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SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CONTINUING EDUCATION
M.B. Glotov
Chapter 2, article 10, item 2 of the Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” adopted by the State Duma on December 21, 2012 and approved on December 26, 2012, states that in the structure of the system of education, continuing education as an “exercise of the right to lifelong education”, is referred to by the division of “extended education and professional training”, which is confirmed by articles 75 and 76 of chapter 10. From the point of view of the education, continuous learning may be rightfully considered to be a single process of the basic and extended lifelong education. In sociology, this process was called the “socialization of man”.
The problem of the socialization of man was first set up in the late XIX century by the founder of American sociology F. Giddings, in his work “Theory of Socialization”, in which he defined socialization as “process of development of human social nature” [1]. B.D. Parygin was the first among Soviet scientists to introduce the problem of socialization into social psychology defining it as the process of “entering the social environment, adjusting to it, and learning certain social roles and functions” [2]. Although the term of “socialization” got its “residence permit” in Soviet social-psychological literature, it was assigned a secondary part because, from the positions of historical materialism, priority was given to the notions of the “development of man”, “formation of a personality” and “education of a personality”, that are still used as synonyms of the notion of “socialization of man”.
There is a widespread idea in modern sociology that socialization is restricted by the framework of the childhood and youth periods in human life. In most cases, both foreign and domestic psychologists, educators, and sociologists, understand the socialization of man as the process of the transformation of a child into an adult member of society. For example, the English sociologist A. Giddens defines the socialization of man as “the process during which a helpless baby gradually turns into a reasonable being with self-consciousness” [3]. To some extent this point of view is shared by Z.T. Toshchenko, asserting that the socialization of a person “starts from the first years of life and finishes by the period of civil maturity”. He notes however, that “in some aspects”, the process of socialization of man “is lifelong” [4]. Nevertheless, the point of view prevailing in modern domestic sociology states that the process of socialization of man covers his entire life cycle, and does not stop until the last days of his life. The socialization of man most often implies the process of his entering the social environment, adjusting to it, learning the settings and patterns of behavior, norms and values of the existing culture inherent in the social communities to which he belongs or would like to belong, gaining social experience, and performing social roles and holding social positions in life.
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The social purpose of the process of the socialization of man is the fact that throughout life, man learns knowledge and values, rules and norms, skills and abilities, mechanisms, and ways of social actions that are external with regard to him, and have been developed and established by the culture of a particular society. Man turns them into his own, so as to be able to perform the most diverse social roles, and to occupy the social statuses corresponding to them in social life. Through socialization, man prepares for functioning within society as a representative of certain social communities.
The socialization of man can take place both unconsciously, spontaneously, and arbitrarily, or, in a conscientious, goal-directed and organized manner. Conscientious, goal-directed and organized socialization of man is designated best by the notion of “education”. Addressing teachers in 1928, the first Soviet People’s Commissar for education Anatoly Vasilievich Lunacharsky explained the term “education” as “giving the child a complete image of man, by methods of teaching and education” [5].
Education as a continuing task-oriented process of the organization of the socialization of man by society, includes three interconnected and interdependent processes: education, attitude development, and learning. The process of education forms man’s consciousness and promotes assimilation of the knowledge necessary to perform future social roles. The process of attitude development forms man’s spiritual world, needs, interests, and a system of values that enable him to identify his place in society. The process of learning provides man with the possibility to develop abilities, and acquire and develop knowledge and skills that will help him to effectively learn and perform social roles. Socialization of man can proceed in two forms: social adaptation and social internalization. Social adaptation is a form of man’s adjustment to the social statuses that enable him to be a representative of certain social communities, and to perform relevant social roles forcibly or voluntarily. Social adaptation has priority significance at the early stage of man’s development. As a person gets older, social internalization becomes increasingly important for him or her. Social internalization is a form of voluntary preliminarily learning of the social role that he or she would like to perform in future as a representative of a certain social community. Social internalization helps man to identify his place in social life. Thus, studying at higher educational institutions, students simultaneously adapt to the role of a learner and internalize to the role of a future specialist.
The solution of the question about the periods of socialization of man depends on how this process is defined. Most psychologists and teachers interpreting the process of socialization as the transformation of a child into an adult, traditionally identify three age periods of a person’s life as the major periods of socialization: childhood, adolescence and youth. Those who understand socialization as a lifelong process suggest their own approaches. For example, the Russian sociologist Y.I. Gilinsky initially suggested distinguishing three periods of socialization: pre-labor, labor and post-labor. He then specified that it is necessary to identify two more periods within the first stage: preschool and school. Thus, in his opinion there are four stages of socialization of man: (1) from birth to admission to school; (2) from the beginning of studies to the completion of full-time forms of general and professional education; (3) from the beginning of work activities to
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retirement; (4) from the moment of termination of work activities. In the opinion of Gilinsky, “these four stages of socialization approximately correspond to the age-related division generally accepted in sociology in childhood, youth, maturity and old age” [6]. Based, mostly on the age-related changes in human life and, accordingly, the major kinds of his activities, E.M. Babosov suggests identifying nine stages of socialization: infancy, early childhood, preschool childhood, primary school age, adolescence, youth, late youth, human maturity, and post-work [7].
The consideration of continuing education as a process of socialization of man, allows for a more comprehensive presentation of the socially intended purpose of continuing education, extension of its structure, and identification of specific areas and forms of its functioning. For example, the structure of continuing education may comprise such socially significant components as education in the family, in work collectives, and in public and cultural-educational organizations. The areas of continuing education to be considered may be educational, or attitude development and teaching areas. Among the forms of continuing education, one should pay attention to social adaptation as a forced one and social internalization as a voluntary one. Of special significance in the process of continuing education is the regard for age-related stages of socialization, as well as the individual and personal characteristics of those involved in this process.
References
1. См.: Giddings F.P. The theory of socialization. - N.Y., 1897.
2. Парыгин Б.Д. Основы социально-психологической теории. - М., 1971. - С. 164.
3. Гидденс Э. Социология. 2-е изд. - М., 2005. С. 68.
4. Тощенко Ж.Т. Социология: учебник. 3-е изд. - М., 2005. С. 412.
5. Луначарский А.В. О воспитании и образовании: Избранное. - М., 1976. - С. 284, 312.
6. Гилинский Я. И. Стадии социализации индивида // Человек и общество: Проблемы социализации индивида. Вып. IX. Л., 1971. - С. 44-55.
7. Бабосов Е.М. Общая социология. 3-е изд. - Минск, 2006. - С. 282-286.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translations Bureau
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