What do we mean by social in relation to learning and the role of teachers?

Abstract

The word social is often used as a modifying adjective to describe behaviour of a group, collective, community, society or organisation. There are social actions and we have social problems. We also understand that human beings are social animals. We require interaction with others, so we seek relationship/association/affiliation/cooperation with others and we gather in communities. According to Wikipedia, the etymology of the word social comes from “the Latin word socii (‘allies ’) referring to allied states of the Roman Republic”. We might take from this that to be social is to be in a positive relationship with others as individuals or groups. During the COVID-19 health crisis our connections are virtual through social media . Other terms we are familiar with are social security, social studies, sociology, social skills, social work. Social may also be a description for temporary behaviour—being social —during a specific period of time.