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This video will look at two additional sociological approaches
to the study of adult education –
Interactionism and Critical Theory.
Both of these perspectives can be referred to
as "micro-level" theories,
as they are concerned with individuals and their interactions.
During this video, please reflect on the following Analysis Questions.
What is Interactionism and Critical Theory?
What are the goals of Interactionism and Critical Theory?
Who are the main theorists that contributed
to Interactionism and Critical Theory?
And how is adult education described by interactionists and critical theorists?
Symbolic Interactionism, or Interactionism for short,
is based on the idea that human beings,
as they interact with one another, give meanings to themselves, others,
and the world around them.
Individuals and society are inseparable,
with each being created through social interaction,
and understood in terms of the other.
In this view, there is no objective reality,
but rather multiple realities, depending on the experiences
we bring to our interactions and our definition of the situation.
Interactionism is based on the following premises –
humans act towards objects
on the basis of the meaning these objects have for them.
Meanings evolve from social interaction,
and meanings are established and modified
through an interpretive process.
According to Interactionist Theory, our abilities reflect on our actions,
and relationships with others enables us to develop identity.
Research based on Interactionist Theory helps us to understand
how people define and give meaning to themselves, their actions,
and the world around them.
For the interactionists, society consists of organized
and pattern interactions among individuals.
Research by interactionists focus on easily observable,
face to face interactions,
rather than on macro-level structural relationships
involving social institutions.
The goal of Interactionism is to understand social worlds
from the inside,
through the perspectives of the people who create, maintain, and change them.
Unlike functionalists and conflict theorists,
interactionists view culture and society from the bottom up,
rather than from the top down.
While the functionalists and conflict approaches
were initiated in Europe, Interactionism developed
first in the United States.
Major theorists of Interactionism include Max Weber,
Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead, and Herbert Blumer.
Interactionists propose that our identity is shaped
by social interaction, and that we develop our self-concept
by observing how others interact with us and label us.
By observing how others view us, we see a reflection of ourselves.
As such, they feel that education plays a vital role
in shaping the way students see reality and themselves.
Interactionists limit their analysis of education
to what they directly observe happening in the classroom.
They focus on the interactions between students and teachers,
and between students, and look at how those interactions
influence student performance, perceptions, and attitudes.
From an adult education perspective, Interactionist Theory
looks at how interactions may affect the performance of adults
in the education system.
They examine how the self-identity and behaviour of adults
may be determined or influenced by interaction,
and how interactions may affect the adult's performance.
The aim of Critical Theory
is critiquing and changing society and culture.
According to Critical Theory, society exists
in a state of permanent inequity, in which the dominant few
benefit from the continuous marginalization of the many.
The majority accepts this unequal state of affairs as normal and natural.
Inequity is maintained through the widespread acceptance
of dominant ideology.
The goal of Critical Theory is to understand
and then challenge this continuous reproduction
of social, political, and economic domination.
Critical Theory evolved from a group of sociologists
at the University of Frankfurt in Germany
known as the Frankfurt School, which included –
Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Erich Fromm, Jurgen Habermas,
Max Horkheimer, Otto Kirchheimer, Leo Lowenthal, Herbert Marcuse,
Franz Neumann, and Fredrich ***.
Unlike Functionalist or Conflict Theories,
critical theorists realize that there are many vantage points
from which to study and understand social life,
and that their relationship between education and society
is always subject to change.
According to critical theorists, the dominant ideology-
According to critical theorists, the dominant ideology,
which is the set of unquestioned beliefs, practices, and ideas,
is disseminated via education institutions.
They view education as a process in which certain interests and agendas
are pursued at the expense of others.
Critical Theory encourages students to become conscious
of the social oppressions or dominations around them,
and to reflect on the actions which may be required
to become free from those oppressions or dominations.
Critical Theory sees educational institution
as potentially oppressive to individuals.
Adult education, in this context, should transform individuals
so that they can change society.
The goal of adult education, from a critical perspective,
is to help adults recognize and challenge the dominant ideology,
foster liberation, unmask power, and overcome alienation.
Please consider the following Synthesis Questions.
What are the key features of Interactionism and Critical Theory?
What are the similarities and differences
between Interactionism and Critical Theory?
How does Interactionism and Critical Theory
view education in general?
And what is the purpose of adult education
as viewed through Interactionism and Critical Theory perspective?