WJEC AS Sociology - SY1 - Agents of secondary socialisation: education

The role of education in the process of socialisation

Schools are one of the agents of secondary socialisation and there are both formal and informal ways of controlling behaviour and transmitting society's norms and values.

The formal curriculum

The formal curriculum includes subjects that are taught in schools and the content of the actual lessons. This content is controlled up to Key Stage 4 by the national curriculum, decided by the government and it includes knowledge that is seen as important.

The formal curriculum has been criticised by Gillborn for being ethnocentric, that is focused on only one ethnicity.

Formal social control

Schools can control children formally through written school rules. When a rule is broken, formal sanctions are enforced to try and discourage a repeat of that behaviour, e.g. report cards, letters home and detentions. Praise is another sanction designed to encourage a repeat of the behaviour and…