My Foundations of Education

1. Philosophy of Education

1.1. Plato was one of the main initiators of Generic Notions. His method of doing philosophy was to engage another individual in a dialogue and, through the dialogue, question that individual's point of view.

1.2. Plato was one of the main researchers of Idealism. Some other main contributors were St. Augustine, Rene Descarates, and Immanuel Kant.

1.3. Through Idealism, teachers encourage students to search for truth as individuals. Responsibility also comes with the discovery of truth. We have to achieve the realization of truth to enlighten others.

1.4. It's the teachers responsibility to breakdown and analyze ideas with students in order for students to move to new levels of awareness so that they can fully transformed. The teacher plays the active role in the discussions.

1.5. As I've stated before, teachers are to take an active part in their students' learning. They really urge students to use critical thinking, discuss among others, analyze, synthesize, etc.

1.6. Idealist teachers put great emphasis on teaching classics. All contemporary problems have their roots in the past and can best be understood by examining how previous individuals dealt with them.

2. Schools as Organizations

2.1. Where I live, the Haleyville Board of Education does a tremendous job of providing the needed necessitates for our school. They are always there to help and go out of their way to do many fantastic works.

2.2. Our local superintendent does a tremendous job as well. He sees to everything and makes the needed changes when they need to be made. He is a leader in which people follow and he's very vocal.

2.3. Our principal is very interactive around the school and promotes our school like no other. She is a one of a kind and has her, "ducks in a row." We are very blessed to live in a place that has a great school system like we do.

2.4. The educational system in China only requires students to attend school for 9 years.

2.5. It is a state-run system run by the Ministry of Education.

2.6. Chinese schools don't segregate higher achieving students from lower achieving students in the classroom.

3. Curriculum and Pedagogy

3.1. The Humanist Curriculum reflects the idealist philosophy that knowledge of the traditional liberal arts in the focal point of an education citizenry and that the purpose of education is to present to students the best of what has been thought and written.

3.2. This curriculum, traditionally, focused on the Western heritage as the basis for the intellectual development, although some who support this type of curriculum argue that the liberal arts doesn't need to focus only on the Western tradition.

3.3. This curriculum dominated the nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century U.S. education and was codified in the National Education Association's Committee of Ten report that was done in 1893.

3.4. The social meliorist curriculum developed in the 1930s, both out of writings of Dewey, who was concerned with the role of the schools reforming the society.

3.5. Although this view of the curriculum never challenged the dominance of the social efficiency model, it has continued to influence curriculum theory in the United States and elsewhere.

3.6. For the most part, it has been the social efficiency curriculum, much more than they other three models, that is responsible for what is being taught in U.S. schools.

4. Equality of Opportunity

4.1. Most people are aware that society is stratified - there are rich people, poor people, and people in between. People are discriminated against on the basis of gender and race.

4.2. In the last 30 years, the upper and upper middle class in the United States have become increasingly wealthly while the other classes have experienced a relative decline in terms of their economic security and income.

4.3. Estate stratification occurs in agrarian societies where social level is defined in terms of hierarchy of family worth.

4.4. Class stratification occurs in industrial societies that define social level in terms of a hierarchy of differential achievement by individuals, especially in economic pursuits.

4.5. Within each one of these major forms of stratification there can be other hierarchies and three major forms to stratification can overlap within any given society.

4.6. For example, in the United States, individuals can experience caste stratification because of their race, while simultaneously experiencing class stratification because of their occupation and lack of property.

5. Educational Inequality

5.1. The two major sociological theories of education provide a general understanding of the problem, although from very different directions.

5.2. Functionalists expect that the schooling process will produce unequal results, but these results ought to be based on individual differences between students, not on group differences.

5.3. Conflict theorists are not in the least bit surprised by the data. Given that conflict theorists believe that the role of schooling is to reproduce rather than eliminate inequality.

5.4. Despite these differences, both functionalists and conflict theorists agree that understanding educational inequality is a difficult task.

5.5. Further, it is clear that the third sociological approach, interactionist theory, is necessary to grasp fully the problem.

5.6. Thus, in addition to studying empirical data on school outcomes, which often explains what happens, one must also look into the lives and worlds of families and schools in order to understand why it happens.

6. Educational Reform

6.1. The 1980s and 1990s and into the twenty-first century were periods of significant debate and reform in U.S. education.

6.2. In the 1980s, the major reform actors shifted from the federal to the state to the local levels. In the 1990s and 2000s, President Clinton's Goals 2000, President Bush's No Child Left Behind, and President Obama's Race to the Top placed the federal government back at the forefront of educational policy.

6.3. Responding to the call of increased academic achievement, many states increased graduation requirements, toughened curriculum mandates, and increased the use of standardized test scores to measure student achievement.

6.4. Unlike the piecemeal approach favored during the Reagan-Bush years, the systemic approach to educational reform was comprehensive and focused on coordinating state policy with restructured governance.

6.5. In 2010, the federal government reviewed grant applications and awarded funds to Delaware and Tennessee during the first phase of the program and an additional nine states plus the District of Columbia during the second phase of the program.

6.6. Minority and lower class children, have more vision, hearing, and oral health problems than white children, which can affect their ability to focus and learn during school.

7. Politics of Education

7.1. Conservative - it was originated in the 19th century. From this point of view, individuals must compete in the social environment in order to survive. Communication is key in the world today. If we can't communicate, we can't succeed.

7.2. The conservative view of social problems places its primary emphasis on the individual. It's up to each individual person to make a difference and take responsibility in everything they do.

7.3. Another feature of the conservative approach is the belief of free market or market economy of capitalism . They are both the most respectfully of human needs.

7.4. I'm also a supporter of traditional learning approach. It's somewhat known as the, "getting back to the basics approach."

7.5. This leads to more time focused on hard work, family unity, individual initiative, etc.

7.6. It also puts an emphasis on individual students needs and more student centered. It's the, "old fashion way," of teaching and learning.

8. History of U.S. Education

8.1. The reform movement that I think that has had the most influence was, "Education for All: The Emergence of the Public High School." Most adolescents, prior to 1875, were engaged in some form of secondary education that provided private academics that were either traditional, college preparatory schools, or vocational schools.

8.2. Some of the themes that were troubling high school educators at the turn of the century were the tension between classical subjects such as Latin and Greek. Another problem was the meeting college entrance requirements, since different colleges required different courses of study.

8.3. Later on, the NEA settled on some, "Cardinal Principles," that were some main goals that every high school should incorporate. Some of the, "Cardinal Principles," were health, command of fundamental processes, worthy home-membership, vocation, citizenship, worthy use of leisure, and ethical character.

8.4. One historical interpretation of U.S. Education that I'm going to focus on is the Conservative Perspectives. In the 1980s, a rising occurrence of conservative criticism swept education circles. People argued that U.S. schools were mediocre and that students knew very little information that they were being taught. Also, people pointed to the failure of so-called progressive education to fulfill its lofty social goals without sacrificing academic quality.

8.5. Diane Ravitch provided a passionate critique of the radical-revisionist perspective and a defense of the democratic-liberal position in 1977. She thought the curriculum needs to be fair and nonracist, she also argued that the efforts at multiculturalism are often incorrect and neglect the fact that heritage in our civilization, from our conservative vantage point, is Western.

9. Sociological Perspectives

9.1. A precise definition to what a theory is, "an integration of all known principles, laws, and information pertaining to a specific area of study. This structure allows investigators to offer explanations for relative phenomenon and to create solutions to unique problems." We have to gather the information that is needed, first and foremost, to generate the theory that is needed.

9.2. Theories aren't always crystal clear, as we would like for them to be. Theoretical pictures are often created in the minds of human beings and interpreted by them.

9.3. Theories offer ideas that some, if very few, have ever thought of heard of. Without the struggle for objectivity and honesty, there's hardly any hope that people can create a positive and productive society.

9.4. One of the biggest effects that schooling can have on individuals is that it gives students an oppourntity to bond with one another. Creating friendships and relationships in school will go along way in life. We have to cherish those.

9.5. We have to bring a positive attitude everyday that we come to school. Our student's are a reflection of us. We have to set a good, positive example for our student's and instruct them to follow our example.

9.6. We also, as teachers, have study ourselves and translate that information in a way in which our student's can take it and apply in their daily work. We have to know what we're talking about and have to communicate it in the right way.