Todays lecture for me was the most insightful and educational input that we’ve had. We were taught what ideology and prejudice are and examples of these. I thought that the lecture was very relevant to todays society and is a topic that is prevalent in every day life – especially as a teacher. Before this lecture I think that I had a relatively good grasp of what the term prejudice meant and knew some examples of where I might see these. However, when the term ‘ideology’ was on the board, I was faced with a completely unfamiliar and new word. I learned that the correct meaning of prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect attitude towards an individual based solely on the individuals membership of a social group. I also learned that the correct and real meaning of ideology is an organised collection or body of ideas that reflects the beliefs, values and interests of a group, system, institution or nation. In general use, the term refers to the body of doctrine, myth and symbols held by the group that guides individual and group actions. I also learned that there was a link between prejudice and discrimination – someone can be prejudice towards a certain group but not discriminate against them – discrimination is acting about their thoughts whereas prejudice can be kept to oneself.
After the tutorial I feel that I can confidently speak about the 5 agents of socialisation – media, family, peers, education and technology. These 5 agents all contribute positively and negatively to society and on yourself. Our task was to discuss how each of these things impact us. We discussed how media often project false allegations and false information which can be interpreted by a naive mind to form an wrong interpretation of information which in turn, creates fallacious arguments and beliefs. Another agent that we discussed was famous and Mannheim – Sociology of knowledge. ‘The theory of generations’ – you ideology and belief systems are from the generations – whatever you have been taught from your parent, where they got theirs from etc and so views on race, sexuality and religion are often passed down the family – when in fact these views are now seen as very outdated as society has changed so much.
One concept that I did not understand fully in the tutorial or lecture was secularisation. I asked Laura for help and she gave me the example of catholics. I understood it to mean religion being adapted or used for non religious purposes for example, marriage in a church when the couple aren’t religious. I know that with this knowledge I could not confidently write and essay response on this topic and that I will need to explore it further in the library and online.
After todays lecture, I feel that I will be able to identify prejudice in a classroom and as a teacher I feel that this is essential to ensure equality.
