Ritual

“Examined in the context of symbolic action, rituals may be perceived as carriers of cultural codes (cognitive and gestural information) that shape students’ perceptions and ways of understanding; they inscribe both the ‘surface structure’ and ‘deep grammar’ of school culture.” Pg 3
“…I would argue that the categories of ideology, culture, ritual, and the symbolic must compete with those of the economic sphere and class in order to understand present-day domination and struggle.” Pg 4
The word, “ritual,” McLaren points out, is itself a symbol. “ As a catch-all phrase for anything repetitive or habitual, ritual has been diluted and trivialized to such an extent that it has become both common cultural property and a conceptual encumbrance, and continues to present serious problems for the scientific examination of social reforms” (16). Before he can begin to talk about what he thinks of ritual in education, he has to first wave away the images of ancient sacrifice and religious practice that it elicits in our head. (which is a testament to what we have previously read about symbols) McLaren makes the point that though we do not think of schooling as ritualistic, usual substituting the word with another ambiguous description, things like the national anthem and assemblies are just a few examples of how ritualistic the school environment really is. But this is natural, because,”To engage in ritual is, for men and women, a human necessity” (36) Just as with Dewey and Experience, ritual is both internal and external.
But where ritual can be compared to Berger and Luckman Peirce as something symbolic, Mclaren pushes it further, saying, “rituals are more than mere signs or symbols in some kind of sociocultural semaphore”(38). They are instead the reasons for there being signs. (?maybe…) Without them, every kind of structure collapses.