Social, Economic or Cultural Factors That Influence the Provision Primary of Education - Essay Example

Social, economic or cultural factors that influence the provision Primary of education Primary Schools Introduction The aspect of education chosen for this research is primary education. Primary education includes early years till year 6. This is a period of studies which is immensely important for the children as it is the best time for learning new things. Children are at a tender age in which they tend to learn faster and are eager to learn new things. Primary schools have greater responsibilities towards the well being and future of the students as they contribute in building the base. Moreover, there are a number of social, economic, and cultural factors that influence the provision of education in primary schools. Social factors are those which include the family backgrounds, the geographical areas, the socio-economic classes, and other factors relating to types of schools, teachers, and education. Primary schools in the UK suffer many social factors influencing the provision of education because UK is a multicultural society with various socio-economic classes, different types of schools such as private and public, and several family backgrounds. Schools teach socializing to students and give them common values according to which they develop their personalities away from their ethnic, cultural, or economic backgrounds (Hawkins, 2012, p. 116). However, at times the social factors intervene in the provision of education to students and affect their nurturing. There are some schools that are private and some public which affects the provision of education. Private schools consist of the students who belong to higher socio-economic classes. Such schools have teachers who provide high quality education to students and focus on their designed plans and curriculums; in addition to giving students ethical and religious values that would bring them closer to humanity and developing a strong personality. Public schools provide primary education to students coming from all sorts of social backgrounds. Even though these schools have governors, leaders, managers, and staff members who are continually monitored by the government, they often fail to minimize the differences between students. At times, language barriers and ethnic differences affect the provision of education in public schools as they are located in districts which often have people from the same cultures, or people from diverse cultures (Sylva, 2010, p. 56). Socio-economic factors deal with the areas where the schools are located. Some students are situated in areas where there are ethnic minorities whereas some are located in low socio-economic areas. These factors influence the provision of education as teachers face difficulties in helping students to mingle with each other and form friendly relations. A positive environment is what makes a good school and when there are children from different social backgrounds it becomes difficult to teach them similar values. Social issues in the society have increase tremendously from the violence of street gangs to the stereotyping against minorities or certain groups of people. Families often teach their young children to be careful about certain people and groups due to the beliefs that are widespread and due to the social factors that have negatively affected the society. With such teachings from homes; that differ from family to family, it becomes difficult for the teacher to bring the students to believe and agree on one thing. These social factors have created difficulties for the teachers to bring students together and make them agree at one point (Etten, 2003, p. 131). Teachers must be trained in order to deal with the social factors that influence the provision for education. Classroom behaviors should be observed and teachers must be given activities and lessons through which they can tend to break the social barriers. Moreover, the students should also be monitored outside the classroom and any behavior which is considered anti-social must be monitored and checked upon immediately (Webb, 2013, p. 1). In today’s world, everything is surrounded by the economics. The economic factor has tended to influence the primary schools just as much as higher level education. Every government tends to plan a budget for the education sector. Primary education is the most important stage in the educational life of a student. Because of many economic factors, millions of children all over the world are not even able to afford the primary education. This is building a huge gap between the students (Worpole, 2000, p. 80). Not only are children receiving low quality of education, but they are many who are not receiving education at all. Primary education is a basic human right as declared by the United Nations. Because of the capitalist system, the education has also become unaffordable for many children. It can be said that the economic factors in education influence the provision of education the most. Education at primary level must be free and funded by the state of every country. Early years’ education for children enables them to open their minds, learn new things, and learn the importance of acquiring knowledge. Every citizen must be given the chance to gain knowledge and acquire education at primary level. Economic issues also arise when government isn’t spending much on the educational sector and the primary schools are facing difficulties in providing the students with their needs. Schools with lesser funds tend to spend less on students’ and on planning academic years such as curriculums, timetables, activities, lessons, etc (Egan, 2012, p. 13). Teachers are also given less opportunities for trainings and guidelines which restrict them from carrying out effective and progressive activities and lessons to motivate students and enhance their learning. Lack of economic resources leads the teachers to adopt simple and easy methods of teaching and explaining which influences the effective provision of education. Especially in early years, children need interesting activities and lessons which would enhance their learning abilities and improve their skills at a wider level. Economic factors affect the overall educational institution (Taylor, 1996, p. 91). However, the socio-economic area where the student is living should not be the only factor to decide which school the student wants to attend. Low socio-economic areas have poor economically integrated schools which lead the students to lack behind in areas of their interest if they are willing. Hence, the students should be allowed to go to schools according to their merits and abilities, not only their socio-economic class. Private schools have now started programs of financial aid and special discounts for students who are smarter. This decreases the gap between the wealthy and poor, and leaves the gap only between the educated and the uneducated. Cultural factors hold a significant role in the educational institutions and influence the provision of education. This is because they are related to the social factors, economic factors, and all other society issues that have coincided and that create problems in school’s academic progress. Cultural factors include the diverse children present in the society that have come from different backgrounds but study at the same levels in school. Primary schools have a major role to play in finishing discrimination and changing the thinking of students at an early stage so that they do not adopt it in their future lives (Walker, 2002, p. 55). Cultural factors can often be very disturbing for students from ethnic minorities and for teachers to handle the diversified class. This often affects the school progress and the learning sessions as a healthy and positive environment is not supported and encouraged. Cultural and ethnic factors tend to disturb the students emotionally and mentally as well. Problems arise when students start passing comments on each other’s ethnicity, race, or religion. At times, teachers also act ignorant towards students of ethnic minorities such as blacks in American schools. These cultural differences cause severe problems and slow down the academic progress (Bradshaw, 2011, p. 290). At primary levels, students should be taught the value of diversity and the need to accept and understand other students’ races. Students are given the lessons to respect other cultures and accept them as equals. Primary school curriculums in the UK have been designed to teach the history of the multicultural society of Britain in order to promote respect and love amongst culturally diverse students (Alexander, 2012, p. 87). Primary schools in some areas also restrict the provision of education to students from particular races or cultures. This should be the responsibility of the government to ensure that no citizen is kept out of school just because of their race, and no child suffers discrimination in school academic progress. Teachers are given special trainings and guidance that promote cultural equality and prevent the cultural differences from affecting the provision of education. The functioning of primary schools is dependent over a number of factors and it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that no such factors tend to impact the academic progress and provision. Primary schools have greater responsibilities that they have to fulfill in order to make the children and the society a better place. Social factors, economic factors, and cultural factors all influence the provision of education in some way or the other. In some schools, these factors tend to be a positive factor as students are friendly and motivated towards their studies and classes while at other times they may be negative when teachers and students have barriers due to social or cultural factors. Teachers’ trainings and guidance is thus most important as they can kill all the barriers that influence education. References Sylva K. (2010). Early Childhood Matters: Evidence from the Effective Pre-School and Primary Education Project. UK: Routledge Etten S. (2003). Sociocultural Influences and Teacher Education Programs. USA: IAP Webb R. (2013). Research Primary Education: Methods. UK: Routledge Egan D. (2012). Creating the Curriculum. UK: Routledge Bradshaw J. (2011). The Well-Being of Children in the UK. UK: Policy Press Hawkins S. (2012). Thinking Through Ethics and Values in Primary Education. UK: SAGE Alexander R. (2012). The Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys. UK: Routledge Walker A. (2002). School Leadership and Administration: Adopting a Cultural Perspective. UK: Psychology Press Taylor M. (1996). Values in Education and Education in Values. UK: Psychology Press Worpole K. (2000). Linking Home and School. UK: Demos Read More