1. Politics of Education
1.1. View Points of Education
1.1.1. Conservative
1.1.1.1. Based from Social Darwinism- only the strong survive.
1.1.1.2. Adaptations to changes in the environment. Individual competition in order to survive along with individual initiative drive.
1.1.1.3. Free market or Market economy of Capitalism is the most productive economic system. Respects human needs.
1.1.1.4. Free market maximizes economic growth and individual liberty which minimizes abuses.
1.1.1.5. Ronald Reagan- stated that the individual was the only one capable of solving his or her own problem.
1.1.1.6. Emphasis on the individual.
1.1.2. Liberal
1.1.2.1. Belief in the market capitalist economy, but if left unregulated it would be prone to abuse.
1.1.2.2. Main Concern : To balance the productivity of capitalism with social and economic needs of the majority of the citizens.
1.1.2.3. They believe that the capitalist system gives an unfair advantage to those with money and power.
1.1.2.4. Equity of Opportunity to all.
1.1.2.5. The group is affected rather than an individual- the group must have solutions to a problem and not just one individual.
1.1.2.6. Will have recession but they are believed to be addressed by the government. Government involvement is mandatory to ensure a healthy economy and fair treatment to all.
1.1.2.7. Government involvement is necessary for fair treatment to all and healthy economy.
1.1.2.8. FDR backed (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) in S.S. act, and Works Progress Administration
1.1.2.9. John F. Kennedy in the New Frontier.
1.1.3. Radical
1.1.3.1. Free market is NOT the best. Democratic Socialism for the political-economic system.
1.1.3.2. Believe that free market will transform into socialism.
1.1.3.3. Accumulation of laws of capitalism- wealth is both accumulated and controlled privately.
1.1.3.4. Socialist economy that builds on the democratic political system will give a decent standard of living.
1.1.3.5. Believe that capitalism is the problem.
1.1.3.6. Believe that problems are caused by the structure of the U.S. society, and need to be addressed as a whole- not as individuals.
1.1.3.7. The U.S. society is looked at as negative.
1.1.4. Neo-Liberal
1.1.4.1. believe failures are because of teacher unions, support of teacher tenure and layoffs based on seniority and the absence of student, teacher, and school accountability to ensure improvement.
1.1.4.2. Pointed out inequalities in the school.
1.1.4.3. President Bush's No Child Left Behind.
1.1.4.4. Education policy :
1.1.4.4.1. 1. Austerity
1.1.4.4.2. 2. The market model
1.1.4.4.3. 3. Individualism
1.1.4.4.4. 4. State intervention
1.1.4.4.5. 5. Economic prosperity, race and class
1.2. Vision of Education
1.2.1. Traditional
1.2.1.1. Believes that the schools should pass on the best of what "was" and what "is".
1.2.2. Progressive
1.2.2.1. Believes that schools are central to solving social problems. Schools should be apart of a steady process to make things better.
2. Schools as Organizations
2.1. Alabama State senators:
2.1.1. Paul Bussman- Republican
2.1.2. Bill Holtzclaw- Republican
2.1.3. Arthur Orr- Republican
2.2. Alabama House of Representatives
2.2.1. Terri Collins- Republican
2.2.2. Ed Henry- Republican
2.2.3. Mike Ball- Republican
2.3. Alabama State Superintendent- Dr. Tommy Bice
2.4. Alabama State School Board members:
2.4.1. Governor Robert J. Bentley President
2.4.2. Thomas R. Bice Secretary and Executive Officer
2.4.3. Jeffery Newman Vice President District 7
2.4.4. Yvette Richardson President Pro Tem District 4
2.4.5. Matthew S. Brown District 1
2.4.6. Betty Peters District 2
2.4.7. Stephanie Bell District 3
2.4.8. Ella B. Bell District 5
2.4.9. Cynthia Sanders McCarty District 6
2.4.10. Mary Scott Hunter District 8
2.5. Morgan County Superintendent: Bill Hopkins
2.6. Morgan County School Board Members: http://www.morgank12.org/?DivisionID=1440&ToggleSideNav=ShowAll
2.6.1. Mr. Jimmy Dobbs- District 5 (Priceville/Sparkman)
2.6.2. Mr. Adam Glenn- District 2 (Danville)
2.6.3. Mr. Jeff McLemore- District 7 (Union Hill/Lacey Springs)
2.6.4. Mr. Mike Tarpley- Vice Chairman District 3 (Falkville)
2.6.5. Mr. Tom Earwood- District 6 (Brewer/Cotaco)
2.6.6. Mr. Paul Holmes- District 4 (Eva)
2.6.7. Mr. Billy Rhodes- District 1 (West Morgan)
2.7. Morgan county board of Education and Hartselle City Schools
2.7.1. 7 Habits: Leadership: Lighthouse schools
2.7.1.1. 1. Be Proactive - (Take responsibility for your life)
2.7.2. 1. Be Proactive - (Take responsibility for your life)
2.7.3. 2. Begin With The End In Mind - (Define your mission and goals in life)
2.7.4. 3. Put First Things First - (Prioritize and do the most important things first)
2.7.5. 4. Think Win-Win - (Have an everyone-can-win attitude)
2.7.6. 5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood - (Listen to people sincerely)
2.7.7. 6. Synergize - (Work together to achieve more)
2.7.8. 7. Sharpen the Saw - (Renew yourself regularly)
3. Curriculum and Pedagogy
3.1. Curriculum theories:
3.1.1. Humanist curriculum- Western heritage and liberal arts as the focus. They argue that students do not know enough about their cultural heritage because the schools curriculum does not focus on it enough.
3.1.2. Social efficiency curriculum- The idea that different students should receive different curricula. Instruction should be diverse, flexible and a division of labor.
3.1.3. Developmentalist curriculum- Focuses on the needs and interest of the individual rather than the needs of the society. Therefore curriculum is focused on flexibility in both what is taught and how it is taught along with an emphasis on each students individual capacities.
3.1.4. Social meliorist curriculum- Is concerned with the role of the school forming society along with response to the growing society. It has a strong classification between academic and vocational curriculum. It relates to philosophical, sociological, and political factors.
3.1.5. I personally believe the strongest curriculum is the social efficiency which stresses the importance of different curricula where instruction is diverse and flexible. All students have different ideas and ways to problem solve therefore I believe curriculum should meet the need of each student in a personal way.
3.2. Hidden curriculum are lessons learned but not necessarily intended. For example how to walk in a line, and how to behave in class, how to talk to teachers, etc.
3.3. Null curriculum is what we do not teach, giving the idea that these elements are not essential to learn. It is what we are not allowed to teach in school.
3.4. Mainstream curriculum- the basic knowledge that a student must know. The part of the curriculum that is stated and directly taught to the students.
4. History of U.S. Education
4.1. Reforms of Public Schooling
4.1.1. Common School
4.1.1.1. by 1820 people were realizing that the schools established in pre-war generation were not functioning effectively.
4.1.1.2. Horace Mann led the struggle for free public education and created the idea of a state board of education.
4.1.1.3. Due to Mann's efforts, the first state normal school (teacher training school) was established in Lexington Massachusetts in 1839.
4.1.1.4. Common school is a free publicly funded elementary school. Mann considered school as preparation for citizenship. many people become against common schools, stating the taxation for free public school is "unjust"
4.1.1.5. 1860 public schools were becoming prevalent in the United States.
4.1.1.6. 1862 Morrill Act- authorized the use of public money to establish public land grant universities.
4.1.1.7. women were not considered fit to go to schools until the middle of the 19th century.
4.1.1.8. 1821 , also known as the movement for education for women in the United States.
4.1.1.9. 1821 Emma Hart Willard opened Troy Female Seminary in Troy, New York. The school sought to deliver education to females that was similar to the male counterparts. http://www.historyswomen.com/1stWomen/EmmaHartWillard.html
4.1.1.10. Education for African American women began expanding after the civil war- 1846 Roberts V. City of Boston encouraged separate schooling for blacks and whites.
4.1.1.11. this court case led to Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation in 1863- ending slavery, then in 1865 the 13th amendment freeing slaves, lastly in 1868 the 14th amendment that granted blacks citizenship to ex-slaves.
4.1.1.12. 1868 Historical Black Colleges: Howard University in Washington D.C. and Hampton Institute in Virginia.
4.1.2. Urbanization
4.1.3. The beginning of the 19th century was known as the First Industrial Revolution- large proportions of immigration and urbanization.
4.1.4. The closing of the 19th century became known as the Second Industrial Revolution- involving steam driven and electric-powered machinery.
4.1.5. Immigration caused the largest gap between rich and poor our country has ever seen.
4.1.6. John Dewey and progressive education. Schools were undergoing a massive transformation:
4.1.6.1. uncleanliness (bathing became part of school curriculum in some districts)
4.1.6.2. Teachers began teaching basic socialization skills
4.1.7. John Dewey believed that the result of education was growth. He developed the Labratory School
4.1.8. The Laboratory school focused on: active learning,
4.1.8.1. starting with the needs of the child;
4.1.8.2. emphasis on the role of experience and
4.1.8.3. introduced the notion that the teacher was a facilitator of learning, not the font from which all knowledge flows.
4.1.9. Public High School
4.1.10. evolution of the high school- major shift in the meaning and purpose of education
4.1.11. problems arised for high school students such as: meeting college entrance standards, classical subjects verses traditional, and studying subjects to prepare for life.
4.1.12. National Education Association- had to clarify the purpose of high school education.
4.1.12.1. It argued that the purpose of secondary education was to prepare one for the "duties of life"
4.1.12.2. Traditional and classic subjects be treated the same.
4.1.12.3. 5 model curricula: classical and modern language, English, mathematics, history, and science.
4.1.12.4. All students to be taught in the same manner.
4.1.12.5. would be backed by the National Education Association (NEA) committee on college entrance requirements.
4.1.12.6. also backed by Cargegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's adoption of the same core courses.
4.1.13. Thorndike's less academically demanding but more utilitarian Cardinal Principles included:
4.1.13.1. 1) Health 2) command of fundamental process 3) worthy home-membership 4) vocation 5) citizenship 6) worthy use of leisure 7) ethical character
4.1.14. "Education for Life Adjustment"
4.1.14.1. reform that took place after the World War 11 and addressed the practical concerns for daily life, during the depression,
4.1.14.2. based on the idea that not all students are able to master serious subject matter.
4.2. Historical Interpretations of Education
4.2.1. Democratic-Liberal School
4.2.1.1. believes that the history of U.S. education involves progressive evolution- providing equality of opportunity for all.
4.2.1.2. Common School Era- they believe it was the first step in opening U.S. education to all.
4.2.1.3. believed in the expansion of opportunity and purpose
4.2.1.4. Optimistic
4.2.1.5. Equality and excellence- is necessary compromise but they look at is as needing to move closer together without compromising either.
4.2.2. Radical-Revisionist School
4.2.2.1. consists of radical historians, sociologists, and political economists of education
4.2.2.2. had a more critical view on they history education
4.2.2.3. believe that education expanded to meet the needs of elites in society for economic interest only
4.2.2.4. education was for economic efficiency and productivity.
4.2.2.5. suggested that the working class and labor unions promoted expansion for their own interest
4.2.2.6. believed that placement in higher education was based on social class and race
4.2.2.7. higher education was not for equality of opportunity
4.2.2.8. Pessimistic
4.2.3. Conservative Perspectives
4.2.3.1. all students be given an opportunity to succeed.
4.2.3.2. evolution in U.S. education has resulted in dilution of academic excellence.
4.2.3.3. curriculum should be fair and nonracist.
4.2.3.4. believe that charter schools, vouchers, privatization, and standardized testing has resulted in corporate take over of public schooling.
4.2.3.5. schooling is to develop the powers of intelligence.
5. Sociological Perspectives
5.1. 3 theories about the relationships between schools and sociology:
5.2. 1) Functional theories
5.2.1. Interdependence of the social system. One part depends on the other to work
5.2.2. Each portion of society is important to keep the society stable.
5.2.3. Emile Durkheim
5.2.4. http://study.com/academy/lesson/emile-durkheims-theories-functionalism-anomie-and-division-of-labor.html
5.2.5. Major works that supported: Moral Education, The Evolution of Education Thought, and Education and Society.
5.2.6. Believed that education, every where, was important to create moral unity.
5.2.7. moral values=foundation of society
5.2.8. Educational reform is supposed to create structures, programs, and advanced curricula.
5.2.9. When one part is affected, the rest is affected as well.
5.2.10. Creates social problems and leads to social change
5.2.11. A Nation at Risk- 1983
5.3. 2)Conflict Theories
5.3.1. Dominant groups hold society together
5.3.2. Dominant groups push their will onto smaller groups
5.3.3. Believe what holds society together consists of economic, cultural and military power,
5.3.4. Marx based beliefs
5.3.5. Social conflict theory argues that social classes within society have different amounts of material and non-material resources.
5.3.6. Wealthy us. Poor
5.3.7. Weberian approach analyzes school organizations and processes from the point of view of status competition and organizational constraints.
5.3.8. Willard Waller in "The Sociology of Teaching"
5.3.9. Stated that without continuous vigilance, schools would turn into anarchy- where students are forced to go to school against their will.
5.3.10. Randall Collins stated that education expansion is best explained by status group struggle.
5.3.11. Education status has become a security to more advantageous places for a person in society.
5.4. 3)Interactional Thheories
5.4.1. Interactional theory- branches off of or is some combination containing the functional and conflict theories.
5.4.2. Claims that functional and conflict perspectives only focus on the "big picture" of school instead of the everyday picture of what school is like.
5.4.3. The little behaviors and interactions are what should be focused on since they are what the "big picture" is really made of.
5.5. Effectives of schooling on the individual
5.5.1. Teacher behavior-
5.5.2. Teachers are expected to play many different roles: instructor, disciplinarian, bureaucrat, employer, friend, confidant, educator. Therefore teachers have large impacts on their students. Teachers set the standards and must model those expected standards for their students.
5.5.3. Student peer groups and alienation-
5.5.4. Social standing has major effects on self-esteem of individuals. There are major conflicts that could potentially create situations of violence, such as some groups feeling inferior than others.
5.5.5. Employment-
5.5.6. Better education levels have positive effects on greater employment opportunities; however, that knowledge is weakly related to job performance.
6. Equality of Opportunity
6.1. Class impacts- students who have different kinds of educational experiences.
6.1.1. Materials
6.1.2. Personel
6.1.3. Services
6.1.4. Duration
6.2. Race impacts- A persons race has a direct impact on how much education he or she is likely to achieve.
6.3. Gender impacts- Women are less likely to drop out of school than men and are more likely to achieve a higher level of reading proficiency than males.
6.4. Achievement Gap- the observed, persistent disparity of educational measures between the performance of groups of students.
6.5. Students with special needs- the field of special education has added a whole new level to ideas of equality of education.
6.5.1. Parents have placed more of a demand for their children with special needs to receive the proper education.
6.6. Equal opportunity is tarnished by the reality that an individuals origin has a significant impact on his or her destination.
6.7. School Differences and Educational Outcomes:
6.8. The coleman report- based on an extensive survey of educational opportunity and was mandated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and directed by James Coleman.
6.9. School Segregation- Research indicates that, despite the face that schools are less segregated than they were 40 years ago, the degree of racial and ethical segregation is increasing.
6.9.1. Evidence that highly segregated schools have lower achievement and graduation rates and that minority students in integrated schools have higher levels of achievement.
7. Educational Inequality
7.1. Explaning Educational Inequalities:
7.1.1. Dependencies
7.1.2. Milestones
7.2. Student Centered Explanations:
7.2.1. focus on factors outside of the school such as family, the community, culture, peer groups and the individual student.
7.2.2. Genetic Differences- biological explanations of human behavior are viewed as limited because social scientists believe that environmental and social factors are largely responsible for human behavior.
7.2.3. Cultural Deprivation- suggests that working-class and nonwhite families often lack the cultural resources, such as books and other educational stimuli, and thus arrive at school at a significant disadvantage.
7.2.4. Cultural Differences- Agrees that there are cultural and family differences between working-class and non-white students, and white middle-class students. Although, they may indeed arrive at school behind it is not due to deficiencies but due to being apart of an oppressed minority.
7.3. School Centered Explanations:
7.3.1. focus on factors within the school such as the teachers, teaching methods, curriculum, ability grouping, school climate and teacher expectations.
7.3.2. School financing- Since public schools are funded through a combination of revenues, such as state and local taxes, affluent communities are able to provide more per-pupil spending than the poorer districts that have low property values.
7.3.3. Effective School Research- The idea that if a students differences are more important than the school differences, the teacher can not be blamed for the poor academic achievement. On the other hand, if the schools effects are not significant, then teachers can do little to make a positive difference.
7.4. Between-school differences- looks at differences between schools in inner-city, lower socioeconomic neighborhoods in order to demonstrate that schools can make a difference in these communities.
7.5. Within-school differences- the fact that different groups within school the same schools perform different suggests that there may be school characteristics affecting these outcomes.
8. Philosophy of Education
8.1. Idealism
8.1.1. Believes that education is important as a means of moving individuals collectively toward achieving good.
8.1.2. Active state role in education
8.1.3. Curriculum should be abstract and concerned with ideas rather than matter.
8.1.4. Evil comes through ignorance and rulers can only be educated.
8.1.5. Modern Idealists: St. Augustine, Rene Descartes, Immanuel Kant, and George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
8.1.6. The goal of education is for students to search for the truth as individuals: Ideas can change life.
8.1.7. The role of the teacher is to analyze and discuss with students so that they can move to new levels of awareness and ultimately be transformed.
8.1.8. The teacher is seen as a role model, and they are there for supports to moral education. They are there to help link ideas to action for the students.
8.1.9. Methods of instruction include: lecturing, the dialetic approach, and questioning. This way the students are encouraged to discuss and apply what they have learned.
8.1.10. The curriculum heavily focuses on the study of classics such as literature of past civilizations.
8.1.11. The curriculum is based on the idea that contemporary problems are rooted in the past, and by studying how previous individuals dealt with them will help their knowledge.
8.2. Realism
8.2.1. Believes that studying the material world around is the only way to develop or clarify ideas.
8.2.2. Modern realists: Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Francis Bacon, John Locke, Alfred North Whitehead, and Bertrand Russell.
8.2.3. Realist goal of education: Realists believe that the only way to help solve problems in the modern world is to understand and then apply principles of science.
8.2.4. The role of teachers are to transmit to their students the knowledge necessary for the continuance of the human race.
8.2.5. Most important methods of instruction include lectures and question and answers.
8.2.6. The curriculum is believed to be based on science, mathematics, reading, writing, and humanities.
8.3. Pragmatism
8.3.1. Belief that children are active, organic beings who are growing and changing which requires a course of study that would reflect their particular stage of development.
8.3.2. Key researchers include George Sanders Peirce, William James, and John Dewey.
8.3.3. The goal of education is rooted in social order; ideas were not seen as separate from social conditions.
8.3.4. The role of education is to transform students into a democratic society- also known as progressive education.
8.3.5. Teacher is looked at as a facilitator of information, encouraging questions and helps plan and implement the course of study.
8.3.6. Methods of instruction include individual and group instruction. The problem solving and inquiry method.
8.3.7. Believe in individualized study, problem solving and the project method.
8.3.8. They believed in an integrated curriculum of math, science, history, reading, writing, music, art, wood or metal working, cooking and sewing.
8.3.9. also known as expanding environments.
8.4. Existentialism
8.4.1. Is considered an individualistic philosophy. Believed that individuals are placed on this earth alone must make some sense out of the chaos they encounter.
8.4.2. The goal of education is to focus on the needs of the individual and believe that education should stress individuality.
8.4.3. Education is thought to focus on possibility, since the individual changes in a constant state of becoming.
8.4.4. The teacher is thought to enable students to become in touch with their worlds and to empower their own choices and to act on them.
8.4.5. Instructional methods include personal learning and it is up to the teacher to discover what works for each child.
8.4.6. The teacher is to help students understand the world through posing questions, generating activities, and working together.
8.4.7. The curriculum is based on humanities such as art, drama, and music.
8.5. Neo-Marxism
8.5.1. Focuses on social order and change. They believe that those who conflict and struggle make history.
8.5.2. http://homepages.wmich.edu/~nbarnes/Document3.pdf
8.5.3. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-5446.1992.00127.x/abstract;jsessionid=C0AD1334D507C24FD4882743E6B6751C.f01t01?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=
8.5.4. Ideology is the idea or belief system of the ruling class.
8.5.5. The goal of education is that the power is with the individual to shape their own world and to change it.
8.5.6. Belief that curriculum reproduces economic, social, and political status quo.
8.5.7. The role of the teacher is to engage the students in examination of the world. Education should also result in the awareness of self and society.
8.5.8. Methods of instruction is dialetical and to reveal the underlying assumptions of society and to help students to see alternative possibilities.
8.5.9. A neo-marxists curriculum is socially instructed and focuses on those that have power determine what students need to know. These individuals reshape the curriculum to show a fairer view of the world and the needs of society.
8.6. Post-modernism
8.6.1. Belief that teachers and students should explore the differences in order to achieve understanding, respect and change.
8.6.2. Similar to Neo-Marxists theory.
8.6.3. Stresses the classroom as a site for political action and that teachers are the agents of change.
8.6.4. Education is seen as producing knowledge and political subject as well.
8.6.5. Students should understand the social construction of different voices and identities and how they relate to history and social forces.
8.6.6. Critical pedagogy is to form knowledge out of analysis through historical tradition.
8.6.7. Teachers are seen as transformation intellectuals.
9. Educational Reform
9.1. The first wave of educational reform stressed the need for increased educational excellence through increased educational standards.
9.1.1. Focused on: the need for- excellence and equity in schools, to clarify educational goals, to develop a common core curriculum, to eliminate tracking programs, for major changes in vocational education, education in teaching technology, increase duration and intensity of academic learning.
9.2. The second wave of reform was based on the recommendations made at the state governor's conference.
9.2.1. Focused on: teaching leadership and management, parental involvement and choice in schools, student readiness for school, and quality colleges.
9.2.2. A Nation Prepared : Teachers for a 21st century focused on the educational quality of teacher education programs.
9.2.2.1. Goals:
9.2.2.2. 1- All children will start school ready to learn.
9.2.2.3. 2- High school graduate rates will increase to at least 90%.
9.2.2.4. 3- American students will leave grade 4,8, and 12 having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter so that they would be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our modern economy.
9.2.2.5. 4- U.S. students will be first in the world in math and science achievement.
9.2.2.6. 5- Every adult american will be literate and will possess the skills necessary to compete in a global economy.
9.2.2.7. 6- Every school in america will be free of violence and drugs and will offer a disciplined environment conductive to learning.
9.3. No Chile Left Behind
9.3.1. Annual testing for grades 3-8 in reading and math, plus at least on test in grades 10-12 with science testing.
9.3.2. States and districts are required to report school by school data on student test scores broken down into what race the student is, ELL, special education
9.3.3. States must set adequate yearly goals for each school.
9.3.4. Schools that do not meet the yearly goals will be labeled as "In Need of Improvement"- which means that the schools have to offer the opportunity for students to go to another school or recieve federally funded tutoring.
9.3.5. Schools must have highly qualified teachers to teach in the core academic subjects.
9.4. Race to the Top:
9.4.1. Educational reform suggestions:
9.4.1.1. adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy.
9.4.1.2. Build data systems that measure student growth and success.
9.4.1.3. Recruiting, rewarding and retaining effective teachers and principals.
9.4.1.4. Turning around the lowest achieving schools.