classical literary pieces, the
Bible (for Christians) and the Koran (for Muslims), and other similar
activities.
3. Psychomotor learning. The involves the use of the muscles in bodily
movement. The reflexes are especially important because the activities
are usually responsive to certain stimuli. There are two types of
psychomotor learning and these are:
a) Bodily movement coordination
The harmonious functioning of the different parts of the body in
order to attain the desired performance of the activity. This is true in
dancing, physical education, sports and games such as running,
59
volleyball, basketball, tennis, and the like. Precision and accuracy
result to muscular coordination.
b. Manipulative dexterity
The skillful of the hands and feet. precision and accuracy are
necessary in both basic and complicated activities such as writing,
typing, stenotyping, handling and operating gadgets and machines
such as carpentry tools, laboratory equipment, car and the like.
THE TEST OF LEARNING
When has a person learned? The following are the criteria or test of learning.
1. Greater speed. One who has learned how to write, writes faster than one
who has not.
2. Greater precision and accuracy. One who has learned a dance can
execute the steps with greater precision and accuracy than one who has
not.
3. Reduced effort. One who has already learned to write exerts effort in
writing than one who is just learning how to write.
4. Less expense, hence more savings. One who has learned how to type
does not need to hire a typist to type. He cuts down on expenses.
5. Greater knowledge, information, and ideas. One who has gone to school
to learn has greater knowledge, information, and ideas of the things
around him than one who has not.
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6. Greater understanding. One who has studied has a better understanding
of the things communicated to him than one who has not.
7. Greater facility of communication. One who has gone to school has
learned the mechanics of the language and so he has a greater facility in
communicating his ideas than one who has not.
8. More logical reasoning. One who has learned how to reason out can make
more logical reasoning than one who has not.
9. Greater innovativeness and creativity. An educated person has more
innovative and creative ideas than one who is not.
10. Greater chance of employment. One who has acquired skills has more
chances of employment than the one who has not.
OTHER KINDS OF LEARNING
Learning may be classified into (1) direct learning and (2) indirect learning.
Learning to ride a bicycle is direct learning.
Reading books, newspapers, magazines, and other publications, listening to the
radio, and viewing movies and television shows to gain information is indirect
learning.
Burnham classifies learning as (1) congenital (2) temporary and (3) permanent.
Reflex action such as the sudden withdrawal of the foot as it steps on a live
charcoal is congenital learning.
Forgetting portions of a poem or lines in a play is an example of temporary
learning. Knowledge used in a lifetime such as basic mathematical operation,
language, values, etc. is permanent learning.
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Other kinds of learning are (1) sensory learning such as Braille reading used by
the blind, (2) motor learning as in typing and writing, (3) verbal learning such as
solving a mathematical problem or memorizing a principle, (4) ideational learning
such as writing a story or novel, and (5) attitudinal learning as in learning values.
BASIC THEORIES OF LEARNING
CONNECTIOVISM THEORY
"Colors fade, temples crumble, empires fall, but wise
words endure"
Edward Lee Thorndike [thôrn´dIk] was an American educator and
psychologist born in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. He was a graduate from
Wesleyan University (1895) and Harvard (1896) and received his Ph.D. in 1898
from Columbia. Appointed instructor in genetic psychology at Teachers College,
Columbia, in 1899, he served there until 1940 (as professor from 1904 and as
director of the division of psychology of the Institute of Educational Research
from 1922). His great contributions to educational psychology were largely in the
methods he devised to test and measure children's intelligence and their ability to
learn. By using trial-and-error experiments with animals, Thorndike formulated
his so-called law of effect—the more satisfying the result of a particular action,
the better that action is learned—and applied it to the development of special
teaching techniques for use in the classroom. Besides from construction of
62
various intelligence and aptitude tests, he is primarily known for his repudiation of
the belief that such primarily intellectual subjects as languages and mathematics
discipline the mind. Because of his opposition to that belief, he greatly
encouraged the inclusion of various informational subjects, such as the physical
and social sciences, in elementary and secondary school curricula.
He conducted studies in animal psychology and the psychology of
learning, and compiled dictionaries for children (1935) and for young adults
(1941). The great number of his writings includes Educational Psychology
(1903), Mental and Social Measurements (1904), Animal Intelligence (1911), A
Teacher's Word Book (1921), Your City (1939), and Human Nature and the Social
Order (1940).
Overview of the Theory:
The learning theory of Thorndike represents the original S-R framework of
behavioral psychology: Learning is the result of associations forming between
stimuli and responses. Such associations or "habits" become strengthened or
weakened by the nature and frequency of the S-R pairings. The paradigm for SR theory was trial and error learning in which certain responses come to
dominate others due to rewards. The hallmark of connectionism (like all
behavioral theory) was that learning could be adequately explained without
refering to any unobservable internal states.
Thorndike's theory consists of three primary laws:
1.law
of effect -
responses to a situation which are followed by a rewarding state of affairs will be
strengthened and become habitual responses to that situation, 2.law of readiness
- a series of responses can be chained together to satisfy some goal which will
result in annoyance if blocked, and
3.law
of exercise - connections become
strengthened with practice and weakened when practice is discontinued. A
corollary of the law of effect was that responses that reduce the likelihood of
achieving a rewarding state (i.e., punishments, failures) would decrease in
strength.
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The theory suggests that transfer of learning depends upon the presence
of identical elements in the original and new learning situations; i.e., transfer is
always specific, never general. In later versions of the theory, the concept of
"belongingness" was introduced; connections are more readily established if the
person perceives that stimuli or responses go together (c.f. Gestalt principles).
Another concept introduced was "polarity" which specifies that connections occur
more easily in the direction in which they were originally formed than the
opposite. Thorndike also introduced the "spread of effect" idea, i.e., rewards
affect not only the connection that produced them but temporally adjacent
connections as well.
In addition to the three major laws of learning, Thorndike formulated five
secondary characteristics for the purpose of amplifying the basic laws. These
secondary characteristics were designated by the terms multiple response, mindset, partial activity, analogy, and associative shifting. By multiple response was
meant that in a situation where some elements are new, the learner will respond
in one way, and if such response does not prove satisfactory, he will try one
response after another until the appropriate response is attained, that is trial and
error learning. This response being satisfying, will be selected and “stamped in.”
Mind-set or attitude meant that learning is guided by the attitude (mind-set) of the
individual dependent upon previous experiences and dispositions. This attitude
determines how the learner will react, and what will be satisfying and annoying to
him. Partial activity or prepotency of elements this means that we learn to react
only to significant aspects or elements of a problem and ignore irrelevant aspects
in learning. Analogy indicated that a person may learn in new situations by the
resemblance it may have to prior experience. This is also called the law of
transfer or the theory of identical elements. Associative shifting seems to be
related to the conditioned reflex and is close to the stimulus substitution theory.
When stimuli occur together frequently, the response elicited by each will tend to
become attached to the others as well. When responses occur frequently
together, the stimulus for each tends to suggest the others as well.
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Scope/Application:
Connectionism was meant to be a general theory of learning for animals
and humans. Thorndike was especially interested in the application of his theory
to education including mathematics (Thorndike, 1922), spelling and reading
(Thorndike, 1921), measurement of intelligence (Thorndike et al., 1927) and adult
learning (Thorndike at al., 1928).
Example:
The classic example of Thorndike's S-R theory was a cat learning to
escape from a "puzzle box" by pressing a lever inside the box. After much trial
and error behavior, the cat learns to associate pressing the lever (S) with opening
the door (R). This S-R connection is established because it results in a satisfying
state of affairs (escape from the box). The law of exercise specifies that the
connection was established because the S-R pairing occurred many times (the
law of effect) and was rewarded (law of effect) as well as forming a single
sequence (law of readiness).
Principles:
1. Learning requires both practice and rewards (laws of effect /exercise)
2. A series of S-R connections can be chained together if they belong to the
same action sequence (law of readiness).
3. Transfer of learning occurs because of previously encountered situations.
4. Intelligence is a function of the number of connections learned.
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CLASSICAL CONDITIONING THEORY
"Science demands from a man all his life. If you had two lives that would not be
enough for you. Be passionate in your work and in your searching."
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov [Evän´ pEtrô´vich päv´luf] was born on September
14, 1849 at Ryazan, Russia, where his father, Peter Dmitrievich Pavlov, was a
village priest. He was educated first at the church school in Ryazan and then at
the theological seminary there.
Inspired by the progressive ideas which D. I. Pisarev, the most eminent of
the Russian literary critics of the 1860's and I. M. Sechenov, the father of Russian
physiology, were spreading, Pavlov abandoned his religious career and decided
to devote his life to science. In 1870 he enrolled in the physics and mathematics
faculty to take the course in natural science.
Pavlov became passionately absorbed with physiology, which in fact was
to remain of such fundamental importance to him throughout his life. It was
during this first course that he produced, in collaboration with another student,
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Afanasyev, his first learned treatise, a work on the physiology of the pancreatic
nerves. This work was widely acclaimed and he was awarded a gold medal for it.
In 1875 Pavlov completed his course with an outstanding record and
received the degree of Candidate of Natural Sciences. However, impelled by his
overwhelming interest in physiology, he decided to continue his studies and
proceeded to the Academy of Medical Surgery to take the third course there. He
completed this in 1879 and was again awarded a gold medal. After a competitive
examination, Pavlov won a fellowship at the Academy, and this together with his
position as Director of the Physiological Laboratory at the clinic of the famous
Russian clinician, S. P. Botkin, enabled him to continue his research work. In
1883 he presented his doctor's thesis on the subject of (The centrifugal nerves of
the heart). In this work he developed his idea of nervism, using as example the
intensifying nerve of the heart which he had discovered, and furthermore laid
down the basic principles on the trophic function of the nervous system. In this as
well as in other works, resulting mainly from his research in the laboratory at the
Botkin clinic, Pavlov showed that there existed a basic pattern in the reflex
regulation of the activity of the circulatory organs.
In 1890 Pavlov was invited to organize and direct the Department of
Physiology at the Institute of Experimental Medicine. Under his direction, which
continued over a period of 45 years to the end of his life, this Institute became
one of the most important centers of physiological research.
In 1890 Pavlov was appointed Professor of Pharmacology at the Military
Medical Academy and five years later he was appointed to the then vacant Chair
of Physiology, which he held ‘till 1925.
It was at the Institute of Experimental Medicine in the years 1891-1900
that Pavlov did the bulk of his research on the physiology of digestion. It was
here that he developed the surgical method of the (chronic) experiment with
extensive use of fistulas, which enabled the functions of various organs to be
observed continuously under relatively normal conditions. This discovery opened
a new era in the development of physiology, for until then the principal method
used had been that of (acute) vivisection, and the function of an organism had
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only been arrived at by a process of analysis. This meant that research into the
functioning of any organ necessitated disruption of the normal interrelation
between the organ and its environment. Such a method was inadequate as a
means of determining how the functions of an organ were regulated or of
discovering the laws governing the organism as a whole under normal conditions
- problems which had hampered the development of all medical science. With his
method of research, Pavlov opened the way for new advances in theoretical and
practical medicine. With extreme clarity he showed that the nervous system
played the dominant part in regulating the digestive process, and this discovery is
in fact the basis of modern physiology of digestion. Pavlov made known the
results of his research in this field, which is of great importance in practical
medicine, in lectures which he delivered in 1895 and published under the title
Lektsii o rabote glavnykh pishchevaritelnyteh zhelez (Lectures on the function of
the principal digestive glands) (1897).
Pavlov’s research into the physiology of digestion led him logically to
create a science of conditioned reflexes. In his study of the reflex regulation of
the activity of the digestive glands, Pavlov paid special attention to the
phenomenon of (psychic secretion), which is caused by food stimuli at a distance
from the animal. By employing the method - developed by his colleague D. D.
Glinskii in 1895 - of establishing fistulas in the ducts of the salivary glands,
Pavlov was able to carry out experiments on the nature of these glands. A series
of these experiments caused Pavlov to reject the subjective interpretation of
(psychic) salivary secretion and, on the basis of Sechenov's hypothesis that
psychic activity was of a reflex nature, to conclude that even here a reflex though not a permanent but a temporary or conditioned one – was involved.
This discovery of the function of conditioned reflexes made it possible to
study all psychic activity objectively, instead of resorting to subjective methods as
had hitherto been necessary; it was now possible to investigate by experimental
means the most complex interrelations between an organism and its external
environment.
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In 1903, at the 14th International Medical Congress in Madrid, Pavlov read
a paper on (The Experimental Psychology and Psychopathology of Animals). In
this paper the definition of conditioned and other reflexes was given and it was
shown that a conditioned reflex should be regarded as an elementary
psychological phenomenon, which at the same time is a physiological one. It
followed from this that the conditioned reflex was a clue to the mechanism of the
most highly developed forms of reaction in animals and humans to their
environment and it made an objective study of their psychic activity possible.
Subsequently, in a systematic program of research, Pavlov transformed
Sechenov's theoretical attempt to discover the reflex mechanisms of psychic
activity into an experimentally proven theory of conditioned reflexes.
As guiding principles of materialistic teaching on the laws governing the
activity of living organisms, Pavlov deduced three principles for the theory of
reflexes: the principle of determinism, the principle of analysis and synthesis, and
the principle of structure.
The development of these principles by Pavlov and his school helped
greatly towards the building-up of a scientific theory of medicine and towards the
discovery of laws governing the functioning of the organism as a whole.
Experiments carried out by Pavlov and his pupils showed that conditioned
reflexes originate in the cerebral cortex, which acts as the (prime distributor and
organizer of all activity of the organism) and which is responsible for the very
delicate equilibrium of an animal with its environment. In 1905 it was established
that any external agent could, by coinciding in time with an ordinary reflex,
become the conditioned signal for the formation of a new conditioned reflex. In
connection with the discovery of this general postulate Pavlov proceeded to
investigate (artificial conditioned reflexes). Research in Pavlov's laboratories over
a number of years revealed for the first time the basic laws governing the
functioning of the cortex of the great hemispheres. Many physiologists were
drawn to the problem of developing Pavlov's basic laws governing the activity of
the cerebrum. As a result of all this research there emerged an integrated
Pavlovian theory on higher nervous activity.
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Even in the early stages of his research Pavlov received world acclaim
and recognition. In 1901 he was elected a corresponding member of the Russian
Academy of Sciences, in 1904 he was awarded a Nobel Prize, and in 1907 he
was elected Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences; in 1912 he was
given an honorary doctorate at Cambridge University and in the following years
honorary membership of various scientific societies abroad. Finally, upon the
recommendation of the Medical Academy of Paris, he was awarded the Order of
the Legion of Honor (1915).
After the October Revolution, a special government decree, signed by
Lenin on January 24, 1921, noted (the outstanding scientific services of
Academician I.P.Pavlov, which are of enormous significance to the working class
of the whole world).
The Communist Party and the Soviet Government saw to it that Pavlov
and his collaborators were given unlimited scope for scientific research. The
Soviet Union became a prominent center for the study of physiology, and the fact
that the 15th International Physiological Congress of August 9-17, 1935, was
held in Leningrad and Moscow clearly shows that it was acknowledged as such.
Pavlov directed all his indefatigable energy towards scientific reforms. He
devoted much effort to transforming the physiological institutions headed by him
into world centers of scientific knowledge, and it is generally acknowledged that
he succeeded in this endeavor.
Pavlov nurtured a great school of physiologists, which produced many
distinguished pupils. He left the richest scientific legacy - a brilliant group of
pupils, who would continue developing the ideas of their master, and a host of
followers all over the world.
In 1881, Pavlov married Seraphima (Sara) Vasilievna Karchevskaya, a
teacher, the daughter of a doctor in the Black Sea fleet. She first had a
miscarriage, said to be due to her having to run after her very fast-walking
husband. Subsequently they had a son, Wirchik, who died very suddenly as a
child; three sons, Vladimir, Victor and Vsevolod, one of whom was a well-known
physicist and professor of physics at Leningrad in 1925, and a daughter, Vera.
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Dr. Pavlov died in Leningrad on February 27, 1936.
Overview of the Theory:
In classical conditioning (first demonstrated in 1927 by the Russian
physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov) the critical association occurs when one
environmental event predicts the occurrence of another. From his early work on
the physiology of digestion, Pavlov knew that dogs (his usual experimental
subjects) would salivate not just on taking food into the mouth, but in response to
a range of other events—for instance, at the approach of the laboratory attendant
who supplied the food. The ability of such events to evoke this reflex depended,
Pavlov suspected, on the animal's having experienced them prior to feeding.
To demonstrate this in the laboratory, he set up a training procedure in
which he could control exactly which events a dog experienced. From time to
time a small portion of food was dispensed automatically and each presentation
was preceded by a neutral event, such as the sounding of a buzzer. Salivation
occurred in response to the food itself from the outset; but also, after a few
pairings of the sound of a buzzer’s sound and food, the animal came to salivate
when the buzzer is sounded. The buzzer’s sound was described as a conditional
(or conditioned) stimulus, as its ability to evoke salivation was conditional on its
having been paired with food. Salivation to the sound of the buzzer was referred
to as a conditioned reflex. This terminology led to the whole procedure being
described as conditioning.
To further illustrate the basic phenomenon Pavlov’s studied, it is
represented in this way.
As shown in the diagram, a buzzer is sounded and after a brief interval,
meat is presented to the dog. The dog responds to the food in the usual manner:
it salivates, chews, and swallows. The arrow 1 signifies that the food elicits a
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response that is automatic, that is unconditioned. The dotted arrow a represents
the fact that the sound of the buzzer is present when the meat, the unconditioned
stimulus, is presented. While the unconditioned response is taking place, the dog
associated the buzzer with the meat and its reaction to the meat. After repeated
pairings of the CS (the buzzer) with the UCS (the meat), the dog salivates at the
sound of the buzzer alone. The buzzer now elicits a response formerly elicited by
the meat. A conditioned response, which was a part of the original unconditioned
response, is now established.
An unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus which is adequate at the outset of
training to produce the response in question. The response to such a stimulus is
called unconditioned response. In Pavlov’s experiment, the sight or taste of food
was an unconditioned stimulus for the unconditioned response of salivating.
A conditioned stimulus is one which is initially inadequate to evoke the
response in question but will do so if paired with the unconditioned stimulus. The
learned process is called conditioned response. In Pavlov’s experiment, the
buzzer was the conditioned stimulus for the conditioned response of salivating.
Classical conditioning involves the association of an unconditioned and a
conditioned stimulus in such a way that the conditioned stimulus elicits
unconditioned response. There is the formation or strengthening of an
association between a conditioned stimulus in a controlled relationship with an
unconditioned stimulus that originally elicits that response. Classical conditioning
has revealed facts concerning conditions of acquisition, extinction, generalization
and discrimination. Once a conditioned response is established to a stimulus of a
certain kind, the response will also occur to stimuli which are similar to the
original stimulus. This is stimulus generalization. No learning occurs unless there
is generalization. No two stimuli or stimulus situations are exactly alike. They
must be treated as if they were exactly alike in order to elicit the same response.
Discrimination refers to eliciting different responses to two different stimuli.
A dog, trained to withdraw a paw from an electric grid at the sound of a tone, will
learn in time that he need not move his paw at the sound of a tone very slightly
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different in pitch. The dog will learn this discrimination if one tone is consistently
reinforced while another is not.
Responses that are no longer reinforced tend to disappear from the
organism’s repertoire of behavior. This is called extinction. Pavlov’s dog will not
salivate at all times at the sound of a buzzer. If the buzzer is presented time after
time without being paired with meat, extinction will occur.
Spontaneous recovery refers to the return of a conditioned response,
following experimental extinction, after periods of no reinforcements. If the buzzer
is sounded many times without presenting any food, the dog will reach a situation
wherein it will ignore the buzzer. Although there will be times when the dog would
salivate again at the sound of the buzzer. Studies have shown that once a
conditioned response is established, it never completely disappears from the
behavioral repertoire of an organism. After periods of rest or disuse, a
conditioned response often reappears. If there is no reinforcement, it will
extinguish again.
Pavlov interpreted classical conditioning as a formation of a connection
between (in our example) the part of the brain that was activated by the sounding
of the buzzer and the part of the brain that responded to food. The formation of a
new link between these two brain “centers” allowed presenting the buzzer to
activate the food center and thus elicit responses appropriate to the occurrence
of food itself. Associative interpretations have also been offered for operant
conditioning. In this case the link is likely to be between the center that controls
the response and the food center. Exactly how the strengthening of this link leads
to an increased rate of response is currently the subject of intensive
investigation.
Conditioning procedures are effective with humans as well as with other
animals, and they have been applied in the treatment of mental disorders. The
procedure known as behavior modification or behavior therapy uses classical
conditioning techniques to modify what therapists regard as unwanted and
inappropriate emotional responses shown by people suffering from types of
neurosis. It is also suggested that some neuroses have their origin in
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conditioning—for example, phobias (strong irrational fears) might arise because
of a chance pairing of an innocuous event with an unpleasant experience,
making that event a conditional stimulus capable of evoking a fear response. But
it is also thought that the normal learning processes that help shape our
personalities and control the patterns of our everyday behavior depend greatly on
association formation. In order to understand these processes it is necessary to
have a complete account of associative mechanisms.
OPERANT CONDITIONING THEORY
Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born March 20, 1904, in the small
Pennsylvania town of Susquehanna. His father was a lawyer, and his mother a
strong and intelligent housewife. His upbringing was old-fashioned and hardworking.
Burrhus was an active, out-going boy who loved the outdoors and building
things, and actually enjoyed school. His life was not without its tragedies,
however. In particular, his brother died at the age of 16 of a cerebral aneurysm.
Burrhus received his BA in English from Hamilton College in upstate New
York. He didn’t fit in very well, not enjoying the fraternity parties or the football
games. He wrote for school paper, including articles critical of the school, the
faculty, and even Phi Beta Kappa! To top it off, he was an atheist -- in a school
that required daily chapel attendance.
He wanted to be a writer and did try, sending off poetry and short stories.
When he graduated, he built a study in his parents’ attic to concentrate, but it just
wasn’t working for him.
Ultimately, he resigned himself to writing newspaper articles on labor
problems, and lived for a while in Greenwich Village in New York City as a
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“bohemian.” After some traveling, he decided to go back to school, this time at
Harvard. He got his masters in psychology in 1930 and his doctorate in 1931,
and stayed there to do research until 1936.
Also in that year, he moved to Minneapolis to teach at the University of
Minnesota. There he met and soon married Yvonne Blue. They had two
daughters, the second of which became famous as the first infant to be raised in
one of Skinner’s inventions, the air crib. Although it was nothing more than
a combination crib and playpen with glass sides and air conditioning, it looked
too much like keeping a baby in an aquarium to catch on.
In 1945, he became the chairman of the psychology department at Indiana
University. In 1948, he was invited to come to Harvard, where he remained for
the rest of his life. He was a very active man, doing research and guiding
hundreds of doctoral candidates as well as writing many books. While not
successful as a writer of fiction and poetry, he became one of our best
psychology writers, including the book Walden II, which is a fictional account of a
community run by his behaviorist principles.
August 18, 1990, B. F. Skinner died of leukemia after becoming perhaps
the most celebrated psychologist since Sigmund Freud.
Baby Terrell lies peacefully in his crib. When he happens to smile, his mother
goes over to the crib and play with him. Later his father does the same thing.
As this sequence is repeated, Terrell learns that his behavior (smiling) can
produce a desirable consequence (loving attention from a parent); and so he
keeps smiling to attract his parents’ attention. An originally accidental
behavior (smiling) has become a conditioned response.
This kind of learning is what we call operant conditioning because the
individual learns from the consequences of “operating” on the environment.
Unlike classical conditioning, operant conditioning involves voluntary
behavior, such as Terrell’s smiling.
Skinner, who formulated the principles of operant conditioning, worked
primarily with rats and pigeons (one of his experiments with rats is illustrated at
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the end of the discussion of behavior modification), but Skinner maintained that
the same principles apply to human beings. He found that an organism will tend
to repeat a response that has been reinforced and will suppress a response that
has been punished. Reinforcement is a consequence of behavior that increases
the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated; in Terrell’s case, his parents’
attention reinforces his smiling. Punishment is a consequence of behavior that
decreases the likelihood of repetition. If Terrell’s parents frowned when he smiled,
he would be less likely to smile again. Whether a consequence is reinforcing or
punishing depends on the person. What is reinforcing for one person may be
punishing for another. For example, a child who likes being alone, being sent to
his or her room could be reinforcing rather than punishing. Skinner proposed
that in terms of effect, punishment is not the opposite of reinforcement. For
Skinner, punishment leads to 3 undesirable effects: (1) Punished responses only
disappear temporarily; (2) Emotional predisposition such as guilt or shame may
be conditioned through the use of punishment; and (3) Any behavior that reduces
the aversive stimulation accompanying the punishment will be reinforced.
Reinforcement could either be positive or negative. Positive reinforcement
consists of giving a reward, such as food, gold stars, a bonus, or praise- or
playing with a baby. Negative reinforcement consists of taking away something
the individual does not like (known as an aversive event), such as loud raspy
noise. Negative reinforcement is sometimes confused with punishment. However,
they are different. Punishment suppresses a behavior by bringing on an aversive
event (such as spanking a child or giving an electric shock to an animal), or by
withdrawing
a
positive
event
(such
as
watching
television.
Negative
reinforcement encourages repetition of a behavior by removing an aversive
event. When the toddler in the process of toilet training tells his parents he has
soiled his diaper, the removal of the smelly, sticky diaper may encourage the
child to signal again the next time he has an “accident”.
Reinforcement is most effective when it immediately follows a behavior. If
a response is no longer reinforced, it will eventually be extinguished (extinct), that
is, return to its original (baseline) level. If, after a while, no one plays with Terrell
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when he smiles, he may not stop smiling but will smile far less than if his smiles
still brought reinforcement.
Primary and secondary reinforcers are two types of reinforcement. There
are some reinforcements that are innately reinforcing and are essential for the
survival of the species. They are powerful in increasing the chance that a
particular behavior will occur. These are called primary reinforcers.
In primary reinforcers, the increase in response rate occurs without
training. Given the state of deprivation, primary reinforcers will alter the
probability of responding. Sleep is reinforcing for a sleep-deprived person. Food
and water also belong to this category.
Secondary reinforcers or conditioned reinforcers influence behavior
through training. These reinforcers are not innately reinforcing. This type of
reinforcement is done specifically by developing associations with a primary
reinforcer. Their power to reinforce behavior is acquired. Money, grades, stars,
and tokens are all secondary reinforcers.
Primary and secondary reinforcers may have the same effectiveness
depending on how they are used or managed in the conditioning process. Both
types of reinforcers are most effective when they immediately follow the
responses they are intended to increase.
Other reinforcers, however, have a more general influence on behavior.
Generalized reinforcers can function under more than one set of circumstances
through association with more than one primary reinforcer (e.g.,Money is toke
associated with food , drink and shelter.). Attention, approval, congratulations,
and peer approval are other types of generalized reinforcers.
Behavior modification, or behavior therapy, is the use of conditioning to
gradually change behavior (just like the rat in the maze as illustrated below). It
can cut down on the frequency of a child’s temper tantrums and increase
acceptable substitute behaviors. It is effective among children with special needs,
such as autism, and among persons with eating disorders.
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Skinner's Theory of Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning was introduced by B. F. Skinner as
an alternative to Pavlov’s classical conditioning. Skinner
learned through experimentation that behavior can be
conditioned by using both positive and negative
reinforcement. Positive reinforcement conditions the
mouse to find the end of the maze in this illustration. The
mouse is rewarded with food when it reaches the first turn
in the maze (A). Once the first kind of behavior becomes
ingrained, the mouse is not rewarded until it makes the
second turn (B). After many times through the maze, the
mouse must reach the end of the maze to receive its
reward (C). Skinner’s research on operant conditioning
led him to conclude that simply rewarding small acts can
condition complex forms of behavior.
The contribution of Skinner’s theory to learning involves the acquisition of
complex behavior through the process of shaping.
Shaping behavior is the acquisition of complex behaviors – such as
playing tennis and solving problems. The procedure of first reinforcing responses
that only resemble the desired response is referred to as reinforcing successive
approximations. This calls for reinforcing behavior like kicking the ball when the
child is just learning how to play soccer.
The importance of shaping is that it can generate complex behaviors that
do not occur naturally through shaping by a series of contingencies in a program.
Each stage of the program evokes a response and also serves to prepare the
organism to respond at some later point. Shaping is different from behavior
modifications that occur with puzzles, and mazes for it does not entail trial and
error at random points in the learning process.
Critique / Reaction:
The technology for experimental analysis of complex human behavior is
incomplete. Some students respond well in highly structured situations in which
objectives and the steps to be taken are clearly specified. While others are
reinforced by the opportunity to explore on their own and to relate ideas without
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external directives. The procedures for identifying these and other differences in
the variety of potential reinforcements has not yet been developed. Simple
learning behaviors may be measured by frequency of response but complex
learning behaviors conducive to response frequency as a measure of response
probability? Skinner also seemed reluctant to acknowledge the central role that
human thought plays in learning. He failed to allow for the existence of free will,
individuality, emotionalism, or idiosyncratic behavior.
Though those are some points which he had not managed to tackle or
perhaps had missed still Skinner’s theory gave its contributions to education.
One of those include the identification of learner characteristics such as
readiness and motivation. Programmed learning materials, if properly designed
and administered, can provide for individual differences in the classroom.
Skinner’s technology was important for developing a positive classroom climate,
by pointing out what students are doing right and not focusing on what they are
doing wrong the teacher can improve the classroom atmosphere and instruct
more efficiently.
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SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
Albert Bandura was born on December 4, 1925, in Mundare, a hamlet in
northern Alberta, Canada, about 50 miles east of Edmonton. He was the
youngest child and only boy among six children in a family of Eastern European
descent. His parents had each emigrated to Canada when they were
adolescents—his father from Krakow, Poland, and his mother from Ukraine. They
had no formal education but placed a high value on educational attainment. For
example, his father taught himself to read three languages: Polish, Russian, and
German.
Bandura received his M.A. degree in 1951 and his Ph.D. degree in clinical
psychology from the University of Iowa in 1952 under the direction of Arthur
Benton (but his genealogy goes back to William James!!). In 1953, Bandura
joined the faculty at Stanford University, where he has remained to pursue his
career. Bandura found Stanford much to his liking—distinguished colleagues,
gifted students, considerable freedom to go wherever one's curiosity might lead,
and a university ethos that approached scholarship not as a matter of publish or
perish but with amazement that the quest for knowledge could require coercion.
When Bandura arrived on campus the renowned psychologist Robert Sears, then
department chair, was exploring the familial antecedents of social behavior and
identificatory learning. Influenced by Sears' work, Bandura began field studies of
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social learning and aggression in collaboration with Richard Walters, his first
doctoral student. They were fascinated with the unconventional challenge of
explaining antisocial aggression in boys who came from intact homes in
advantaged residential areas rather than simply demonstrating that multiple
adverse conditions tend to spawn behavioral problems. This research, which
underscored the paramount role of modeling in human behavior, led to a program
of laboratory research into the determinants and mechanisms of observational
learning.
In August of 1999, Bandura received the Thorndike Award for
Distinguished Contributions of Psychology to Education from the American
Psychological Association. In 2001, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award
from the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy. More honorary
degrees and awards are on the way, however. In April of 2004, he received an
honorary degree from the University of Athens. In October, he received one from
the University of Catama. In May 2004 he received the Lifetime Achievement
Award from the Western Psychological Association as well as the coveted James
McKeen Cattell Award from the American Psychological Society. In August of
2004, Professor Bandura received the Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to
Psychology Award from the American Psychological Association during the APA
Conference in Hawaii. He also delivered an invited address in Berlin at a
conference held in honor of Paul Baltes, on the ocassion of Dr. Baltes' retirement
as Director of the Max Planck Institute in Berlin. The talk centered on selective
moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities.
Overview of the Theory
This theory embodies several basic assumptions: (1) It is assumed that
infants posses innate or inborn reflexes. (2) Humans have a symbolizing capacity
to process / transform experiences into internal models that can guide future
actions. (3) Forethought influences our present actions by anticipation of
consequences and events. (4) The capacity of vicarious learning is present in
humans; thus individuals can learn by observation and not by trial and error. (5)
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Humans have the capability for reflective self-consciousness. This involves
thinking of thoughts and attributing meaning to their experiences.
The social learning theory also attempts to explain socialization and how
people acquire norms and thoughts.
The basic principle embodied in this theory is the reciprocal relationship
between behavior and the conditions that control it.
In one of Bandura’s classical experiment, children were exposed to
models in films. In one film, the model is rewarded; in another, the model is
punished; and in the third, nothing is done with the model. The result showed that
children first choose to imitate the model who was rewarded, the noconsequence model was next, and the model who was punished was the last
choice. Bandura’s view stresses two important things- modeling and imitation.
Imitation involves copying the behavior of the model one is exposed to.
In observational learning, the consequence of a particular response is
conveyed through physical demonstration, words, or pictures. The exposure to a
model may produce different effects; namely: (a) Observational learning effect –
where an individual recombines previously learned behavioral patterns to
produce novel responses; (b)Inhibitory effects - where the model’s behavior
either strengthens or weakens the inhibition of responses already available to the
observer; and (c) Social facilitation effect – where the model’s behavior leads
toward acting out a response already available to the observer.
The Social Learning and Imitation theory suggested that people obtain
competencies and new modes of behavior through response consequences.
(Miller & Dollard, 1941: pp.26-42)
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Albert Bandura believed aggression reinforced by family members was
the most prominent source of behavior modeling. He reports that children use the
same aggressive tactics that their parents illustrate when dealing with others
(Bandura, 1976: p.206). While studying at Iowa, Bandura became strongly
interested in aggression in children (Bandura, 1977). In order to control
aggression, Bandura stated that the problem should be diagnosed and treated
during one’s childhood. "We should not be subjecting people to treatments and
then, some years later, trying to figure out what effects they have. We should test
treatments before we embark on widespread applications (Evans,1989: p3.)."
Children learn to act aggressive when they model their behavior after violent acts
of adults, especially family members. For example, the boy who witness his
father repeatedly strike his mother will more than likely become an abusive
parent and husband (Siegel, 1992: p. 170)
Albert Bandura is most famous for the Bobo doll experiment. Albert
Bandura believed that aggression must explain three aspects: First, how
aggressive patterns of behavior are developed; second, what provokes people to
behave aggressively, and third, what determines whether they are going to
continue to resort to an aggressive behavior pattern on future occasions (Evans,
1989: p.22). In this experiment, he had children witness a model aggressively
attacking a plastic clown called the Bobo doll. There children would watch a
video where a model would aggressively hit a doll and " ‘...the model pummels it
on the head with a mallet, hurls it down, sits on it and punches it on the nose
repeatedly, kick it across the room, flings it in the air, and bombards it with
balls...’(Bandura, 1973: p.72). After the video, the children were placed in a room
with attractive toys, but they could not touch them. The process of retention had
occurred. Therefore, the children became angry and frustrated. Then the children
were led to another room where there were identical toys used in the Bobo video.
The motivation phase was in occurrence. Bandura and many other researchers
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founded that 88% of the children imitated the aggressive behavior. Eight months
later, 40% of the same children reproduce the violent behavior observed in the
Bobo doll experiment.
Observational learning is also known as imitation or modeling. In this
process, learning occurs when individuals observes and imitate others’ behavior.
There are four component processes influenced by the observer’s behavior
following exposure to models. These components include: attention; retention;
motor reproduction or motoric reproduction; and motivation or reinforcement
(Bandura, 1977: pp.24-28).
Attention is the first component of observational learning that includes
modeled events (distinctiveness, affective valence, complexity, prevalence,
functional value) and observer characteristics (sensory capacities, arousal level,
perceptual set, past reinforcement). Individuals cannot learn much by
observation unless they perceive and attend to the significant features of the
modeled behavior. For example, children must attend to what the aggressor is
doing and saying in order to reproduce the model’s behavior (Allen &
Santrock,1993: p.139) In the Bobo doll experiment, the children witnessed the
Bobo doll being verbally and/or physically abused by live models and filmed
models.
Retention is the next component that includes including symbolic coding,
cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, and motor rehearsal. In order to
reproduce the modeled behavior, the individuals must code the information into
long-term memory. Therefore, the information will be retrieve. For example, a
simple verbal description of what the model performed would be known as
retention (Allen & Santrock, 1993: p139). Memory is an important cognitive
process that helps the observer code and retrieve information. In the Bobo doll
experiment, the children imitated the aggression they witnessed in the video.
They aggressively hit the Bobo doll because it was coded and store in their
memory.
Motor reproduction is another process in observational learning in which
physical capabilities, self-observation of reproduction, and accuracy of feedback
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are included. The observer must be able to reproduce the model’s behavior. The
observer must learn and posses the physical capabilities of the modeled
behavior. An example of motor reproduction would be to be able to learn how to
ski or ride a bike. Once a behavior is learned through attention and retention, the
observer must posses the physically capabilities to produce the aggressive act.
The children had the physically capabilities of hitting and pummeling the doll to
the ground.
The final process in observational learning is motivation or reinforcements
including external, vicarious and self-reinforcement. In this process, the observer
expects to receive positive reinforcements for the modeled behavior. In the Bobo
doll experiment, the children witnessed the adults being rewarded for their
aggression. Therefore, they performed the same act to achieve the rewards. For
example, most children witnessed violence on television being rewarded by the
media. Historically, bank robbers were heroes. Many people were highly upset
about the death of Bonnie and Clyde. When individuals, especially children
witness this type of media, they attend, code, retrieve, posses the motor
capabilities and perform the modeled behavior because of the positive
reinforcement determined by the media (Bootzin, Bowers, Crocker, 1991: 201202). The Bobo doll experiment helped Bandura to theorized that “As children
continue to age, the experience still effected their personality, turning them into
violent adults.”
Environmental experiences is a second influence of the social learning of
violence in children. Albert Bandura reported that individuals that live in high
crime rates areas are more likely to act violently than those who dwell in lowcrime areas (Bandura, 1976: p.207). This assumption is similar to Shaw and
McKay’s theory of social disorganization. They believed that a neighborhood
surrounded by culture conflict, decay and insufficient social organizations was a
major cause of criminality (Bartollas, 1990: pp.145).
Albert Bandura believed television was a source of behavior modeling.
Today, films and television shows illustrate violence graphically. Violence is often
expressed as an acceptable behavior, especially for heroes who have never
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been punished. Since aggression is a prominent feature of many shows, children
who have a high degree of exposure to the media may exhibit a relatively high
incidence of hostility themselves in imitation of the aggression they have
witnessed (Berkowitz, 1962: pp. 247). For example, David Phillips reported
homicide rates increase tremendously after a heavy weight championship fight
(Cloward & Ohlin, 1960). There have been a number of deaths linked to violence
on television. For example, John Hinckley attempted to assassinate President
Ronald Reagen after he watched the movie "Taxi Driver" fifteen times. In the
movie "Born Innocent," a girl was raped with a bottle by four other girls. In 1974,
a similar incident happened to a California’s girl. The girls who raped her testified
in court that they had witness the same scene in "Born Innocent." In addition,
Ronald Zamora brutally killed an elderly woman and pleaded the insanity
defense. His attorney argued that Zamora’s was addicted to the violence on
television. As a result, he could not differentiate between reality and fantasy.
However, Zamora was founded guilty because the jury did not believe his
defense (Siegel, 1992: p.172).
Scope/Application:
Social learning theory has been applied extensively to the understanding
of aggression (Bandura, 1973) and psychological disorders, particularly in the
context of behavior modification (Bandura, 1969). It is also the theoretical
foundation for the technique of behavior modeling which is widely used in training
programs. In recent years, Bandura has focused his work on the concept of selfefficacy in a variety of contexts (e.g., Bandura, 1997).
Example:
The most common (and pervasive) examples of social learning situations
are television commercials. Commercials suggest that drinking a certain
beverage or using a particular hair shampoo will make us popular and win the
admiration of attractive people. Depending upon the component processes
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involved (such as attention or motivation), we may model the behavior shown in
the commercial and buy the product being advertised.
Principles:
1. The highest level of observational learning is achieved by first organizing
and rehearsing the modeled behavior symbolically and then enacting it
overtly. Coding modeled behavior into words, labels or images results in
better retention than simply observing.
2. Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if it results in
outcomes they value.
Criticisms:
The social learning theory advocates that individuals, especially children,
imitate or copy modeled behavior from personally observing others, the
environment, and the mass media. Biological theorists argue that the social
learning theory completely ignores individuals biological state. Also, they state
that the social learning theory rejects the differences of individuals due to
genetic, brain, and learning differences (Jeffery, 1985: p.238). For example, if a
person witnessed a hanging or a violent murder, he or she might respond in
many different ways. "Biological theorists believed that the responses would be
normal and come from the autonomic nervous system. In the autonomic nervous
system, the heart rate, increase blood pressure, nausea, and fainting would be
normal symptoms of the responses that individuals might expressed in this
particular situation. Therefore, the symptoms and behavior are not learned, but
partially inherited. In addition, the social learning theory rejects the classical and
operant conditioning processes. The biological preparedness of the individual to
learn as well as the role of the brain in processing information from the social
environment, are critical to learning theory, but they are ignored by the social
learning theory. Social reinforcement is conditioned reinforcement based on the
relationship of the conditioned stimulus to an unconditioned stimulus" (Jeffery,
1985: p.239).
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In the Bobo doll experiment, critics have argued that the children were
manipulated into responded to the aggressive movie. The children were teased
and became frustrated because they could not touch the toys. Many critics
believed the experiment conducted was unethical and morally wrong because
the children were trained to be aggressive. "How many more of the experiments
finding a link between violence on television and aggressive behavior have
ethical problems? It is not surprising that the children had long-term implications
because of the methods imposed in this experiment"(Worthman and Loftus, p.45)
There have been many debates over whether or not violence on television
causes aggressive behavior in children. Many studies have indicated that
television does not lead to aggressive behavior. For instances, psychologists
have found that some cartoons are very violent and cause children to illustrate
aggressive behavior. However, the general public believes that children view
cartoons such as Elmer Fudd shooting the rabbit as funny and humorous. It is
the parents’ responsibility to inform their children that the cartoons are not real.
Feshbach and R.D. Singer believed that television actually decreases the
amount of aggression in children (Feshbach: 1971). They conducted a study
within a six-week study on juvenile boys who regularly watched television
violence compared to juvenile boys who were exposed to non-violent shows.
After the six-week period, Feshback and R.D. Singer found out that the juvenile
boys that viewed the non-violent shows were more likely to exhibit aggressive
behavior than the juvenile boys that witnessed the violent shows. "The study
show that the violence on television allows the viewer to relate with the
characters involved in the violent act (Feshback & Singer, 1971: p.247). In doing
so, the viewer is able to release all aggressive thoughts and feelings through
relation, causing them to be less aggressive than they would have been without
watching the violent television. This theory that viewing violence on television
leads to a decrease in aggression is called the Catharsis effect (Gerbner,G.,
Gross,L., Melody,W.H., pg.40).
Cooke believed that individuals tend to support the theory that television
violence causes aggression because the public needs to justify the aggression
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they see in others. He also believed television was a form of education and
positive role models. "If violence in television causes people to be more
aggressive, than shouldn’t the good-hearted qualities in television cause its
audience to be kinder to others (Cooke,1993, p.L19)? Therefore, television can
serve as deterrence if individuals focus on the positive qualities. Despite these
criticisms, Albert Bandura’ s Social Learning Theory has maintained an important
place in the study of aggression and criminal behavior. In order to control
aggression, he believed family members and the mass media should provide
positive role models for their children and the general public (Bandura, 1976).
GESTALTISTS
THEORY CONFIGURATION/ GESTALT THEORY / FIELD THEORY
Max Wertheimer
Max Wertheimer was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in April 15, 1880,
the son of a school teacher. As a student, young Wertheimer’s interests were far
ranging. He studied law for a while, then switched to philosophy, and finally
begun to study psychology. After attending a number of schools and universities,
Wertheimer received his Ph.D. degree at Wurtzburg in 1904. For the next six
years he continued his work in psychology at Prague, Vienna, and Berlin.
Wertheimer had been schooled in the structuralist psychological tradition,
a point of view which held that all psychological phenomena could be broken
down and analyzed into their smallest parts or elements. In 1910, while traveling
by train from Vienna to a Rhineland vacation resort, Wertheimer was suddenly
struck by an idea. He began to ponder this structuralistic viewpoint, and the
more he pondered, the more he doubted. Suddenly he decided to forget his
planned vacation and left the train at Frankfurt. He rushed to the nearest toy
store and purchased a child’s stroboscope. This was in the days before motion
pictures, and a stroboscope was a device which, when turned at a constant
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speed, exposed a series of still pictures that appeared to move. In his hotel room
Wertheimer examined his new purchase. He spun the stroboscope, fascinated
by the apparent movement that the device produced, and in one of the history of
psychology’s great examples of insight, thought, “Aha, Wundt and the
structuralists must be wrong.” Here was a psychological perception, apparent
movement, which simply could not be explained or understood by analyzing the
individual still pictures. When the elements of this perception were studied
individually, the total phenomenon of perceived movement was lost. The whole
must be more than just the sum of its parts. In order to understand this
perception of movement, one had to study all the parts together in their particular
“Gestalt,” a German word which means whole, or totality, or configuration.
Wertheimer went to the University of Frankfurt and began a series of
controlled experiments. His first subject was Wolfgang Kohler, who was later
joined by Kurt Koffka. Early in 1912 Wertheimer explained to Kohler and Koffka
the results and meaning of his studies. Gestalt psychology had been born. Both
Kohler and Koffka became zealous advocates of this new school of thought, and
both went on to produce many experiments, articles and books in support of it.
Both became famous Gestalt psychologists in their own right.
In 1912 Wertheimer published his own famous article, “Experimental
Studies of the Perception of Movement.” As a result of this single, revolutionary
article, a tremendous new movement in psychology was under way, and, as a
result, thousands of articles and books were written and are still being written on
this important subject.
In 1916 Wertheimer joined the faculty at the University of Berlin, where he
worked with another soon-to-be-famous Gestalt psychologist, Kurt Lewin. In
1933 Wertheimer came to the United States, where he taught at the New School
for Social Research in New York City. He remained at the New School until his
death in December 10, 1943.
Wertheimer was a man with a cause, but he was not arrogant or
authoritarian.
He was a gentle, warm, deep-thinking man.
He had a close
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personal relationship with Albert Einstein, and he was deeply concerned with the
social and ethical issues of his times.
Wertheimer was also interested in education and the techniques of good
teaching. He pointed out the importance of Gestalt principles as they apply to
learning in the classroom. He criticized the use of repetition and rote
memorization, explaining that such procedures lead only to blind, nonproductive
learning on the part of the students. He insisted that the educators should teach
for understanding, and this is made possible when the teacher arranges the
material so that the student can see the “whole” or the Gestalt, and not just a
series of seemingly unrelated parts. In his book Productive Thinking, Wertheimer
stressed the importance of Gestalt theory in the practical problem of educating
children.
Whereas Watson and Guthrie were concerned with overt responses,
stresses always what the student did, Wertheimer placed his emphasis on the
child’s process of mental organization, stressing instead what the student
understood.
Wolgang Kohler
Kohler was a German- American psychologist born in Revel, Estonia in
January 21, 1887. He grew up in Germany and was educated at the universities
of Tubingen, Bonn, and Berlin. After he obtained his Ph.D. from the University of
Berlin in 1909 he went to the University of Frankfurt and associated himself with
Max Wertheimer and Kurt Koffka in the investigation of apparent movement that
led to the founding of the Gestalt school of psychology.
Kohler spent a few years during World War I in the island of Tenerife of the
coast of Africa. There he became the director of a research station on ape
behavior and performed Gestalt psychology’s most famous animal studies. In
one of his experiments he arranged an ape’s cage so that there were bananas
hanging from the top and a couple of boxes on the floor. In order to reach the
bananas the ape had to stock one box on top of another and then climb to the
top. The ape’s solution to the problem appeared to Kohler not to be one of blind
trial and error. Instead the ape seemed to size up the solution and then, almost
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in a flash, he understood the problem and “saw” the solution. The ape displayed
what Kohler called insight, and Kohler felt that this was more typical of learning,
especially human learning. Kohler’s explanation was that the ape was able to
see the problem as a unified whole. In the box-stacking problem, the ape did not
see the boxes and bananas as separate elements but came to realize that they
belonged together as a part of a total gestalt.
Insight has been called “a-ha” phenomenon. Kohler made much of the
concept of insight, perhaps too much. He felt that insight learning did not depend
on past experience, that it was not just a special case of transfer.
In 1921 Kohler returned to Germany to accept an appointment at the
University of Berlin. In 1934 he came to the United States to deliver the William
James Lectures at Harvard. He decided to stay in America and accepted an
appointment at Swarthmore where he remained until his retirement. In June 11,
1967 Kohler died in Enfield, New Hampshire.
“Picture of One of Kohler’s Experiments with the Ape”
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Kurt Koffka
Kurt Koffka was a German psychologist who was born in Berlin in March
18, 1886. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Berlin in 1908, and then
went to the University of Frankfurt where he met the other Gestalt founders in
1910. Along with Kohler he served as a subject in experiments on perception
conducted by Wertheimer. Their findings led Koffka, Wertheimer, and Kohler to
stress the holistic approach the psychological phenomena cannot be interpreted
as combinations of elements: parts derive their meaning from the whole, and
people perceive complex entities rather than their elements.
Koffka conducted a great amount of experimental work, but he is perhaps
best known for his systematic application of Gestalt principles to a wide range of
questions. One of his major works, “The Growth of the Mind (1921),” applied the
Gestalt viewpoint to child psychology and argued that infants initially experience
organized wholes in the barely differentiated world about them.
During the First World War, Koffka worked with neurological patients at
Giessen. After the war, he came to the United States as a visiting professor at
Smith College in Northampton Massachusetts, where he reamained until his
death in November 22, 1941. Koffka’s most important work is the “Principles of
Gestalt Psychology (1935),” a difficult and scholarly book which he attempted to
summarize and organize Gestalt psychology as a system.
Overview of the Theory:
The Gestalt theory of learning stresses wholes, that is, the whole field or
the situation in its entire setting and the whole person of the learner. Learning is
a process involving both the whole being of the child and the total situation. It is
usually defined as the organization and reorganization of behavior which arises
from the dynamic interaction of a maturing organism and its environment,
involving the activities of differentiation and integration, that is, the recognition of
significant relationships and similarities and likewise of significant differences
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between and among experiences and the understanding of the situation or
problem in all its relations. Learning involves a process of forming proper
gestalts. The original German term gestalt is very difficult to translate
satisfactorily. The terms whole, pattern, form are used ordinarily to connote the
idea implied in gestalt. The term signifies that actually there is no particular
stimulus or object to which a response may be directly attached, but that each
situation or object has its own setting and thereby possesses certain
relationships within a meaningful whole. The individual reacts to this meaningful
whole, for a stimulus when removed from its setting may become something
quite different from what it was in that setting. Consequently, the individuals do
not react merely to the stimulus itself but rather to the stimulus in relation to its
background and setting. Thus the situation or object in relation to its setting, “a
figure embodied in a ground,” is considered to be the gestalt or pattern of
configuration.
The Gestaltists were mainly concerned with perception that’s why they
developed different perceptual principles. All these principles were consistent
with one overriding principle, that is the Law of Pragnantz. This law said that we
tend to see things in their most simple, harmonious, and concise form. We
respond to the world so as to make it maximally meaningful under existing
conditions. We simplify, organize, then harmonize our experiences. This was
the Gestaltists guiding principle for studying perception, learning, and memory.
Gestalt Laws/ Principles of Perception
1. Law of Continuity – this law states the perceptual organization tends to
preserve smooth continuities rather than abrupt changes.
Example: Try to look at the figures below, they tend to perceive the zigzag lines
as letters A and V with lines cutting across, while the remaining
triangles on both ends look like upper and lower triangles.
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2. Law of Closure – this law states that incomplete figures tend to be seen as
complete.
Example: The following figures will be perceived better as complete circles
and
squares.
3. Law of Similarity – this law refers to the perception of similar objects that tend
to be related.
Example: In the illustration below, even though the horizontal and vertical
distances among the letters are the same, most people perceive
rows rather than columns because the letters are the same.
4. Law
Proximity – this
of
law holds that things close together are grouped together
in perception.
Example: Lines drawn close together seem to be grouped as in this figure.
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One of the
most
popular
experiments done
by
with
perception were the
regards
to
the
Gestaltists
experiments regarding the perceived motion or better known as the “phiphenomenon.” This so-called phi-phenomenon might be familiar to all of us for
we are exposed with this phenomenon for quite a number of times. We might
have experience it when we saw our Christmas lights or those neon lights from
the billboards of the advertisements of top establishments or companies,
sometimes we even call it running light not because the light bulb move from one
place to another but because the lights flashes in quick succession, allowing us
to perceive a single light moving from the position of the first light to that of the
second, third, forth, and so on. The phenomenon of apparent motion might be
familiar, but the Gestaltists sensed the theoretical importance of the pattering
stimuli in producing the effect. According to them our experience depends on the
pattern formed by the stimuli and the organization of experience. What we see is
relative to background and to other aspects of the whole. “The whole is different
from the sum of its parts; the whole consists of parts in relationship.”
Stroboscopic illusion was used by Wertheimer to illustrate this principle. The
experience of motion produced by a series of still pictures viewed in quick
succession is not present in the pictures individually; instead, it arises from the
relation between them. As years passed, a large number of perceptual
phenomena fall into one of the three classes:
a. Perceptual Organization (figure and ground effects and perceptual
groupings)
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b. Perceptual Constancy (lightness, color, shape, size, and location)
c. Perceptual Illusion
Which is longer, A or B?
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Which is larger a or b?
Key Concepts:
Gestalt – a German word that may be defined as pattern, whole, form, or
configuration.
Gestalt Psychology – a school of thought that was developed in the early 20th
century by Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka.
Max Wertheimer – spearhead of the Gestalt theory and the experiments
regarding the phi-phenomenon.
Wolfgang Kohler – one of the pioneer of Gestalt psychology who performed
Gestalt psychology’s most famous animal studies.
Kurt Koffka – one of the founder of Gestalt psychology who was best known for
his systematic application of the Gestalt principles to a wide range of
questions.
Perception – the realm of experiences which are not merely “imagined,”
“represented,” or “thought of.” e.g. desk, candy flavor, traffic noise, etc.,
Pragnantz – is a German word for essence
Law of Pragnantz – a law which is concerned with perception. This law stated
that all possible organizations that could be perceived through visual
stimulus, the one that is most likely to occur is the one that possesses the
best, simplest, and most stable form;(we tend to see things in their most
simple, harmonious, and concise form)
Law of Continuity – phenomena tend to be perceived as continuos.
Law of Closure – the tendency of perception to fill in gaps or to complete in
perception what is physically incomplete.
Law of Similarity – things that are similar in size, shape, color brightness, etc.,
will be “perceived as belonging together.”
Law of Proximity – things that are closer together will be perceived as
“belonging” together.
Phi-phenomenon – the experience of motion emerged from the combination of
the elemental stimuli.
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Stroboscope – a device for exposing a series of related visual stimuli rapidly.
Under such conditions the stimuli give rise to an illusion of continuous
movement.
Stroboscopic Illusion – the apparent motion of two stimuli which are presented
in close succession. e.g. motion picture
Figure and Ground Effects – the tendency to perceived figures from our
experience to have some shape, while the ground tends to be without
form covering the figure behind continuously.
Perceptual Groupings – the tendency to perceived different stimuli as having
the same pattern dependent on nearness, similarity and configuration.
Light Constancy – objects retain their degree of color or brightness regardless
of illumination. e.g. White paper remains white whether viewed in dim light
or intense illumination.
Color Constancy – the tendency to see the color of an object as stable.
Shape Constancy – the tendency of the shape of an object to retain their visual
shape whether viewed from an angle or head on e.g. a window is
perceived as rectangular although as it opens or shuts, the actual shape
changes from rectangular to trapezoidal.
Size Constancy – it is illustrated in the way we perceive a distant person or
object as being of the same or usual size regardless of distance.
Location Constancy – the tendency to see an object retaining its position in
space when we move about.
Perceptual Illusion – an impression from experience which does not correctly
represent the objective situation outside the observer.
Insight Learning – means grasping or understanding of the situation or object or
materials in such a way that significant relations are apparent. It is the
form of gestalt or pattern in which the relevant factors fall into place with
respect to the whole. It involve total organization and implies a mental
integration by which a situation or problem is understood in all its relations.
How Learning Takes Place:
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Gestalt explains learning in terms of modifications that take place in
response to meaningful patterns or configurations. According to Wertheimer it
was useless to study small parts of psychological concepts, like perception or
learning. Studying parts in isolation was unjustified, because changing any
single part necessarily changes the whole, or the gestalt. Similarly, the whole
may remain, even when all the parts have changed. For example, if we play a
tune in two different keys, even though the individual notes are different each
time, the tune retains the integrity of its gestalt.
Gestaltists was concerned with the way children learn, particularly in
school. They were against the use of rote memorization, especially when it so
often seemed to be an end in itself. Above all else, they wanted children to
achieve understanding, to have insight into the nature of the problem.
Wertheimer explained that there are two kinds of solutions to problems,
type A and type B. Type A solutions are those that use originality and insight,
whereas type B solutions are those that make use of past associations in a rigid,
inappropriate way. Wertheimer used the example of teaching a child how to find
the area of a parallelogram.
The child is first taught how to find the area of a rectangle, not by
memorizing the formula but by understanding why the formula works. The
rectangle is divided into smaller squares, and the child sees that the total area is
composed of the number of squares in a row times the number of rows (Fig.1).
Wertheimer then cut a parallelogram out of paper and asked the child to
determine its area. Some children persisted in multiplying the length times the
height, a type B solution. Other used type A solutions, like cutting off one of the
triangular ends and fitting it against the other end. At this point the child had
created a rectangle and could correctly utilize the previously learned formula
(Fig. 2). The children using type A solution had obviously discovered a real
geometric relationship. These learners unmistakably achieved insight upon
perceiving the geometric relationships of the figures, this is how true learning
takes place according to the Gestaltists.
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Figure 1:
Figure 2:
Critique / Reaction:
Gestaltists are less mechanical in their conceptions than either the
Behaviorists or the Connectionists they believed that true learning only comes
from insights of the whole configuration. It is because of their strong belief in
monasticism (that they could explain the whole world by just one principle) that
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sometimes they could not explain some of their observations with regards to
human behavior. However, in the practical order the Gestalt theory of learning
has made valuable contributions to education. The influence of the Gestalt
theory seems to be evident in such trends as the offering of orientation or survey
courses in broad areas of knowledge, the presentation of fields of learning in
organized pattern such as the integrated curriculum, the emphasis upon general
rather than on highly specialized education, the recognition of the significance of
problem-solving experiences with discovery as the essence of learning, the
stress on “ readiness” for learning, level of aspiration, and emphasis upon the
integrated personality.
Bruner’s Theory of Instruction: “Instrumental Conceptualism”
Jerome Seymour Bruner
An American psychologist and educator who has done pioneering work in
the filed of cognition. Bruner was born into a German-Jewish family in New York
on October 1, 1915; his father, a watch manufacturer, died when Bruner was only
12. His family a successful upper-middle class fully expected young Bruner to
become a lawyer. Bruner, however, had other ideas. He graduated from Duke
University in 1937 and immediately entered Duke’s graduate school in
psychology. The following year he transferred to Harvard, where he received his
Ph.D. degree in psychology in 1941.
When Bruner first arrived in Harvard his interest focused on the
investigation of perception in animals. Harvard had on recently (1933) created
an independent department of psychology, and under its chairman, E. G. Boring,
the research emphasis was aimed at experimentation in animal learning and
perception. Bruner studied under the great Harvard researcher and physiological
psychologist Karl S. Lashley. With the outbreak of World War II, Bruner’s interest
shifted to social psychology, and he wrote his doctoral thesis on the techniques
of Nazi propagandists. During the war, Bruner entered the army and worked on
psychological warfare in General Eisenhower’s headquarters in SHAEF
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(Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force). He returned to Harvard in
1945, and in 1947 he published a significance paper on the importance of needs
as they influence perception. In this study he showed that poor children tend to
overestimate the size of coins more than do well-to-do children. From this study
he concluded that values and needs strongly affect human perceptions and also
that people make meaning out of their perceptions by making them consistent
with their past experiences. People are thus able to reduce the possibility of
mental strain by viewing the world in such a way as to reduce environmental
surprises. These findings lead to what became known as the “new look” in
perception theory and also laid the groundwork for an American school of
cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology deals with the human being’s ability
to obtain knowledge and develop intellectually. Although the field of cognitive
psychology has been important in Europe, America under the heavy influence of
the behavioristic tradition had turned a deaf ear to anything as subjective and
“unscientific” as the study of thinking. Bruner changed all that. By 1960 he had
helped found Harvard University’s Center for Cognitive Studies, and although he
didn’t invent cognitive psychology, he certainly went a long way toward making it
systematic and consistent with the rules of science.
Always the empiricist, Bruner kept science’s basic rule clearly in mind:
Begin by observing the data from which the conclusions are to be drawn. Once
when a group of academic psychologists was debating a possible impact a
certain film might have on children, Bruner was brought in as a consultant. After
listening to this group of armchair speculators for a while, Bruner suddenly
interrupted them and said, “I’ve got it! We’ll get a child, show him the film, and
then we’ll ask him what he thought of it.”
This is also Bruner’s approach to the problems of educational psychology.
If you want to know how the children go about the business of learning in the
school situation, then study children in the classroom, not rats and pigeons in
cages.
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In 1960 Bruner published the important work The Process of Education.
As Harper’s Magazine said, “To people starved for reasonable comments on
education in intelligible English, Bruner’s writings are above reproach.” In this
book Bruner developed three important points. First, school should strive to
teach the general nature, or the “structure,” of a subject rather than all the details
and facts of a subject. Second, any subject can be taught effectively in some
intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development. And finally,
Bruner stressed the importance of intuition in learning. Intuition is a problem
solving technique whereby a child relies on insight or immediate apprehensions
rather than planned steps of analysis.
Bruner’ work has not gone unnoticed by his colleagues. In 1963 the
American Psychological Association awarded him the Distinguished Scientific
Award. In 1965 Bruner was elected president of the American Psychological
Association.
When the spring semester at Harvard came to a close, Bruner would
leave the summer heat of Cambridge for the fresh winds of the sea. On his
sailboat, Bruner and his wife and children confronted the natural forces of wind
and tide. He is as skilled a navigator as he is psychologist and researcher.
In 1972, more than thirty years after his arrival at Harvard as a graduate
student, Bruner left to begin the newly created duties of Watts Professor of
Psychology at Oxford University in England.
Jerome Bruner has made things happen in educational psychology. Says
Harper’s, “He is the first person to come along in years – perhaps the first since
John Dewey – who can speak intelligently about education to his fellow scholars
as well as to educators.”
Currently Bruner seems to be looking beyond cognitive science and is
now examining the interplay between the individual and their society through the
exploration of an individual’s narrative. Bruner is interested in the relationship
between culture and mental development, mental processes involved in creating
and understanding narrative, nature of interpretative activity, particularly in legal
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reasoning. This can be seen in his involvement in research on the various
institutional forms by which culture is passed on and although he protested that
he “knew no law”; he was invited by the law faculty at New York University to help
faculty and students analyze and understand legal cognition more profoundly.
Studying question such as “how does the human penchant for categorization
affect legal thinking?”
Overview Of The Theory:
Another cognitive theorist, Bruner, came up with his theory which focused
on the problem of what people do with information to achieve generalized
insights or understanding. Bruner who was greatly influenced by the Gestaltists
endorsed its principles of organization in developing concepts and insightful
meaning. He believed that the primary purpose of education should be the
development of skills among children in such a way that they could be used later
in other situations. He urged the restructuring of school curricula so the children
are given the opportunity to master the early basic skills in a subject in
preparation for more advanced learning. Mastering of skills would facilitate the
new learning.
Bruner emphasizes four major theories applicable to all areas of teaching
and learning. The first states that learning involves understanding of basic
relationships in the structure of a subject. Once a student is able to relate one
aspect of subject to another, he will acquire a direction that would add excitement
to his learning process. This comprehension of relationships will enable the
student to retain the material better and even transfer it to new learning
situations.
The second theme of Bruner pertains to readiness for learning. He
believed that the basic foundations of any discipline could be taught in a
meaningful form even to young children. He did not believe in deferring
instruction in certain subjects until the child was mature for it. According to
Bruner, subject matter could be matched with the cognitive level of a child.
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Children should not be made to wait for a certain age before he is taught how to
read. If the child is ready for it he should be taught reading.
Bruner’s third theme urges schools to put more emphasis on the
development on intuitive thinking. This is the ability to arrive at reasonable but
tentative solutions or generalizations before any actual formal analysis. He
maintained that children could be trained early enough in creative thinking.
The fourth theme of Bruner concerned motivation. He puts the premium
on the ability of teachers to motivate students. According to him, the teacher can
motivate students in such a way that the desire to learn can be carried over from
the classroom to the outside world. He believes that intrinsic motivation, that of
creating interest in the subject matter itself so that the student is convinced that it
is worth knowing, is better that extrinsic motivation in the form of grades, medals,
and other external goals.
Bruner calls for the practical application of his theories. He suggests that
curriculum materials should reflect the basic principles of a subject and teaching
methods should be designed that will bring forth the capabilities of students of
different ages and abilities. This means that the main purpose of teaching is to
give the students the significant ideas of the subject as soon as possible. These
essential elements he calls structure of the discipline. The teacher’s job is to
help the student understand the subject so thoroughly that he can relate it to
other subjects in meaningful ways. To do this the material must be reorganized
in such a way that logical relationships become apparent to the student. If he
understood the properly, he will find no difficulty in remembering the organized
materials.
Psychologists say that mind can store only about seven independent
ideas simultaneously, hence, large masses of unrelated information become
unwieldy for the mind to tackle at any one time. Organizing the material logically,
therefore, facilitates learning and retention. According to Bruner, the process of
learning a subject takes place in three integrative steps:
transformation, and
3.
1.
acquisition,
2.
evaluation. Acquisition is the process of obtaining new
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information that can either replace or refine something previously known.
Transformation is the manipulation of information to fit new situations. Evaluation
is checking whether or not the learned material has been manipulated
appropriately.
Bruner whose position was more consistent with the cognitive-gestaltist
would like to call his position a theory of instruction and not a learning theory. He
feels that a learning theory is descriptive; that is, it describes what happens after
the fact. A theory of instruction, on the other hand, is prescriptive; it prescribes in
advance how a given subject can best be taught. If a learning theory tells that
children at age six are not yet ready to understand the concept of reversibility, a
theory of instruction would prescribe how best to lead the child toward this
concept when he or she is old enough to understand it.
Bruner’s theory has four major principles: motivation, structure, sequence,
and reinforcement.
Bruner’s First Principle: MOTIVATION
Bruner’s first principle specifies the conditions that predispose an
individual toward learning. What are the critical variables, especially during the
preschool years, that help motivate and enable the child to learn? Implicit in
Bruner’s principles is the belief that almost all children have a built-in “will to
learn”. However, Bruner has not discarded the notion of reinforcement. He
believes that reinforcement, or external reward, may be important for initiating
certain actions or for making sure they are repeated. He insists, however, that it
is only through intrinsic motivation that the will to learn is sustained. Bruner is far
more concerned with intrinsic motivation than with what he believes to be the
more transitory effects of external motivation.
Perhaps the best example of intrinsic motivation is curiosity. Bruner
believes that we come into the world equipped with a curiosity drive. He feels
this drive is biologically relevant, that curiosity is necessary to the survival of the
species. Bruner suggests that young children are often too curious; they are
unable to “stick with” any one activity. Their curiosity leads the to turn from one
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activity to another in rapid succession, and it must therefore be channeled into a
more powerful intellectual pursuit.
Another motivation we bring into the world with us is the drive to achieve
competence. Children become interested in what they are good at, and it is
virtually impossible to motivate them to engage in activities in which they have no
degree of competence.
Finally, Bruner lists reciprocity as a motivation that is built into the species.
Reciprocity involves a need to work with other cooperatively, and Bruner feels
that society itself developed as a result of this most basic motivation.
According to Bruner, the intrinsic motivations are rewarding in themselves
and are therefore self-sustaining. How can the teacher take advantage of this in
the classroom situation? Bruner’s answer is that teacher must facilitate and
regulate their students’ exploration of alternatives. Since learning and problem
solving demand the exploration of alternatives, this at the very core of the issue
and is critical in creating a predisposition to the long-term pursuit of learning.
The exploration of alternatives has three phases: activation, maintenance,
and direction.
Activation
In order to activate exploration, in order to get it started, children must
experience a certain level of uncertainty. If the task is too easy, they will be too
bored to explore alternatives, and yet if it is too difficult, they will be too confused
to explore alternatives. The teacher must provide students with problems that
are just difficult enough for the children’s intrinsic curiosity, motivation to itself
activate exploration.
Maintenance
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Once activated, exploration must be maintained. This involves assuring
children that exploration is not going to be a dangerous or painful experience.
Children must view exploration under the guiding hand of a teacher as less risky,
less dangerous than exploration on their own. The advantages of exploration
must be made greater that the risks.
Direction
Meaningful exploration must have direction. The direction of exploration is
a function of two factors: knowledge of the goal, and the knowledge that the
exploration of alternatives is relevant to the achievement of that goal. Children
must know what the goal is and how close they are to achieving it.
Thus Bruner’s first principle indicates that children have a built-in will to
learn. Teachers must manage and enhance this motivation so that children will
see that guided exploration is more meaningful and satisfying than the
spontaneous learning they can achieve on their own. In short, Bruner’s first
principle is a justification of formal schooling.
Bruner’s Second Principle: STRUCTURE
Bruner’s second principle states that any given subject area, any body of
knowledge, can be organized in some optimal fashion so that it can be
transmitted to and understood by almost any student. If appropriately structured,
“any idea or problem or body of knowledge can be presented in a form simple
enough so that any particular learner can understand it in a recognizable form”.
This is not to say that all of the nuances of Einstein’s theory of relativity can be
fully mastered by a six-year-old child. It does mean, however, that if properly
structured, Einstein’s general position could be understood by the child, and that
under questioning the child could convey to a physicist a recognizable account of
the theory.
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According to Bruner, the structure of anybody of knowledge can be
characterized in three ways: mode of presentation, economy, and power.
Mode of Presentation
Mode of presentation refers to the technique, the method, whereby
information is communicated. One of the reasons teachers fail to explain some
fundamental point to a seemingly uncomprehending child is that the teacher’s
mode of presentation simply does not fit the child’s level of experience. The child
will remain uncomprehending as long as the message in incomprehensible.
Bruner believes that a person has three means of achieving understanding:
enactive, iconic, and symbolic representation.
Enactive Representation
Very young children can understand things best in terms of actions. For
example, children can demonstrate their understanding of the principles of a
balance beam by referring to their experiences on a seesaw. If the child on the
end is heavier, you compensate by sliding further back on your own end; if the
child is lighter, you push yourself further forward. Young children also define
words in terms of the actions that are associated with them. A chair is to sit on, a
spoon is to eat with, and so on. When children are in the enactive stage of
thinking, it is important that the teacher’s messages somehow make contact with
their muscles. Even adults may revert to enactive representation when learning
something new, especially a new motor skill. Teaching an adult to ski is best
accomplished wordlessly. A skilled instructor doesn’t just tell students to “edge
into the hill”, but will instead ask them to imitate her own stance.
In short, when young children are in the enactive stage of thinking, the
best, the most comprehensible, messages are wordless ones.
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Iconic Representation
Somewhat older children learn to think at a different level, the iconic level.
Objectives become conceivable without action. Children can now draw a picture
of a spoon, without acting out the eating process. They may even be able, at this
stage, to draw a diagram of a balance beam, for they now possess an image of it
which no longer depends on action. This is a significant breakthrough in the
development of intellect, for the use of pictures or diagrams allows children at
this stage to be tutored in simpler ways.
Symbolic Representation
At this stage children can translate experience into language.
The
balance beam can be explained through the use of words rather than pictures.
Symbolic representation allows children to begin logical derivations and to think
more compactly. Bruner says that through symbolic representation “powerful
representations of the world of possible experiences are constructed and used as
search models in problem solving”.
With these models should the teacher choose in order to facilitate the
learning process? It depends on the learner’s age and background, and on the
subject matter itself. For example, Bruner believes that teaching a problem in
law demands symbolic representation, whereas geography is well suited to
iconic.
New
motor
skills
are
often
best
communicated
by
enactive
representation, especially at first. Mathematics can be represented, and often
should be, by all three modes.
Economy of Presentation
Economy in communicating a body of knowledge depends n the amount
of information the learner must keep in mind in order to continue learning. The
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fewer bits of information, the fewer facts the learner must bear in mind, the
greater the economy. The best way to provide economy in teaching is to give the
learner concise summaries. For example, Bruner feels that it is more economical
to “summarize the American Civil War as a battle over slavery than as a struggle
between the expanding industrial region and one built upon a class society for
control of federal economic power”.
Power of Presentation
Bruner believes that nature is simple; hence, to be powerful, a
presentation of some aspect of nature should reflect nature’s simplicity. Teachers
often make difficult what is inherently easy. A powerful presentation is a simple
presentation, one that is easily understood. It allows the learner to see new
relationships, to find connections between facts that may at first seem quite
separate. Bruner feels that a powerful presentation is especially important in the
field of mathematics.
Bruner’s Third Principle: SEQUENCE
The extent to which student finds it difficult to master a given subject
depends largely on the sequence in which the material is presented. Teaching
involves leading the learner through a certain sequence of the various aspects of
the subject. Since Bruner believes that intellectual development is innately
sequential, moving from enactive, through iconic, to symbolic representation, he
feels that it is highly probable that this is also the best sequence for any subject
to take. Thus the teacher should begin teaching any new subject with wordless
messages, speaking mainly to the learner’s muscular responses. Then the
student should be encouraged to explore the use of diagrams and various
pictorial representations.
Finally, the message should be communicated
symbolically, through the use of words. This is obviously a very conservative
approach. Some children, because of their age and background, may seem to
be able to begin a new area at the symbolic level. But, though conservative, this
sequence is safe.
Children who seem ready to handle new material at the
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symbolic level may suddenly become lost and confused if they haven’t been
given the basic imagery to fall back on.
The sequence in which new material is presented is also important during
exploration. Sometimes the child should be encouraged to explore a wide variety
of alternatives, whereas at other times the thorough analysis of a single
alternative should be stressed.
Finally, sequencing is significant aspect of motivation. Bruner feels that it
is necessary to specify in any sequence the amount of tension children must feel
so that problem solving will be both activated and maintained. Bruner is not
overly specific at this point; he simply says that the tension should be such that
children are somewhere between boredom and wild excitement.
Bruner’s Fourth Principle: REINFORCEMENT
Learning requires reinforcement.
In order to achieve mastery of a
problem, we must receive feedback as to how we are doing. The timing of the
reinforcement is crucial to success in learning. The results must be learned at
the very time a student is evaluating his or her own performance. If the results
are known too soon, the learner will become confused and his or her explorations
will be stifled. If it comes too late, the learner may have gone two or three
choice-points beyond the point where it would have been helpful, and may by this
time have incorporated false information. The teacher’s role is, thus, indeed
sensitive. If the learner has gone on to incorporate false information, this must
now be unlearned in order for the learner to get back on the right track.
Not only is timing of the reinforcement important, but the reinforcement
must also be in a form that the learner will understand. If the learner is operating
in the enactive level, reinforcement at the iconic or symbolic level may be
useless. To be helpful, feedback must be made understandable to the learner.
Finally, Bruner emphasizes that “instruction is a provisional state that has
its object to make the learner or problem solver self-sufficient”. Thus, the learner
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cannot become so dependent on the teacher’s reinforcement that the teacher
must be perpetually present. Ultimately, the learner must take on a selfcorrective function.
DISCOVERY
Though it is possible to memorize a poem, or the multiplication tables, or
the state capitals, meaningful learning often requires actual discovery. The facts
and relationships children discover through their own explorations are more
usable and tend to be better retained than material they have merely committed
to memory. Teachers can provide the conditions in which discovery is nourished
and will grow. One way they can do this is to guess at answers and let the class
know they are guessing. The students can then analyze the teacher’s answer.
This helps prove to them that exploration can be both rewarding and safe, and it
is thus a valuable technique for building lifelong discovery habits in the students.
Bruner is not saying that discovery is the only form of learning. Nor is he
saying that students must discover for themselves the solutions to every problem
in a given field. This would be extremely wasteful, if it were even possible, for it
would mean that each generation would have to discover the ideas and
technology of their culture. Beginning physics students, for example, shouldn’t
have to discover the technology of radio transmission, as Marconi once did.
Students can, however, through insightful questioning and prompting by the
teacher, discover for themselves some of the basics principles that account for
radio transmission. Learning in this way allows the student to reach a level of
understanding that far surpasses the rote memorization of a radio chapter in an
electronic book.
Discovery learning has been compared to “reception” learning. In
reception learning the student is simply presented with some material, the
content of which is already organized and complete. The student attempts to
internalize it in full and thus to have it available for future use. As Ausubel says,
“The essential feature of discovery learning…is that the principal content of what
is to be learned is not given but must be discovered by the learner before he can
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internalize it; the distinctive and prior learning task, in other words, is to discover
something.”
Bruner stressed the used of discovery because for him it is very important
that we encourage young minds to know more about discovering because of the
opportunities the experience avails the students. To Bruner, discovery in its
essence, a matter of rearranging or transforming evidence so to assemble new
insights. He sees the following as possible benefits which can be derived from
the experience of learning through discovery:
potency;
2.
1.
The increase in intellectual
The sift from extrinsic to intrinsic rewards;
3.
Learning of the heuristics
of discovery; and 4. The aid to conserving memory.
Teaching for discovery is obviously not easy. The teacher must be bright,
flexible, and really know the subject matter. In order to communicate knowledge,
the teacher must have mastery of that knowledge. Finally, the good teacher is a
patient teacher, for discovery teaching cannot be hurried. It is often frustratingly
slow, but the goal of real student understanding is well worth the wait.
KEY CONCEPTS:
Jerome Seymour Bruner – father of cognitive psychology and proponent of
structure first and facts second in education.
Cognition – comes from the Latin word cognoscere which means to know.
Cognitive Theories – place emphasis upon the concept that learning is a
process of discovering and understanding relationships, and organizing
and finding significance in the sensory experiences aroused by the
external situation.
Acquisition – is the process of obtaining new information that can either replace
or refine something previously known.
Transformation – is the manipulation of information to fit new situations.
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Evaluation – is checking whether or not the learned material has been
manipulated appropriately.
Learning Theory – describes what happens after the fact.
Theory of Instruction – prescribes in advance how a given subject can be best
taught.
Bruner’s First Principle – specifies the conditions that predispose an individual
toward learning.
Motivation – the practical art of applying incentives and arousing interests for
the purpose of causing a pupil or student to perform in a desired way.
Extrinsic Motivation – the application of incentives that are external to a given
activity to make work pleasant and to facilitate performance e.g. praises
rewards, etc.,
Intrinsic Motivation – determination of behavior that is resident within an activity
and that sustains it as with autonomous acts and interests (curiosity, drive
to achieve competence, and reciprocity).
curiosity – the desire to know or learn about something.
drive to achieve competence – an energy or initiative to process certain skill,
knowledge, experience, etc., which is needed for the individual to excel in
his chosen field.
reciprocity – a need to work with others cooperatively.
Bruner’s Second Principle – here it was told that any given subject area if
structured appropriately could be understood by almost any student.
Structure – the manner which the elements or parts of a certain subject or
discipline is organized base on the degree of importance and difficulty.
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Mode of presentation – refers to the technique and method whereby
information is communicated.
Enactive Representation – the stage where children define words in terms of
the actions associated with them.
Iconic Representation – at this level subjects become conceivable without
having to be acted out.
Symbolic Representation – at this stage children can translate experience into
language.
Economy of Presentation – the shorter the subject could be summarize, the
fewer the facts, the greater is the economy.
Power of Presentation – a powerful presentation is a simple presentation, one
that is easily understood by the learner.
Bruner’s Third Principle – indicates that teaching should begin with the
enactive representation going to iconic and then symbolic.
Sequence – the order of representation of the elements of a subject.
Bruner’s Fourth Principle – discussed that for the student to be able to gain
mastery of the subject, reinforcement should be given at the right time.
Reinforcement – the strengthening of a response by adding an increment of
habit strength.
How Learning Takes Place:
In this theory Bruner indicates that learning is an active social process in
which students construct new ideas or concepts based on current knowledge.
The student selects information, originates hypotheses, and makes decision in
the process of integrating experiences into their existing mental constructs. Just
like Gestaltists, Bruner also believed that the student needs to understand the
whole structure or patterns of the subject for them to be able to achieve true
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understanding of the whole principle of the subject being learned or studied.
According to him a thorough understanding of the whole structure or patterns of
what and how they are learning are better than memorizing facts and figures. He
stressed further that once the whole structure of the subject is understood, the
students themselves could start to determine what they need to know via their
own discovery. Moreover, he believed that understanding the framework or
pattern of a body of knowledge provides a student with a way to categorize and
synthesize their learning. Tuning their knowledge of the entire subject by
uncovering the relevance of new information to the structure within their minds.
Bruner
claims
that
discovery
approaches
that
emphasize
structure
(interrelationships) of material rather than specific detail are likely to result in the
learning of material meaningfully rather than mechanically (rote memorization).
He believes that material so learned will have a high degree of usefulness
(transfer value), it will be more likely to be remembered, and that it will enable the
learner to move easily, in spiral form, from an elementary consideration of the
topic to a more advanced study of it later in the curriculum.
Critique/Reaction:
Bruner is a great psychologist who put much emphasis in the use of
discovery approach he insisted that it is better to let the students participate in
the knowledge getting process. The author agrees with Bruner when he said that
it is useless to memorize facts and figures without knowing the whole structure or
principle of the subject. For the author as one of the agents of education
believed that the teacher’s goal is not to produce little living libraries of
information, but rather to help students to be able to think for themselves and use
the knowledge that teacher imparts in discovering new information which could
be useful in having or gaining better understanding of a subject.
Even though the use of discovery approach in teaching could benefit
students thus, allowing them to think for themselves and have a better
understanding of the matter at hand the author believed together with other
critiques that its usefulness has its boundaries for it could not be useful in
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approaching other kinds of learning tasks that could be encountered in the school
setting. For this reason the author is giving her humble advice that teachers
should not stick in one method alone in trying to impart knowledge to their
students rather they should be knowledgeable in using variety of approaches
which could be equally beneficial. In making their choices the subject or topic
that they are going to tackle should be greatly consider as well as the learners
and availability of materials which could aid instruction.
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References
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Gaerlan, Josefina E., Delia A. Limpingco, Geraldine E. Tria, and Juan C. Brion. General
Psychology 4/e. Ken, Inc. 1994.
Galloway, Charles. Psychology for Learning and Teaching. McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1976.
Gonzales, Ma. Minerva A. and Company. Teaching Strategies in the Social Sciences for
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Kelly, William A. Educational Psychology (Revised Edition). The Bruce Publishing
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Lardizabal, Amparo S. Foundations of Education (Psychological, Sociological, and
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Papalia, Dianne E, Sally Wendkos Olds, and Ruth Duskin Feldman.
Human
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Module 2
SOCIOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION
What is social stratification?
Social stratification always takes place in a society. There can be no social
stratification without society. Hence, there is a need to define society first before
explaining the meaning of social stratification.
The Meaning of Society
There is several definition of society given the eminent authorities but the
definitions all point out at the following as the characteristics of society:
a.) A society is an organized group of people.
b.) The people occupy a portion of territory;
c.) The people show a district and continuous way of life, with a
comprehensive culture;
d.) The people perpetuate their group by sexual reproduction;
e.) The people think of themselves as a district group who common
sentiments and loyalties, an esprit de corps; and,
f.) The individual, under certain circumstances, sacrifices himself for the
good of the group.
The above-mentioned characteristics may as well constitute a
comprehensive definition of society. A group of people cannot constitute a
society unless it has the above-mentioned characteristics.
MEANING OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Social stratification is the division of a society into different hierarchical
classes of people according to certain criteria. The scale of division is from
the highest to lowest class
In some countries, social stratification is very rigid. Take the scale system
of India. The people are classified according to the following: the Brahmans
belong to the highest class, associated with the priesthood; the second class
is composed of the Kshatriyas, the warrior group or class; to the third class
belong the Vaisyas or tradesmen; to the fourth class belong the Sudras, the
servant class; and the last are the outcasts or untouchables, the Pariahs. The
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people are born into and they die in their own caste. The people of one caste.
Do not usually associate the people of another caste. One cannot get out of
his own caste and joint another caste ot easily. However, some efforts are
being exerted to lessen the rigidity of the caste system.
Social stratification in a democratic country like the Philippines is not very
rigid. Classification is loose and based merely on the general perceptions of
the people. The classes do not have any district nor clear-cut divisions. The
people are merely divided according the socio-economic criteria which were
having any definite limits boundaries. Thus, some people are considered to
belong to the upper class, some to the middle class, and the rest of the lower
class but exactly where the dividing lines are located is not known. People
may also be classified as very rich, rich, poor, very poor.
SOCIAL STATUS
Social status is the social class to which one belongs. It is the class into
which his socio-economic standing fits.
Social status may be ascribed of achieved. Ascribed status is due to the
accident of birth. It is the class into which one is born. If one is borne into a
rich family, then he belongs to the rich class. If one is born into a poor family,
then he belongs to a poor class
Achieved status is earned or acquired by means of a talent and effortmaking capacity of an individual or by force of circumstances. Nora Aunor
climbed the social ladder through her singing talent and acting ability coupled
with hard work. Vilma Santos rose from obscurity to prominence through her
acting ability and hard work too. Education is probably the best surest way of
improving social status but much effort must be exerted to obtain one. There
are also instances when one climbs the social ladder by force of
circumstances. When a poor girl marries a rich boy then she becomes a
member of the rich class. And so with a poor boy who marries a rich girl.
There was a man who won first prize in a Sweepstake’s draw. He invested the
money in good business which prospered tremendously. Thus, that man
became a member of the upper class.
DETERMINANTS OF SOCIAL STATUS OR CLASS
There are some determinants of social status. Some of which are the
following arranged from highest to lowest in scale.
A. Occupational and Income Scale
1. Owners and high officials of big business enterprises, high government
officials; professionals who have gained notable expertise and
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prestige; superstars on the show business. Amounts of income are
very high.
2. Lower officials of big business enterprises; owners and officials of
smaller business; professionals with moderate success; lower
government officials; movie stars with moderate success. Amounts of
income are high.
3. Employees performing clerical jobs. Amounts of income and average.
Also included here are skilled workers and small store owners.
Incomes are average.
4. Unskilled workers, laborers, tenant farmers, domestic helpers, small
vendors. Incomes are below average.
5. Semi-employed, underemployed, or even jobless. Incomes are very
low.
B. Education
1. Graduates from post collegiate courses such as graduate in medicines
and law.
2. College graduates
3. High school graduates
4. Elementary graduates
5. Primary graduates
6. Below primary schooling
C. Hour Type
1. Excellent houses- palatial, made of concrete and fine lumber, airconditioned,
with garage for one or more cars, spacious and wellkept yard, landscaped and well-kept lawn, and fully furnished. The yard is
well fenced.
2.
Very good houses- big but not so palatial, made of concrete and
fine lumber, air-conditioned, with garage for one or more cars, with fairly
spacious yard and landscaped lawn, fully furnished. The yard is well
fenced.
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3.
Good houses- fairly big, made of concrete and fine lumber, either
air-conditioned or not, with a garage for one car, with a small yard but wellfenced, with substantial furnishings.
4.
Average houses- not so big, semi-concrete, not air-conditioned, no
garage, a very small yard or a big yard but not well-kept or fenced, and
scantily furnished.
5.
Fair houses- usually small but enough for a family, made of wood
and other light materials, with a small yard and sometimes not fenced,
usually unfurnished.
6.
Poor houses- usually small, made of light and flammable materials,
with very little or no privacy at all no furnishings.
7.
Very poor houses- usually a one-room affair, made of cardboards
and other lights and flammable materials, no yard of its own but very close
to other houses of the same kind, easily blown down during typhoons.
D. Dwelling Area
1. Very affluent- these are first class subdivisions with well-paved streets
and sanitary, usually residences of very rich people. Lots are very
costly.
2. Affluent- these are also good subdivisions but not as good as the first
class subdivisions, the residents are also rich and the lots are also
costly.
3. Fairly affluent- these may or may not be subdivisions but places district
by themselves and good enough for the people to go about their daily
chores in peace.
4. Not affluent – these are the dwelling places of the great majority of the
common people. Most of the residents are not well-to-do but not so
poor and they can still manage to lead an ordinary life.
5. Poor – most of the people here poor and there is a great need for
improvement, but the residents can still manage to lead a livable life.
6. Very poor – these are places where are people are very poor and can
hardly manage to live. These are the slum areas where the living
quarters of the families are so close to each other that there is hardly
space to move about.
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SOCIAL MOBILITY
Social mobility is the case by which people move from one social class to
another. In the Philippines, since there is no law impeding the changing of one’s
social class, there are several opportunities of improving one’s social class.
Some of these opportunities are the following:
1. By effort-making
a.) By obtaining an education
This is the way improving one’s lot in life, and thus climbs the social
ladder. Many poor boys and girls who have worked during the day and studied at
night have been very successful in their professional practice. Some have even
acquired some kind of political power.
b.) By exploiting a talent
These are many boys and girls with special talent. They can raise
prominence by exploiting their talents to the fullest. Nora Aunor, as mentioned
before, has risen to the top through her acting proficiently. Flash Elorde exploited
to the full his boxing prowess and he rose from obscurity to fame.
c.) By hard work and resourcefulness
A women started her business career by selling odd things such as soap,
children’s bread and candies, thread balls, etc. from house to house. Then she
was able to open a one-meter-wide store in her town. Through the years, she
kept on expanding her business until she became one ot eh big store owners of
her town. Later, she was also able to acquire some passenger jeeps for hire.
2. By force of circumstances
a) By marriage
When a poor girl marries a rich boy, then she also becomes rich.
The same is true when a poor boy weds a rich girl. The boy also becomes rich.
There was a Filipina maid who married her millionaire boss and she became a
millionaire, too.
B.) By just being lucky
There was a small store owner in a certain city who won first prize
in a Sweepstakes draw. He made wise investments with his money and now his
heirs have good business establishments in the city in the form of movie houses,
hotels, buildings, offices for rent, and real estate. Another lucky man was a
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janitor. He was a college graduate but of the difficulty of finding a more
respectable job, he accepted a janitor’s job. One day while doing his chore, he
came across a big envelope with a large amount of money inside. He turned over
the enveloped with the money of he manager of the establishment who returned
the money to the rightful owner. Because of his honesty, the janitor was given a
more respectable job with greater responsibility but with a much bigger salary
plus the reward money that he received from the owner of the returned money
which quite sizeable.
STATUS SYMBOLS
Certain things are considered indicators of the social class to which one
belongs. A palatial house means that social class to which one belongs. A palatial
house means that owner is rich and that he belongs to the upper class. A car
owner belongs to the upper class or middle class depending upon the
expensiveness of the car. Jewelry is another status symbol. If one wears very
expensive jewelry, it means he or she belongs to the upper class. Even the place
where one lives is associated with social status. One who lives in Forbes Park
belongs to the upper class while one who lives in a teachers’ village belongs to
the middle class. One who lives in slum area of course belongs to the lower
class. The association or club to whom one belongs also indicates his social
status. A rotation is considered belonging to the upper class. The member of a
labor union belongs to the working class. Any member of the Philippine
Association for Graduate Education (PAGE) is a graduate degree holder.
ROLE
Role is a function or duty that an individual has to perform on account of
his position in society. A role may be obligatory or cultural. An obligatory role is
assign to a person because of the nature of his position. For instance, a
teacher’s role is to teach because that is what he is employed for. His position
can be taken away from him and he is no longer a teacher. A driver has to drive.
An office clerk to do the clerical work in the office otherwise, he is not a driver. An
office clerk has to do the clerical work in the office otherwise his position as clerk
may be taken away from him.
A cultural role is a function or duty assigned to an individual by culture or
custom. For instance, it is customary that keeper. But there are cases where the
father becomes jobless. In such cases, the mother becomes the breadwinner
and the father becomes the housekeeper. But the position of the man as a father
cannot be taken away from him. And so with the mother. It is the duty of a brother
to help another bother when the latter, he is still a brother to the latter. His
position as brother cannot be taken away from him.
The main difference between the two terms is that in the obligatory role,
position and role, position and role or function are inseparable, one cannot exist
without the other whereas in the cultural or customary role, the individual may not
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perform his role, the individual may not perform his role or function associated
with his position but his position cannot be taken away from him.
A person may behave differently in different roles. A person may be an
aggressive labor leader but he may be a submissive husband at home. A boy
may be submissively obedient at home but a very aggressive leader in school. A
person may also have many roles under one position. A mother, for instance,
prepares the meals, batches the children and prepares them house, washes
clothes, goes to market, etc.
EFFECT OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN LEARNING
Social stratification has certain effects upon learning. These are as
follows: (Bustos and Espiritu, p. 51)
1. Children belonging to a poor disadvantaged family do not aspire much for
higher education. This is due to the belief of the family that since it cannot
afford to send its children to higher institutions of learning, it is enough that
the children are able to read and write. This is the effect of the low socioeconomic status of the family.
2. Children coming from lower class families have very little exposure to the
influence of mass media such as newspapers, magazines, books and
other learning materials, radio and television. Hence, their learning
experiences are confined within the classroom only. It is believed that
because of his situation, students coming from the less privileged areas
like the rural areas have lower ratings in national ratings in national survey
tests like the NCEE than the students coming from the more affluent
areas. Students coming from prestigious schools also achieve higher than
those coming from disadvantaged or underprivileged schools.
3. In most cases, the educational attainment of a child matches the socioeconomic status of his family. However, in the Philippines, more and more
children coming from lower class families are attaining higher education.
This is due to the desire of the parents to save their children from
undergoing the same hardships that the former have experienced. Since
education is an important means of achieving social and occupational
mobility, parents utilize every possible means to institutions learning.
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SOCIAL GROUPS
The presence of social groupings in any society is unavoidable. It is the nature of
men to live in groups. People often group themselves in many different occasions
and circumstances. There are two principal reasons why men tend to group
themselves. They do so (1) because of gregariousness and (2) because of
necessity. Gregariousness is the tendency of men to be in the company of other
men. They simply love to be together and do things together. They love to eat,
play, travel, work, laugh together, etc. Necessity force men to group themselves
to do things which one man alone cannot do. For example, in fighting a common
enemy or in building a dam, a bridge, or a house, men have to work in groups,
work side by side.
TWO GENERAL TYPES OF GROUPS
There are two general types of groups as far as joining a group is
concerned: (1) involuntary groups and (2) voluntary groups.
1. Involuntary groups. Involuntary groups are those groups into which the
members are born. The members have no other choice but to be
members of the group they are born into whether they like it or not. Among
the involuntary groups are the following:
a) Family
The family is the basic unit of society, composed of the
father, mother, and children.
b) Neighborhood
This is the immediate vicinity of a family and composed to
households which are close together.
c) Barangay or barrio
The barangay is the smallest political unit composed of
neighborhoods.
d) Towns or municipality
This is the next larger political unit composed of barangays
or barrios.
e) Province
This is larger political entity composed of towns or
municipalities.
f) Nation
This is the whole country, the Philippines, whose people, the
Filipinos, occupy a portion of territory called their own, and
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who are conscious that they are one and under the same
government.
There are ethnic groups each of which has a district culture of its own.
Examples are the igorots, the ilocanos, the tagalogs, visayans, etc.
There are also larger international groupings such as the Asian region,
Middle East, Pacific region, south American countries, etc.
2. Voluntary associations or groups. These are called voluntary groups or
associations because the individual can choose the group to which he
wants to belong. Of course, the individual is under different kinds of
pressures when making his choice but the final decision is his. Some of
the voluntary associations or groups are the following:
a) Play groups
These groups are usually composed of children living in the
same neighborhood. A play group is called a voluntary group
because the individual child may or can choose to join or not.
b) Peer groups
These are usually formed by adolescents. They are usually
called barkadas are good but some turn into gangs with anti-social
tendencies.
c) Work groups
These groups are formed by persons working in the same
place or establishment such as construction workers, factory
workers, office workers, or performing the same type of work such
as farmers, teachers, doctors, etc.
d) Schools groups
Schools are set up for educational purposes and children
flocked to them and form groups, school groups. Other people
working in the schools are also members of the school groups.
e) Church groups
People who have the same religious beliefs and practices
group themselves together and form a church.
f) Purposive voluntary associations
These associations are organized for certain purpose/s. they
have aims and objectives to attain. Some of the aims are for
recreation, some are for athletics, charity, civics, brotherhood, or
purely social. Some others are for professional growth. Examples
are athletic clubs, chess clubs, fraternities, sororities, professional
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associations such as the Philippines Association for graduate
Education or Philippine Medical Association, etc.
GENERAL FUNCTION AND ADVANTAGES OF SOCIAL GROUPS
There are certain functions that are inherent in groups. Some of the
general functions of groups that make them very advantageous are the following:
1. Education. Education is acquired not only from a formal school system but
from the community as well. The community as a group is a big school by
itself. Any member of the group is a teacher and learner at the same time.
Knowledge, skills, language, values, attributes, habits, practices, etc. are
transmitted one person to another by observation, imitation, participation,
or by personal instruction. But of course, education is best acquired from
school. The school is the best dispenser of learning.
2. Protection. This is especially true among tribal groups. People of a tribe
usually unite or join together to ward of the instructions of other tribes or to
fight off fierces animals. Even in civilized societies, people of a small
community usually unite to fight off evil intruders. Sometimes, too, conflicts
between nations and the combatants usually fight in groups.
3. Perpetuation of the race. This is the function of the family by sexual
reproduction and rearing of the youth, the perpetuation of the race
insured. This is a very important and indispensable function of the family.
The family also provides love, affection, sympathy, and understanding for
the children.
4. Social control. The group is a very potent power for social control. Social
approval for a good act is generally a strong motivation for individuals to
act properly while a social disapproval for a bad act improperly. A man
performs good acts because he wants to look to the other members of the
group and he avoids bad acts because he does not like to look bad to
other people.
5. Ideology. Some people may believes in some kind of governmental
structure or administration and they group together to fight for their
ideology. They form a political party and work for the election of their
candidates. Sometimes they use violent means to attain their goal. This is
why the country has an insurgency problem.
6. Redness of grievances. Some people may feel that they have been
deprived of certain rights and privileges and they gather together and
stage rally or rallies. Students marching down the streets and rallying
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against the increase in tuition fees is one example. A labor union staging a
strike is another.
7. Charity. There are people who have a soft heart for the disadvantaged and
underprivileged. They organized and pool their resources to be able to
help those in distress.
They organized social welfare clubs, orphanages, rehabilitation centers,
and the like. They cater to the needs of extremely distressed people who
are victims of catastrophic events such as floods, typhoons, volcanic
eruption, earthquakes and other tragedies.
8. Recreation. People who feel the drudgery of their work or life itself may
from recreational clubs, tennis clubs, chess clubs, travel clubs, swimming
clubs, and the like.
9. Religion. The most important function of the church is the salvation of the
soul. But the church also serves as a means of social control. With the
spiritual and mortal values being learning in the church adherents are
good members of society.
10. Expression of talents. Groups and events are often organized to provide
channel for the expression of special talents. Athletics meets like SEA
Games and Olympics are very good channel for the exhibition of athletic
prowess. Beauty contest are good opportunities for showing the magic
power of the beauty and brain. Public speaking contests, singing contests,
quiz bees, and the like are good channels for the expression of special
talents.
11. Professional Enhancement. Those in the professions form association for
the purpose of professional enhancement; otherwise, they remain
stagnant in their respective professions the professionals have to gather
together once in a while in form of conferences, seminars workshops, and
the like to exchange ideas in a new trends of the profession. There is at
least one association for every profession in the country. Examples are the
Philippine Association for Teacher Education, Philippine Nursing
Association, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Philippine Medical
Association, and many others.
12. Purely social interaction. There are gatherings the only purpose of which
is purely social interaction. Birthday parties, baptismal parties, and
wedding anniversaries are of this kind.
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KINDS OF VOLUNTARY GROUPS (Further Elaboration)
There are several kinds of voluntary groups. Some of these are the
following: (1) peer group (2) idolized group (3) we-and-they-group and (4) formal
voluntary association.
1. Peer group. Peer group has two connotations. One refers to age level
peer group and other to the professional peer group. An age level peer
group is composed of a young boys and girls or young men and young
women of the same sex of the same age. A professional peer group is
composed of persons of the same professional work. For instance,
teachers belong to the same peer group, lawyers to the same lawyer peer
group, congressmen belong to the same congressmen peer group, etc.
hence, a teacher ia a peer of other teachers, a doctor is a peer of other
doctors, a congressmen is a peer of other Congressmen, etc.
The age level peer group has more important implications. The
members of an age level peer group are usually of the same socioeconomic status aside from having the same age and the same sex. The
peer group is further subdivided into the play group, gang, and the clique.
a) The play group
The play is the most common peer group. Because of
propinquity,
The member children because very intimate with one another and
their play is very informal and spontaneous without adult
supervision. Oftentimes, they develop and follow their own rules of
play. The children play very happily because they are not yet aware
of the serious problems of life.
b) Gang
Usually, young people start forming their gangs at the
teenage period but membership in a gang may continue until
adulthood. The local term for the gang is barkada which is more
common among boys than among the girls. The members
recognize a leader and sometimes developed their own subculture
by developing a kind of language somewhat different from the
ordinary usage, a mode of behavior of their own, and passwords
which only they understand. They have a meeting place where they
plan their activities.
Some gangs are notoriously antisocial. They thrive on conflicts.
They hate being advised by adult and by school authorities and do not
tolerate interference from the latter. They love creating trouble, fighting,
bullying, loafing, gambling, drinking liquor, and other antisocial activities.
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They often have a target to inflict harm upon – a policeman, an individual,
a store, a family, or an enemy, many gang members end up in jail or death
inflicted by the police, an individual, or by an enemy.
c) The clique
The clique is a small peer within a bigger peer group. A few
members of group may have the same feeling or attitude towards
a
certain issue, a common sentiment, a common sympathy and
understanding, a common grievance. They come together to form a
group but not separating from their original group. Because of the
strong attachment among the clique members due to the strength
of a common belief or feeling, they may defy the norms of their
families or school or society in general. Because if this, cliques are
usually considered undesirable. Cliques are not confined to the
young. They also exist among teachers, among the members of
congress, and among members of other big groups.
2. Idolized group. In some other sources, this is called reference group. This
is simply a group. This is simply a group. This is simply a group of
professionals whom an individual idolizes. For instance, if an individual
admires lawyers, he tries to observe how lawyers behave in the courtroom
and in social circles. He tries to conform to the behavior, attitude and
values of lawyers and aspires to be one. He now works toward that end, to
be a member of the lawyer’s group. Idolized groups are important because
they exert they strong influence upon an individual in the information of his
habits, values, conduct, and in the pursuit of his life aspiration, or
ambition.
3. The we-group and the they-group. These are groups mainly characterized
by belonging to a group and not belonging to the group.
a) The we-group
This is termed by some sources as in-group. This is a group where
one feels he belonging to this group have a feeling of solidarity or
oneness, camaraderie, sympathetic attitude, protectiveness, and
loyalty toward the other members. One may even accept
responsibility for the other members. A slur orb harm on one he
also considered done to the other members. They know each other
usually and enjoy doing things together. The we-group can be as
small as a family but it can be as big as a nation or international
region like the feeling being an Asian. When the we-group feeling
involves the family, neighbor, barrio, town province, region or
nation, it is an involuntary group.
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There are certain functions of the we-group feeling. Such function
are (1) it contributes to group loyalty and promotes group solidarity,
(2) it promotes conformity and therefore becomes a form of social
control, (3) it promotes nationalism (Hederson, bustos and Espiritu,
p. 47), and it promotes protectiveness among its members.
When the we-group is excessive, however, it becomes destructive.
The wars or conflicts between fraternities, barangays, tribes or
even between nations are the results of an excessive we-group
feeling.
b) The they-group
This is called an out-group by other sources. This is a group toward
which one has a feeling of indifference, strangeness, avoidance,
dislike, antagonism and even hatred. (Biertedt, Bustos and Espiritu,
p. 47). When the members of a we-group speak about themselves
they say “we” or “our group.” But when they speak about people
who are not members of the group they say “they.” The members of
the we-group deal with those of the they-group only because of
necessity
4. Formal voluntary associations. There are many kinds and types of
voluntary associations but they have some common characteristics which
are the following.
a) They are formally organized in the sense that they elect a set of
officers that would run to associate.
b) Entrance have the associations is voluntary;
c) They have a constitution and Bu-laws or a set of rules and
regulations to guide their activities;
d) They conct regular and/or special meetings in a definite designated
place;
e) They collect membership and annual fees;
f) They conduct regular and/or special activities to attain their goals;
g) They are non-profit;
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h) They have special provisions for helping co-members in distress
especially in times of sickness of death; and
i) A member may or can get out of or resign from the association of
which he is a member without any legal implications or obligations.
In addition, while most associations have local membership, some
have provincial, regional, national, and even international membership like
the Rotary Club and the Lions International.
The kinds or types of formal voluntary associations are the following:
a)
b)
Recreation group. Those interested in recreational activities form
themselves into associations to give fuller fulfillment of their
desire for recreation. And so there are tennis clubs, golf clubs,
chess clubs, travel clubs, dance clubs, etc.
Social Service groups. Those who have a soft heart for the
underprivileged, disadvantaged, and handicapped form
themselves into groups to be able to render better service of
those who are in need. These groups render a free medical and
dental services, construct waiting sheds, put up orphanages,
rehabilitation centers, give aid to victim of calamities, and the like.
The Red cross is a good example.
c)
Ideology or political action groups. These who have the same
belief or idea in some kind of governmental structures or
administration form themselves into groups and works as team
for their ideological goals. They form or join political parties and
work for the election of candidates that espouse their cause. In
some instances, they resort to violence to achieve their cause.
d)
Professional groups. Professionals form themselves into
association for the purpose of enhancing and improving their
professional knowledge and skills. They hold conventions,
conferences, seminars, workshop, demonstration, and the like to
update themselves in the new trends in their respective
professions. Example of professional associations are the
Philippine Association for Graduate Education (PAGE) for
graduate educators, Philippine Association for Teachers
Education (PAFTE) for teachers, Philippine Medical Association
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for doctors of medicine, and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines
(IBP) for Lawyers.
e)
Fraternity groups. The main pupose of fraternities is to promote
brotherhood among the members. It is here where the we-group
feeling is keenly felt. Examples are the Free and Accepted
masonry in the Philippines and the fraternities and sororities in
the colleges and universities. Sororities are for women while
fraternities are for men.
f)
Religious groups. Members of religious groups or church aspire
for the salvation of their souls. They also promote brotherhood
among men. Religious services are held every Sunday or
Saturday and in some special days and occasions. Churches are
very effective instruments for social control because they stress
the teaching of spiritual and social values, especially peace and
goodwill among men.
g)
The activist groups. Activism is a new phenomenon in the social
and political fields. People who feel deprived of certain rights and
privileges group themselves and stage rallies and marches and
make demands that are sometimes impossible to grant.
Sometimes the rallyists, carried emotionally by the fiery speeches
of their leaders become violent damaging some stores, turning
cars, trucks, and buses upside down and sometimes burning
them that the police have to intervene resulting in the death and
wounding of some of the rallyists and arrest of the leaders. In
some other cases, people leave their positions of responsibility
and join rallies violating some employment laws of the land.
Generally, though, rallies and marches are conducted peacefully
and in orderly fashion and demands are presented with sobriety.
h)
The union groups. It is now common practice that workers in
factories and other establishment and even in the government
forge themselves into unions to enable them to have a stronger
bargaining power. Labor unions usually work for better wages,
working conditions and some other benefits. Labor unions usually
forge collection bargaining agreement with their employers. The
strongest weapon of labor unions is the strike. Because of the
strike, weapon of labors union usually win a major portion of their
demands or at least get some concessions.
i)
The syndicates. The list of groups is not complete unless the
syndicates are included. Syndicates are groups that are
organized purposely to commit criminal acts to enable the
members to get what they want. Syndicates engage in many
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illegal activities such as kidnap-for-ransom, bank robberies,
smuggling, drug trafficking, illegal gambling, keeping prostitution
dens, robbing commercial establishments and rich people, car
napping, graft and corruption, raping, killing, and terrorizing
people to be able to get what they want. It is sad to note that
some members and protectors of some syndicates are law
enforcers or public officials.
It is needless to say that all educative agencies of the land must pool
their resources and work together very hard in cooperation with the
government’s efforts to minimize if not entirely eradicate the existence
of syndicates. Strong guidance and counseling program must be
established in all schools. There be should be a heavy emphasis in the
teaching of spiritual and values education. The church denominations,
instead of debating and fighting against one onother must work hard
cooperatively in intensifying the inculcation of spiritual values in the
minds of the young and old people as well.
INSTITUTIONAL GROUP AGENCIES FOR EDUCATION
As far as education is concerned, there are three very important institutional
groups that serve as agencies for learning: the family, the school, and the church.
THE FAMILY
The family is the smallest social institution. Bertrand defines family as a
“socially sanctioned group of persons united by kinship, marriage or adoption,
who share a common habitat generally and interact according to well-defined
social roles that maintain and protect its members and perpetuate the society.”
(Lardizabal, p. 91-92). In similar terms a family is composed a father, a mother,
and their children.
CLASSIFICATION OF THE FAMILY
The family may be classified as follows:
1. According to Structure
a. Conjugal or nuclear family- consisting of husband,
wife, and children.
b. Consanguine or Extended family – consisting of married couple,
children, and
relatives
2. According to the Number of Spouses
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a. Monogamy- consisting of only one husband and one wife married
at a time. This means that a widower or a widow can marry again.
b. Polygamy – plural marriage. There are three classes.
1) Polyandry – one woman married to two or more men at the
same time
2) Polygamy – one man married to two or more women at the
same time.
3) Cenogamy – group sex. Two or more men and two or more
women having sex together at the same time one after the
other.
3. According to line of Descent
a. Patrilineal – descent is through the father’s line
b. Matrilineal – descent – is though the mother’s line
c. Bilineal – descent is through the father’s and mother’s line.
4. According to Residence
a. Patrilocal – when the newlyweds live with the parents of the
husband.
b. Matrilocal – when the newlyweds live with the parents of the wife.
c. Neolocal – when the new couples live by themselves and have a
separate household.
5. According to Dominance
a. Patriarchal – when the father is the head and makes the major
decisions and dominant.
b. Matriarchal – when the mother is the head and makes the major
decisions and is dominant.
c. Equalitarian – when the father and mother share in making major
decisions and have equal authority.
General Function of the Family
The general functions of the family are
1. Perpetuation of the human race. The most important function of the family
is sexual reproduction to perpetuate the human race. Without sexual
reproduction, humanity would face extinction. But human reproduction
should be tempered to suit the needs of society, particularly economic in
nature. Family planning is now a necessity in the socio-economic life of
the people..
2. Rearing of the young. Children are helpless when they are born. They
need to be taken cared of. They need to be properly fed, clothed, and
sheltered and given all the necessary comforts. Then they are sent to
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school. All these things are done until the children are capable of leading
an independent life.
3. Providing psychological needs of the young. Psychological needs are as
important as the material needs of children. They need love, affection, and
sense of security. Embracing, kissing, praising, giving them touches and
taps of tenderness, playing with them, admonishing them gently to do
good and avoid bad things, and many other similaracts signs of love and
affection mean a lot to the children for their growth and personality
development. A good environment should be provided for the growth and
personality development of the children. A good aspiration in life must also
be inculcated in the minds of children.
Education Function of the Family (Home)
What are the educative functions of the family? What do the children learn
from it? Some of the things that children generally learn from their respective
families are:
1. Healthful living. Children are taught what proper foods to eat, and to eat
regularly; to brush their teeth regularly; to take a bath regularly; to keep
themselves always neat and clean, properly dressed, and well-groomed;
how to use toilet properly; to keep the house always clean including the
surroundings for sanitation, and keep things in their proper order. They are
taught to have proper rest and sleep and avoid things that are harmful to
health such as sleeping too late, drinking liquor, smoking and many others
that would make the body unhealthy.
2. Ethical standards. The rudiments of ethical standards are already learned
by the children at home. Spiritual, moral, and desirable social values are
taught to them in simple ways so that will have some ideas about what is
right and what is wrong. For instance, parents or elder brothers and sisters
would say, “Do not steal, that is bad; do not snatch the food or toy of your
playmate, that is bad; do not gamble, that is bad.” Parents usually
emphasize the don’ts rather than the do’s. Children are also taught good
manners and right conduct for almost all occasions. Respect for and
obedience to elders are emphasized: Answering or talking back to elders
is taboo. Many aspects in connection to proper behavior are taught to
children.
3. Socialization. The children are taught about their roles and status in
society, their roles as children, as students or pupils, as parents in the
future and as workers or professionals, etc. This is good because the
children are taught to be good and dutiful in their respective
responsibilities.
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4. Psychomotor and manipulative skills. Children are also learning at home
some important psychomotor and manipulative skills. They are taught how
to dance, walk, run and sit gracefully. They are taught how to use properly
kitchen tools, appliances, and utensils, especially for girls, and carpentry
tools for boys. In the farm, the boys are taught how to use the scythe,
bolo, plow, harrow, and how to sow and plant rice and vegetables.
5. Resourcefulness, industry, and thrift. Training the children to be
resourceful, industrious, and thrifty is an important concern of most
parents. Having gone through life them, parents know how important
these traits are and they want to transmit them to their own children.
6. Recreational skills. Recreation is important to all people and they engage
in recreational activities in one form or another knowingly or unknowingly.
Even chatting is a form of recreation to some. But many good recreational
activities have been developed from the early childhood experiences.
Many have developed the love for tennis, chess, drama, basketball,
volleyball, badminton, cycling, and others because their fathers taught
them how to play these in their childhood or boyhood days. Many good
hobbies have also been developed from the experiences of boyhood or
girlhood days such as gardening, hog or fowl raising, fishing, and orchard
keeping.
7. Better performance in school. Usually parents help their children develop
better skills in reading and writing, and arithmetic by teaching them how to
read and write properly and how to solve exercises and verbal problems in
arithmetic. This is especially true in the lower grades. The older children in
the family who have already reached the higher grades usually help their
younger brothers and sisters in their school work.
Summing up, all educative functions mentioned above belong to the
culture transmission or enculturation function of the family, that of transmitting
the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of the old generation to the young
generation.
THE SCHOOL
What is a school? A school is an institution established by society in which
the accumulated experiences of the past generations are passed on the
incoming generation by means of systematized programs of instruction. The
school is the center of learning as far as formal education is concerned. There
are three elements of school: the teachers, the pupils, students or learners, and
the place where the teaching-learning activities take place. If one is non-existent,
there is no school.
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Functions of a School
The functions of the schools are as follows:
1. Conservation function. The school conserves and preserves thought its
libraries and other devices recorded accumulated experiences of the past
generations such as knowledge, inventions, mathematics, science,
historical facts, skills, customs, traditions language, literature, music,
writing, and the arts. All these are preserved for the future generations.
2. Instructional function. This function, the main concerns of the school, is to
pass on the accumulated experiences of the past generations. This is
performed by individuals trained for the purpose, called teachers, mentors,
instructors or professors. The recipients of such instruction are the young
learners called pupils or the student. Some call such as instruction
enculturation when things of the local culture are taught, and acculturation,
when things of a foreign culture are taught of the students. In the
performances of the function, the deavor; politics, education, trade
industry, science, especially in medicine, and the like.
3. Research function. This is also an important function of the school. The
school conducts research to improve the old way of doing things or to
discover hitherto unknown facts of systems to improve the quality of
human life. In the performance of this function, for instance, some schools
are said to have discovered a kind of fuel for machinery that is said to be
inexhaustible if made operational or functional.
4. Social service function. One justification for a particular school to exist is
to render some kind of social service in the place where is to located. This
maybe done through some kind of outreach programs that may help
improve the literacy level of the community people, their health, means of
livelihood, recreational activities, enjoyment of modern conveniences, and
beautification of the place.
Relationship between the School and the Community
The term community as used here refers to the whole society.
1. The community supplies the school with the facts about new inventions,
discoveries, or new ways of doing things which are necessary to transmit
to the young learners. The school in turn returns in the community the
usefulness and practically of such inventions, discoveries, or new
knowledge through the work of its graduates to improve the quality human
life.
2. The community makes available and accessible to the school instructional
resources that are available in the place such us farms, rivers, lakes,
mountains and forests, museums, libraries, industrial and commercial
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firms, shop laboratories, offices of different kinds, and many others. The
schools will returns the service by means of the graduates applying the
skills and knowledge acquired in schools when they are employed in the
community after graduation.
3. The community or society makes possible the existence of the schools by
financing its operation and formulating policies. The school will return such
service by improving or enhancing the social, economic, educational, and
scientific endeavors of society through the work of its graduates.
4. The school may help the community through an outreach community
programs to improve the economic life of the people, improve their health,
raise their literacy level, and beautify the place and the like. The
community may return the service by patronizing the school, give
protection to it, and cooperating with the school in accomplishing its
community projects.
Evaluation of a school
The school may be evaluated in terms of the following: (the question
asked should be answered in the positive if the item referred to ranges from good
to excellent)
1. Faculty. Are the faculty member’s fully qualified education? Do they have
mastery of the subject matters they teach? The medium of instruction?
The method and tools of teaching? Methods and tools of communication?
The psychology of learning? Guidance and counseling? Are they punctual
and industrious in teaching? Are they healthy physical and mentally? In
short, are they rendering high quality of instruction?
2. Students. Does the school select its students so that only those with
adequate ability are allowed to take the higher and more difficult courses?
Are the students studious and resourceful? Are the standards of passing
high enough so that when the students graduate they posses the
knowledge and skills required of the course they have finished?
3. Social climate. Is the school atmosphere democratic? Quite, peaceful, and
orderly? Are all administrators, teachers and students, going about their
business dutifully and efficiently? Are there good human relation existing
between administrators and teachers? Between teachers and students?
Between administrators and students satisfied with the conditions existing
in the school? Do the teachers seem to be satisfied too?
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4. Facilities. Are the buildings and classrooms adequate for classroom
instruction? Are the library references adequate for the learners? Are the
pupils of students adequately supplied with textbooks and other learning
materials? Are the science laboratory and equipment adequate? Are
lighting and ventilation and cooling devices good? Are the pupils or
student free from danger when there is fire? Earthquake? Typhoon?
Flood?
5. Campus. Is the campus located in a place that is free from too many
distractions from moving vehicles? From noisy people? From blaring
music? Is the campus wide enough for the enjoyable movement of the
learners? Is it clean and sanitary? Is it free from floods because it has a
good drainage system?
6. Relevance. Are the courses offered by the school relevant to the need of
the community? Are the skills developed by the school badly needed by
the community? (Otherwise, the school might be contributing to the
widening mismatch between the skill needed by the community and the
skills required by the graduates. This is an important factor to consider.)
7. Social Services. Does the school render some kind of social services to
the community where it is located? Does it have a community outreach
program? Does the school help in raising the literary level of the people?
Improving their health conditions? Improving their means of livelihood?
Beautifying that place? Improving the recreational facilities of the place?
8. Accreditation. Are the courses offered by school accredited and
recognized by the government? Has the school submitted some of its
courses to voluntary accreditation by a duly recognized and authorized
accrediting agency in which the standards are higher than those required
by the government?
THE CHURCH
The church is a lifetime school of learning for a church goer, from
livelihood to death. The beauty of it is that although there is only one book to
study like the bible for the Christians, or the Koran for the Muslims, class
sessions are usually lively and rarely dull because there are always new things to
learn. The Bible does not run of interesting topics to discuss.
How Teaching is done
Teaching in the Christian Church is done through the following:
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1. Sermon or preaching. The sermon is the main parts of the devine
services. Among the Protestants, it is delivered usually by a minister or
pastor and among the Catholics, by a priest. The sermon is equivalent to
the lecture in the secular school.
2. Sunday School. This is a regular class held every Sunday in which the
bible is studied. The class session usually lasts for one hour. There are
separate classes for adult males, adult females, young adults, young
people, and children.
3. Bible studies. Bible studies are held at designated times and places
usually in houses of church members. Some Bible studies are held
regularly during week days or Sunday afternoons but some are held
irregularly.
4. Sermons on special occasions. Occasionally, sermons are delivered by a
minister during special occasions such as birthday parties, wedding
anniversaries, thanksgiving services, blessing a house, a car, or any
appliance, and necrological services.
5. Christmas and summer institutes. Usually, young people hold institutes
during the Christmas and summer vacations lasting one week each.
During these periods, they study the bible and also invite speakers to
deliver sermons.
6. Rallies and spiritual retreats. These are gatherings of church members
during which the bible is studied and some speakers are invited to
expound on certain religious topics. These are very similar to the seminars
and workshops held in schools.
7. Evangelistic meeting. These are held for the purpose of proselyting people
to join the church. Some speakers expound on some parts of the bible to
convince the hearers to join the church. There are many things learned
about salvation during these meetings.
8. Daily vacation Church school. This is held during the long vacation. These
are Bible studies but the participants are children only. They are held in
many places outside the church.
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9. Conferences. The Church also holds conferences during which many of
the church activities, the doctrines of the Church, and the Bible are
discussed. Many things are learned from these discussions.
What are learned in the Church?
1. History. The Bible contains many facts of history. Many facts about the
ancient histories of Persia, now Iran, Mesopotamia, now Iraq, and Israel
are contained in the bible.
2. Prophecies. There are many prophecies in the Bible some of which
already happened. One Example is the birth of Christ. The birth of Christ
was prophesied about five hundred years before he was born. Many of the
Biblical prophecies are still to happen according to many Biblical scholars.
3. Divine Values. Divine values deal with the right relationship between God
and men and the right relationship among men themselves. These are
prerequisites to the salvation of the soul. Some examples of divine values
are faith in God, love for fellowmen, the Ten Commandments, faith in
Christ, good works, charity, etc..
Characteristics of Divine Values
Some characteristics of divine values are the following:
a. Devine values are given and mandated by God.
The Ten Commandments are given and mandated by God to be obeyed.
“Love thy neighbor as thyself” is given by Jesus Christ. And so with the
other divine values which are too many to be enumerated here.
Human values, on the other hand, are developed by men
themselves. Human values are also cultural in the sense that a value in
one locality may not be a value in another locality. Take the case of kissing
the hands by the young to show their respect of their elders. This is
practiced in some localities. Shaking hands as a sign of goodwill is
practiced in the Philippines and in the United States but this is not a
common practice in Japan and in other countries.
b. Divine values are universally intended.
Divine values are mandated by god to be applied to all. The Ten
Commandments mean to be applicable to all and so with the other divine
values.
Human values are cultural. The kissing and shaking of hands are
practiced only in some localities but they are not in others. In some tribes
in India and in New Guinea, women can have two or more husbands and
among the Muslims a man may take two or more wives. These are
Muslims a man may take two or more wives. These are already violations
of the monogamous marriage mandated by God.
c. Divine values are eternal.
Divine values are eternal in the sense that they do not change. They
remain the same for all time. The Ten Commandments are the same and
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still in effect as when they given by God thousands of years ago. Divine
values are the same now and forever as when they were originally given.
Human values are not so. They changes, through slowly and gradually.
Some years ago, kissing in the movies was taboo. Now, it is a common
practice. Some years ago, seldom if all could one hear about a girl being
pregnant before her wedding day. Now, premarital sex and pregnancy are
becoming more and more common.
d. Violators of divine values are punished.
Violators of divine values are always punished by God. The only escape is
for them to be truly repentant and ask forgiveness God. If God forgives
them, then they escape punishment, otherwise they surely suffer for their
deeds.
Not all violators of human values are punished. One may lie to another
and he will get away with it punished.
HUMAN RELATIONS AND LEADERSHIP
As long as people live in groups, they have to maintain some kind of
relationships to enable them to carry on their daily activities cooperatively,
peacefully, and according to schedule. Accordingly, they have to have
good human relations and some have to be leaders to lead the groups in
the accomplishment of their ends.
HUMAN RELATIONS
A good human relation is getting along well with other people. The basis of
good human relations is good character. One must posses important divine
values as well as socially accepted human values to enable him to live well with
others.
Ten Commandments of human Relations
The National Production Center formulated the following commandment of
human relations:
1. Speak graciously to people. There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of
greeting.
2. Smile at people. It takes 65 muscles to frown, only 15 to smile.
3. Call people by first name. the sweetest music to anyone’s ears is the
sound of greeting.
4. Be friendly and helpful. If you would have friends, be friendly and helpful.
5. Be cordial. Speak and act as if everything that you do is a genuine
pleasure.
6. Be genuinely interested in people. You can like people if you try.
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7. Be generous with praise, be cautious with criticism. You make friends with
praise, enemies with criticism.
8. Be considerate of the feelings of other. It will be appreciated.
9. Be thoughtful of he opinion of others. There are three sides to controversy:
yours, the other fellow’s and the right one.
10. Be alert to give services. What counts most in life in what we do for
others?
Short Courses in Human Relations
There is going a short course in human relations designed by the same
center, as follows:
Six most important words:
“I admit I made a mistake.”
Five most important words:
“you did a good job.”
Four most important words:
“what is your opinion?”
third most important words:
“If you please.”
Two most important words:
“thank you.”
Least important words:
“I.”
in additional to the techniques of human relation mentioned above, then following
are suggested to maintain good human relations:
1. Give compliments and praises freely. Always give compliments or praises
to deserving people whenever occasions for such arise.
2. Be fair always. Treat everyone as you would want to be treated by others.
3. Keep secrets. Keep secrets unless it is necessary to reveal them for the
administration of justice. Do not gossip. Be as trustworthy as possible.
4. Criticize or argue tactfully. As possible, avoid criticizing people but if it
becomes necessary to criticize or argue, do it very tactfully. People admit
they are wrong of their mistakes or wrong ideas are pointed out with valid
reasons. This should be done politely, sincerely, and courteously. Avoid
sarcastic remarks.
5. Admit your mistakes. Admit your mistakes if you find out you are really
wrong. Be willing to subordinate your ideas to much more superiors’ ideas
of others. Say “I am sorry if you make a mistake.”
6. Recognized the merits of others’ opinions. If you disagree, say “I beg to
disagree” and then state your disagreement as courteously and politely as
possible.
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7. Be grateful always. Say “Thank you” for every favor you receive no matter
how small the favor is.
8. Give credit to whom credit is due. Avoid credit grabbing. This is unethical.
9. Be honest. Never cheat. Cheating gets its returns sooner or later. Do not
steal either.
10. Maintain a moderate level of humility. Do not boast nor show off. Boasting
and showing off are usually disliked by people.
11. Be kind, generous, and helpful. Help all people you can, in all places you
can, and at all times you can.
12. Be friendly. Do not bully. You make friends if you are friendly, and
enemies, if you are a bully.
13. be dependable, responsible, and keep promises. People hate those who
are irresponsible and who do not keep their promises.
14. Be punctual. Keep dates and appointments on or before time.
15. Be resourceful, hardworking, and frugal. People treat with indifference
those who are lazy and spendthrift.
16. Be cooperative in group undertakings. People usually hate others who are
not cooperative in group undertakings.
17. Be firm with reasoned convictions. People usually admire those who are
firm in their reasoned convictions.
18. Shun vices. Avoid evil vices such as drug addiction, drunkenness, and
execessive gambling. People engaged in these vices kake trouble without
any valid cause.
19. Respect the convictions, beliefs, and practices of others. Respect the
convictions, beliefs, and practices of other people that are against the law,
especially religious convictions, beliefs, and practices. Do not cast
aspersions upon such convictions, beliefs, and practices. In a friendly
exchange of ideas, however, you can point out the validity of your beliefs
and falsity of the other fellow’s beliefs but without being offensive.
20. Maintain A decent and socialy approved love life. Avoid being involved in
extra-marital relations which often lead to serious family problems, broken
homes, or even death.
21. Be good, law-abiding citizen. Violators of the law are usually dislike by
people.
Summarizing, acquire and maintain divine and usually and socially approved
values to be able have good human relations.
LEADERSHIP
Whenever and whenever people live groups, there always arises a leader
in each group. This is a natural phenomenon. But what is a leader? According to
Lardizabal, a leader is a person who influences the group to follow the course of
action advocates. Hence, leadership is the act of influencing a group to follow a
certain course of action.
Quality of a Leader
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According to Kagan and Havemann, leadership traits consist of
persistence, dependability, self-confedence, popularity, food speech, and
participation in the activities of the group.
According to Ruch, a person with leadership qualities is (1) physically
healthy, (2) greatly energized, (3) easily predictable, (4) aloof from the masses ,
(5) not too far above the crowd, (6) knowledgeable on human motives, (7)
consistent in unifying his follower.
According to Morgan, a leader must participate actively in the group. He
must be dependable, persistence, verbally facile, self-confident, and socially
popular.
In addition to the qualities of leadership mentioned above, some Filipino
leaders advocate that the following should be among the qualities of a leader:
high mental ability, honesty (very important), credibility, experience, firmness in
his conviction, righteousness, self-sacrifices, knowlegeability, willingness to take
risk, and vision (the ability to see what will happen in the future through the
analysis of evens), with good human relations and with technical skill.
Leadership Foundation Defines Leadership
L – Leadership is loyalty to God, country, and People.
E – It is enthusiasm, energy to help and serve others.
A – It is action, accomplishment, achievement.
D – It is dedication, discipline, Dignity, Dependability, devotion to duty, daring,
determination, decisiveness for the general welfare.
E – It is Excellence, exemplary work for others to follow and emulate.
R – it is reliability, responsibility, respect for the law and the rights of others,
reconciliation for peace and unity, fairness in rewarding.
S – it is sincerity, service, self-sacrifice, social justice to make life better for
mankind, self-confidence, oral proficiency.
H – It is humility, honesty, honor, helpfulness, hard work.
I – it is integrity, interest, initiative, idealism.
P – it is patience, perseverance, beyond partisanship, religion or creed, love for
peace, progress and prosperity for mankind and predictability.
Theories About the Emergence of leaders
1. Situation theory. The qualities of a person are those needed to deal with
the situation and so, he is selected as a leader.
2. Personal behavior theory. A person behaves according to the demands of
the situation and so, he is selected to lead.
3. Supportive or participatory theory. A prospective leader supports or helps
his prospective followers, supporting the letter in his quest for leadership.
4. Social theory. An individual facilitates the activities of the members of a
group and resolves their conflicts and because he is good facilitators, he is
selected as the leader of the group.
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5. Psychological theory. The individual who motivates the members of a
group to engage in activities that would satisfy their personal needs is
selected as a leader. This is true with labor leaders.
6. Autocratic theory. An individual uses coercion and duress to attain his
leadership status.
7. Supernatural powers theory. An individual may have an “agimat,””taliman ”
or magic power that enables him to attain his leadership status.
8. Inheritance theory. When a king or emperor dies, his heir, usually a son
inherits the throne of his father.
9. Accident theory. When an elected president dies of resign, his vicepresident takes over the position.
10. Prestige theory. Usually the most prestigious member of a group is
selected as the leader of the group.
11. Personality traits theory. When a person has good traits such as high
mental ability, integrity and honesty, willingness to serve, high education
attainment, good character, etc., is selected as a leader.
Kinds or Types of Leaders
1. According to Status
A. Formal leader – one who officially occupies a position of leadership
as president, vice president, king, etc.
B. Informal or contributing leader – one who has no official position but
who provides or contributes bright ideas for the group.
2. According to Managerial Grid
a. Autocrat – one with high regard for work but very little
regard or care for workers.
b. Missionary – one with the highest concern for people.
c. Compromiser – one with equal concern for work and
people.
d. Deserter – one with very little concern for service and
people.
e. Executive - one with the highest regard for service or
work as well as for workers or people. This is the highest
type of leadership.
3. According to Manner of Participation
a. Autocratic – there is practically no participation of the group
in decision-making.
b. Participatory – authority is decentralized. The group is
involved in decision-making.
c. Free rein – the leader depends upon the group for
decision- making.
4. According to Democratic Practices
a. Authoritarian – decision –making is in the hands of one
man.
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b. Democratic – decision-making is in the hands of the group.
The group itself is self-governing.
Function and roles of a Leader in an Organization
The leader:
1. Establishes well-defined patterns of organization, channel of
communication, and ways of getting jobs done.
2. Serves as spokesman and representative of the group.
3. Helps the group determined procedure in decision-making and in carrying
out plans.
4. Initiates plan.
5. Settles conflicts and difficulties in the group. Helps establish a social
climate, esprit de corp.
6. Clarifies duties and help the group organize itself.
7. Serves as guidance counselor.
8. Maintains membership, cohesiveness, cooperation; develop the feeling
that to stay is pleasant.
9. Work for the attainment of goals and objectives.
10. Delegates’ responsibility and authority to maximize participation and
performance.
How a leader Deals with His Subordinates
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
In dealing with his subordinates, a leader must assume the following roles:
Supporter and friend, especially for promotion.
Provider of necessary information and facilities.
trainer, helps group learn from experience or otherwise.
counselor, counsels subordinates who have problems.
Practices democratic ways with subordinates.
he should maximize subordinates’ ideas and participation. He should not
grab ideas as his own but should give credit to whom it is due.
Methods a Leader May Use in Influencing the Group in Decision-Making
1. Telling. The leader identifies the problem, considers alternatives solutions
and selects one and informs the group of his decision. The leader makes
the decision without consulting the group.
2. Selling. The leader makes the decision and conveniences the group to
accept the decision by citing its advantages.
3. testing. The leader presents the problem and necessary information. Then
the members of the group, including himself, give proposals to solve the
problem. Then they test the proposals to see which is the best and the
most relevant.
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4. Consulting. The leader presents the problem with background information.
Then he asks the members to give their ideas and alternative solutions.
Then he selects the best proposal according to his judgement.
5. Joining. The leaders joins and participates in the discussion and agrees to
abide by whatever decision the group makes.
The Problem-Solving Process a Leader may Use
1. Identify, state, and define or clarity the problem (project).
2. If the problem or project is complicated, it may be divided into subproblems. Committees are assigned to gather facts about each subproblem.
3. In plenary session, all available facts should be utilized in discussing all
the ramifications of the problem or project.
4. This is now the ideas-getting process. The members are enjoined to give
their proposed or alternative solutions to the problem or project.
5. This is now the idea-evaluation process. The advantages or
disadvantages of each proposed or alternatives solution are presented.
6. Choice of the final proposed or alternatives solution is achieved by voting
or by other means.
7. Implementation.
Salesmanship
The leader ia a salesmanship. However, he does not sell material goods
for personal profit. What he sells are ideas or sometimes material goods to
answer the needs of the group. He sells ideas in the sense that he uses his
persuasive powers to convince his group to adopt his ideas for the good of the
group. Following are some suggestion for an effective selling technique:
S- sell an important idea. Be sure the idea benefits those it is intended for. An
instance is the setting up of a cooperative.
A – Advertise the idea. Inform all the people involved. In the example above, it is
the putting up of a cooperative.
L – Let the people learn all the essential aspects of the idea. A seminar or a
meeting may be held where everything is explained.
E – Be enthusiastic and eloquent. Enthusiasm begets enthusiasm.
S – select points that appeal most to the people. It is credit cooperative?
M – Let one move for the adoption or approval of the idea.
A – Apply the idea if it is approved. This is implementation.
N – If the idea is not approved, the extreme necessary of its adoption must be
pointed out more emphatically.
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S – Be sincere. If the people see the sincerity of the leader in pushing through
the idea, they may relent.
H – Hear the people talk about their objections. The objections may be overcome
by an impassioned appe*****
I – Interest the people more. Motivate them and use all kinds of motivation.
P – Persidt in pushing through the idea. Do not give up so easily. If the session is
to closed slam the door shut for good. Instead, give the people enough time to
think and study the idea further and make a hint that the issue may be reopened
in some opportune time in the fortune.
General Function of a Leader
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Summarizing, the general function of a leader are:
Planning – making plans for the activities of the organizations.
Organizing – putting up to structure of the organization
Staffing – assigning personnel to the different positions.
Directing – guiding the activities of the organization.
Coordinating – systematizing the activities of the group.
Budgeting – estimating the income and Expenses of the organization.
These general functions are acronymed POSDCORB. These functions are not
performed alone by the leader but they are usually done his direction and
supervision.
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SOCIAL PROBLEMS
There are many social problems that beset the country which may adversely
affect its progress. The school has an important obligation to help minimize such
problems if not entirely eradicate them. Some of the more serious problems are
the following:
DRUG ADDICTION
Drug addiction is both a serious national and international problem. Some of the
causes are:
1. Membership in a “barkada”. If the members of a barkada are drug addict,
any incoming member will eventually become a drug addict too because
of the influence of the old members.
2. Overuse. A drug may be taken by a patient as a pain reliever but because
of constant use, the patient becomes addicted to the drug.
3. Curiosity. Some persons, especially the young ones, are curious about the
effects of a drug and they experiment using it. Later, they become
habituated to the use of the drug.
4. Frustration. Some persons, who are highly frustrated may take drugs to
lessen the impact of their disappointment and depression. The frustrations
may be caused by broken homes, parental problems, soured love affairs,
failure to find a job, etc. Before it is too late, they become addicted.
5. Victim of pusher. Some persons, especially women and children, become
victims of a pusher. The pusher gives children gives them free food and
drinks under the guise of friendship and kindness until they become
habituated to the drug.
6. Removal of inhibition. Some persons may be inhibited to do something
under their normal consciousness; consequently, they take drugs to
weaken the inhibition. Some actors and actresses cannot act according to
the demands of the scene and they take drugs to be able to act
accordingly. Some doctors cannot operate either unless they are under
the influence of a drug. Later, they become addicted.
7. Boredom. This is especially true with rich people who have high incomes
from their investments or inheritance. They do not need to work and are
idle the most of the time. Because of idleness, they become bored and to
lessen their boredom, they take drugs.
8. Ignorance. Ignorance of the evil effects of drugs may lead a person to take
drugs to enjoy the feeling of being “high” until he becomes addicted. This
is especially true with people of low level of education.
9. Easy access to drugs. When drugs are easily available, some people are
tempted to try taking them.
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Evil Effects of Drugs
The evil effects of drug abuse are being suffered by seriously addicted
individuals. Some of the evil effects are the following:
1. The personality of the addict becomes disorganized. His mental powers
fail to recognize logical relationships and are discordant. For instance, if
he is asked who the president of the Philippines is, he may answer Manila.
2. His physical health also deteriorates. He looks messy, haggard, and
malnourished because he losses his appetite to eat. Because of his sickly
condition, mentally and physically, he ceases to be productive. Hence, he
becomes a liability to his family and to society.
3. The more he is addicted, the more he craves for the drug. When he runs
out of money to but the drug, he resorts to stealing or even killing to
procure it. Thus, he becomes a menace to society.
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
Juvenile delinquency as the term connotes is the commission of anti-social acts
by young persons, usually minors. Although this is not much of a problem in the
rural areas, it is however a real problem in cities and big towns. Juvenile
delinquency may be in the form of disobedience, theft, robbery holdups, rape,
prostitution, etc. Some of the causes are:
1. Congestion. Since industrialization and big businesses are usually found
in cities and big towns, people tend to migrate to seek employment and
found their luck here. Wanting to live near their places of employment,
they construct houses near the factories or business where they work.
Because of the limited space, the houses are constructed barely a meter
apart causing congestion. Other people live in apartments, where each
apartment usually accommodates two or more families resulting to
congestion. Some of these houses are only shacks. Practically, there is
very little or no privacy at all. Children play in narrow and muddy streets or
aisles in between houses. Quarrels occur often. Children are easily
influenced by bad characters. Such conditions, the young people become
prone to committing delinquent acts.
2. Frustration. Frustrations caused by broken homes, unrequited love, failure
to acquire something extremely desired, etc. may make a young man
violent. He may resort to drinking liquor and becomes a trouble maker.
3. Joining a gang. Gangs are usually composed of teenagers who are
antisocial. They develop hatred toward somebody or something or another
group without any justifiable reason at all. They are delighted in doing
harm to the person they hate.
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4. Psychological Needs. Lack of an overt show of warm affection, love,
guidance, and close supervision by parents who are out most of the time
due to work may give the children a feeling that they are not loved. They
do not feel the joy of the loving caress, embraces, and kisses of their
parents. It is worse if the parents are cruel, overstrict, and inconsistent in
imposing discipline over their children. The children feel that they are
rejected and they become rebellious. The problem is they vent their
vengeance upon other people and do all sorts of anti-social acts.
5. Poverty. “The empty stomach knows no law,” so goes the saying. Children
of very poor families who are hungry are forced to steal. Likewise, when
they see the fast tempo of city life and the varied leisure activities, they
are tempted to procure by any means the amount of money they need to
enable them to participate in such joy-giving activities. They may resort to
theft, robbery hold-up or pick-pocketing.
6. Idleness. Idleness usually breeds mischief.
7. Lack of spiritual and moral values. Spiritual and moral values are the most
important factors that prevent anyone from committing a crime. If children
are well-instructed and seasoned in spiritual and moral values in the
home, Church and school, they will not become wayward no matter what
condition or state they find themselves in. But if children are brought up
without any instruction in spiritual and moral values, they are easily
tempted to do wrong.
LACK OF PEACE AND ORDER
What are the peace and order conditions in the country today? Every day,
we hear from the radio or read in the newspapers about killings, robbery hold-ups
especially in jeepneys and passenger buses and taxis, rape with homicide, etc.
On of the most heinous and sensationalized crime committed was the massacre
with rape of the Vizconde family. There are many of the same type of crime
occurring throughout the country such as bank robberies that occur in a matter of
minutes. Carnapping is very rampant. Kidnap for ransom is a very lucrative
business for the crime syndicates. There is insurgency in every region of the
land. Houses and business establishments are ransacked and robbed. Drug
trafficking proliferates. Graft and corruption in the government is not an
uncommon occurrence.
The occurrence of such gloomy picture may be attributed to the following
causes:
1. Ideology. Some Filipinos have embraced the communistic ideology. They
want to wrest control of the government by all means so that they can
push through with their program of government. Because they cannot
wrest control of the government by peaceful means, they resort to
insurgency. Coup d’etats also occur.
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2. Poverty. Because of extreme necessity of basic needs especially food,
some people resort to petty thefts, jewelry snatchings, holdups especially
in jeepneys, buses, and taxism and robbery.
3. Get-rich-quick mentality. Some people have this mentality and they
engage in bank holdups and robberies, kidnaps for ransom, and
carnappings from which they get away with hundreds of thousands and
millions of pesos. Graft and corruption in the government is rampant, too.
4. Lack of spiritual and moral values. People with rich spiritual and moral
values rarely commit crimes against others. It is the unprincipled
individuals who consider that what are yours and mine are also theirs.
5. Ineffective law enforcement. When criminality is rampant it means that law
enforcement is ineffective. This is because the wrong doers get away free
and unpunished. It is sad to note that there are some high-ranking officers
in the law enforcement agencies who are in connivance with crime
syndicates. This may be one reason why law enforcement is weak.
SEX PROBLEMS
The more serious sex problems are the following:
1. Pre-marital relations – having sexual relations before legal marriage.
2. Extra-marital relations – married people having sexual relations with
others not their spouses.
3. Frigidity and impotence – Frigidity is the absence of sexual desire on the
part of a woman and impotence is the failure of erection of the male organ.
If the woman is frigid and the man is sexually strong, or if the woman is
not frigid and the man is sexually impotent, sexual incompatibility results.
The sexual desire of a partner cannot be satisfied by the other.
4. Prostitution – A woman is paid immediately, usually in the form of money,
after having sex with a man.
Sex Problems in the Country
1. Incest – sexual intercourse between father and daughter, mother and son,
or brother and sister.
2. Wife-swapping – exchanging of wives. We have yet to see this happen in
the country.
3. Hippie Family – several men and women living together intimately and
having sexual relations among themselves. Like wife-swapping, we have
yet to see this kind of sex relationship.
4. Homosexuality – sexual attraction to the same sex. There are many
homosexuals but they are not creating any serious social problem.
5. Nymphomania – very extreme sexual desire in women. Women having
this problem are very rare unless fed with a sex stimulant.
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Causes of Sex Problems
1. Trial Marriage. There are minority tribes that practice trial marriage
because of their dwindling population. if a boy and a girl live together as
husband and wife for a certain time, and they are not able to produce a
child, they separate and find other partners. Even here in the lowlands,
some partners practice trial marriage to find out if they are compatible;
otherwise, they separate.
2. Contraceptives. The development of birth control techniques especially
the use of the pill and the condom lessen the fear of untimely pregnancy.
With this inhibition removed, girls become more free to engage in
premarital sex.
3. Poverty. This may be the principal cause of prostitution. This is more
prevalent in cities. Even very young boys and girls engaged in this kind of
money-earning venture. They especially cater to foreigners who give
higher tips. Some married women whose husbands are jobless may
engage in extra-marital relations for survival. Also, some women desire a
luxurious style of living may attach themselves to men who can give them
the kind of lifestyle they want.
4. Congestion. Living in crowded dwellings as a result of industrialization
where privacy is very much lacking may throw people of opposite sex
intimately together, resulting in aroused sexual desire.
5. Influence of movie stars – Popular movie stars, actors and actresses alike
are often reported by the media to have two or more sex partners, some at
the same time while others one after the other. Without strong
condemnation from society, movie fans tend to follow the footsteps of their
movie idols.
6. Desire for luxury – A woman who desires to have a luxurious living may
attach herself to a rich man who give her the kind of living she wants: a
comfortable home, car, jewelry, etc.
7. Working women – Married women who work, especially in offices where
they have close contacts with their male officemates, are often tempted to
fall in love with the latter. This results in secret meetings and illicit
relationships.
8. Lewd shows – Lewd shows in the movie houses, and private home with
Betamax equipment arouse the sex desires of both male and female who
then seek outlets to satisfy their aroused sex desires.
9. Women’s Lib – The women’s liberation movement wants to erase the
double standard of sex morality between men and women. While a
married man is tolerated or even idolized by society if he engages in extramarital relationships, this is a taboo for women. Women want to be in
equal footing with men when it comes to extra-marital relations. Thus, a
woman who catches her husband having an affair with another woman
may do the same.
10. Weakening of close family ties – Because of the weakening close family
ties, there is now more permissiveness prevailing in the family. Children
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are more easy going and do not pay much attention to the advice of their
parents. Hence, they become easy victims of sex perversions.
11. Accessibility of hotels and motels – The easy accessibility of hotels,
motels and other houses of bliss often encourages people to engage in
elicit love affairs. Illicit lovers can easily go to these places for their sex
adventure.
12. A spouse working abroad – When a spouse has to work abroad, either
spouse feels the loneliness of living without a partner or being deprived of
the satisfaction of sex relationship. Thus, he or she may fall into the
temptation of falling in love with another partner. This may result in
separation. There are many cases of this kind.
13. Lack of strong spiritual and moral values – Spiritual and moral values are
the strongest defenses against sex way-wardness.
Negative Effects of Sex Problems
1. Untimely pregnancy. This is the result of premarital sex relationship. If the
boy does not want to wed the girl, it is a big problem for her and her family.
Since honor is involved, the girl may resort to abortion which may result to
abortion which may result in her death. In some cases, the girl commits
suicide.
2. Broken Home. If a husband or a wife engages in extramarital relations and
the other one discovers this, the spouses may end up separating from
each other. Their children will suffer the effects of the separation. In some
cases, the man enraged by jealousy may kill his wife’s lover or his wife or
it may be other way around. In another case, a boy forced to marry a
pregnant girl whom he does not love later on break up the marriage,
resulting in a broken home.
3. Venereal disease and / or AIDS. Venereal diseases and AIDS often afflict
people who are engaged in prostitution. There is also transmission of the
diseases in extra-marital relations. The ordinary venereal diseases are
curable but so far, no drug has been found yet to cure AIDS. Besides,
children of parents affected by a venereal disease are born defective.
They may have deformed faces, limbs, etc. and may be retarded mentally.
POPULATION EXPLOSION
Population in the Philippines is increasing by leaps and bounds. Some of the
causes are:
1. Values and Beliefs. In agricultural areas, children are considered as
assets because they can help their parents work in the farms, and so, the
couples do not practice family planning. The Catholic Church only
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approves of the rhythm method or abstinence as a method of birth control
which is ineffective and difficult to apply. Hence, Catholics have to make a
difficult decision between the rhythm method and contraceptives.
2. Medical consciousness. People are now medically conscious. Once they
feel something wrong with their bodies, they go to a hospital or to a doctor.
They now seldom go to a herbolario. Hence, many lives are saved from
death and the life span is prolonged. Pregnant women now go to a
hospital or to a doctor for a check-up. As a result, there is very little infant
mortality.
3. Ignorance of birth control methods. This is true especially in the rural
areas where the people are less educated and less informed. They do not
know any method of birth control except abstinence which is very difficult
to apply.
4. Poverty. Some couples know some techniques but they cannot afford to
sustain the constant buying of contraceptives. Some resort to ligation but
others are still afraid undergo this kind of minor operation.
Negative Effects of Overpopulation
1. Poverty. This is the result of underdevelopment and unemployment
because there are more people than jobs available. There is also less
food supply, resulting in malnutrition. The quality of life is also lower.
Because of poverty, many parents cannot send their children to school
and so there is a lower educational attainment of the people. Because of
poverty, many people cannot afford to buy lots and construct houses and
they resort to squatting in makeshift dwellings.
2. Retarded national economy. The economic gains realized each year are
gobbled up by the increase in pollution. For instance, we increase in rice
production but the increase is leap-frogged by the increase in population
and so we have to import rice to cover up the shortage.
POVERTY
Among the causes of poverty are the following:
1. Overpopulation. If there is only one pie to be eaten, two persons can eat
more than when there are ten people to eat it.
2. Calamities. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, floods and fires
often make people impoverished.
3. Unemployment. Because of over population, there are not enough jobs to
accommodate the people resulting in unemployment. This is made worse
by the lack of resourcefulness and the indolence of the people.
4. Graft and Corruption. It is not uncommon that funds intended for economic
development go into the pockets of a few individuals, thus depriving the
intended beneficiaries of the benefits they would derive from such
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economic development. Even victims of calamities suffer from this kind of
social malaise.
Naturally, the effects of poverty are deprivation of even the basic necessities of
life, how quality of life, low education, low morale, feeling of insecurity,
malnutrition, and theft and robberies.
GAMBLING
Legal or illegal, gambling is a problem. The more common forms of gambling are
gambling in the casino, jueteng, cockfighting, and card games. The possible
causes are:
1. Recreation. Some people consider gambling a recreational activity.
2. Strong belief in “luck”. Some people strongly believe that luck maybe on
their side, so they gamble.
3. Get rich quick mentality. Some like to accumulate lots of money in a short
time and in an easy way and so they place bets in gambling and buy
sweepstakes tickets. The poor people in the barrios and towns are
encouraged to place their bets in jueteng because with a few centavos,
they can win hundreds of pesos.
4. Lack of strong spiritual an moral values, Anybody lacking these can
become wayward.
Negative Effects of Gambling
1. Some people become impoverished because of gambling.
2. They lose fortunes especially if luck is not on their side.
3. Excessive gambling at night causes deterioration in the health of an
individual.
4. Since gambling has no economic value, time spent in it is useless.
ALCOHOLISM
Alcoholism is an excessive drinking or liquor. It results to drunkenness which is
also a serious social problem. Among the possible causes of alcoholism are the
following:
1. Recreation. Some people consider drinking with friends as a recreational
activity. Members of a barkada are very happy when they drink together.
2. Social function. Some people consider liquor drinking as a part of a social
function. To them, social function is not complete without drinking a beer
or wine.
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3. Frustration. Some people drink to drown out their frustrations. To forget
problems and worries, people resort to drinking until they become drunk.
4. Lack of spiritual and moral values. Persons without spiritual and moral
values are easily tempted to get drunk.
Negative Effects of Alcoholism
1. Killing. Probably, this is the most serious bad effect of drunkenness. This
is especially true in big cities. Every morning, we hear from the radio that
someone has been stabbed or shot after a drinking spree. This is due to
the fact that the inhibitory powers of an individual are greatly weakened
when he is under the influence of liquor and do things which he cannot do
when he is under his moral consciousness. Thus, a slight argument
between two drinkers may trigger one to stab or shoot the other. Persons
under the influence of liquor are potential troublemakers.
2. Injury to health. Excessive drinking weakens the constitution of the body. It
also aggravates certain ailments like stomach ulcers, hypertension, and
tuberculosis. It is especially dangerous for people with heart ailments to
drink excessively.
TRAFFIC CONGESTION
1. Concentration of establishments in the city. There is too much
concentration of industrial and commercial establishments as well as
educational institutions in the city. This causes too many people to flock to
the city where many vehicles are needed to transport them to their places
of work and places of study.
2. Oversupply of vehicles. There is an oversupply of private vehicles and
small transport vehicles such as jeeps and tricycles which occupy more
space in the streets than big buses do.
3. Narrow streets. Many of the city streets are constructed without foresight.
They are very narrow and cannot accommodate many vehicles.
4. Lack of flyovers and double-decked streets. Flyovers certainly ease traffic
in street intersections. Double-decked streets can accommodate more
vehicles. Double-decked streets are found in some cities in Japan.
5. Illegal parking. There are so many vehicles illegally parked in the streets
obstructing the smooth flow of traffic.
Negative Effects of Traffic Congestion
1. Waste of Time. It often happens that a distance which can be negotiated is
a matter of minutes when there is very light traffic is negotiated in a
number of hours when there is heavy traffic which can be traversed in
thirty minutes of less when traffic is light. It is simply a waste of time.
2. Hampered production. Because of traffic jams, workers often go to their
places of work late not only in minutes but hours. Students also go to their
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classes late. Under such condition, production is surely hampered,
economic or otherwise.
3. Accidents and killings. Traffic jams often cause accidents and sometimes
killing or mauling.
BROWNOUTS
Brownouts are becoming a serious problem throughout the country. Some of the
causes are:
1. Lack of foresight. There is an apparent lack of foresight on the part of our
national leaders who do not foresee the increasing need of electricity.
They do not construct enough electric-generating plants that would supply
the future needs of the country.
2. Lack of expertise. The operations of electric-generating plants seem to
lack the expertise to run the plants resulting in the frequent breakdown of
the plants. Hence, there is a suggestion from some quarters that the
government should employ consultants who are experts in the trade.
3. Graft and corruption. There are allegations reported in the newspapers
that the agency in charge of electric generation is graft-ridden. There were
even reports that the fuel for the generating plants is often stolen, resulting
in the inefficiency or the agency.
Adverse Effects of Brownouts
1. Reduced production. When daily brownouts occur, ranging from four to six
hours, reduced production of economic goods cannot be avoided. This
hampers economic progress.
2. Unemployment and underemployment. As a result of brownouts, some
companies closed down or reduced their production, resulting in the
unemployment and underemployment of the workers. This results in
poverty of the workers deprived of work.
3. Demoralization. many people are demoralized because of the daily lack of
light in their places of work, in their offices, and in their homes during
which their house appliances cannot function. Hospitals are especially
affected.
DEFORESTATION
This is also a serious national problem. Some causes of deforestation are the
following:
1. Illegal logging. This is a problem which the government cannot succeed to
solve. If this cannot be stopped, our forests will get denuded.
2. Charcoal making. This is not being paid attention to but sometimes this is
worse than illegal logging. in logging, only the big trees are cut down but in
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charcoal making, even the young trees are cut down to be burned into
charcoal.
3. Kaingin system. This practice is worse than the first two. In this practice,
the hillsides or mountainsides are cleared thoroughly. All the trees, big and
small, are cut down and burned. The place is then planted with rice, corn
or vegetables. After two or three years, the cleared hillsides or
mountainsides become barren wastelands. This is so because the fertile
surface soil has been washed down by rain. The kaingero leaves the
barren hillside and finds another hillside to clear. This is the reason why
the hillsides and mountainsides that we see from the lowlands are barren.
Negative Effects of Deforestation
1. Flash floods. Flash floods in deforested areas occur whenever there are
heavy rains, resulting in the destruction of crops and loss of lives. Very
little vegetation in the hillsides and mountainsides can hold the rainwater
from onrushing to the lowlands. An example is the flash flood that
occurred in Ormoc, Leyte killing about two hundred people.
POLLUTION
Pollution is also a serious problem especially in the cities and big towns. The
causes are:
1. The emission of toxic carbon dioxide from moving vehicles especially the
smoke-belching trucks. With thousands of vehicles running in the streets,
one can imagine the amount of toxic gas being emitted that pollutes the air
to a great extent.
2. The factories emptying their toxic wastes into rivers or esteros or into the
ocean cause water pollution.
3. Radiation from a nuclear plant creates extensive damages.
Negative Effects of Pollution
1. Poisoning of people. The polluted air being inhaled by people slowly
poisons the people. Sooner or later, they will develop respiratory ailments.
2. Poisoning of water life. The toxic wastes being emptied into rivers,
esteros, and ocean poison and kill water life such as fish and other water
creatures. Even plants, especially rice, and adversely affected by such
toxic wastes from factories and power plants.
3. Instant death. When pollution is caused by radiation from a nuclear plant,
it causes instant death like what happened in Chernobyl , Russia. When
the nuclear plant accidentally exploded and caught fire. many of the
residents living nearby met instant death because of radiation.
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UNEMPLOYMENT
This is a perennial problem. Among the causes are:
1. Population explosion. The increase in population exceeds the increase in
jobs being created.
2. Mismatch between skills developed by schools and skills needed in
industry. The manpower skills being developed by the schools do not
match the manpower skills needed by the industry. Thus, there are many
unemployed graduates every year.
3. Slow industrialization. The industrialization of the country is very slow and
so very few jobs are created every year.
Adverse Effects of Unemployment
1. Poverty. It is natural that the family of a jobless man becomes
impoverished.
2. Employment Abroad. With no jobs available, coupled by the low value of
the peso compared to the dollar, many Filipinos strive hard to find jobs
abroad causing brain drain in the country. The people working abroad also
sacrifice being separated for a long time from their loved ones. Sometimes
this separation causes a break of the family.
3. Low education and low quality of life. Children of unemployed people
cannot pursue higher education. Because of poverty, they also lead a low
quality of life.
4. Squatting. Because of unemployment or underemployment, many poor
families cannot afford to buy a house and lot and they resort to squatting.
They usually build their shanties on the banks of rivers, creeks, esteros,
seawall, and on lots not their own. Squatting is now becoming a serious
national problem, too.
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References
Ballen, Jerome B. “Physical Anthropology and its Place ion General Education.”
Anthropology: Range and Relevance, Zamora, Mario and Salazar, Zews A.
Quezon City: Kayumanggi Publishers, 1969, pp. 195-206.
Beals, Ralph L. and Hoijer, Harry, Introduction to Anthropology, New York: The McMillan
Co.,1965, Chapter 9.
Bertrand, Alvin L. Basic Sociology. 2nd edition. New York: Meredith Corporation, 1973,
Chapter 2 and 6.
Catapusan, Benicio T. and Catapusan, Flora Diaz. Introduction to Sociology, Quezon
City: Filipino Books, Inc, 1973, Chapter 4.
Dressler, David with Garns, Donald. Sociology 2nd. ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
1973, Chapters 1, 3, and 10.
Espiritu, Socorro C. Sociology in the New Philippine Society. Q.C. Alemar – Phoenix
Publishing House, Inc. 1977, Chapters 3 and 5.
Fried, Morton, Readings in Anthropology. New York: Thomas F. Crowell Co.,1959.
Chapter 20, 31. 32.
Herskovitz, Melville and Stern, Bernhard T. General Anthropology, New York: Barnes and
Noble, Inc. 1952 Chapter XVI.
Jacobs, Melville, and Stern, Bernhard J., General Anthropology, N.Y. Barnes and Noble,
Inc., 1952, Chapter 1.
Keesing. Felix M. Cultural Anthropology. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1958,
Chapter VII.
Kottack, Conrad Philip, Anthropology, New York: Random Home, Inc. 1974, Chapter 13.
167
Kluckhon, Clyde, Mirror for Man. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.,1949, Chapter 6.
Ross, H. Laurence, Perspectives on the Social Order. New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Company, Inc., 1963, Chapters 5, 6, and 7.
Pi-Sunyer, Oriol and Salzmann, Zdeneck. Humanity and Culture. Boston: Houhgton
Mifflin Co.,1978. Chapter 1.
Zamora, Mario D. and Lawless, Robert, An Introduction to Anthropology for NonAnthropologists, ed. Zamora and Lawless, Quezon City: College of Arts and
Sciences, UP., 1966-67.
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Module 3
Anthropological Foundations of Education
Anthropology was derived from the Greek word anthrope meaning man and
logy meaning science. The literal meaning of anthropology then is science of
man. It is the study of mankind. The dictionary defines anthropology as the
science that treats of the origin, development (physical, intellectual, moral, etc.)
and specially the cultural development, customs, beliefs, etc. of man. Briefly,
Herskovitz defines anthropology as “the science of man and his works.”
According to Jacobs and Stern, anthropology is the scientific study of the
physical, social and cultural development and behavior of human beings since
their appearance on earth.
Actually, anthropology studies man as a member of the animal kingdom and
studies his behavior as a member of society. Man is unique in the animal
kingdom because (1) he walks erect, (2) he uses his hands for handling, and (3)
he has a more complex brain. (4) He is also unique in the field of behavior for the
following reasons:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
He possesses tools and other material artifacts.
He has complex techniques for getting and preparing food.
He has social and political organization.
He has a system of religious beliefs and rituals.
He communicates by means of language.
Divisions of Anthropology
Anthropology may be classified as physical and cultural. Physical
anthropology deals with the study of man as a product of the evolutionary
process. It is connected with man’s bodily structures. It studies and analyzes
human population. Cultural anthropology deals with man’s behavior and with
ways human beings carry out the activities of daily living. The diversity of human
behavior is seen in: food habits, ways food is cooked, habits of dress and
ornaments and relations with in-laws. Cultural anthropology has the following
sub-divisions:
1. Archaeology which deals with ancient cultures and past phases of
modern civilization based on documents, paintings, stone carvings, etc. It
is the study of antiquity by the excavation and description of remains.
Through diggings and fossils remains, the age of man has been
established. In 1654, according to Archbishop Ussher of Ireland, the first
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man as well as the universe, was created 4004 B.C. Archaeology has also
established different eras or periods of the earth when living things
appeared, more than 1,500 million years ago. In geology, these eras are:
(1) the Archezoic when primitive forms of life appeared, (2) the Protozoic
when early life forms increased, and (3) Paleozoic when fish, amphibians,
and other marine forms appeared, and (4) the Mesozoic when huge
reptiles predominated. This was also called the Age of Reptiles. (5) The
Cenozoic era followed in which there were more advanced forms of
animals.
The Cenozoic era is divided into two periods: (1) the Tertiary or Age of
Mammals and the Quartenary, or age when modern forms of man first
appeared. The Quartenary is divided into (1) Pleistocene (Ice Age) period
when man first appeared and culture began and (2) Holocene period.
Discovery of stone tools, implements and houses has held to the period
known as Stone Age.
2. Ethnology treats of and describes diverse cultures and explains similarities
and differences. It deals with the sub-divisions of mankind, their origins,
relations, speech, institutions, etc. Mankind is divided into five races –
white, black, yellow, red and brown. Within each race, there are
subdivisions. For example the Americans, German, French, Spanish,
Scandinavians, etc. all belong to the white race, but they have their own
culture and physical characteristics, and they have different levels of
civilization. As to the origin of man, there are several versions. There are
also many different places where the bones of pre-historic man were
found.
3. Linguistics, which is concerned with man’s language, non-literate or
literate, past and present. It takes up interrelation between language of a
people and other aspects of culture. As a science, it includes phonetics,
phonemics, morphology, and syntax. The sub-divisions are descriptive
linguistics and comparative or historical linguistics. It is obvious that every
country has its language and dialects, for all people whether civilized or
not, have a means of communication. This means of communication is
language, which differentiates man from animals. There are several
characteristics of language, however, that may change, improve, add,
subtract, or enrich its meaning, such as intonation and emphasis or stress.
The study of language is called linguistics who has two sub-divisions as
stated above.
Descriptive linguistics deals with the classification, arrangement and study of
the features language which will be taken up later. Comparative or historical
linguistics takes up the changes in language, the borrowings from other
languages, and the comparison of languages.
The diagram on p. 156 may make the sub-divisions of anthropology clearer.
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Anthropology
Physical Anthropology
Man as biological animal
Cultural Anthropology
Ethnology
People’s Cultures & behaviors
Ethnology
(scientific description &
classification of racial
groups of mankind
Linguistics
Analysis of Language
Social Anthropology
(Development of scientific
generalizations about a culture,
society or personality in a universal
sense
Archaeology
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Relation of Anthropology to Other Sciences
Physical Anthropology is related to the biological sciences - anatomy, physiology,
embryology and genetics. Social Anthropology is related to sociology,
psychology,
geography,
and
economics
and
political
science.
Cultural
anthropology is related to humanistic disciplines such as history, literature, arts
and music.
Practical Applications of anthropology
The questions may will be asked. Of what use is anthropology? Anthropology has
practical uses. Anthropology reduces ethnocentrism by instilling appreciation of
other cultures through study of other societies and cultures, it contributes to
education. It suggest the potential and general value of anthropology in inspiring
government action. Research on all aspects of culture is undertaken by
anthropologists. Through anthropological studies, programs of aid in the military,
economic, and political fields are assessed and evaluated. Not only is there
evaluation, but also inspiration of economic development and technical assistant
programs. Through what is termed “Participant interference,” anthropology acts
catalyzer and instigates action.
REFERENCES:
Ballen, Jerome B. “Physical Anthropology and its Place ion General Education.”
Anthropology: Range and Relevance, Zamora, Mario and Salazar, Zews
A. Quezon City: Kayumanggi Publishers, 1969, pp. 195-206.
Beals, Ralph L. and Hoijer, Harry. An Introduction to Anthropolgy , 3rd ed. New
York: The MacMillian Co., 1965, Chapter 1.
Jacobs, Melville, and Stern, Bernhard J., General Anthropology, N.Y. Barnes and
Noble, Inc., 1952, Chapter 1.
Kottak, Conrad Philip. Anthropology, New York: Random House, 1974, Chapter
1.
Pi-Sunyer, Oriol and Salzmann, Zdeneck. Humanity and Culture. Boston:
Houhgton Mifflin Co.,1978. Chapter 1.
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Zamora, Mario D. and Lawless, Robert, An Introduction to Anthropology for NonAnthropologists, ed. Zamora and Lawless, Quezon City: College of Arts
and Sciences, UP., 1966-67.
CULTURE AND SOCIETY
How are culture and society related? What are the kinds, forms, and components
of culture?
Meaning of Culture
Different meanings come to mind with the word culture. A person who is
refined in manners and speech is said to be a “cultured” individual. A descendant
of a line of “ladies” and “gentlemen” or of nobility who has wealth and do not
need to work is “cultured.” One who observes the rules of etiquette is “cultured”.
Knowledge about a wide range of subjects is designated as “culture.” “Culture”
also means esthetic interest and sophisticated understanding of arts and
humanities. High level of perfection in art, science, etc. is also deemed “culture”.
Sociologically, culture has a different meaning from those given above.
According to Dressler, “culture is a social heritage, transmitted from one
generation to another and shared. It consists of the sum total of skill, beliefs,
knowledges, and products that are commonly shared by a number of people and
transmitted to their children.” Through culture, therefore, people learn to
communicate with each other and to think and behave in certain ways approved
by the group. According to Smith, Stanley, and Shores, “culture is the fabric of
ideas, beliefs, skills, tools, esthetic objects, methods of thinking, customs, and
institutions into which each member of society is born. Culture is that part of the
environment which man himself has made.” Bertrand defines culture as “the
complex whole which includes knowledges, beliefs, arts, morals, law, costumes,
and other capabilities gained by man as a member of society.” Other definitions
of culture are:
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1. Clyde Kluckhon – Historically created designs for living, explicit and
implicit, rational, irrational, and non-rational, which exist at any given time
as potential guides for behavior.
2. American College Dictionary – Particular stage or state of civilization of a
nation or period, such as Greek culture, sum total ways of living built up by
a group of human beings and transmitted from generation to generation.
3. Way people have learned to live together; behavior learned as a result of
living in groups which tend to be patterned and to be transmitted from
generation to generation.
4. Ragan – the environment man has made consisting of artifacts, ideas,
language, attitudes, beliefs, customs, etc. existing at a particular time and
place.
Classification of Culture
Culture may be classified as static or dynamic. It is static when it
emphasizes cultural transmission; i.e., the same culture is passed on from
generation to generation. It is dynamic when it emphasizes change; i.e., it goes
thru revision with each generation.
Culture may also be classified as stable or unstable. The culture is stable where
folkways and mores are satisfying New elements and traits are incorporated
smoothly and without conflict. In a stable culture, the more educated the
individual, the more conservative he becomes. Where the group does not have
satisfying solutions to most of its problems and conflicts, the culture is usually
unstable. Conflict exists between the traditional and radical groups and their
values. The more educated the individual, the more he sees the inadequacy of
the culture. In unstable culture the school should pay attention to developing
worthwhile values and provide for change.
How would you classify our culture?
Forms of Culture
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Culture may be material or non-material. Material culture consists of
tangible things houses, clothing, tools, utensils, automobiles, TV, etc. Nonmaterial culture refers to what is symbolic or intangible such as sentiments,
folkways, mores, systems, and beliefs and knowledge. What form of Philippine
culture is becoming more prevalent among the youth in the Philippines today?
Examples of non-material culture follow:
Folkways are traditional ways of doing things in a certain culture. An example of
a folkway in the Philippines is pamanhikan where the parents of the boy ask for
the girl’s hand in marriage. Mores are heavily sanctioned folkways for group
survival and are accepted without question as they embody moral views of the
group. An Igorot folkway is for a boy to sleep in the ulog with the girl he is
courting. If she becomes pregnant and he does not marry her, he is ostracized by
the whole group, according to the mores of the tribe.
Costum means habitual practice. It is a custom in the Philippines to invite
a guest to partake of a meal if he happens to b in the house at meal time.
Another custom is for children to kiss the hand of their grandparents. Beliefs are
also part of non-material culture. In India, some walk on live coals or lie a bed of
nails and come out unscathed according to their belief. In Pampanga, every
Good Friday, a man himself nailed to the Cross in the belief that no harm would
come to him and nothing does.
COMPONENTS OF CULTURE
Culture is made of material or non-material triats. A combination of related traits
form a culture complex, such as a football complex which is made up of football
and the rules of the game. A culture complex has traits patterned around another
important trait. Examples are the horse and buggy complex, automobile complex,
television complex, and superiority complex. In a superiority complex, the central
traits to which others are related is the thought that over-confidence,
condescencion toward all others, self-pride, boastfulness, over-bearing manner,
swaggering attitude, affectation in manner, etc. A culture pattern is a combination
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of culture complexes, as for instance, a sports pattern made up of football,
basketball, and track cultures. “Pattern” refers to a specific way of behaving that
is part of a given culture. For example, the way of greeting:
Americans – shake hands
Latin Americans – embrace
Eskimos – touch noses
Thai – put hands together and bow
Japanese – bow deeply
Filipino young or old – kiss hands
Functions of Culture
Culture is important and useful in many ways. Through culture,
communication is possible by means of an language that is learned. People
belonging to the same culture can anticipate how others may respond to their
actions. The culture provides standards for differentiating right and wrong,
beautiful and ugly, tragic and humorous, safe and dangerous, reasonable and
unreasonable. Among Christians, pre-marital sex is considered immoral, but not
among the Igorots. To the Moslems, it is all right to have more than one wife, but
not to the Christians. A tattooed body is considered beautiful by some African
tribes, but it is ugly in the eyes of others. Children are trained to behave in ways
approved by the group. Every culture provides the knowledge and skills needed
for its survival. Through their culture, people identify with others and feel a sense
of belonging.
Characteristics of Culture
What are the characteristics of a culture?
They are:
1. Only human society possess culture.
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2. Human cultures vary considerably although they resemble each other in
some respects.
3. Culture tends to persist, once learned and accepted.
4. Culture changes gradually and continuously.
5. Culture exists in the minds of men who learned it from previous
generations and who use it to guide their conduct with others.
6. There is a tendency to borrow from other cultures.
7. Members of a culture may behave differently as in the case of those who
belong to sub-cultures.
Ex. Ilokanos may behave differently from the Visayans although they are
both Filipinos.
8. No person can escape entirely from his culture.
Another authority gives the following set of characteristics:
1. Culture is concerned with actions, ideas, and artifacts which individual
learn, share and value.
Others call this organized group behavior an institution.
Ex. English taking afternoon tea.
“Misa de gallo” (dawn masses) before Christmas
2. Culture may be regarded as a historical phenomenon, originating through
innovation and spread by diffusion.
Ex. Association of candles with religion.
Carrying candles during processions.
3. Culture may be regarded as a regional phenomenon
-
geographic or locality distribution.
Ex. drinking coffee; smoking which originated with American Indians
an spread
throughout the world.
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4. Culture tends to be patterned – repetition of similar approved behavior so
that it has a form or structure. Specific way of behaving in a certain
culture.
Ex. making the sign of the cross when passing a church
5. Cultural elements have a function.
Ex. social status enhanced by owning a car
6. Culture tends to be integrated – unity of premises, values, goals.
Ex. meaning of fiesta or patron saint
7. Culture is subject to change.
Individual conduct varies, innovations occur, etc.
Ex. change in form and function of candles.
8. Culture is valid to the extent that the local way of life is well-defined,
homogenous, stable.
Yet variations may occur, such as sub-cultures. Certain wedding practices
may exist only in certain regions. In Lucban, Quezon, after the wedding, there
is a dance where bride and groom take partners who pin money on them.
This is repeated with several partners until quite a sum is accumulated.
9. Culture is sometimes designated as a system where interrelated elements
are treated as a whole.
Ex. American culture has specific cultural systems which may be termed
sub-cultures.
10. Culture is a “continuum” – passed on from individual to individual, from
generation to generation.
11. Culture is “symbolic” – meanings attached to artifacts and personal
motivations.
Ex. We have to know the meaning of certain wedding ceremonies or they
would seem foolish to us. What is the meaning of pinning the veil and cord
around the bride and groom?
Concept of Society
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Culture is created by society which approves its system of values. It also
includes a system of intermediate values that implements the ultimate
values. Society, however, does not mean just the total sum of its people.
To survive, society needs to perform certain basic needs, suh as law and
order, transporation, agriculture, and industrial systems.
Meaning of Society
What constitute a society? To Keesing, it is an organized group or
population. To Linton, it is human beings and institutions by which they live
together in their culture. According to Dressler, “a society consists of all
the people who share a distinct and continuous way of life. (that is, a
culture) and think of themselves as one united people.” Bertrand defines
society as “a social group that occupies territory, recruit its members by
intergroup sexual reproduction, has a shared comprehensive culture.” To
Smith, Stanley, and Shores, a society is a group of organized individuals
who think of themselves as a distinct group, who have something in
common, a set of loyalties and sentiments, an esprit de corps which
makes the individual under certain circumstances to sacrifice himself for
the good of the group.”
From the above definitions, it follows that a group of people does not
constitute a society unless it has the characteristics mentioned above.
How are society and culture related?
Relation Between Culture and Society
There can be no culture without society and there can be no society
without culture. Both society and culture have common elements, but the
two are not identical. Society is composed of people; culture consists of
things people have learned to do, to behave, and to enjoy.
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Personality and Characteristics in Relation to Culture
Each individual is unique. heredity and environment (education, training,
etc.) give him/his individuality. He is not a passive recipient of culture; he is
active, creative, and reacts actively to his culture; he may add innovations
to culture.
Development of his personality is influenced by his capacity to learn, need
to interact with others, ability to select, to create, to make individual
decisions in relation to cultural and social milieu. Character is sometimes
used interchangeably with personality. Character, however, refers more to
moral qualities or ethical standards. Character influences behavior.
Behavior of individuals influences the culture and culture influences
individuals. Socialization is becoming a member of society – assumption
of place within a social system.
Educational Implications
1. Cultures differ and one should not judge another culture by using his own
culture as basis.
2. To avoid prejudices, there should be more contact between cultures.
3. Travel, education, and reading about other societies are ways of bringing
about tolerance and understanding between nations.
4. With more diffusion between cultures, one global society may result.
5. With the U.S as the best example of people getting along in spite of
different sub-cultures, perhaps a one world concept may be brought about
some day. Unity in spite of diversity.
6. Society can be improve by improving the culture.
7. Since culture is made by man himself, he should develop worthwhile
values and weed out those beliefs, mores, superstitions, etc. that are
detrimental to progress.
8. Since culture is learned, the school should inculcate in the young, good
aspects of the culture.
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9. Since culture changes, the change should be for the better and society
should decide what those changes should be.
10. The home, the school and the church should guard against borrowing
from other cultures things that are against the Philippine way of life.
Can you name what is good in Philippine culture and what is not?
LANGUAGE AND WRITING
Why is language important? What is the function of writing?
A man’s language is a reflection of the kind person he is, the family he comes
from, the level of education he has attained, and an index to the behavior that
may be expected from him. What is language?
Definition of Language
According to Keesing, language is “a vocal symbolism of speech, with its related
bodily gestures and mechanical signals which give precision and finesse to
communication.”
Beals and Hoijer define language as “a way of speaking, distinct in every
culture.”
To Herskovitz, language is “a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by which
members of social group cooperate and interact by which the learning process is
effectuated and a given of way of life achieved both through continuity and
change.”
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Antiquity of Language
Just exactly when language began is not known, but it must be very old. It
probably is as old man’s artifacts and perhaps began with culture as language is
part of culture. All human societies, primitive or civilized have languages. Today,
there are numerous, different languages. The universality and diversity of
language prove that it is very old, for language develops slowly. Similarities in
vocabulary and grammar show a common origin. The differences in the modern
languages must have taken a long time to develop.
Language grows and changes. For example, take the original Latin that
was spoken in Rome. This spread to other countries where changes took place
independently. Out of Latin evolved the Romance languages – Spanish,
Portuguese, Italian, French, and Romanian.
Linguistics is an important subdivision of anthropology. The anthropologist
first studies the language of a group whose culture he wants to know. Language
is needed to understand a society and its people and the role of language in their
lives.
Significance and Function of Language
Language is very important. Without language, knowledge could have been
maintained and accumulated. man has able to devise, continue, and change a
great variety of cultural institutions of material and non-material nature through
language. Language is a form of learned behavior by which people communicate
with each other; this function is probably one of the most important, if not the
most important function of language. According to Herskovitz, language is a
vehicle of culture by which the culture is passed on from one generation to
generation. Language is a means of cooperation through which people learn to
play together and to work together. Problems are solved, not through physical
activities alone, but through thought and discussion; and therefore problem
solving becomes continuous through language, according to Shapiro. He also
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states that language enables man to share the experiences and thoughts of
others and to pass on knowledge to succeeding generations.
From the anthropological point of view, language is a way of making people close
to one another, of fostering the feeling of belongingness. There are as many
words as there are languages. Therefore, to cement people of the world together,
they should speak one language. All nations of the earth should learn one
language and English seems to be it. Many countries studies English as a
second language.
Elements of Language
According to Herskovitz, every language has three parts which are:
1. Phonemic system consisting of sounds
2. Combination of sounds into units that have distinct significance –
vocabulary
3. Combination and recombination of number 2 into large units - grammar
According to Kessing, the parts of language are:
1. Set of sound signals, the articulatory of phonetic system phonology
2. Structural principles that put sounds signals in customary form – grammar or
morphology (structure)
3. Set of meaning for signals and forms – (semantics); words embodying all 3
aspects of language in significant interrelation – vocabulary.
Kottak gives the following parts:
1. Phonology – study of sounds in human speech
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2. Grammar – arrangement of sounds into longer sequence of speech or
longer utterances
3. Lexicon – vocabulary or the meaning system of language
Summing up, then, all languages have a:
1. Well-defined system of speech sounds
2. Grammar – way of putting together words, phrases, sentences according
to definite rules. (All societies, whether pre-litertae pygmies or advanced
European groups, have grammar)
3. Vocabulary which increases with every new culture item.
Linguistic Structure
Analysis of the language shows that it is composed of:
1. Phonemes – similar sounds contrasting and mutually exclusive; the same
sounds, but different in meaning ass the word strike
Phonemes – distinctive sounds, such as:
cat and pat – alike except in initial phonemes
cat and cot – alike except in middle phonemes
cat and cap – alike except in final phonemes
2. Morphemes – minimum significant unit forming a word or part of a word.
Ex. income from in and come.
Morphemes – composed of distinctive sounds, called phonemes. cat is a
morpheme made up of phonemes c,a,t. Phonemes p,a,t make up the
morpheme pat.
3. Morphology – combinations of words into linguistic forms. The
combination of words into sentences following grammatical rules, such as
subject (noun), predicate, (verb) and modifier (adverb or adjective).
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Importance of the Study of Language
Language should be studied as it is an aspect of culture that differentiates
man form animals. It should be used correctly as it is criterion that differences
the educated from the uneducated.
Writing
A confusion arises with regard to language and writing as if the later is a
special language. This may be explained by the fact that in school, children
learn to read and write almost at the same time. Also , when we speak of
literacy, we think of ability to read and write. Written language, however, is
different from spoken language.
Writing, according to Beals and Hoijer, is “a set of techniques for the graphic
representation of speech.” Herskovitz defines writing as “round-about speech
or mechanical gesture; a series of graphic symbols (or symbol of symbols)
which hold and store information more or less permanently according to the
medium, apart from the individuals who are in communication.
Invention of Writing
Writing is a more recent invention than language. While language
appeared more than a million years ago, that is, when man first acquired the
rudiments of culture, the first written records in English were dated A.D. 900.
Writing was invented more than once in several places. The earliest
invention was in Egypt, probably in the Bronze Age. This spread to Europe
and Asia, and underwent many changes. The Chinese also developed their
own system of writing, and so did the Indians of Central America at a much
later date. The Aztecs of Mexico also had writing which was probably derived
from the Central American Indian.
Development of Writing
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Writing perhaps originated from drawing, which was as much part of culture
as language Conventionalized pictographs may be regarded as the earliest
form of writing. In fact, the life style of primitive people was gleaned from the
pictures drawn on the walls of their cave dwellings. With time, the pictorial
symbols became more and more abbreviated. This kind of writing was called
pictograph or picture writing.
True writing perhaps began when conventionalized graphic symbols
became associated with the sounds of a language. Symbols stood for words
or particular combinations of speech sounds. This was called logographic
writing and the symbols that represented words were called logograms.
Logographs or logograms appeared in the Near East, in Chinese, and in
Maya Writing. The problem of logographic writing was the difficulty of
representing abstract ideas.
China continued the above trend and developed the traditional
ideographic writing – a distinctive symbol for each idea. In modern Chinese
writing, symbols are reduced to 214 basic characters which may be
combined. To read and write Chinese fluently, it is necessary to memorize all
these symbols. Most Chinese words are one syllable, but in English where
long words have several syllables, this system of writing would be difficult.
Recognition of the phonetic factor made words that are the same in sound but
different in meaning, represented by the same character. Phonetic characters
that have a constant phonographic value are called phonograms.
Phonograms came to be associated with syllables rather than whole words
and were called syllabaries. Syllabaries became widespread. Mesopotamia
(Iraq), Babylonia, and Sumeria wrote their ancient languages by means of a
syllabary. They wrote on clay tablets with a stylus having a wedge-shaped
edge end. The writing was called cuneiform from the Latin word cuneus
meaning “wedge”. Old Persian and Greek were also written in syllabic
characters. Syllabic writing is still used in Japan today where the Japanese
syllabary has about 65 characters.
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The alphabetic system of writing developed around 1800 B.C. when
Semitic – speaking peoples took the Egyptian syllabary of 24 characters and
transformed these into consonant symbols. Alphabetic writing is further
refinement of phonographic symbolism whereby a character becomes
attached to a phoneme that conveys appropriate meanings.
Ex.: pear, pair, pare
The Phonenicians are credited with the invention of the alphabet where they
substituted consonants for the 24 characters. The Greeks added vowels in
place of the consonants they did not need. From the Greeks, the complete
alphabet spread to Rome and to other European countries. This is the
alphabet that we are using now.
Relation of Writing to Language
Writing has a history of its own and developed separately from language.
They are not the same although they are related. There are two different
aspects of culture. Language is a complex of patterns that govern or control
speech while writing is the written symbol of speech. Writing is a recent
invention compared to language. All societies having more or less the same
level of development possess language, but not writing. Writing is found in
advanced societies but may be lacking in primitive tribes.
Importance of Writing
Writing is essential to the highly complex civilization today. It makes possible
long distance communication. It is a means of keeping records and
preserving them for posterity. It is vital to the system of education, research,
and to world culture. That is why scientists consider the invention of writing as
the beginning of true civilization. However, learning, literacy, and education
became widely spread only with the invention of the printing press.
Educational Implications
1. Since language is an aspect of culture, one should study the language
well and speak it correctly.
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2. The more languages a person knows, the better educated he is and the
easier he can adjust to other peoples.
3. To understand people, it is necessary to know their language.
4. Knowing a people’s language is a means of fostering good public
relations.
5. Since English is the language spoken throughout most of the world, one
should study it well.
6. Reading books and magazines is one way of increasing one’s vocabulary.
7. A person should learn to write legibly and clearly as this is a mark of the
well-educated.
8. Fluency in speaking and writing comes with practice; so one should take
every opportunity to speak and write well.
What other implications can be made regarding language and writing?
RELIGION
What are some of the great religions of the world? What role does religion
play in human affairs?
Another factor in man’s life that influences his behavior is religion. What is
religion?
Definition of Religion
1. Pi-Sunyer and Salzmann define religion as “recognition of belief in some
source or power that transcends human and is capable of assisting or
harming them.”
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2. Anthony F.C. Wallace gives this definition – “a kind of human behavior
which can be classified as belief and ritual concerned with supernatural
beings, powers and forces.”
3. Beals and Hoijer define religion as “ response to man’s needs for an
organized conception of the universe, for mechanism that will allay his
anxieties concerning his inability to predict and understand events that do
not conform to natural law.”
4. To Herskovitz, religion is the control of the universe; means by which man
maintains himself in the scheme of things.
From the foregoing definitions, certain characteristics of religion are evident,
such as: (1) belief in the supernatural which is all powerful, (2) an influence on
human behavior, (3) an explanation for what is unexpected. Examples of
situations or occurrences that cannot be explained by science and where
religion is used to provide the answers are:
1. A healthy individual who had no previous history of heart disease suddenly
has a heart attack and dies.
2. A person who had cancer as shown by x-ray suddenly shows no trace of
the disease (by x-ray) after a visit to Lourdes shrine, France.
3. An out-of-reason typhoon in April destroys a crop.
4. A very good husband, rich and good-looking, is deserted by his wife.
Nature of Religion
In some societies there is a belief in a generalized and impersonal force,
influence, or power that exists invisibly throughout the universe and may be
possessed to a greater or lesser degree by gods, men, the forces of nature
(sun, moon, rain, or thunder) and natural objects such as pools, rivers, trees,
stones. A concept of impersonal power exists. In other societies, there is a
belief in gods, spirits, and other personalized supernaturals. Some tribes
believe in animism where the spirit continues to exist after the death or
destruction of the body. The spirits are supposed to control events in the
material world and in man’s life. This led to the beliefs in souls and in a future
state, which is part of the Catholic religion today.
Folk or Primitive Religion
Where or how religion started in not very clear, but even the primitive tribes
had some kind of religion. American Indians worshipped supernatural beings.
The Aztecs of Mexico worshipped a god. The city-state of Athens worshipped
the goddess Athena. The Greeks and the Romans had their gods and
goddesses. The Roman emperor and the Egyptian pharaoh were regarded as
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deities in times of classical antiquity. The Japanese emperor was venerated
as descendant of the sun-god before World War II.
Variety of Religious
Today many different kinds of religions abound in the world. The Christian
religions are composed of Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox
(Greek) Catholics and Judaoe-Christianity. The non-Christian religions consist
of:
Islam-Mohammedan
Buddhism
Confucianism
Hinduism
Zoroastrianism
Jewish
Shintoism
Animism
There are many things that are common in all religion rather than differences.
The golden rule is part of most religions.
Belief in Most Societies Regarding Religion
Whatever religion they belong to, different societies have common beliefs. These
are:
1. Religion does things for people. Most prayers ask for something that
people want done for them.
2. Religion has to do with the powers of the universe, the range and
intensity of these powers, and the manner in which they influence the
lives of people. Religion influences not only the life style of people, but
also their behavior. The Moslems do not eat pork. In India, the cow is
not only not eaten, but it is venerated. Most Catholics do not eat meat
on Fridays, especially on Good Friday. Seventh Day Adventists are
mostly vegetarians.
3. There are methods by which these powers may be enlisted in behalf of
man, not only as benevolent guardians, but also as agents that may
help man achieve certain ends. Some of the methods employed are
prayers, masses, sacrifices, abstinence, apostolic work, etc. Christians
usually make sacrifices and penance during Holy Week. Novelas are a
common means employed by Catholics to request something. Some
have masses said for many occasions. Going to Mecca is to the
Moslems what going to Jerusalem is to the Christians. It probably
represents the nearest thing to heaven on this earth.
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Instruments of Religion
To reach ends desired by man, different instrument of religion are used.
There is the ritual, which is prescribed way of performing religious acts.
Various religions have different rituals. Examples are the rain dance
performed by American Indians, the temple dance, dance to the gods by
Bestal Virgins. Praying, singing sacred songs, making sacrifices,
preparing offerings, making the sign of the cross, are other rituals. Prayer
may be a devout petition, a supplication to an object of worship, a
thanksgiving, or a spiritual communion with God. A ceremony is a number
of interconnected and related rituals, performed at a given time. Examples
of ceremonies are:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Sunday morning service
Marriage ceremony
Baptismal rites and confirmation rites
Puberty rites
Blessing of a house
Processions to a patron saint
Taboos are prohibitions. Different religions have certain taboos, which are
ignored, are supposed to bring down misfortune on the violator. Examples, of
taboos are those on food and incest. There is also the taboo on prohibition of
sexual intercourse while the mother is nursing the baby. Sometimes this taboo
may act to maintain population level.
Religious Practitioners
In the educational field, the teacher is the agent of instruction. In the religious
world who are the leaders or practitioners? They are:
1. The Shaman – man or who serves society as part-time religious
practitioner – usually in primitive societies.
2. The priest or minister – full-time religious practitioner who gets power
through association with an organized religious group.
Priest are prepared by intensive training unlike the shaman who may be
the result of inspiration or possession by a god or spirit.
The other word religions also have their leaders or practitioners.
Use of Religion
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Religion is used to:
1. Explain events or situations that defy comprehension (meaningless,
contradictory or inexplicable)
2. Provide comfort in times of stress and anxiety.
3. Set guidelines for conduct of human affairs and furnish a sense of
common purpose for members of a social group.
Role or Function of Religion are:
1. Provide an organized picture of the universe and establish orderly
relationships between man and his surroundings.
2. Reduce fears and anxieties and give man not only a feeling of security in
the uncertain present, but the hope as well of a tolerable future.
3. Reflect close and intimate relations with the world of the supernatural and
also with animals, plants, and other aspects of nature.
4. Reinforce and maintain cultural values.
a. Few religions except Judaism and Christianity are linked to ethics
and morality.
5. Support and emphasize particular culturally defined standards of behavior.
6. Preserves knowledge through rituals and ceremony.
a. Ceremonies are dramas that symbolically re-enact important
procedures.
7. Rituals and ceremonies together with uniform beliefs, contribute to social
participation and solidarity.
a. individual participation in such occasions bring emotional
satisfaction.
b. ceremonies were as a social function which develop social
cohesion and group solidarity.
c. Also create and maintain divisions.
d. Instrument of change – Ex. Jesus Christ’s preaching of love
Educational Implications
1. It is important for every one to have a religion in view of the role that
religion play’s in one’s life.
2. Since religion influences behavior, one should choose one’s religion
wisely.
3. Since the nature and function of all religions are the same, there should be
tolerance of all religions.
4. One should study one’s religion well and live it.
5. Apply the teachings of religion to self, family, community, and the world.
Make your own implications regarding your religion.
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THE ARTS
Why is art important? What are its functions?
Nature and Definition of Art
If religion stems from a psychological need in the individual, perhaps the same
thing may be said of the arts. Art is a part of culture and dates back to antiquity. It
is present in all societies although not at the same rate of development. That art
is universal is probably the best proof that it satisfies a deep psychological need
common to all people.
What is art? The dictionary defines art as a production or expression of what is
beautiful or appealing; an esthetic expression. According to Beals, art is “an
activity that over and above its utilitarian values brings satisfaction both to the
artist and to those who participate in his work as beholders, audience, or
collaborators.” This esthetic exponent differentiates art from other aspects of
culture.
The earliest stages of art were realistic or representative of expression. Later, art
became geometric, symbolic, and decorative in expression. The tendency is to
change toward progressive simplification and conventionalization. Painting is a
good example. In the beginning, paintings were made to appear as close as
possible to the original as shown by landscapes and portraits of people. Now,
modern painting has become symbolic and representational ass shown by
cubistic painting. The works of Picazzo and Edades illustrate this. The trend now
is toward impressionistic painting.
Functions of Art
Of what use is art? The following are the functions of art:
1. Art gives esthetic satisfaction to artists, performers, audience or
participants. A person sings for the mere pleasure it gives him. People
dance because they enjoy doing it. Watching a ballet performance or
listening to a symphonic concert gives pleasure. Looking at a painting may
evoke pleasant emotions.
2. Art serves as a medium for the communication of ideas, attitudes and
values. The degree of communication depends on how much the
conventions and symbols use are understood by the audience. For
instance, in our society, a halo or a ring over the head of a figure
symbolizes a saint. Some primitive groups may not understand this. In
Chinese and Japanese plays, the actors and actresses wear masks. The
audience should know which mask represents the hero, the heroine, and
the villain. A room in a stage drama has only three walls. Sometimes, all
walls are dispensed with in the arena style of drama.
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3. Art conserves and reinforces beliefs, customs, attitudes and values. This
function is possessed by all arts, but it is more evident in literary and
pictorial arts. The religious art in the architecture of churches, the religious
scenes, and the images of saints create emotional and intellectual
atmosphere needed for religious exercises; serve to remind one in what
he should believe in; and when in drama form, serve for instructional
purpose (or propaganda).
4. As stated above, Art may be used for instructional purpose (or
propaganda). Examples of these are the mystery plays and the religious
dramas coupled with dance that were given in Europe during the Middle
Ages. In the Philippines, the “Moro-moro” plays where Christians
vanquished the Mohammedans, were used to spread Christianity. Schools
made use of Christmas plays, pageants, myths and folk tales to develop
certain attitudes and values. Today, mass media like the motion picture, is
a very good vehicle for changing attitudes, instilling values, and solving
social problems.
5. Art reveals its relationship to society and shows how art forms are
transmitted through time and space. The state of the art in a society is a
reflection of the attitude of that society toward art and its stage of
progress. The collection of art works in the group will not only give a
history of art development but also show how this has been transmitted
from generation to generation.
Art is a cultural tradition. The techniques used, the choice of subject matter,
the preferences or emphasis on certain art, the functions of art, the attitudes
toward art take the attitude toward paintings of nude. There are many of these
in the art galleries of Europe. Some conservative societies may frown on
paintings of nudes and this may influence painters.
Music
Music is the art that best shows the effect of cultural tradition in deciding what
is approved and desirable, both socially and individually. However, what is
pleasing I one society may not be so in another. Chinese music sounds queer
to Western eras and so does music of primitive tribes.
Music probably originated in song rather than in devised instruments. The
earliest forms of rhythmical activity that were accompanied by singing were
probably rocking infants, walking, or repeated regular work movements.
Music did away with the monotony of labor and acted as stimulant.
Occassions for music among non-literate people are:
1. Lullabies composed by mothers which are learned by children and sung
while playing.
2. Songs by young men to amuse and entertain their sweethearts.
3. Serenades outside the tipi (tent) to the loved one.
4. Sacred songs in time of personal crisis, ceremonies, and rituals.
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5. Martial songs before and after war.
6. Songs of praise and mourning songs.
The evolution of music passed through two stages. The first stage was singing
which went through the range of the human voice. The second stage was
musical expression by fashioned instruments.
The history of music shows that what was considered “barbaric” in one era may
be accepted later. An example is jazz music which was not accepted when it first
appeared. Now, it is very popular. Primitive music has rhythm, but lacks melody.
Today some modern music seems to revert to rhythm, but lacks melody.
Musical instruments developed much later than singing. The flute and piccolo-like
instruments made of wood, bamboo or bone were found in most regions. There
were also a few percussion instruments like rattle, tambourine, and drums. Later,
xylophone – like instrument of wood and bamboo were also developed. In the
Old World, complex instruments capable of various effects and musical styles,
were invented. Stringed instruments like the multistringed lyre and cithara spread
from the Near East to the Old World.
The major factors in the history of modern European music were:
1. Writing, symbolic representation, and analysis of music.
2. Cumulative advances in the technology of string instruments.
3. Development of harmony.
Dance
The dance is a universal feature of human society. It is found in all groups as the
human body has the same nervous system and muscle equipment no matter
what race. Hence, dance styles can be as complex and beautiful among the
primitives as among the civilized. The dance which may display superb esthetic
quality is not a rarity primitive society.
The different forms of the dance are religious or magico-ceremonial dancing, play
dancing, dramatic and symbolic dancing. The dance has a social and cultural
function.
The dance originated far back in time. In primitive society, the dancer’s body was
not confined. Now, the higher the economic level the more progressive and
intriguing the dance regalia because recently, dance themes became more
entertaining rather than religious or magico-ceremonial.
Poetry and Pose
195
Although prose and poetry are related, they are not the same. Prose is ordinary,
matter of fact language. Poetry is beautiful thought in beautiful language,
rhythmically expressed. Poetry is difficult to separate from song. The poems of
primitive people were short and chanted.
Prose, oral and written, is found among all peoples. The types of prose found
are:
1. Narratives, which, like songs, are universal and are composed of –
Myths – stories of another world that deal with gods, spirits and other
supernaturals; usually concerned with origins of the universe and its
aspects such as fire, food, animals, plants, death, illness, society,
ceremonials, and rituals.
Legends – events in the present world or an earlier time with men as
actors; more worldly in content although they may include what is
wonderful, awesome, and supernatural.
Proverbs and riddles – contains wisdom of the group. These are not as
universal in non-literate societies.
Rhymes which are found only in literary productions.
Dramas and oratory.
How did oral literature come about? With the development of language,
events were described and narrated. Natural phenomena such as the seasons,
phases of the moon, path of the sun, comets, shooting stars, tides, storms,
lightning, thunder, floods, forest, fires, and fogs were treated allegorically and
became the origin of folk tales.
Folktales perform certain functions, such as:
1.
2.
3.
4.
To entertain
To know the rationale behind customs and geographical features.
To teach moral lessons.
To direct minor educational functions.
Art in the Individual
The production of art involves two factors:
1. The Culture and the period in history in which the artist participates.
2. The people with whom he lives and works – critics, collaborators, friends
and relatives.
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Art is produced by individuals although many may collaborate a in a dramatic
production, a ballet, a symphonic concert, a movie production, etc. Many forms,
actions, and patterns may make up a completed production, but the act of
creating can be traced to an individual. It is erroneous to think that a work of art is
the exclusive production of one person or that a movie is the sum of individual
contributions. In a painting, there is the painter and the model. A poem is
composed by the poet after being inspired by some one. The artist gives
expression to sentiments, and ideas that arise through his interaction with others.
Hence, social and cultural setting is important.
The artist may work in strict isolation, but he is always subject to influences from
his culture, historical period, and people with whom he lives. An example is the
narration of myths and legends wherein the story teller adapts his tale to
reactions of the audience. This is also true in singing.
In primitive society, the individual is not given ass much prominence as a modern
society where the painter or novelist may become famous. Hence, in primitive
society, art is designated as folk art.
Educational Implications
1. Art should be included in the curriculum of the elementary, secondary, and
tertiary levels.
2. The second should try to find out the kind of artistic inclination of the child
and try to develop this.
3. In order to give outlets for different individual talents, the school should
offer varied extra-curricular activities, such as Glee Club, Dramatics,
Dance Troupe, Rondalla, etc.
4. Field trips to museums, libraries, etc. should be sponsored by the school.
5. Artists may be invited by the school to give demonstrated lectures so that
children and youth may have first hand experience with different art forms.
6. Participation in singing contests, declamation and oratorical contest and
other contests should be encouraged by the school.
Give other educational implications.
197
References
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Beals, Ralph L. and Hoijer, Harry, Introduction to Anthropology, New York: The McMillan
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Bertrand, Alvin L. Basic Sociology. 2nd edition. New York: Meredith Corporation, 1973,
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Catapusan, Benicio T. and Catapusan, Flora Diaz. Introduction to Sociology, Quezon
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Dressler, David with Garns, Donald. Sociology 2nd. ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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