1. Philosophy of Education
1.1. Firmly rooted in practice.
1.2. Helps teachers to interact with students and clarify instruction, or explain why something needs to be done in a certain way.
1.3. Metaphysics (or a stem of philosophy that questions reality), epistemiology ( a stem of philosophy that questions knowledge), and axiology ( a stem of philosophy that questions morals/values).
1.4. Types of philosophies: Idealism, Realism, Existentialism and Phenomenology, Neo- Marxism, and Pragmatism
1.5. Pragmatism- American philosophy that was founded by John Dewey, George Sanders Pierce, and William James.
1.5.1. Pragma in Greek stands for work. Pragmatists analyze previous history, yet prefer to work and resolve problems in the present here and now sort of way.
1.5.2. Dewey viewed pragmatism from experimental and instrumental ways. The theory of evolution that arose in the 18th century helped to inspire his ideas of an "embryonic community" or a community in which students can learn hands on or by a book.
1.5.2.1. Teacher is seen as a facilitator of knowledge for students and plans and implements curriculum. Based off of Dewey's pragmatist ideas, children learn individualized and in groups and the curriculum is an integrated curriculum that applies to expanding environments, or moving from the known to unknown
1.5.3. Pragmatists are involved with performing actions to achieve a desired result and testing a hypothesis through experimentation until a conclusion is achieved.
1.5.3.1. Pragmatism also stems from the works of Francis Bacon, and English scientist that termed the phrase "inductive reasoning" into use for observational methods and research. John Locke also coined another phrase, " tabula rasa" or a blank tablet, stating that people learn from their surroundings and senses. Jean- Jacques Rousseau believed society corrupted people, and that without society, each person would lead a good life. He also wrote "Emile" whose plot is centralized around a boy who is transported to another country and has to learn the culture with the help of a tutor.
1.5.3.1.1. John Dewey founded the phrase known as progressive education. This term centralized on the meaning of change in education, especially child-centered progressivism. Also the phrase social reconstructionism began to hit the hot seat. This term viewed schools as gateways to educating and changing society.
2. Schools as Organizations
2.1. school processes- the degree to which school cultures are created and maintained
2.2. Governance- tax payers have a substantial stake in local school systems
2.3. There has been a drastic change in the amount of pupils per teacher, through consolidation and centralization, but has thus changed up the diversity in schools.
2.4. de jure segregation- increasing residential segregation
2.5. The term "common school" derives from the idea that American students may enter into school at a young age and remain in school upon graduation. This creates a democratic view towards public school education.
2.6. Great Britain has some stratification between working class and the elite class in terms of educational benefits. France remains to be centralized in terms of education, more so than the U.S. even, France school reform centers on intellectual attainment. The Former Soviet Union used to be highly stratified, but is now more decentralized. Japan uses two systems of education, the first is traditional schools, the second is nonformal for tutorial opportunities for students. In Germany,it is stratified into blue collar workers, lower level white collar positions, and academically achieving management positions.
3. Curriculum and Pedagogy
3.1. The evolution of what to teach began to change in the 1960s and 70's when standard curriculum began to be challenged from political, ideological, and social standpoints.
3.2. There are four different types of curriculum: humanist curriculum, social efficiency, developmentalist, and social meliorist curriculum.
3.3. Pedegogical progressivism headed the hot seat when in 1918 it was termed in the publication of Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education. This term compared the similarities of schooling with how adults participated in society.
3.4. The Cardinal Principles morphed some of Dewey's founding principles of progressivism into a new form of progressivism.
3.5. The usher for standardized testing followed shortly after, when the distinction between curriculums became evident between various schools and school systems.
3.6. romantic progressivism- Ravitch's term that added philosophical ideas in with the developmentalist curriculum
3.7. Progressives tend to support more integrated curriculums, compared to complete separation of subjects.
3.8. Culturally relevant pedagogy- multicultural education that emphasizes teacher/ student open type relationship, connections that extend beyond the walls of the classroom, teacher encourages group learning as well as students that are driven to learn more.
3.9. Mimetic tradition, didactic method, and transformative tradition
4. Equality of Opportunity
4.1. Social stratification- as described by Daniel Rossides is "a hierarchial configuration of families who have differential access to whatever is of value in the society at a given point over time, primarily because of its social, not biopsychological variables."
4.2. There are three forms of social stratification: caste stratification, estate stratification, and class stratification and each of these can overlap one another at any given time.
4.3. Class, race, and gender are all factors in academic achievement as well. More wealthy students are typically held at a higher standard than those of the working class. Race also has a direct effect on academic achievement brought on by cultural aspects and language barriers. Gender has still also been a factor in academic achievement, but has also gone down some over the past few decades.
4.4. The SAT that began in the 1930s by Henry Chauncey, really was an unfair test that granted rights to education for the wealthy at the expense of the poor.
4.5. Change towards more equality for students with special needs also came about. Congress passed the Education of All Handicapped Children law in 1975 which granted more rights to special needs students.
4.6. Two hypotheses sum up the relation between school and student outcomes: the first is that there is a positive correlation between school quality and student achievement- conservatives and liberals view this as a positive, radicals view this as a negative. The next hypothesis is that there is a weak correlation between the two.
4.7. The Coleman Study of 1966
5. Educational Inequality
5.1. Three main types of theories: Functionalist, conflict, and interactionist theory
5.2. With inequality within schools, race, gender, and social class are key deciding factors behind academic achievement.
5.3. These inequalities are then stem from factors outside of school (student-centered), or factors within the school(school- centered)
5.4. This link is a great source for current issues in public schools across America: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/study-education-inequality/
5.5. Oftentimes inequality within schools is a combination of several factors at once, and should be examined from a "multidimensional approach"
5.5.1. Student- centered problems such as more differences with student achievement within schools versus differences between schools
5.5.1.1. The Coleman Report summarized that the student's home life, culture, and genetic makeup contribute to individual student differences. There are also cultural deprivation (lacking resources) and cultural difference theories (lacking equal life chances).
5.5.2. School-centered problems such as school financing, and overall school differences like curriculum, ability, and gender grouping.
6. Educational Reform
6.1. One of the main ways to insure success with students is to have effective teachers and teaching.
6.1.1. Teaching is dynamic and is constantly evolving, this link hits key issues teachers deal with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqCGzmaMx70
6.1.1.1. If teachers did not know their content, the education reform falls back onto what qualifies a teacher to teach.
6.2. A Nation at Risk 1983
6.3. No Child Left Behind
6.4. Goal's 2000
6.5. Educational reform started with trying to access the root of the problem within accountability and achievement of teaching and also reform schools at a local level.
6.5.1. Stemmed down to making more educational choices available: intersectional choice, (public and private schools), intrasectional school (only public schools), intradistrict schools (any option available within public school systems as long as no segregation within schools are formed)
6.5.2. School-to-work based programs (used to create partnerships and economic development), school-business partnerships (granting scholarships to schools that improve test scores), and privatization (Kaplan and Sylvan learning institutions)
6.6. State versus Federal involvement in Education
6.6.1. State has had the overall the final deciding factor of what curriculum is to be taught to students, federal government grants the overarching themes of curriculum needed to be taught to students supplied to the states.
6.7. Dewey's progressive call for change still centers around child-centered education with emphasis placed on educating children to be culturally diverse individuals with critical thinking as well as social, emothinal, moral, and psychological traits to name a few as well.
7. Politics of Education
7.1. Conservative
7.1.1. Traditional
7.1.1.1. Assert that schools are necessary for the transmission of traditional U.S. values in society, such as hard work, individual initiative, and family unity; however, I too believe in this
7.2. Liberal
7.2.1. Progressive
7.2.1.1. It is fundamental for growth and development. Education allows for people to practice communication skills, thus enabling them to be able to make more informed decisions.
7.2.1.2. Depending on how one is raised, teaching practices may be different based on school system, parent involvement, and/or educational policies. Technology has become essential in today's education. Immigrant learners are being taught by native learners.
7.2.1.3. I believe students should be immersed in what they are learning, and know and understand how it applies to their everyday lives.
7.2.1.4. Education is where basic skills are taught, and connections are applied. However, I believe everyone has an equal opportunity to learn something new every day.
7.2.1.5. This link shows a good representation of my ideas on a conservative form of progressivism:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opXKmwg8VQM
7.2.1.6. "Learning by doing"
7.2.1.7. Assert that schools are central to solving social problems, essential to the development of individuals, and an integral part of democratic society
7.2.1.8. http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Pa-Re/Progressive-Education.html
7.3. This link shows the differences between progressive versus traditional education practices: (I Would say I lean more towards the progressive standpoint) http://www.wingraschool.org/who/progressive.htm
7.4. Individuals must compete in the social environment to survive; human progress is dependent on individual initiative and hard work. The free market economy of capitalism is viewed as the most productive economic system.
7.5. Radical
7.6. Neo-Liberal
8. History of U.S. Education
8.1. A few of the first colleges established in the states were Harvard Univerity in 1636, Yale in 1701, Princeton in 1746, and Dartmouth in 1769
8.1.1. The first steps used to reform U.S. education practices became known as the Old Deluder laws that put the public in charge of educating its citizens.
8.1.2. Soon after more bills and reform became prevalent: -Benjamin Franklin enthusiastically shared his ideas that all people should seek to strive harder, especially with education in order to become more culturally and socially diverse.
8.1.3. Thomas Jefferson provided a bill that would provide the first three years of elementary school free for all children, but was shot down due to financial costs of proposed bill.
8.1.4. Later the demand for free public education (A.K.A. "common school") became argued for by Horace Mann in 1837.
8.1.5. First women's school-Troy Female Seminary in Troy, NY opens in 1821
8.1.6. Emancipation Proclamation freed all African Americans from slavery, but did not grant equal rights for education right away. The first black established black college was Howard University in 1868
8.2. Progressive Movement takes hold between 1900-1914.
8.2.1. "Government regulation of industry and commerce as well as government regulation and conservation of the nation's national resources."