Education and Social control

Helvetius referring to education in 18th century France observed that men are born ignorant not stupid;they are made stupid by education.This is not the modern view.There may be still be societies in which men’s minds are stupefied by dogmatic instruction which inclines them to accept uncritically the views of political or religious authorities but the general character of formal education has been profoundly changed by modern science and technology.The great difference between primitive and early societies and modern industrial societies is that in the former education is largely concerned with transmitting a way of life while in the latter because of the mass of available knowledge the application of science to production and the elaborate division of labour formal education not only preponderates in the process of education as a whole but is largely devoted to the communication of empirical knowledge.

One aspect of this change is indicated by the observation that in modern societies the content of education is less literary and more scientific. A second major difference is that whereas in earlier societies a relatively unchanging way of life and sum of knowledge were transmitted the scientific knowledge communicated by modern education is expected to change moreover education is increasingly required to prepare individuals for a changing rather than a static world.

Formal education in modern societies communicate independently ideas which play a part in regulating behaviour.Malinowski rightly mentioned this feature in its rudimentary form in primitive societies when he included the rules of craftmanship as an element in social control.Modern science and technology are not only the basis of infinitely more complex rules of craftmenship but also of a general rational approach to nature and social life which has an increasingly important role in establishing and maintaining social cooperation.The scientific thought implicitly or explicitly criticized the ideas propounded in religious and moral doctrines and has largely been responsible for the changes which the latter have undergone. The whole rationalization of the modern world with which Max Weber was pre-occupied is connected with the development of science. Since the chief vehicle of this development has been the educational system we can speak of formal education as a type of social control.

Education has contributed to the regulation of conduct that is the early socialization of the child. The work of educational reformers such as Montessori and Froebel has brought about great changes in the education of young children.So far the reforms were connected with scientific studies of the development of children such as those of Piaget they arose from the development of the social sciences. Moreover being based upon this observation and analysis of the actual development of children’s activities,needs and problems they can be regarded as having arisen very largely within the educational sphere itself as independent discoveries.

The changes in the formal education system have themselves brought about changes in the family socialization aided by the spread of social science knowledge.In this sense the formal education of children has originated new forms of regulation of behavior. Education in a broad sense from infancy to adulthood is thus a vital means of social control and its significance has been greatly enhanced in recent years by the rpaid expansion of education at all levels in the developing countries and by the equally rapid growth of secondary and higher education in the industrial countries.

Through education new generations learn the social norms and the penalties for infringing them; they are instructed also in their station and its duties within the system of social differentiation and stratification.In modern societies where formal education becomes predominant and where an important occupational group of teachers comes into existence, education is also a major type of social control as the source of scientific knowledge which is in competition and sometimes in conflict with other types of control.This conflict may become particularly acute with the extension of higher education to a much larger proportion of the population.as the experience of Europe and USA show and the educational system may increasingly provide one of the main sources of change and innovation in the social norms.

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