Schools in social context: pedagogic communication and ideological function

Abstract

School education for masses was introduced in Goa after political liberation from Portuguese colonial rule. Democratization, mass education and equal opportunity give rise to issues about function of schools in democracies. Mismatch between implicit demands of education system and ability of students to meet the demand encourage transformations. Bourdieu’s views on social reproduction provide framework for analysis. Facts about pedagogic communication in teaching and learning situations in schools are explained. The “logic” of education system remains intact through elimination in evaluative assessment and examinations. Some students perform adequately, whereas most get by. Trajectories of school careers show that pupils do not go far in educational careers. For most students, studies end after school-class X. When logic of the system is underway, one can see objectively how it plays out in trajectories of school careers of students. Reproductive allocation to social class locations takes place. It reaffirms class structure. Schools perform “ideological function of legitimizing the established order” (Bourdieu and Passeron in Reproduction in education, society and culture, Sage Publications, London, 1977: 199).