2020

SOCIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION: The Role of

Family in Education

Trecia May P. Depra

Mel Jean A. Narciso
 MaEd Social Studies- CPSU
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12/12/2020

Unit Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Family as an Institution
1.3 Clarifying the Concept of Family and Community Connections with
Schools
1.4 Role of family in Education
1.5 Implications
1.6 Reaction

Objectives:

 To develop knowledge regarding the concept of family, its roles and

functions in education.
 To understand the characteristics of the family as an institution and
its purpose, existence, and origin.
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1.1 Introduction
The word family came into English in the fifteenth century. Its root lies in the Latin word famulus, “servant”. The first
meaning in English was close to our modern word “household” — a group of individuals living under one roof that included
blood relations and servants. 

Families are an integral part of one’s life. It does not matter if you have a small or big family, as long as you have one. A
family serves as the first school to the child where one learns about various things. The basic knowledge about one’s culture
and identity comes from their family only. In other words, you are a reflection of your family. All the good habits and manners
one has incorporated are from their family only. And the family are responsible for creating a safe and secure environment at
home.

Family entails close-knit ties people have to one another. Many different types of family bonds exist, based in part
on specific cultural definitions. Generally, families are defined by blood bonds, marriage bonds, and adoption bonds. A
blood bond is a relationship based on genetic ties tracing familial descent. A blood relative is a family member with a
biological relationship to others in a family group. Adoption also creates a strong family bond; ties based on adoption
parallel blood bonds. Marriage bonds create new ties between individuals and between families.

Why Families are Important?

Families are essential as they help in our growth. They develop us

into becoming a complete person with an individual identity. Moreover,
they give us a sense of security and a safe environment to flourish in.
Family is important to individuals because it provides benefits to your
physical, emotional, and mental health that can’t be found anywhere else.

Fa
m
ily
Religion
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1.2 Family as an institution Government

A social institution is a complex set of interdependent social forces that meet basic needs and serve to reproduce
patterns of behavior. Family is one of the most influential forces in socialization, the process through which people learn
the values, norms, beliefs, and expectations of their culture. As a social institution, family influences individuals but also
communities and societies at large. Family is the primary agent of socialization, the first institution through which people
learn social behavior, expectations, and roles. Like society as a whole, family as a social institution is not stable. It
changes along with society, and as family and family structures change, society also changes.

Sociologists take different theoretical approaches to understanding the family as a social institution. The three
dominant theoretical premises are functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Sociologists may use a
variety of theoretical perspectives to explain events
that occur within and outside of the family.

Functionalism Conflict theory Symbolic 1.3 Clarifying the Concept of

interactionism
Families serve to socialize
children and shape
Family structure is a
factor in social inequality. Family is a unit that
Family and Community
individuals' social
identities.
Families reinforce class
and gender inequalities.
shares understandings of Connections with Schools
their various situations.
Families regulate sexual Family conflict impacts There is an analysis of
reproduction. individuals and society. how people interact in a
Families contribute to marriage or other type of
social stability. romantic relationship.
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The field of family and community connections with schools does not
have consistent agreement on what is meant by the terms “connections,”
“parent involvement,” and “community involvement.” The need to clarify
these concepts comes not from a desire for universally acceptable, all-
encompassing definitions, but from a need to be clear in our language so
that researchers and practitioners can more effectively implement and
measure the impacts of these connections.

The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory reveals that

there are many different activities that connect families and schools. Often
these activities are quite different from each other, yet they are lumped
together as “parent involvement” or “school-family connections.” Some
researchers emphasize activities that take place at the school, such as
parent attendance at school events and participation in parent-teacher
organizations (PTOs). Others
include activities that take place in the home, such as parental homework help and
discussions about school issues between parents and children. Still others include
abstract concepts as well as actual involvement behaviors in their definition, such
as parent aspirations for a child’s education.

These activities have very different impacts on students, schools, families, and
communities. The variety of definitions makes it difficult to compare studies and
models of parent involvement to one another. They also make the analysis of the
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findings of multiple studies a challenge. For practitioners, these multiple definitions may lead to difficulties in making
judgments about what kinds of activities to implement, how to implement them, and what results to expect from them.
Similarly, many different kinds of activities fall under the heading of “community connections with schools.” One
researcher may define a school-community connection as a formal partnership between the school and another local
organization. Another may highlight learning opportunities for students that take them out of the classroom and into the
community for real-life experiences. Still other researchers may look at the role of the school in the larger community—-
as a community center or a community institution that can play a role in community development efforts. There is also
variation in the very way the term “community” is defined.

The challenge of defining school-community connections in a comprehensive way has similar consequences to the
challenge of defining the full range of school-family connections. The multiple definitions make it difficult to compare
studies with one another and to synthesize the results across studies. Multiple definitions also create challenges for
practitioners as they attempt to select, implement, and evaluate different connection activities.

In addition to the general problem of multiple and overlapping definitions, two important factors have affected how
family and community connections are currently defined in research and practice. First, there are the differences in
perceptions of appropriate roles of family and community members in connections with schools. Second, there has been
an emphasis on school-centered definitions of family and community involvement. Family and community involvement
frequently means helping reach goals defined by the schools (administrators and teachers) that reflect only school values
and priorities. There is a need for the field to consider expanded definitions that move beyond narrow definitions of family
and community involvement to include theories, concepts, and ideas from outside the field of education, as well as
culturally appropriate definitions and family centered practices.
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1.4 Role of family in Education

Family plays the most important role in children’s development and education.
Many researches and studies found out this result. Researchers and educators view
parents as an essential part of early childhood education. Parents are often said to be
the first and best teacher for a child. (The Early Years Framework, 2008). The
function of education in the community is to prepare the younger generation to play
certain roles in society in the future, transferring knowledge related to these roles from
the older generation to the younger generation, and moving the values that aim to
maintain the need and community unity which is an absolute condition for the
continuation of the life of a society and civilization.

The role of families in the process of achieving educational goals in schools can
be seen from their participation in assisting and motivating children in learning,
including in terms of financial support.

Cimagala (2010) described the important role of parents in children’s education

as, Parents today should be up to the complex challenges children are facing in their
education. Not only are there more factors to reckon with. These factors often
compete with each other and can have multiple effects, some good, and some bad. Parents have to be keenly discerning
to handle these factors expertly.

David (2009) found that the role of family on children is very much influential. He described that changed roles of
the family has great impact on children’s development and education. Family pattern has a lot to do with child’s moral
development as well. Families where there is strong foundation of love, children there learn about family bonding and mutual
trust. Family values also help developing children’s mental and intellectual strength.

Thus it shows that, without the active involvement of the family members specially the parents it is quiet impossible for the
children to develop strong physical, mental, moral and intellectual potential.
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Family donations for children's education are as follows (Hafid, 2013):

1) The way parents train their children to master ways to take care of themselves, walk, pray, truly imprint on themselves
because they are closely related to their personal development.

2) The attitude of parents greatly influences children's development. The attitude of

accepting or rejecting, the attitude of compassion or indifference, patience or haste,
the attitude of protecting or letting directly affect the child's emotional reaction. It is
natural and logical if education is in the hands of parents and cannot be carried by
others because it isthe blood of the flesh, except for the limitations of these two
parents. So, as the responsibility of education can be delegated to others, namely
through school.

The educational responsibilities that need to be based and nurtured by both parents of children
include:
a) Maintaining and raising it, this responsibility is a natural impetus to be carried out because the person needs to eat,
drink and care so that he will continue to live sustainably.

b) Protect and guarantee their health, both religiously and spiritually, from various diseases or environmental hazards that
can endanger themselves.

c) Educate him with a variety of knowledge and skills that are useful for his life so that if he is an adult he can stand alone
and help others, and

d) giving them religious education

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e) Family teaches citizenship and social virtues, the child learns social and civic virtues through cooperation, mutual
understanding, sympathy, self-sacrifice, service tendency. He also learns his civic duties and responsibilities for making of
the nation.

f) Family provides vocational education, family helps in providing different vocational education, including parental
vocational. He imbibes various skills and ways of his father’s trade, vocation, business for meeting the future demand and
livelihood.

g) Family helps in all-round development, for all-round development of the child, it helps in guiding him. Home provides
emotional and financial support to the child for its sound development. Therefore, it is a secure place for the expression of
one’s full talent without any problem.

h) Family helps in conservation and promotion of culture, family equips the child to conserve the important values, ideas
of the home and to promote these through experiences.

1.5 Implications
Education is a shared responsibility between family, community and government. The school is only a helper for
continuing education in the family because education is first and foremost obtained by the family. The transition from
the form of education outside the school to the school education pathway (formal) requires 'cooperation' between
parents and schools (educators). The attitude of children towards school will mainly be influenced by the attitude of
their parents. Likewise, it is very important for parents to trust schools (educators) who have replaced their duties so far
in the school room. This is very important to note, considering the recent frequent occurrence of actions that are less
praiseworthy for students, while parents seem to not want to know, even tend to blame the school. Parents must pay
attention to their child's school, namely by paying attention to their experience and respecting all their efforts. Likewise,
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parents must show their cooperation in directing children's ways by teaching their homework, not confiscating their
children by doing housework, parents must try to motivate and guide children in learning.

The main task of the family in children's education is as a foundation for moral education and religious life views.
The nature and character of children are mostly taken from their parents and other family members. Therefore, family
is the most important and effective agency of education. It is the basis and center of all social, political, moral,
economic, physical, aesthetic, vocational, religious interaction in the society. So, as the family, it is your job to teach
your children about the values that they will use to guide their own lives. This requires a lot of work for you because not
only do you have to directly teach these values to your children, such as through explaining and tasks as mentioned,
but your children will look to you as a role model. Your child will notice if you do behave in the same way that you
expect of them. Your child watches your behaviors to gauge how to behave themselves. When something goes awry,
having a level-headed response is very important. Trying to always exhibit your values is important more than ever with
a family because a child’s presence must then always be taken into consideration.

Knowing how important the role of family is in the development of children is crucial. As parents, you are your
child’s first teachers. More than day care or other caregivers, most of your child’s learning happens at home with their
family. Creating an environment where your child can learn the appropriate skills and values as well as learn how to
socialize and be secure creates a solid foundation upon which your child can grow.

1.6 Make your own reflection

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How important is Parental School Involvement to School Success? Does It Benefit All Children? What are the
advantages & disadvantages of family involvement in education?

Works Cited
https://thekashmirimages.com/2018/12/18/sociological-basis-of-education/

https://www.pallikkutam.com/blog/education-begins-at-home-

https://www.coursehero.com/sg/introduction-to-sociology/family-as-a-social-institution

https://www.sociologyguide.com/basic-concepts/Social-Institutions.php

https://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-fam1.htm#:~:text=The%20word%20family%20came%20into,included%20blood
%20relations%20and%20servants
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The_Contribution_of_Family_and_Community_Education.pdf American Journal of Education and Learning Vol. 4, No. 2, 292-301, 2019
e-ISSN:2518-6647

https://www.tijoss.com/TIJOSS%2011th%20Volume/iffat13.pdf

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