My Foundations of Education

1. Philosophy of Education

1.1. My philosophy of Education is Idealism( also known as Perennialism or Platonic Philosophy)

1.2. Plato thought that education was important as a means of moving individuals collectively toward reaching a goal

1.3. Key Researchers: Plato, Socrates(developed), St. Augustine(added religion), Rene Descartes, Immanuel Kant, George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

1.4. Goal of Education: search for truth

1.5. Role of Teacher: analyze and discuss ideas with students in order for students move to new levels of awareness so that ultimately they can be transformed

1.6. Method of Instruction: teachers take an active part in their students' learning

1.7. Curriculum: great importance on studying the classics

2. Curriculum and Pedagogy

2.1. A historical curriculum I would advocate is the humanist curriculum( Idealist Philosophy)

2.2. The humanist curriculum reflects that the purpose of education is to present to students the best of what has been thought or written

2.3. Humanist Curriculum suggests that all secondary students should be liberally educated and should study English, foreign languages, mathematics, history, and science.

2.4. The Sociological Curriculum theory I would advocate is the Functionalist Theory(derived by the work of Emile Durkheim.)

2.5. Functionalists believe that schools teach students the values that are essential to become competent members of society.

2.6. The role of the curriculum for Functionalists is to give students the knowledge, language, and values to ensure social stability.

3. Equality of Opportunity

3.1. Today, females are less likely to drop out of school than males, and are more likely to have a higher level of reading proficiency than males.

3.2. Historically, an individual's gender was directly related to his or her educational attainment.

3.3. Coleman Study: huge amount of national data to study the relationship between the organizational characteristics of schools and student achievement.

3.4. Where an individual goes to school has little effect on his or her cognitive growth or educational mobility.

3.5. Subsequent studies that have compared private and public schools have found that private schools seem to "do it better," particularly for low-income students.

3.6. Where an individual goes to school is often related to her race and socioeconomic background, but the racial and socioeconomic composition of a school has a greater effect on student achievement than an individual's race and class.

4. Educational Inequality

4.1. Functionalists believe that the role of schools is to provide a fair and meritocratic selection process for sorting out the best and brightest individuals, regardless of family background.

4.2. Both functionalists and conflict theories agree that understanding educational inequality is a difficult task.

4.3. School Financing. Public schools are financed through a combination of revenues from local, state, and federal sources.

4.4. More affluent communities are able to provide more per-pupil spending than poorer districts, often at a proportionately less burdensome rate than in poorer communities.

4.5. Serrano v. Priest(1971) ruled the system of unequal schools financing between wealthy and poor districts unconstitutional.

4.6. Differences in school resources and quality do not adequately explain between-school differences in academic achievement.

5. Politics of Education

5.1. The Conservative view applied the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin to the analysis of societies.

5.2. developed by William Graham Sumner

5.3. individuals have the capacity to earn or not earn their place within a market economy

5.4. Traditional visions tend to view the schools as necessary to the transmission of the traditional values of the US

5.5. traditionalists believe the schools should pass on the best of what was and what is

5.6. Ronald Reagan represented the political ascendancy of the Conservative viewpoint

6. History of U.S. Education

6.1. Rise of the Common School

6.2. The Industrial Revolution was an important factor on how schools are today

6.3. 1820-1860 was the Industrial Revolution

6.4. Education for Women & African Americans was legal

6.5. Free Public Education for all

6.6. Horace Mann- school reformer

6.7. Democratic-Liberal School

7. Sociological Perspectives

7.1. Socialization-values, beliefs, and norms of society are internalized within children so that they come to think and act like other members of society

7.2. Effects of Schooling on Individuals:

7.3. Knowledge (what they learned)

7.4. Employment (type of job they obtained)

7.5. Attitude (their views on the world and how they treated others

7.6. Schools promote gender definitions and stereotypes when they segregate learning and extracurricular activities by gender

8. Schools as Organizations

8.1. District 4 State Senator: Paul Bussman

8.2. District 4 State Representative: Robert Aderholt

8.3. Representative on State School Board: Mary Scott Hunter

8.4. Local Superintendent: Hugh Taylor

8.5. Local School Board Representative(DeKalb Co. District 1): Randy Peppers

8.6. Finland's Educational System: equal access to curriculum. Some of the highest scores in math, science, and literacy exams. Recruits, educates, retains, and respects the professionalism of classroom teachers.

9. Educational Reform

9.1. No Child Left Behind: Educational reform on accountability put in place by President George W. Bush.

9.2. President Barrack Obama established, the Race to the Top Fund to aid states in meeting the various components of NCLB.

9.3. Educational Equality Project: seeks to eliminate the achievement gap by "working to create an effective school for every child."

9.4. Charter Schools: public schools that are free from many of the regulations applied to traditional public schools, and in return are held accountable for student performance

9.5. Rodriguez v. San Antonio declared there is no constitutional right to an equal education, school finance equity and adequacy advocates litigated at the state level

9.6. Choice is a method of school improvement.