Master of arts In Teaching - Essays in Professionalism and Commercial Teachers College Who Is A Teacher Do you want a teaching credential or you are just a master teacher with a dream to be the master of arts in teaching? I want to be a teacher or i am a teacher are some of the words echoed by my friends unlike any types of physicians, John, a sped teacher, Ethan the physics teacher and Grace one referred to as the best teacher at was at first afraid of taking the risk to be a teacher at our teachers college and institute of management. But the big mystery still remains: who exactly is a teacher? Teachers and Titles Associated As A Professional And Counselor A teacher, sometimes referred to according to the profession and professionalism such as the best teacher, the physics teacher, elementary teacher, early childhood teacher, high school teacher, elementary school teacher, master teacher, sped teacher, teaching fellow, preschool teacher, best teacher, counselors, or with a long...
Overview
To make
sense of the world around them, people make and revise theories in order to
develop models of real world phenomena and behavior that will help them better
understand and interact with others. To the extent that these models work
(i.e., adequately and accurately portray the real world and the interaction of
the various parts), the models are retained. To the extent that they do not
work, they are revised or discarded. In the social sciences, one of the
phenomena that many scientists try to explain is what makes a society stable
and why change in one part does not result in anarchy. Functionalism (also
called structural functionalism) is a theoretical framework used in sociology
that attempts to explain the nature of social order, the relationship between
the various parts (structures), and their contribution to the stability of the
society by examining the functionality of each part to determine how it
contributes to the stability of society as a whole. Using this framework,
structures are analyzed in terms of their functions or the role that each plays
in maintaining or altering a society. Structural functionalism attempts to
explain the highly cohesive nature of societies with unified by a belief system
and the relatively less cohesive nature of those societies that are not (i.e.,
are more diffuse or have competing belief systems).
Cont.
When
applied to the sociological study of religion by such theorists as Émile
Durkheim, structural functionalism views religion as a functional entity within
society. Religion creates social cohesion and integration by reaffirming the
bonds that people have with each other. In the functionalist view, religious
rituals express the spiritual convictions of the members of the religion and
help increase the belongingness of the individuals to the group. Examples of
such religious rituals include Christians' pilgrimages to the holy land or
Muslims' pilgrimages to Mecca. Religious rituals occur in smaller ways as well.
For example, the daily prayers and cleansing rituals of Islam or the forms and
rites of Sunday morning worship in Christian churches serve to unite those who
enter into the forms and rituals and separate them from others who do not.
According to Durkheim, these reminders of religious belongingness create,
express, and reinforce the cohesion of a social group.
According
to functionalism, individuals who perform a religious ritual or practice do so
not only for spiritual reasons, but also to express their identification with
the religion and its adherents as a whole. Further, religious rituals serve to
remind individuals of the tenets of the religion. For example, in part, the
daily Islamic prayers remind one of the transcendence of God while Christian
participation in the Eucharist (Communion) reminds one of the price of salvation.
Durkheim further believed that one of the roles of religion was to confer
identity on an individual. He believed that religion allowed individuals to
transcend their individual identities and, instead, identify as part of a
larger group. The wearing of religious symbols in (e.g., the yarmulke of
Judaism, the cross of Christianity, or the hijab of Islam), for example,
declares to the world one's religious identity and connection with others of
similar religious beliefs. According to the functionalist perspective, religion
helps establish a collective consciousness (common beliefs of a group or
society that give members a sense of belongingness) that helps bind individuals
together.
According
to the functionalist perspective, there is another component to religion:
emotion. Religion allows both the expression and control of emotion which in
turn enables the attachment of individuals to one another and thereby increases
the cohesiveness of the group as well as reinforces the norms of the group. The
expression of emotion can be seen in such examples as the emotional displays at
revival meetings or in charismatic worship. However, religious controls on
emotion and its display are enforced through definitions of proper versus
improper behavior and standards for legitimate behavior within society. This
sets social controls that help the society to function.
Structural Functionalism
Like the
sociological frameworks provided by conflict analysis, structural functionalism
is an approach to studying religion from a sociological perspective that is
arguably of interest primarily from a historical view. However, many
contemporary theorists no longer see these approaches to be very applicable
from a practical point of view. Theorists have argued over why this is true.
For example, one of the difficulties with the functionalist approach as applied
to religion today is that the role of religion is different in the postmodern
era than it was in the modern era in which societies were viewed as totalities
(Denzin, 1986). In order for postmodern theories of religion to adequately and
accurately reflect the reality of the religious experience and its impact and
influence on society, theorists need to work within postmodern reality and
leave behind the assumptions of the modern era (such as viewing societies as
totalities). This does not necessarily mean that modern work (including
Durkheim's) needs to be thrown out without further thought. However, it does
mean that it needs to be reevaluated within the realities of postmodern
societies. It is only in this way that such theories (or any theories at all)
can truly model the postmodern experience.
Eliminating the Divine
In
addition, all too often social theories— including functionalism—try to take
the concept of the divine out of the equation and view religions not as faith
systems but as social systems despite the fact that this was neither their
intent nor the reason that they attract adherents. Even during the period of
modernity, these theoretical frameworks fell short. As Stark (2003) rightly
points out, to leave the concept of the divine or supernatural out of the
sociological theory of religion is to doom the theory to failure from the
start. Yet, this is what many such historical theories do. However, as Stark
goes on to argue, most religious people find the concept of God or the gods to
be integral to their definition of religion.
Stark
examined Durkheim's structural functionalist approach to studying religion and
concluded that the omission of the concept of the divine from Durkheim's theory
was in error. Structural functionalism and other early sociological theories of
religion emphasized how religion was used within society while deeming the
concept of gods as unimportant. For example, structural functionalism viewed
the rites and rituals— rather than their underlying meaning— as the important
elements of religion. In fact, Durkheim advocated that sociology pay little or
no attention to the differences in the ways that people conceptualize the divine
or the
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