Education and Modernity: A Study in Kerala State

Modernity has been conceived at the individual level as consisting of Democratic orientation, Scientific orientation, Secular orientation, Achievement orientation and Change Proneness as reflected in eight areas of life, viz. Education, Employment, Marriage and Family, Religious life, Political life, Social life, Health and Hygiene, and Economic life. This wholistic conception synthesises two classes of theories namely: the Structure Function model and the Process model, as well as the Sociopsychological model. Herein modernity is a transitional state of a network of attitudes and behaviour which have been influenced by the given social structures and ongoing processes. This research proposed to study modernity as a Sociopsychological state of the individual, taking into account the effect of given social structures and ongoing processes. This book is based on a study covering 700 respondents with diverse levels of education and even no formal education, selected using quota sampling. In this study, Education, defined in terms of levels of completed formal schooling, is the independent variable. Modernity defined in terms of attitudes, and behaviour and convergence between the two is the dependent variable. The intervening variables considered are Sex, Marital Status, Religion, Occupation, Income, Type of schooling, Place of residence, Migration status, and Exposure to Mass Media. The study resulted that there is significant relationship between Education and Total Modernity. It is expected that this book will be a useful resource in the process of decision making, especially for the Educationists, Sociologists, Planners and the Development Practioners.