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SOCIOLOGY AND EDUCATION
Sociology primarily concerns itself with social relationships. Auguste Comte the French philosopher introduced the term “Sociology”. Sociology is derived from the Latin word “Socius” meaning companion or associate. Thus the etymological meaning of society is the science of society. A network of social relationship is called the society. Sociology is therefore a scientific study of human behaviour in groups, having for its aim the discovery of regularities and order in such behaviour and expressing these discoveries as theoretical propositions or generalizations that describe a wide variety of patterns of behaviour. Swift (1969) noted that:
Education is everything which comprises the way of life of a society or group of people is learned. Nothing of it is biologically inherited.
The role of education in society leads towards the development of a nation. This should be valid and understood by the teachers. School is the only place where the inhabitant of a society are moulded, shaped and trained in their young stage. Education is perceived as place where children can develop according to their unique needs and potential. Education does not operate in vacuum. To have a better society we should analyze the society to show its strengths and weakness and plan the educational programmes to these effects. The society and culture exercise massive powers on the formation of school curriculum and design. The society uses school education system as the safeguard of culture and tradition. Sociology of education therefore may be explained as the scientific analysis of the social processes and social patterns involved in the educational system. School Education is the only system which fulfils the needs and wishes of the society. Therefore the main purpose of education is preservation of our culture and social relationships. Hence the planning, designing and implementing the teaching learning process will make our students to become the successful survivor of our society.