1. Politics of Education
1.1. The Four Purposes of Schooling
1.1.1. 1. The Intellectual Purpose: Is the purpose to teach the basic cognitive skills. These skills include reading, writing, and mathematics, to understand certain knowledge, and to assist students thinking skills that include analysis, evaluate situations, and create a synthesis.
1.1.2. 2. The Social Purpose: Is the purpose to help solve the social problems in our society. The main purpose is to work with many different institutions such as the family household and the church. It help ensure social cohesion, help children socialize in specific roles of behavior, and see the values in society. This is usually referred to as the Process of Socialization, which is a major key in any society.
1.1.3. 3. The Economic Purpose: Is the purpose to help students prepare for the occupations that they acquire later in their lives. It will also help students train and educate individuals into the different parts of Labor.
1.1.4. 4. The Political Purpose: Is the purpose that helps prepare people who might participate in a political position or government position. It is meant to help make a more diverse cultural groups. It is also to help students understand basic laws that are made.
1.2. Perspectives
1.2.1. 1. The Conservative Perspective: This perspective looks at the "Role of School" to be giving the necessary education skills to give the best opportunity for individuals who will ensure economic and social productivity. This perspective fells that school help the social skills of the students to better prepare them for their adult roles in society.
1.2.2. 2. The Radical Perspective: This perspective looks at school as having many problems. 1. That the educational system has ignored the poor, minorities, women, racism, sexism, and discrimination against the LGBT. 2. The school systems have suppressed critical understanding of the problems that prevalent in American Society. 3. All of the curriculum in the schools still promote some kind of racism, sexism, and discrimination against LGBT people. 4. The entire educational system still ignores the problems of today's society such as inequality.
1.2.3. 3. The Liberal Perspective: This perspective looks at the educational system as a place where different students will have better chances in the classroom rather than others. That early one students will come into specific groups and will exclude others. The perspective details that different programs and curriculum are needed to equalize these abnormalities in schools. That all students have an equal advantage in school no matter what the students background is.
2. History of U.S Education
2.1. Reform Movement
2.1.1. The Age Reform: Is the the Rise of Common School. A person named Horace Mann started the first school in Massachusetts. This has had the most impact in the education system because it help provide free public education. Then the citizen body decided to vote on paying taxes so that bigger and better schools could be built and so that teachers could receive higher pay. This vote also constituted that teacher should be given more training to help educate the students better.
2.2. Historical Perspective
2.2.1. The most common historical perspective that we see is the Radical Perspective that says that even with all the different periods, that all the middle to lower classes and minorities are still given an many chances as the upper class. Expansion is mainly to those who are wealthy and powerful in society.
3. Sociology of Education
3.1. Perspectives
3.1.1. 1. Functionalism: Functionalism is the behavior and actions that come from the household and the students piers, teachers, and parents.
3.1.2. 2. Conflict Theory: The Conflict Theory is the theory on the determination on whether the student will succeed or not in the classroom because of their social background.
3.1.3. 3. Interactionalism: Interactionalism is the relationship that is established between a student and teacher so that the student will be in a much secure environment for them to learn.
3.2. Four Effects of Schooling on Individuals
3.2.1. 1. Gender: Schools have still shown inequalities with gender discrimination, mainly discrimination against women. Male teachers still receive more pay than women teachers even though they both have equal work. It can also be seen that through grade school girls have higher self esteem but is significantly lowered by the end of high-school.
3.2.2. 2. Teacher Behavior: The way a teachers behavior is in the school has a major effect on the students that are in the classroom. Teachers should have a positive attitude so that both the teachers and students will have a positive environment in the classroom.
3.2.3. 3. Employment: Employment is mainly a great concern for future students. When students look at graduating from high school and college they feel like they will find better employment options.
4. Philosophy of Education
4.1. Generic Notions: Generic Notions used be what is called experimentalism. It was mainly based on behaviorism, the psychology and philosophy of pragmatism, which had the belief that Genetic Notion we made to help make sense of chaos that we encountered.
4.1.1. The major goal of education is that all educators to take observations and learn more from their classrooms. Educators need to use this information to help form their options on how to teach in a classroom.
4.2. Pragmatism: Pragmatism is the approach that takes the meanings of theories or beliefs and use them to help achieve success in a practical way.
4.3. Existentialism: Existentialism is the a philosophical approach that points out the exsitence of a single person and free agent making the own specific development.
4.4. Method of Instruction: The Method of Instruction is when teachers insert themselves into the students learning. It mainly wants teachers to try hands on and more first person experience to teach the students rather than rely on just lecture material.
4.4.1. Curriculum: The material and subject that contains the course study for a classroom.
5. Schools as Organizations
5.1. Governace
5.1.1. Senators - Doug Jones and Richard Shelby.
5.1.2. House of Representatives - Terri Sewell and Mo Brooks.
5.1.3. State Superintendent - Michael Sentence
5.1.4. State School Board Representative - Kay Ivey
5.1.5. Local Superintendant - Dr. Matthew Akin.
5.1.6. Local School Board - Elisa Ferrell.
5.2. Elements of Change withing the school Process and School Cultures.
5.2.1. Change in school processes is needed especially with teachers and policy. School cultures are political and always changing. Due to schools being so highly political, change in this is very difficult.
6. Curriculum & Pedagogy
6.1. Curriculum Theory
6.1.1. 1. Multiple Intelligence Curriculum - Is based on the thinking that each student learns from their own specific way and not a one common type of learning. It is based on the theory of Howard Garner.
6.2. Dominant Traditions of Teaching
6.2.1. 1. Trans-formative - Is a tradition that has a more broader approach, in which it has the belief in changing the student in a meaningful way. This tradition has the belief of that there is more to teaching that just transferring knowledge and that growth of the student must happen through active participation of the student.
6.2.1.1. 2. Mimetic - Is the tradition that is grounded its belief in that lecture and presentation is the best way to for a student to gain knowledge in the classroom.
7. Equality of Opportunity
7.1. The Impact of Race, Gender, and Class on educational outcomes.
7.1.1. 1. Race - Most of the minorities have been seen to have score lower on the SAT, rather than white students. Also many minority students are treated with less respect than white students.
7.1.1.1. 2. Gender - Males used to be looked at the most prominent to finish school and have the nessacary skills to make it through school. But now in the past 15-20 years the gender difference has lowered and more females have more academic confidence and are less likely to drop out of school.
7.1.1.1.1. 3. Class - A lot of the issues that arise are that there is much stereotyping because of the kids backgrounds either it being their parents income or what their living conditions are. There is also the issue with teachers giving less attention to these groups of kids.
7.2. Response to the Coleman Study
7.2.1. When looking at the Coleman Study, done back in 1982, there was two major views that came out of it. 1. There is both a large discipline and academic gap between private and public schools. 2. When it came to academic success, Private schools have a better rate, which include groups of low-income students.
8. Educational Inequality
8.1. Sociological Explanations of Unequal Achievement
8.1.1. 1. Most African American students hold themselves back from achieving success is because of them not feeling like they don't have support from their schools or their families.
8.1.2. 2. Many of the minority groups like to follow a anti-school culture where they feel like they are unwanted in schools.
8.2. School Centered Explanation
8.2.1. 1. School Financing - Schools need to have the proper materials for the students and should provide the necessary funds to teach the students.
8.2.2. 2. Curriculum Practices - Schools in the middle class are less likely to have more authority in the schools rather than a upper class school where there would be more authority.
8.2.3. 3. Effective School Research - Teachers in the classroom need to do all they can to educate the students and help them learn that the classroom can be fun.
8.2.4. 4. Gender - Men are more likely to be rewarded for their academic achievements rather than women. With this changing in recent years.
9. School Reform
9.1. School Based reforms
9.1.1. 1. Teacher Education - Teachers need to be given the proper materials and curriculum to make good lessons plans to help create a great classroom environment. This could help schools who are failing because of students who don't have great test performances.
9.1.2. 2. Teacher Quality - Having qualified teachers would help with the schools success rate of students making it through classes. This would help the big issue of teachers who aren't to educated on a subject and are just making it up as they go.
9.2. Societal, community, economic, or political reforms.
9.2.1. 1. Societal and Community Reform - types of reforms that can help reduce the gap in which the student is reaching their goal. The main mission of school is too make a student find their goals and help achieve them. It seems though that you will see this more in wealthier schools.
9.2.2. 2. Economical Reform - There is a lot of students that fall behind in schools when it comes to technology and education based off of the financial situation that they are in. Schools should be able to provide the necessary materials for the students.