1. Philosophy of Education
2. Schools as Organizations
3. Curriculum and Pedagogy
4. Equality of Opportunity
4.1. In education, there are always new reforms and policies taking place to better the educational experience for students. However, research has proven over the years that some differences in students cannot be fully overcame. Social and racial differences are two of those areas.
4.2. Although there has been significant improvement in test scores in several areas for minorities and special education students from the 1960s to the late 1980s, it has leveled out since then. There were several factors that could have influenced this increase and then level off such as federal programs like Head Start and the long term health effects of these children being born with drug addiction or born into a family who is addicted to drugs.
5. Educational Inequality
5.1. Genetic differences are one of the most widely debated inequalities in education. This is because most scientific evidence suggests that environmental and social factors have a greater impact on education than biological differences.
5.1.1. Arthur Jensen was one of the first to research and suggest that biological differences in students plays a great impact on their intelligence and ability to learn. Jensens work was very critically debated as he came to the conclusion that many programs that were trying to improve the environmental conditions of african-american students to in turn improve their educational capacity, was a waste of time. Based off of his research he states that African-American Students are just less intelligent than white students, therefore making the education process much more difficult.
5.1.2. A report by Hurn in 1993, debated Jensen's biological differences saying that the inequality that existed was purely social. Hurn said that although there is some evidence that supports Jensens views, they are very minimal. He believes that the reason minority children and those from poor homes are not as intelligent on average is because of the negative social and environmental factors they are exposed to.
5.2. One school centered inequality is curriculum and ability grouping of students. This refers to when schools decide to place students within groups or classes of kids who are of a similar intelligence level. This can also be referred to as tracking.
5.2.1. Functionalists are people who believe that tracking students plays a very important role in the education process. They think that grouping kids within these similar classes keeps the students motivated throughout the curriculum. It is also a belief of functionalist that tracking helps to prevent more intelligent kids from becoming bored and gives the kids who may be struggling more time.
5.2.2. Conflict theorists on the other hand do not believe that tracking gives kids an upper hand in their education. They believe that when students are grouped by their abilities it is just another way to separate them based on race or gender. So they feel that tracking is just reproducing inequalities.
6. Educational Reform
6.1. One school-centered educational reform is privatization. This reform really started to gain ground in 2003 when Philadelphia Public Schools were taken over by private for-profit companies. These for profit companies see the multi- billion dollar industry that is education and are finding ways to get in.
6.2. Another school centered reform are school-business partnerships. These partnerships have developed over the years by big money corporations investing money into the education system. In most cases because of their concern that it is not producing students who are ready to make serious contributions to our country. Although these partnerships have created a lot of media attention they have not been proven to have an actual impact on the educational process.
7. Politics of Education
7.1. I believe that the majority of my perspective of being a teacher is liberal. This idea empowers the students to feel like they are more involved in their own education than in other perspectives. I think that the best way for most students to learn is through daily activities that prepare them to problem solve on their own. Activities that require them to "think outside of the box" even though sometimes they may struggle with it, they are learning the very valuable lesson of how to challenge themselves. To me, this way better prepares them for life and their future education as well.
7.1.1. A liberal education provides a curriculum that is taught through a very broad number of ways while still covering the necessary content.
7.1.2. Th definition of liberal according to Meriam-Webster is being not opposed to new ideas or ways of behaving that are not traditional or widely accepted. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liberal
7.2. I strongly believe that a lot of my vision of educations stems from progressivism. I believe that students are able to actually learn more from situations that involve things they are interested in and curious about. The learning environment for the student should be always changing and upbeat.
7.2.1. According to Meriam-Webster, progressivism is defined as the principles, practices, or beliefs of progressives, which are those that are interested in new Ideas. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/progressives http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/progressivism
7.2.2. If the learning environment is always the same thing day after day, then the students will just become creatures of habit instead of challenging themselves. Teachers who are progressives do not let this type of environment exist in their classroom. They spend a lot of time planning every lesson in a unique way that appeals to the interest and needs to the students in their classrooms.
8. History of U.S. Education
8.1. I beleive the urbanization movement has had one of the most profound influences on education and this country in general. During what was called the Second Industrial Revolution this country was giving way to gigantic corporations and factories.
8.1.1. This movement also brought with it a great amount of immigration into the country from many different places such as Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandanavia.
8.1.1.1. I think that after this movement, schools had to adapt at a very rapid pace. This is because of all of the different races, languages, living styles, and customs that come with all these different people. This movement also brought with it the difficulty of dealing with a much larger economic gap between the wealthy and lower classes.
8.2. According to Merriam-Webster, utilitarianism is defined as the belief that a morally good action is the one that helps the greatest number of people. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/utilitarianism
8.3. According to Merriam-Webster, the term meritocracy is defined as a system in which the talented are chosen and moved ahead based on their achievement. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meritocracy
9. Sociology of Education
9.1. In the book "Education and Inequality" the author, Persell divided the relationship between school and society into four different levels.
9.1.1. The societal level is the most general of the four, breaking down it's political and economical systems as well as its level of development.
9.1.2. The institutional level includes all of the people and organizations that make up the society such as the families, churches, schools, businesses, and government.
9.1.3. The interpersonal level breaks down the interactions between everyone on the society.
9.1.4. The intrapsychic level is based on how the society and its structures have shaped the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of individuals within the society.