The School Organization Between the Question of Effectiveness and Social Effect

Abstract

Among the problems which affect the educational organisation today, the question of social impacts is the most important social and educative phenomenon. So the roles of schools in institutional effectiveness are the same roles which are affected by the different social factors. Then we can see that the problematic of education is necessarily a question of society in its own field of organisational action of the different educational programs. In this communication I will try to analyse the question of educational effectiveness using a psycho sociological analysis based on some cultural and social factors which limit the action of educational institution in underdeveloped countries. Our analysis will integrate the social reality of school in this specific context and socials factors embedded with educational reality.

Keywords: School organization, educational effectiveness, social effects

Introduction

The school is considered as a complex place of socialization where the pupils participate, more or less, according to the context as actor in the building of school and social situations, as shown in the work of Pierre Bourdieu and J. C Passeron, “this academic / schooling institution has an educational system which is a set of institutional or customary mechanisms that ensure the transmission of the legacy of reading between the Generations.” (translation mine).

The school is also an institution that performs the global functions of integration and mobility. It consists in transmitting in the setting of deliberate programming. It is also interested in its internal organization for a good progress and a smooth running of the pupils’ education so as to assure a high rate of success. On the other hand, it guarantees a follow-up for those with learning difficulties so as to avoid school failure. The rate of the latter, however, has remarkably increased during the last few years.

Problem Statement

School Failure is a major issue because it is a determining factor. This is the reason why it has aroused the curiosity of researchers and being the focus of numerous works, and more specifically in the field of sociology of education. The phenomenon, indeed, concerns almost all the schools all over the world. However, and in order to carry out our research and tackle in particular the school failure issue, we have opted for the Algerian school. So, school failure in Algeria is one of the major concerns for psychologists whatever their specialization is, due to its scope and severity.

We, educators, find that this phenomenon concerns us all. It is in fact a topic that focuses much more on education and its goals which are as diversified and varied as the individuals are.

So, a great part of our research on school failure should make use of some indices like competence, or ability to read, the calculus, and the performance during the exams. These indices have some degree of objectivity and are obviously relevant to education.

It should be recalled that in every school there are agents who ensure its functioning and teachers who act within it using a teaching method. The evaluation of the teaching method aims at testing the pupils’ cognitive abilities so as to identify those with difficulties on the one hand, and to provide a remedy for the difficulties that the pupils suffer from, on the other hand.

Purpose of the Study

Through this relationship Teacher — Secondary school pupil, are there any factors that may influence the pupils’ academic performance?

Not only with its factors but with the family that builds the social and cultural identity of its students.

The pupils’ living conditions are as different as the socioeconomic groups they belong to, or they come from. There are pupils from affluent and educated families with a socially and economically favorable surrounding / environment, while others are entirely the opposite. Thus, can we say that it is the parents' socioeconomic conditions that determine the success or the failure of the pupils?

In front of such a situation, can the pupil’s academic performance actually reflect the parents’ social and living conditions?

Research Methods

• The parents’ socioeconomic and cultural conditions may be one of the factors of academic failure among secondary-school pupils.
• Teaching methods and curriculum taught are the cause of school failure.

Definition of key concepts:

• The school Failure:

The failure of a pupil means that the latter has not grasped the content of the course and could not adapt with the new transmitted acquisitions.

A pupil in failure is one who has difficulty adapting to the new information and training. His lessons appear as an obstacle to him, and make it, therefore, extremely difficult in grasping and understanding the content of the academic program.

• The Parents' socioeconomic Level:

the parents’ socioeconomic levels refer to their material conditions as well as their financial abilities to ensure the enrollment and the academic expenses of their pupils / children. These conditions revolve around the living conditions, the parents’ monthly income, as well as their children.

Families with an average or a high monthly income can provide their children with all what is indispensable for a good learning like books, computer tools, televisions, ... whereas those with a lower monthly wage can hardly be encouraging their children to study.

• The parents’ cultural level:

This term refers to all of the parents’ skills and cultural capital that can be transmitted (by them) to their children. This cultural capital is synonymous with what we call "habitus." This concept means, according to Bourdieu,For Bourdieu, the cultural capital can exist in three states which are:

• The incorporated state: it refers to personal characteristics which are specific to each organism. This state concerns the presentation of the self, the language, ...
• The objective / goal state: this type appears in the form of cultural goods such as books, instruments…

The parents’ acquired cultural level and their accumulated capital have a direct effect on their children’s education by helping them throughout their academic course.

The failure of a pupil means that the latter has not grasped the content of the course and could not adapt with the new transmitted acquisitions.

A pupil in failure is one who has difficulty adapting to the new information and training. His lessons appear as an obstacle to him, and make it, therefore, extremely difficult in grasping and understanding the content of the academic program.

• The Parents' socioeconomic Level:

The parents’ socioeconomic levels refer to their material conditions as well as their financial abilities to ensure the enrollment and the academic expenses of their pupils / children. These conditions revolve around the living conditions, the parents’ monthly income, as well as their children.

Families with an average or a high monthly income can provide their children with all what is indispensable for a good learning like books, computer tools, televisions, ... whereas those with a lower monthly wage can hardly be encouraging their children to study.

• The parents’ cultural level:

This term refers to all of the parents’ skills and cultural capital that can be transmitted (by them) to their children. This cultural capital is synonymous with what we call "habitus." This concept means, according to P. Bourdieu,For Bourdieu, the cultural capital can exist in three states which are:

• The incorporated state: it refers to personal characteristics which are specific to each organism. This state concerns the presentation of the self, the language, ...
• The objective / goal state: this type appears in the form of cultural goods such as books, instruments…

The parents’ acquired cultural level and their accumulated capital have a direct effect on their children’s education by helping them throughout their academic course.

Findings

Findings

Conclusion

The assessment of academic failure among third-year secondary-school pupils has enabled us to check our knowledge and assess them on the ground. Practically, we have been able to evidence some factors that are the cause behind most of the pupils’ failure in their education. These factors are:

• An unfavorable familial environment which does not assist or help the pupils during their revision; pupils living in an altered climate cannot concentrate on their studies. These disturbances mainly concern the father-mother relationship, without disregarding the relation between the pupils and their parents.
• The stability of the relationship between the components of the family triangle (father / mother / child) is very important since it is from there that the pupils’ future might be determined together with the success in their study.
• The parents’ socioeconomic level: a low income does not allow parents to provide educational resources for the schooling of their children, 58.33% of students do not have access to these resources.
• The parents’ educational level: according to the results of the survey, 53.33% of the fathers have an average level of education, and 60% of the mothers with the same level. Thus, parents can barely provide educational support at home. Those with a high level of education, however, do not have enough time for their children.
• The luck of good relations between the pupils and their teacher: The pupil generally spends most of his time with his teacher. The latter is supposed to be close to his apprentice and know his weaknesses and educational requirement

Therefore, the relationship between master and apprentice must ensure a good communication in both directions, so as to have a good grasp and understanding of the educational messages.

Being in a comfortable environment and coming from a wealthy family is not necessarily synonymous with success in school. We can therefore say that school failure may result from other factors outside the parents’ socioeconomic level, and which can directly influence the pupils’ academic achievements. These factors concern the pupils’ intellectual abilities which are different from one person to another together with the lack of will since an unmotivated pupil can never move forward.

Acknowledgements

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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