ABSTRACT

All socialisation, therefore, is the setting for study of an educational system. The human-building ability of society is often best described by using a concept which looks upon the 'way of life' of society as a whole, a culture. Culture is not only something which man makes, it is also something which makes him. Schooling, like socialisation, requires communication. In analysing the social structure we look for the ways in which institutions support and influence each other. The system of education is taken as given and ways are devised of measuring actual (and by inference, potential) adaptability of individual children to it. The education system is only one setting for the development of self-concept, valued aims, achievement motivation and cognitive skills. Until the Second World War the thinking of many British educators was dominated by a concept of education which saw it as an exclusive prize to be enjoyed by a few.