Pick a topic based on the assignment - Essay Example

SOCIAL REPRODUCTION When I was 12 years old I was uprooted from my Iranian home and travelled to England where I spent 2 years at an all boy’s boarding school. This was necessitated because my father was in the military and posted to several bases in the UK so a day school was not feasible. This was a bit of a cultural shock for me, as the school structure was far more formal and rigid than what I had experienced in Iran with the school uniform being required to be worn at all times except during prescribed sports activities.

My father had difficulty in enrolling me in a school because of the British disdain for Iranian education, and indeed I found a strong emphasis on scholarly pursuits requiring me to catch up on many subjects. I would describe this private school as a middle class one in contrast to the egalitarian public system in Iran, where students of a high socioeconomic class mix with those of a lower one. I would submit that such private schools play a greater role in the socialization of children than the usual public ones in Iran for 2 reasons (1) the fees required from the parents eliminate the participation of children from low socioeconomic status and (2) the fact that children live at school except for prescribed vacations means I would argue that theses schools play a greater role in social reproduction than the parents do.

Although there may be somewhat greater social mobility in the UK now, when I grew up there was much less than in Iran. The English private school system stressing values of strict discipline, high scholastic achievement and competition is I believe more instrumental in socializing children to assume roles of middle and upper management in business and the civil service replacing the previous generation of such leaders than their Iranian counterparts. In this sense I would argue that the English system is more “functional” in this specific aspect of social reproduction.

From the perspective of the more open Iranian society, this is often criticized as an example of the operation of the “network” theory exemplifying restrictions of the “old boys club”, etc. inhibiting societal mobility. Upon returning to the school recently, I noted a significant change. The school has now become co-educational. When I was a student the prevailing theory was that adolescent boys and girls should be separated because the presence of the opposite gender was too much of a distraction to the learning process.

Apparently “feminist” theory has overcome this reservation. The school has now been integrated for several years with no adverse effects on its’ scholastic standing, and no doubt females now achieve a more equitable share of business and professional positions. Conclusion Social reproduction through family and school socialization must ensure important roles of social and economic leadership are adequately maintained. The relative influence of family and school may differ depending on whether the child lives at school.

Finally social reproduction must be flexible enough to adapt to changing norms and values such as feminist.