The Study of Schools and

Social Dimensions of
Education
Prepared by: Ivy Christine R. Orquillas
BEED-IV

School is the
most important
agency of
education.
Yogendra Sharma

The study of schools has been of

essential interest to many since the

earliest times.
School is universal.
Schools and education are the best

and most important human inventions.

School as the primary educative

agency of all societies.
School is one social agency created by

society to educate its members. It has

become the primary educative agency of
society, making it a major and indispensable
social institution in the world.
School- derived from the Greek word
skhole, which means leisure.
In ancient Greece, leisure places were used
for self- development, where the Greeks
discussed matters related to enriching their
knowledge, skills, and virtues.

Schools is a special

environment, where a certain

quality of life and certain types of
activities and occupations are
provided with the object of
securing the childs development
along desirable lines.
John Dewey

Schools are institutions

developed by civilized man for

the purpose of aiding in the
preparation of the young to be
well adjusted and efficient
members of the society.
-JS Ross

Schools are institutions, which

require full-time attendance of

specific age groups in teachersupervised classrooms for study
of graded curricula. -Everette
Reimer

Nowadays, new alternative delivery modes of

education are emerging.

The school has always been regarded as the
most indispensable educative agency in the
formation and transformation of individuals
and society.
Although school is only one teacher among
several that form the social institution of
education, it is indisputable that it is still the
primary educative agency of society. Scotter
(1991)

School is considered as the

most important agency of
education on the basis of the
following argument.

1. It is unfounded to call a person educated if

he had never been through school or college.

Admittedly, a person can obtain education
through a number of means family, internet,
mass media, library, and church.
2. School is one of the best mediums through
which the national goals for human resource
development, peace, order, eradication of
poverty, and progress of the country can be
realized. School is the chief arm of the state
to ensure progress in all aspects of human life.

3. Without the assistance of school, family

cannot by itself perform task of educating a
child, especially along specialized occupational
skills, such as teaching, engineering, medicine,
physics, accountancy, and the like.
4. School is the only educational agency, which
aims to complete the development of
individuals, i.e., the development of mind, body,
morals, spirit, among others.
5. The schools extent of contribution to
education is indispensable that no other
educative agency can hope to replace

The need of the systematic study

of schools
The discussion about schools has been the

favorite subject of people from different walks

of life. For example, the analysis of school and
its role in social, economic, political, cultural,
moral, and global life has been the interest of
social philosophers, reformers, politicians,
economists, policy makers, developmentalists,
scholars, and other professional groups.

The interdisciplinary analysis of

school
Numerous fields have put interest in schools such

as philosophy, psychology, law, history, economics,

and political science.
Philosophy looks into the deeper meaning of the
existence as goals of schools in the individuals and
society.
Psychology provides learning theories and
principles as well as development stages of the
learners that guide effective and meaningful
teaching and learning process.
Law provides legal framework to which teaching
and managing schools are practiced.

There is no single discipline that has sole

privilege of analyzing schools, but all these

disciplines bring out a meaningful and
integrated collection of understanding of
schools as a formal educative institution.