Teaching Aptitude Test - 3

Sociology can be defined as a study of society or social life, of group interaction, and of Social behavior. Sociology is used in the discipline of social work to analyze and understand social problems. Social work is concerned with the uplift of those socially deprived, physically handicapped, etc. Sociology is not concerned with the reformation of society as nor is it directly involved in social planning or directed change.

Key Points

• Auguste Comte, Spencer, and many other social thinkers sought to establish the idea of society as a matter of study, unique in itself.
• They examined society as a whole - which is more than the sum of its parts.
• Society is more than the actions, thoughts, values, beliefs, and wishes of its individual members. It is a complex and abstract reality, yet all human beings live in a society.
• A sociologist is interested in the general study of social behavior as it occurs in groups, large or small, and lays special stress on understanding social life in the contemporary world.

​Important Points 

Auguste Comte(1798-1857)

• Auguste Comte is regarded as the father of sociology. He is the first one to have used the word 'Sociology'. He tried to create a new science of society. which could not only explain the past of mankind but also, predict its future course.
• He felt that society moves through definite and fixed stages and that, it progresses towards ever-increasing perfection.
• The three stages, according to him, in which society moves, were:-

1.  the theological or the religious to
2.  the metaphysical or the philosophical to
3.  the positive or the scientific stage.

• In the first stage. people thought all phenomena were caused by supernatural forces. 
• In the second stage, Abstract forces of either a religious or secular type were considered to be the source of knowledge
• In the last stage, scientific laws were supposed to determine both the natural and the social worlds. According to him, sociology was to be the queen of all sciences. 

René Descartes is the philosopher who brought the concept of rationalism in sociology.

Rationalism:

• Rationalism is a philosophical concept which is rooted in reason as the source of knowledge. 
• They did not believe in intuition.  
• René Descartes is known as the father of realism. 
• Logic is the main principal in knowledge production.
• Our reason also justifies our morals and beliefs.
• Progress of the intellect is the result of reason.
• Descartes' emphasis on the notion of the idea of God and one’s knowledge about their existence is present before birth.

Additional Information 

 Educational Philosophy

• The philosophy of education examines the goals, forms, methods, and meaning of education.
• The term is used to describe both fundamental philosophical analysis of these themes and the description or analysis of particular pedagogical approaches.
• A philosophy of education is a statement that identifies and clarifies the beliefs, values, and understandings of an individual or group with respect to education.
• A philosophy of this sort is critical in defining and directing the purposes, objectives, and focus of a school.

Teacher Education

• Teacher Education programs produce teachers, who in turn educate generations of pupils and students.
• Teachers who transform the knowledge and skills acquired in school, college, or university during the rest of their lives and work.
• It is an education program which has the policies, procedures, and provision designed to equip teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and skills a teacher require to perform tasks effectively in the classroom, school, and wider community.
• An individual who wishes to be a teacher needs to be trained not only initially but also from time to time so that he/she will keep himself abreast.
• Teacher education, therefore, is perceived as a continuous process which consists of three distinct and closely interrelated consecutive stage.
• These stages are as follow:
  • Pre-service training
  • Induction
  • Inservice training

therefore, the following combinations of statements justify the study of Educational Philosophy in a teacher education course:-

• Philosophy helps in developing relationships between terms and concepts.
• Philosophy clarifies the meaning of concepts underlying education.
• Philosophy develops the holistic perception of educational issues.

Sociology is a social science that is concerned with human behavior and relationships. Sociology is an illuminating field of study that analyzes and explains important matters in our personal lives, our communities, and the world.

• Social sciences are basically concerned with human relationship. Study of the nature of human society is the ultimate goal of all social sciences.
• Social sciences study mostly the social issues, and social issues are always more complex, more subjective and less verifiable than the issues of physical sciences.
• Different social sciences like history, economics, sociology, anthropology etc. constitute an area or field of knowledge. And, this area or field of knowledge is functionally different from other areas or fields of knowledge like languages, mathematics, general sciences, etc.
• Social sciences have their own/distinct content areas and methodologies for approaching and understanding knowledge. Some of the common methods used in social sciences for understanding knowledge are historical, thematic, participatory, non-coercive, quasi experimental, etc.
• Concern for value attainment is an important tenet of social sciences. Therefore, social scientists bother always for goodness or value of something that they attain or deal with.
• Social sciences are primarily interdisciplinary in nature. A concept or issue of social sciences may not be confined to one discipline of social sciences, rather the concept or the issue may be understood taking into account the perspectives of all disciplines of social sciences.
• Social sciences facilitate plurality in thinking in understanding an issue. Since in social situation a single effect has numerous causes and a single cause has numerous effects, so, social sciences facilitate multiple thinking referring to a single issue.
• Social sciences aim at making a sensitive, reflective and informed human being. 

Sociology of Education

• The sociology of education is related to the study of how public institutions and individual experiences affect education and its outcomes.
• It is primarily concerned with the public schooling systems of modern industrial societies, including the expansion of higher, further, adult, and continuing education.
• Education is a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater equality, and acquiring wealth and status for all.
• It is a  diverse and vibrant subfield that features theory and research focused on how education as a social institution is affected by and affects other social institutions.
• It is concerned with how the social structure overall, and how various social forces shape the policies, practices, and outcomes of schooling.

Education serves several functions for society.

(a) socialization

(b) social integration

(c) social placement

(d) social and cultural innovation

The focus of concern of sociology of education, in the classical approach, has been on class conflict resolution.

• Class conflict is a class struggle and class warfare.
• It is the political tension and economic antagonism.
• It exists in society consequent to socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor.
• Class struggle happens when the rich pay the workers to make things for them to sell.
• The workers have no say in their pay or what things they make since they cannot live without a job or money.
• ​One of the most powerful sociological explanations of social conflict is that of Karl Marx, who posited a class struggle between proletariat and bourgeoisie 

​Therefore, the focus of concern of sociology of education, in the classical approach, has been on class conflict resolution.

Additional Information

Political freedom

• Political freedom is freedom from oppression or coercion.
• The absence of disabling conditions for an individual and the fulfillment of enabling conditions, or the absence of life conditions of compulsion, e.g. economic compulsion, in a society.
• It involves the ability of a nation's citizens to participate freely in the political process.
• It involves both the freedom of the majority to influence and guide.

The social construction of reality

• The social construction of reality stands for the proposition that human interactions with the world and with each other are mediated to an extent found nowhere else in nature.
•  Sociologists Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann wrote a book called The Social Construction of Reality
• Society is created by humans and human interaction, which is called Habituation.

Resources and social networks

• Social resources are resources embedded in one's social network and social ties.
• A social network is a sociological concept for a set of social relations between network elements that interact and which are in particular individuals. 

The correct answer is Positivism.

Key Points

• Positivism, the principle of conducting sociology through empiricism and the scientific method, was the primary way that Comte studied sociology.
• Positivism also argues that sociology should concern itself only with what can be observed with the senses and that theories of social life should be built in a rigid, linear, and methodical way on a basis of verifiable fact.

Additional Information

•  Antipositivism
  • Antipositivism is the view in social science that the social realm may not be subject to the same methods of investigation as the natural world.
  • Antipositivism relates to various historical debates in philosophy and sociology science.
• Imperialism
  • Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion.
  • Imperialism is a policy or ideology of extending the rule over peoples and other countries, for extending political and economic access, power, and control, often through employing hard power, especially military force, but also soft power.
• Relativism
  • Relativism is a family of philosophical views which deny claims to objectivity within a particular domain.
  • It is the claim that standards of truth, rationality, and ethical right and wrong vary greatly between cultures and historical epochs and there are no universal criteria for adjudicating between them.

The correct answer is 1 only.

Key Points

Vedanta Philosophy : 

• Vedanta is one of the six systems (darshans) of Indian philosophy. 
• “Vedanta” is a combination of two words: “Veda” which means “knowledge” and “anta” which means “the end of” or “the goal of.”
• Vedanta implies the philosophy of the Upanishad, the concluding portion of the Vedas. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• According to Vedanta philosophy, ‘Brahman is true, the world is false and self and Brahman are not different'. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.
• Vedanta is universal in its application and is equally relevant to all countries, all cultures, and all religious backgrounds. 
• Vedanta affirms :
  • The oneness of existence,
  • The divinity of the soul, and
  • The harmony of all religions.
• Vedanta asserts that the goal of life is to realize and to manifest our own divinity. 

Additional Information

Shankaracharya :

• Shankaracharya wrote the commentaries on the Upanishads, Brahmasutras and the Bhagavad Gita.
• Shankaracharya’s discourse or his philosophical views came to be known as Advaita Vedanta. 
• Shankaracharya believes that the Brahman is existent, unchanging, the highest truth and the ultimate knowledge.
• He also believes that there is no distinction between Brahman and the self.
• The knowledge of Brahman is the essence of all things and the ultimate existence.

Two general or world philosophies, idealism and realism, are derived from the ancient Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle. Educators who share one of these distinct sets of beliefs about the nature of reality presently apply each of these world philosophies in successful classrooms.

Let us explore each of these metaphysical schools of thought.

Realism:

• Realists believe that reality exists independent of the human mind. The ultimate reality is the world of physical objects. The focus is on the body/objects. Truth is objective-what can be observed.
• Aristotle, a student of Plato who broke with his mentor's idealist philosophy, is called the father of both Realism and the scientific method. In this metaphysical view, the aim is to understand objective reality through "the diligent and unsparing scrutiny of all observable data."
• Aristotle believed that to understand an object, its ultimate form had to be understood, which does not change. For example, a rose exists whether or not a person is aware of it. A rose can exist in the mind without being physically present, but ultimately, the rose shares properties with all other roses and flowers (its form), although one rose may be red and another peach colored.
• Aristotle also was the first to teach logic as a formal discipline in order to be able to reason about physical events and aspects.
• The Realist curriculum emphasizes the subject matter of the physical world, particularly science and mathematics.
• The teacher organizes and presents content systematically within a discipline, demonstrating the use of criteria in making decisions.
• Teaching methods focus on mastery of facts and basic skills through demonstration and recitation. Students must also demonstrate the ability to think critically and scientifically, using observation and experimentation.
• The curriculum should be scientifically approached, standardized, and distinct-discipline based. Character is developed through training in the rules of conduct.

Idealism:

• In idealism, the aim of education is to discover and develop each individual's abilities and full moral excellence in order to better serve society.
• The curricular emphasis is the subject matter of mind: literature, history, philosophy, art and religion.
• Teaching methods focus on handling ideas through lecture, discussion, and Socratic dialogue (a method of teaching that uses questioning to help students discover and clarify knowledge).
• Introspection, intuition, insight, and whole-part logic are used to bring to consciousness the forms or concepts which are latent in the mind.
• Character is developed through imitating examples and heroes.

Samkhya philosophy:

• The word Samkhya is based upon the Sanskrit word samkhya which means ‘number’.
• The school specifies the number and nature of the ultimate constituents of the universe and thereby imparts knowledge of reality. 
• In fact, the term Samkhya also means perfect knowledge.
• Hence it is a system of perfect knowledge.

Characteristics of Samkhya Philosophy:

• Samkhya is dualistic realism.
• It is dualistic because it advocates two ultimate realities: Prakriti, matter and Purusha, self (spirit).
• Samkhya is realism as it considers that both matter and spirit are equally real.
• Samkhya is pluralistic also because of its teaching that Purusha is not one but many.
• Samkhya adopts a consistent dualism of matter (prakriti) and the eternal spirit (purusha).
• The two are originally separate, but in the course of evolution purusha mistakenly identifies itself with aspects of prakriti.
• Right knowledge consists of the ability of purusha to distinguish itself from prakriti.

Hence, it is clear from the above discussion that the matter and the efficient cause are different in Samkhya philosophy.

Therefore, option 3 is the correct answer.

Philosophy is the study of the nature of reality and existence, of what is possible to know, and of right and wrong behaviour. It comes from the Greek word phílosophía, meaning the love of wisdom. It is one of the most important fields of human thought as it aspires to get at the very meaning of life.

The study of philosophy should be considered important for prospective teachers because philosophy provides a framework for viewing educational problems in true perspective. We may elaborate the concept of the linkage between philosophy and curriculum by giving many more examples:

• For example, if the major goal of the country is to transmit and preserve the cultural heritage, so the school curriculum would be designed in such a way to develop a sense of cultural awareness among the students by including it and also by organizing seminars, activities, workshops on the culture of the country and so on.
• If the philosophy of the country is to develop science and technology, so the aims of education and curriculum should be based upon developing scientific temper among the students by incorporating inquiry and project-based knowledge in the curriculum and further scope may be given to the students to study and acquire skills in these areas.
• In this way, the pragmatic schools of philosophy provide democratic freedom to learners for their study and implement child-centred methods like activity and project methods.

Hence, Philosophy provides a framework for viewing educational problems in a true perspective.