SOCIAL ACTION

SOCIAL ACTION

By social action we mean organized activity that seeks to improve human welfare, deepen civic culture and develop group life and commitment to others. Such a definition entails looking at the cultivation of a just and caring communal life. As such it involves a direct appeal to values and principles - and this will usually be grounded in some sort of shared belief system such as those that develop within religious institutions and social movements. Within the school social teaching and ideas such as: the dignity of the human person; human rights and duties; the social nature of the person; the common good; relationship, subsidiarity and socialisation; solidarity and options for the poor are geared towards social action.

However In sociology, social actions refer to any action that takes into account the actions and reactions of other individuals and is modified based on those events. Social action is a concept developed by Max Weber that explores interaction between humans in society. The concept of social action is used to observe how certain behaviors are modified in certain environments. The impact of social action is clearly seen in the development of norms and customs and everyday interaction between people.

TYPES OF SOCIAL ACTION

Rational actions

Rational actions (also known as value-rational ones, wertrational): actions which are taken because it leads to a valued goal, but with no thought of its consequences and often without consideration of the appropriateness of the means chosen to achieve it ('the end sanctifies the means')

Instrumental action

Instrumental action (also known as value relation, goal-instrumental ones, zweckrational): actions which are planned and taken after evaluating the goal in relation to other goals, and after thorough consideration of various means (and consequences) to achieve it.

Affectional action

Affectional action (also known as emotional actions): actions which are taken due to one's emotions, to express personal feelings. For examples, cheering after a victory, crying at a funeral would be affectional actions.

Traditional actions:

 Traditional actions which are carried out due to tradition, because they are always carried out in a particular manner for certaing situations. An example would be putting on clothes or relaxing on Sundays. Some traditional actions can become a cultural artifact.

SOCIAL ACTION AND EDUCATION

This has to do with the ability of education to develop students into social actors to enable them make rational decisions and solve problems within their societies. A social actor is refers to an individual who makes a deliberate effort to influence his or her social environment, including its laws, public policy, norms, values, and the distribution of wealth within it. (Okam 1998)

However one cannot expect pupils to freely follow decisions set to and for them .According to Banks (1977:11) argues that the individual must be able to chose freely from many alternative courses of action it his or her response is to be characterized as decision making.

REFERENCES

Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, (1998) NCSS Publications. Waldorf,           Maryland.      

Okam, C.C (1998). Teaching Issues, Insights & Problems in the social studies    education in Nigeria: Deka Publications Jos.

Banks, J. A. (1977). Strategy for teaching ethnic studies. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.