1. Philosophical
1.1. neo-liberal attitudes (Kachur & Harrison)
1.1.1. "creation of perpetual learner - able both to produce and consume latest technologies"
1.1.2. downloading of power to provinces
1.1.3. increased parental choice
1.1.4. educational reforms
1.1.4.1. streaming students
1.1.4.2. increased emphasis on science, math, and technology
1.1.4.3. using business model to organize schools
1.1.4.4. increased standardized testing
1.1.4.5. increased fiscal austerity
1.1.5. "if people are educated, the jobs will come"
1.1.5.1. education as a means to get a job
1.2. post-modern socialist attitudes (Kachur & Harrison)
1.2.1. "critique of capitalism, class, and power"
1.2.2. call for decentralization
1.2.3. empower marginalized groups
1.2.4. sense of community
1.3. liberal education (Kachur & Harrison)
1.3.1. equality of opportunity
1.3.2. social achievement based on merit rather than family, race, gender, or social class
1.3.3. economic liberalism
1.3.3.1. education = economic growth
1.3.4. social liberalism
1.3.4.1. pro-social values arise spontaneously
1.3.4.2. moral values are culturally relative and can't be justified rationally
1.3.4.3. encouraging expression of all opinions, even those that are harmful
1.3.4.3.1. leads to acceptance of classroom racism, sexism, mediocrity, redundancy, etc.
1.3.4.4. proliferation of competing & contradictory values, plus cultural commitment to immediate payoff
1.4. pop culture affects pedagogy (Barakett & Cleghorn)
1.4.1. can use this in teaching --> analysis of tv, music, film, etc.
1.4.2. knowledge is not a "neutral artefact"
1.5. pedagological approach of "just getting things done" disempowers learners and undermines critical thinking (Barakett & Cleghorn)
1.5.1. social-reconstrucionist tradition = can instead take up a pedagogy for difference (addresses student voices, conflicting ideologies, etc.), prepares teachers for a diverse student population
1.5.1.1. encourages teachers to reflect on what kind of teacher they are, how they became that way, and how they want to be
2. Historical
2.1. Klein government (Kachur & Harrison)
2.1.1. education reforms
2.1.1.1. centralization of authority
2.1.1.2. national standards
2.1.1.3. increased standardized testing
2.1.1.4. parent advisory councils
2.1.1.5. centralization of control over funding and curriculum
2.1.1.6. reduction of power of school boards
2.1.1.7. partnerships b/w schools & corporations
2.1.1.8. regionalization of curriculum development
2.1.1.9. iniation of deep budget cuts
2.1.1.10. increased parental involvement
2.1.1.11. more equitable funding system
2.1.1.12. expansion of curriculum options
2.1.2. creation of deficit crisis
2.1.2.1. "bring public services into disrepute to garner public support for their privatization"
2.1.3. privatization of education
2.1.3.1. increased # of private enrollments
2.1.3.2. entry of business into classrooms
2.1.3.3. increasing transfer of costs to individuals & families
2.2. Inspiring Education & Alberta Education Ministerial Order (Brad Spilanovich guest lecture)
2.2.1. engaged thinker
2.2.2. ethical citizen
2.2.3. entrepreneurial spirit
2.3. globalization (Kachur & Harrison)
2.3.1. spread of capitalism and competitive individualism
2.3.2. increased income disparity
2.4. Welfare State after WW2 (Kachur & Harrison)
2.4.1. meant to reduce class conflict
2.4.2. increased rights of social citizenship (increased inclusion)
2.4.3. unravelled in the late 70's
2.4.3.1. started to play more to interests of big business and "conservative middle-class males"
2.5. influence of British Class Model on education
2.5.1. one system for elite
2.5.1.1. access to higher education, leadership positions, and careers
2.5.2. other system for working-class
2.5.2.1. reading and writing, but little (if any) education on questioning the status quo
2.5.3. system designed to maintain existing socio-economic classes
2.6. History of special education (Cheryl Storie)
2.6.1. children in bottom 10th % get coded
2.6.2. modified program for children who need their own curriculum
2.6.3. adapted program for those who can stay on graded curriculum
2.6.4. separate opportunity classrooms for those who can't work in a regular classroom environment
2.7. Eugenics (Rob Wilson)
2.7.1. 1928 Sexual Sterilization Act (criteria for evaluating feeble-mindedness only introduced in 1937)
2.7.1.1. 2830 sterilizations performed
2.7.2. Galton: improve qualities of human populations intergenerationally
2.7.2.1. positive eugenics = promotion of "good genes" (i.e. better baby competitions, genius sperm bank, etc.)
2.7.2.2. negatvie eugenics = elimination of "bad genes" (i.e. sterilization, death (eg Nazi Germany), etc.)
2.7.3. Davenport: applied eugenics to race and ethnicity
2.7.3.1. cultural eugenics at residential schools (breed the Indian out of them)
2.7.3.2. reliance on existing social biases (starting w/ racial categories that were already there)
2.7.3.3. Aboriginals more likely to be deemed "feeble-minded"
2.8. Residential Schools
2.8.1. last school closed in 1996
2.8.2. traumatic event that impacted a huge number of people (removed from families, cultural genocide)
2.8.3. can't teach as if this were a historical event that has come to a close
2.8.3.1. legacy of this continues today and affects students' performance
2.8.3.1.1. increased dropout rates for Aboriginal students, streaming into lower levels, decreased likelihood to go to postsecondary, lower teacher expectations
2.8.3.1.2. "color-blindness syndrome" (Cheryl Storie) just propagates racism by negating students' experiences and culutures, and making Aboriginal students invisible
3. Sociological
3.1. social justice in the classroom
3.2. schools socialize children --> secondary socialization (Barakett & Cleghorn)
3.2.1. Mead
3.2.1.1. concept of self
3.2.1.1.1. I: egocentric (spontaneity, individuality)
3.2.1.1.2. Me: internalized social attitudes and expectations (mediates the "I")
3.2.2. Schutz
3.2.2.1. intersubjective reality
3.2.2.1.1. knowledge we accumulate through our experiences (initially with our parents)
3.2.2.1.2. "common sense" knowledge
3.2.2.1.3. we COPY what we see (not an internalization)
3.2.3. Freud
3.2.3.1. child is born with id
3.2.3.1.1. inherent
3.2.3.1.2. hedonistic
3.2.3.1.3. operates off pleasure principle
3.2.3.1.4. lives in subconscious and unconscious
3.2.3.2. must develop superego
3.2.3.2.1. sum total of societal expectations, rules, morals, etc.
3.2.3.2.2. become so deeply engrained that we don't even think about them
3.2.3.3. ego must also be developed
3.2.3.3.1. negotiates id
3.2.3.3.2. acts as conscience
3.2.4. Piaget
3.2.4.1. cognitive perspective
3.2.4.1.1. emphasizes development of perceptions and thought processes
3.2.4.1.2. parents communicate society's rules through a system of reward, punishment, and example
3.2.4.1.3. child's behaviour is explained by mental efforts to organize their social environment
3.2.4.1.4. children are active learners, want to develop sense of right & wrong (develop 2 levels of morality)
3.2.5. social learning theory
3.2.5.1. focuses exclusively on environmental factors
3.2.5.2. reinforcement shapes behaviour to conform w/ expectations of socialization
3.2.5.3. behaviourist approach (children are passive learners)
3.2.5.3.1. learn behaviour through rewards & punishments
3.2.5.3.2. copy behaviours & norms (observational learning)
3.2.6. moral socialization
3.2.6.1. instil idealization of society's values
3.2.7. political socialization
3.2.7.1. instil values & norms that support prevailing structure of society (incl. dominant political ideology)
3.2.8. processes of socialization
3.2.8.1. symbolic interaction
3.2.8.1.1. ongoing process of interpreting and defining actions in order to construct meaning
3.2.8.2. phenomenology & interpretive sociology
3.2.8.2.1. concerned w/ knowledge & assumptions that people need to makes sense of/ assign meaning to the world
3.2.8.3. students develop subcultures of norms and values set out by their peers and pop culture that may be at odds with teacher/ school expectations (distances students from teachers)
3.3. teacher expectations of students (Barakett & Cleghorn)
3.3.1. process of "streaming" students into groups of differing abilities
3.3.1.1. these can affect student self-expectations (hard to always be streamed into lower level, or to be student who always gets C's, etc.) --> students internalize effects of placement
3.3.1.2. intended to make teaching easier (give class structure & let teachers know who needs more help)
3.3.1.3. teachers form typifications of of students based on appearance, language ability, conformity to discipline, acceptance of academic role, general likeableness, & relations with peers
3.3.1.3.1. Aboriginal students often get automatically streamed into lower levels
3.3.1.3.2. enforces conformity, not looking at unique individual (generalizing), devalues students who don't fit into these categories nicely
3.4. Hidden Curriculum
3.4.1. "tacit teaching of norms, values, and dispositions that occur through students' participation in social experiences in routine school activities" (Barakett & Cleghorn)
3.4.1.1. functionalist writers argue that while explicit goals of school are important part of socialization, hidden curriculum is crucial as well
3.4.1.2. contribute to development of student identity and personality
3.4.2. Dr. Diane Conrad presentation
3.4.2.1. curriculum does not reflect the reality of how all people live
3.4.2.2. teaching is political (can't be without bias)
3.4.2.3. pedagogy of the oppressed
3.4.3. Michael Phair presentation
3.4.3.1. LGBTQ issues in school
3.4.3.1.1. "heterosexuals learn to socialize while young gay people learn to hide"
3.4.3.1.2. teachers need to educate themselves, and create/maintain safe spaces for sexual/ gender minority students
3.4.3.1.3. talk about calling-out
3.4.4. Race & Racism (Ghosh)
3.4.4.1. race is social construct that classifies people based on visible physical differences and religious symbols
3.4.4.2. racism is a matter of political power, not cultural differences
3.4.4.2.1. preserves power structures and privileges
3.4.4.3. discrimination is denying/ granting social opportunities or rewards based on race, ethnicity, sex, class, sexual orientation, religion, etc.
3.4.4.3.1. prejudice is belief, discrimination is action
3.4.4.3.2. based on difference (unequal power)
3.4.4.4. school is microcosm of society
3.4.4.4.1. problem is embedded in social consciousness (not enough just to change curriculum)
3.4.4.4.2. "often teachers (if inadvertently) exacerbate existing power inequities by reinforcing social attitudes through their own prejudices and stereotypical assumptions about student capabilities and cultural behaviour"
3.4.4.4.3. "oppressed people internalize the dominant class discourse and start believing in their own inferiority"
3.5. structural functionalism (Davies & Guppy)
3.5.1. schools serve as "great equalizers" and promote meritocracy
3.5.2. equality of opportunity
3.6. neo-Marxism (Davies & Guppy)
3.6.1. schools reproduce social inequalities by stereotyping disadvantaged youth, devaluing their cultures and skills, and steering them into lower streams
3.6.1.1. lower social class
3.6.1.1.1. parental income, education, and occupational prestige remain strong predictors of student success
3.6.1.2. females/ gender minorities
3.6.1.2.1. historically, schooling and higher-education were male-dominated areas
3.6.1.2.2. today, men have been surpassed by women on most measures of attainment (dropout rates, university entrance rates, standardized test scores, etc.)
3.6.1.2.3. some fields of study have achieved gender parity, others have seen only modest change
3.6.1.2.4. in talking about gender, the article fails to address trans*, two-spirt, and nonbinary people
3.6.1.3. racial/ethnic minorities
3.6.1.3.1. Abella Images (dichotomy between white people and visible minorities)
3.6.1.3.2. Porter's mosaic/ multi-tiered ladder that places the British at the top
3.6.1.3.3. Abella Images
3.6.1.4. social mechanisms of inequality
3.6.1.4.1. primary mechanisms
3.6.1.4.2. secondary mechanisms
3.7. limited compensation model (Davies & Guppy)
3.7.1. schools can partly counteract some inequalities, but legacies of social disparity limit what disadvantaged students can do
3.7.2. offer new opportunities but also reinforce some longstanding inequalities
3.8. Aboriginal Education
3.8.1. Aniuk presentation
3.8.1.1. importance of building relationships with students and parents
3.8.1.1.1. consult with them when making policy
3.8.1.2. importance of having Ab. students self-declare (more money for school)
3.8.1.3. locally generated history reflected in both school and lessons
3.8.2. need to keep in mind that students' backgrounds affect theiir learning (fair isn't always equal)
3.8.3. importance of teaching cultural/ spiritual knowledge as well as traditional academic knowledge
3.8.4. legacy of residential schools continues
3.8.4.1. need to be aware of white privilege and systematic racism and try to eliminate it