In todays lecture and tutorial we focused on ideology and prejudice; what they mean and examples of each. From the lecture and tutorials I also got to know the five different agents of socialisation and how they influence us. The five being; media, family, peers, education and technology. Prior to todays lecture I wouldn’t have been abel to state the difference between ideology and prejudice, I have now learned that prejudice is an attitude, that is usually negative, that involves pre-judgements or preconceived ideas. Where as ideology is an organised collection of ideas that reflects on someone believes and values of a group.
I feel like I did understand the main concepts discussed today. From the tutorial I am now able, as spoke about previously, to identify and talk about the impact of the five agents of socialisation. My group spoke about each and discussed how they influence us. We said that media impacts us as on social media often fake news circulates and people may get caught up in it. Social media also promotes the idea of a ‘perfect body’, this could effect how children view themselves and others which could in turn create conflict. Family may influence our ideology as believes and values are sent down and reenforced to the younger generation (Karl Mannheim – The Generation Theory) meaning that the children want to stick by what their family believe. Likewise with peers, children grow up surrounded by peer pressure and may start to adapt what their true feelings are to ‘fit in’ with their friends.
The only thing that I feel slightly unsure of is secularisation. When this was mentioned in one of the tutorials I asked my lecturer to provide a further explanation I also asked my peers to do the same. This gave me more of a clear understanding, however when I got home I did still have to look on the internet for examples. I feel like I do understand this a lot more now, although I will make sure I research this further before the exam.
I feel like what I have learned today will impact both my micro and macro world. In my miro world I will be abel to discuss with those around me what I have be told today and the effects that certain aspects can have on people. This will hopefully, in turn, make them more open and understanding to different ideas and believes. In my macro world I will be sure not to judge someone just because they are a celebrity. I will also make sure that I do not confirm to something that someone in my macro world may say, just because who they are.
I think one area that needs improvement is learning more about the theories and scholars. I understood the basics of what they believed to be true however I would not be able to write about a specific one in detail. For this I will be sure to visit the library a lot more to read up on each individual one so that I can further my understanding. I think that this was I will have confidence in all aspect of the topic ideology and prejudice so far.
Overall I think that everything spoke about today was very relevant to me. As I progress into becoming a teacher I will now be more conscious than ever that I do not show prejudice towards a child or allow it in the classroom. I will try my best not to be bias and allow every child from each different background the chance to explore different believes and values, not just their own. I have really enjoyed this input and I look forward for next week to widen my knowledge ideology and prejudice.
