Essay on Schools and Society

Hurdles in the Life of a Principal

Principals are part of the administration in the operation of a school. The moral conduct and discipline of the students is their sole responsibility. (Boulding, 1956). That is irrespective of the type of students that they are entitled. The society they serve also holds them accountable. Despite the diversity of students and teachers, the principal is required to produce excellent results. Principals are also in charge of the teachers under them.

Principals have to exercise a lot of impartiality when selecting the teachers that they are to work with as well as the students they are in charge of. (Boulding, 1956). In addition, they act as a medium of communication between all the stakeholders in the school community. The workers, teachers, learners, and their guardians. The major challenge faced by the principals is to ensure everything works in unity and cohesion. From a study by (Adem, 2006), some of the main challenges reported by principals are violence, teacher's union and teacher attitudes towards principals and students as well.

Effect of Violence on Student Performance

Symbolic violence is the major emphasis of the book. It is violence caused by the cultural and social backgrounds of the students. Situations of symbolic violence are as a result of people in power imposing policies on the students and concealing the motive and reason behind the policies. Cultural and social backgrounds place some students at an advantage over the others within the class environment. However, discipline and moral uprightness result in a conducive environment for students to learn as well as teachers to impart knowledge. Ballantine states that a class without discipline is as good as a mob. Good morals in a society reflect the discipline of students in the schools in the society. Some schools have been identified due to their efforts to reduce violence in school by changing culture and environment of the school. (Jeanne & Joan, 2015)

A quiet environment for learning is an advantage to all stakeholders (Collins 1971). The administration is at peace when the school is peaceful. On the other hand, it gives the teachers a good platform to interact well with the students. Violence, on the other hand, has very many demerits. It consumes time as the administration resolves the conflicts. The teachers are also affected as they waste time to try to deal with the indisciplined students. Other students also live in fear (Jeanne & Joan, 2015).

Importance of Social Skills

Social skills are equated to morals in the book. Civic duties and family responsibilities are imparted to the students in the course of their learning and reflected in their livers. School rules and regulations are the same as the laws of the country. Respecting school regulations also translate to the obedience of the laws of the country. The social skills are only taught to the students so that they can survive in other sectors of life apart from academics. Surviving the current world requires these social skills more than the critical skills (Jeanne & Joan 2015). Critical skills and academic skills are important for job hunting and employment.

The ability of students to survive all over the world relies majorly on their social skills. The manner in which students handle situations in life determines how they behave in life. The friends they make and how they relate is the same manner in which they behave after school. The vices they pick in school also translate to their life in school. Social skills impact a lot of useful information in the students from how to dress for a particular situation to their responsibilities in a given position as well (Jeanne & Joan 2015).

Importance of Racial Composition

People in authority, leadership and the management of power is influenced majorly by the race and cultural background of the people at the top. Leaders are easily tempted to employ people from their racial background to work around them. Selection, classification, and employment of different people depend on the backgrounds in most situations. Some parents prefer to send their children to schools where their racial background is not only respected but taught as well (Jeanne & Joan 2015). Learning is better when teachers totally respect and honor the cultural and racial backgrounds of their students and co-workers.

Having students from different divides in terms of races and cultures living in harmony prepares them for their life after school. It is an essential lesson they learn to work with people who do not share the same backgrounds. Having students from all background implies that the schools can enjoy the bright side of their backgrounds (Jeanne & Joan 2015). However, the opposite is also likely to happen (Jeanne & Joan 2015). Students may end up picking vices from their colleagues. Teachers should, therefore, be keen on their interactions with the students. A symbiotic interaction among the students is encouraged especially when the students learn important things about the culture of their friends. A class is also brought to life by students from different areas; if a class was composed of students from a single race it would not be as lively as the mixed class.

Gender k12 and Post-Secondary Performance

According to feminist theories, women are not given the same challenge as that accorded to men in the class. The approach of students to life and careers is affected by this conduct in the classroom setting. Teachers have also developed a negative attitude towards the students. Boys are perceived to be troublesome even before they commit any crime. (Collins 1971).Students who receive a greater challenge in class end up performing very well in life. However, students who undergo negative criticism may end up with a negative attitude towards life (Jeanne & Joan, 2015). Due to such exposure in school, people from one gender are inclined to a specific type of Job while others are ignored. Some people are also discouraged from choosing some careers. For instance, ladies perform well in human resource and secretariat jobs while men are good at accounting and engineering jobs.

Conclusion

The success of a student in a class is dependent on many factors. Many people play different roles in the process. A lot of work has been done so as to determine the optimum conditions for learning. Basically, the most important thing is for all stakeholders to dutifully do their jobs. Students are supposed to follow and respect the rules and regulations of the school and put an effort in their studies. Teachers have the responsibility of educating the students and guiding them on matters of social skills. Parents are responsible for the discipline of the students out of class and also for helping them make basic and critical decisions in life.

References

Adem, B. (2016). Challenges facing Principals in their first year in school. Universal Journal of Education research, 4, 192-199

Boulding, K. E. (1956).The theory of skeleton Science. Management Science. Michigan: University of Michigan.

Collins, R. (1971). Functional conflict theories of educational stratification. American Sociological Review, 36 1002-1019

Jeanne, H. & Joan Z. (2015). Schools and society. A sociological approach to Education. Los Angeles: Pine forge press