UNIT-2 : Social Construction of Gender

Chapter 6 - Socialism in Family and School

Question- Explaining the meaning of socialization, also describe its definitions. And what is the role of teacher in the process of socialization?

Related Short Answer Questions

1. Give the definition of socialization given by Bogards.

2. Discuss the contribution of teacher in the process of socialization.

    

Answer -

“Socialization is the process through which children make the accepted patterns of their society a part of their personality.”

Meaning and Definition of Socialization

The human infant at birth is merely a zoological or biological unit. At this time, he is just a living effigy made of blood, flesh and bones. He does not have any social quality. He is ignorant of the customs, values and culture of the society. But he is born with some physical abilities. Due to these abilities also, he learns a lot, becomes an active member of the society and adopts the culture. It is because of social contact that a person becomes a social animal from a zoological animal. Through the process of socialization, man rises above the animal level and attains the name of human.

Definition of socialization

The main definitions of socialization are as follows :
Bogards “Socialization is the process by which people learn to be dependent on each other for human welfare and in doing so, experience social self-control, social responsibility and a balanced individual.”
Green “Socialization is the process by which the child acquires cultural characteristics, self-reliance and individuality.”

Ross “Socialization develops a sense of us in cooperating individuals and increases their willingness and ability to work together.”
Roussack “The socialization of a child occurs best in a group of children and the child is the best teacher of other children.”
Stewart and Glyn “Socialization is the process by which people acquire the beliefs, attitudes, values and practices of their own culture.”

Drever “Socialization is the process by which an individual adapts to his social environment by accepting social ideals and thus becomes a recognized cooperative and efficient member of that society.”
Neumayer “Socialization is the process of transformation of an individual into a social animal.”
Fitcher “Socialization is the process by which a person accepts social behaviours and learns to adapt to them.”

It is clear from the above definitions that socialization is a process of learning by which the human child develops his personality. Becomes an active member of the society and learns social ideals, values and norms and behaves accordingly.

Teacher’s work in the Process of Socialization

To speed up the process of socialization, teachers should pay attention to the following things :

1. Teachers should inculcate social values and ideals in the child through their duties and activities. In fact, they should present high ideals of social behaviour in front of the children.

2. Because the culture influences the behaviour of the child, the teachers should introduce the children to the culture of the society. They should inculcate such a feeling in the children so that they learn to respect their culture. This will enable the socialization of the children in the right direction.

3. It is the duty of the teachers to develop inter-cultural spirit in the children, so that they are not limited only to the scope of their own culture but also learn to respect different cultures. They should mingle with children from different cultural backgrounds studying with them and rise above narrow-mindedness.

4. Every child has some traditions that those traditions are socially useful and best, so it is the duty of the teachers to instill confidence in these traditions in the children and encourage them to work according to them.

5. For character building of children, it is necessary that teachers first understand their interests and attitudes etc. For this, they need to have a close relationship with the parents of the children. The happy result of this will be that by adopting the same type of beliefs and attitudes, the child can be socialized in the right direction.

6. Healthy human relations are of great importance from the point of view of socialization. Therefore, it is the sacred duty of the teacher to establish healthy human relations with his students, other teachers and the principal. Due to this, the social environment of the school will be healthy, as a result the socialization of the child will be in the right direction. Its main advantage will be that the children will neither be able to do evil to any teacher nor will they be able to muster the courage to oppose any teacher.

7. With a view to encourage socialization of the children, the school should be organized as a community centre. In other words, group work should be organized and encouraged in the school. This inculcates a sense of collective among the children.

8. Competition also plays a very important role in socialization. Therefore, teachers should develop the spirit of healthy competition in the children.

9. It is the duty of the teachers to present social ideals in front of the children by organizing cultural and literary programs in the playgrounds and in the classroom, so that their socialization is in the right direction.

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