Sociology of Work
I previously worked in an elementary school as a teacher’s assistant under the direction and guidance of a classroom teacher. This position was a seasonal since I was assigned this particular role during summer school for elementary students. I have worked as a teacher’s assistant for a total of three summers at this school, however, I quit this position due to the repetitive tedious tasks I was assigned and also due to employee unfairness. The elementary school in which I worked in consisted of students from grades one to grade, and I was assigned as a teacher’s assistant to the grade two classrooms. There were a total of fifteen teachers, five teacher’s assistants, one caretaker, and one principle. Some of the duties and responsibilities I was assigned include assisting the children’s activities initiated by the classroom teacher, photocopying and stapling learning materials provided by the teacher, preparing academic and learning material, assisting in the observation of students while they engaged in educational activities and assignments and fulfilling administrative duties during the lunch hour. The Wealth of Nation by Adam Smith highlights the importance of the division of labour, which is the separation of a work process into many specialized tasks, with each task performed by a separate individual or groups of individuals, in maximizing economic growth. The specialization of the labour force results increases work efficiency because each work is an expert in one area of production. Workers do not have to switch tasks or alternate between different tasks during their working hours, thus both time and money is saved (Krahn, Lowe, & Hughes, 2011). Although Adam Smith stressed the various benefits associated with the division of labour, this may not be true for the majority of cases. The teacher’s assistants did not have the same education, credentials, and experiences like the classroom teachers, thus the teacher’s assistants were provided with mainly
References: Adams, T. and S (2008). Work, alienation, well-being and health. In The 0rganization and experience of work (pp. 51-68). Toronto: Nelson. Dahlstrom, E (1980. Division of labour, class stratification, and cognitive development. Acta Sociologica. 23(2/3). 135-155 Krahn, Harvey, J., Graham, S. L. and Karen, D Hughes (2011). Work, Industry and Canadian Society. Toronto: Nelson. Mottaz, J.C (2005). Some determinants of work alienation. The Sociological Quarterly. 12(4). 515-529. Tausif, M (2012). Relationship between intrinsic rewards and job satisfaction: a comparative study of public and private organization. International Journal of Researcher in Commerce, IT, & Management. 2(6). 33-42.