1. Politics of Education
1.1. Conservative
1.1.1. Roots trace back to Charles Darwin from the 19th century, but was developed by William Sumner. Ronald Reagan was the president who supported this perspective the most and focused mainly on the good of a free market. The free market economy is in the best interest for everyone and and is important for the freedom of everyone. It is the only way to ensure that economic growth moves in the right direction.
1.1.2. Belief that individuals create their own problems and should be responsible for fixing their own problems. "Only the strongest survive" Everyone is responsible for themselves and if your not at the place in your life you want to be at, there is no one to blame except yourself.
1.1.3. The role of schools are to make sure that it's students are prepared to better the economy. It expects that the students who want to learn, can learn without the interference of government.
1.2. Traditional
1.2.1. Visions are seeing the bigger picture when it comes to education. They are the broadest aspect of how education should be.
1.2.2. Belief that school should stay the same and teach the same things it always has. It's about keeping family close and focusing on how things have always been.
1.2.3. This vision crosses into a few different perspectives. It covers all of the conservative perspective and the right side of the liberal perspective.
2. History of Education
2.1. Education for Women and African -Americans
2.1.1. Before this movement, women were expected to stay at home and tend to the house and children. It was thought that school would ruin and be too hard for women.
2.1.2. It wasn't until women such as Emma Hart Willard, Catharine Beecher, and Mary Lyon took a stand and established all female schools and colleges in the late nineteenth century that things began to change.
2.1.3. As for African-Americans, education was not available in the South especially after Nat Turner's revolt and in the North, the "Roberts vs. City of Boston" case made it legal to have segregated schools. None of this changed until the 13th and 14h amendment was ratified and slaves were set free. Even after that, things were still unequal, especially in the South.
2.2. The Democratic - Liberal School
2.2.1. This view believes in creating equal opportunity for all and believes that the Conservative view is only helping the wealthy people.
2.2.2. People like Lawrence Cremin believe that educational history has has evolved by popularization and multitudinousness. He believes that social needs are more important than intellectual needs.
2.2.3. This view likes the idea of having a diverse school because it will, in turn, create the goals of education to become more diverse because everyone has different wants and needs and this theory wants everyones needs met equally.
3. Sociological Perspectives
3.1. Functionalist
3.1.1. Emile Durkeim was the first to embrace this theory.
3.1.2. This theory relies on schools and society working together to create the ideal society and has the belief that when there is conflict, it is a sign of societal breakdown.
3.1.3. The purpose of school is to shape and mold people into the right morals and values that is necessary to make society work in harmony.
3.2. Employment
3.2.1. In 1986 over half of all college graduates got a job after graduation. It is also proven that people with higher education, make more money than those who do not have it even though the school does not teach enough work related skills. This being said, education does positively affect employment.
3.3. Student Peer Groups & Alienation
3.3.1. The groups that students hang out in has a major impact on how students view schooling. Many people strive to be "cool" and in return ends up putting schooling to the side. Clicks carry on into adult life and students become one of the four: Careerists, Intellectuals, Strivers, or Unconnected.
3.3.1.1. Careerists: Middle and upper class students who lost confidence and were unmotivated.
3.3.1.2. Intellectuals: High is academics and very politically involved with many awards.
3.3.1.3. Strivers: Low class students who work hard to be successful and feel accomplished.
3.3.1.4. Unconnected: Anyone who is unsatisfied with their schooling.
3.3.1.5. Careerists: Middle and upper class students who lost confidence and were unmotivated.
3.4. Teacher Behavior
3.4.1. Teachers are a big part of how students do in school. There are many reasons why teachers get burned-out and when they stop caring, so do the students. On the other hand, there is the self-fulfilling prophecy that says the way a teacher acts, the students will follow. The study done in California made that obvious and true by telling the teachers certain kids were advanced even though they were not. The teachers acted differently towards those kids because they did better than everyone else even though they were no more advanced than any of the other students.
4. Schools as Organizations
4.1. Stake Holders
4.1.1. State Senators: Jefferson Sessions (R) & Richard Shelby (R)
4.1.2. State Superintendent: Tommy Bice
4.1.3. Local Superintendent: Matt Massey
4.1.4. Local School Board: Madison County Board of Education
4.2. Japan
4.2.1. Education system is very competitive.
4.2.2. There is a public school system along with a private school system.
4.2.3. Japan focuses on mainly work ethic.
4.2.4. Japanese parents are very concerned with education and they believe that it is the most important.
4.2.5. "Juku" means double schooling and many people enter a different institution after they finish formal education.
4.2.6. These are just many reasons why Japan excel internationally by having the top students and having 95 percent of students graduate from high school.
5. Curriculum and Pedagogy
5.1. Historical Curriculum Theory
5.1.1. Social Efficiency Curriculum
5.1.1.1. This is a pragmatic based approach that was created in response to the rise in secondary education.
5.1.1.2. This theory believes that every student is different and needs different things and that each student should have their own curriculum to meet their needs.
5.1.1.3. This is based off of Dewey's progressivism views and the need for individualized curriculum.
5.2. Social Curriculum Theory
5.2.1. Modern Functionalist Theory
5.2.1.1. Talcott Parsons and Robert Dreeben are two of the developers of this theory.
5.2.1.2. This theory believes that the main role of education is to prepare students for certain roles of society. This mimics the same pragmatic and progressive approaches of education.
5.2.1.3. Teaching literature and the arts is not as important as teaching skills that are needed to survive in society because they will not be used to function in a democratic society. Schools should be teaching curriculum that will actually be used in the real world.
5.2.1.4. Teaching literature and the arts is not as important as teaching skills that are needed to survive in society because they will not be used to function in a democratic society. Schools should be teaching curriculum that will actually be used in the real world.
6. Equality of Opportunity
6.1. Students with Special Needs
6.1.1. 1975: Education of All Handicapped Children Law (EHA)
6.1.1.1. 1. the right of access to public education programs
6.1.1.2. 2. the individualization of services
6.1.1.3. 3. the principle of "least restrictive environment"
6.1.1.4. 4. the scope of broadened services to be provided by the schools and a set of procedures for determining them
6.1.1.5. 5. the general guidelines for identifying disability
6.1.1.6. 6. the principles of primary state and local responsibilities
6.1.2. Critics claim that students were becoming over-identified as handicap and that it was adding to the achievement gap and also harming the minority students.
6.1.3. 1980's: Regular Education Initiative (REI)
6.1.3.1. This initiative pushed for handicap students to be included with in mainstream classes.
6.1.3.2. Critics believed that it would harm the education of both handicap and mainstream students.
6.2. Coleman Study Responses: Round One
6.2.1. This response focuses on the sociologists view.
6.2.2. They concluded that where a child goes to school, has little effect on how well they do and what they achieve.
6.2.3. They found that peer groups have a larger impact on how well students preform and began thinking about making each school more diverse in order to equalize the opportunities.
6.2.3.1. This would be done by busing students from school to school and between districts.
7. Educational Inequality
7.1. Cultural Deprivation Theories
7.1.1. Became popular in the 1960s. States that the poor don't have the same resources and therefore are disadvantaged.
7.1.2. Opposite of the middle class, the poor want instant gratification and do not believe that hard work and schooling will get you anywhere in life.
7.1.3. The Head Start Program was put into place in an attempt to give the poor the opportunity to be exposed to the middle class values early in hopes that it will change their thinking and give them a better opportunity.
7.2. Gender and Schooling
7.2.1. Carol Gilligan is the main psychologist to influence gender differences in education. She puts her beliefs into writing in her book "In a Different Voice."
7.2.2. She believes that the curriculum does not focus enough on what women have accomplished in history and they are not getting enough credit.
7.2.3. Gender roles also play a major role in the inequality of education between me and women.
7.2.3.1. One main example from the text is the fact that majority or elementary school teachers are women and majority of administrators are men. This is said to lead students into believing this is how things should be.
8. Educational Reform
8.1. Charter Schools
8.1.1. The first charter school was in Minnesota in 1991 and has spread to 41 states.
8.1.2. A charter school is all about accountability and is funded by tax payers money, but do not have to abide by normal public school regulations.
8.1.3. Anyone can start a charter school and as long as the agreement stated in the charter is upheld the school will continue to be funded.
8.1.4. Advocates claim that because the charter school is free from regulations, it is a better option for the poor because it provides a better education for a lower cost.
8.2. State Takeovers
8.2.1. There are many states that implement state takeovers if a certain district is not doing well. Other states have a takeover regardless of how well they are doing.
8.2.2. Advantages: represents a state's responsibilities, can help school leaders to come together a bring better to all schools in the state.
8.2.3. Disadvantages: Can seem like state is trying to take to much control away from the locals, some state officials may not be capable of leading a school, takeovers only look at test scores for determining success.
9. Philosophy of Education
9.1. Pragmatism
9.1.1. Key Researchers: John Dewey, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, George Sanders Peirce, William James, Frances Bacon, and John Locke
9.1.2. Generic Notions: The belief that the school became the "breeding ground" where students learn to cooperate in society. Also considered "progressive" and believed that students needed to have an active and experimental part in their education.
9.1.3. Goal of Education: Dewey's main goal of education was to create an education system that lead to more education. He did not think that education should end once you finish formal education and have started a life, but instead make citizens who question even more and continue to grow.
9.1.4. Role of the Teacher: The role of the teacher is to create a lesson plan that follows the curriculum and then to help students lead their own instruction. The teacher should not be the authority, but rather a facilitator.
9.1.5. Methods of Instruction: Dewey stressed the importance of group work and stressed what we call problem solving and inquiry methods. He believed that students should be very active in the learning process. Also, he is credited for making desks mobile in the classroom.
9.1.6. Curriculum: Dewey believed in teaching what interested the student and incorporating basic skills into every subject instead of just focusing on a topic in one subject.