1. Politics of Education
1.1. The Purpose of Schooling
1.1.1. Specific Purposes are intelluctual, social, political, and economic.
1.1.1.1. Intellectual purpose- teach basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics. Also to help students with high order thinking skills.
1.1.1.2. Social- help solve problems and social cohesion. Socialization
1.1.1.3. Political- inculcate allegiance to the existing political order and teach children the basic laws of society.
1.1.1.4. Economic- prepare students for their later occupational roles and to select, train, and allocate individuals into the division of labor.
1.1.2. Figuring out different visions of education relate back to differing conceptions of what constitutes a good society.
1.2. Politic Perspectives
1.2.1. Conservative Perspective- looks at social evolution as adaption to changes in the environment (social Darwinist).
1.2.2. Liberal Perspective- (John Dewey) believes that the free market is prone to significant abuses, especially the groups who are disadvantaged economically and politically.
1.2.3. Radical Perspective- believes that democratic socialism is a fairer political-economic system. Also believes that a socialist economy builds on the democratic political system would be more adequate to provide all citizens with a decent standard of living.
1.3. Visions of Education
1.3.1. Traditional- view schools as necessary to the transmission of the traditional values of the U.S. which include hard work, family, unity, and individual initiative.
1.3.2. Progressive- view schools as central to solving social problems. They believe schools should be on a steady progress to make things better.
1.4. Role of the School
1.4.1. Conservative Perspective- providing the necessary educational training to ensure that the most talented and hard-working individuals receive the tools necessary to maximize economic and social productivity. They believe it is essential to economic productivity and social stability.
1.4.2. Liberal- Stresses the schools roles in providing the necessary education to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity. They see the roles as balancing the needs of society and the individual in a manner that consistent with a democratic and meritocratic society.
1.4.3. Radical- perpetuate the society and to serve the interests of those with economic wealth and political power.
1.5. Definition of Educational Problems
1.5.1. The conservative perspective argues that schools watered down the material. They also lost their traditional role of teaching moral standards.
1.5.2. The liberal perspective argues that schools limit the life chances of poor and minority children so underachievement is a critical issue. They also argue that schools put too much emphasis on discipline and authority.
1.5.3. The radical perspective argues that the schools have failed a lot of groups policies. They believe that the educational system promotes inequality.
1.6. My Perspective
1.6.1. I really do not know just one perspective. I take bits and parts of each perspective, but if I had to choose one, I would say radical. I do not believe that power should be taken away from the government. They should have some say in it.
1.6.2. My vision of education is probably traditional. I would put a little bit of progressive in there as well. It is hard to choose one because I believe in traditional values, but also I would like to keep growing and changing some things.
2. History of U.S. Education
2.1. Old World and New World Education
2.1.1. Only the sons of the rich colonist required an education. If they could afford a higher education, they received it.
2.1.1.1. The Old Deluder law states that all "50 households" would appoint one person to teach all the children, no matter the age or gender. The town had to pay the teacher. If they had "100 household", they had to set up a grammar school. If they did not go by these laws, they were fined.
2.1.1.1.1. The grammar schools had to choose 10 of their best students who would receive a three-year scholarship to the College of William and Mary.
2.1.2. United States schools varied greatly in quality of instruction.
2.1.2.1. Dame schools were ran by an elderly housewife. They were normally recitations.
2.2. Common School- free publicly funded elementary schools
2.2.1. A normal school was a teacher training school. It was established in 1839.
2.2.2. Created by Mann who believed that schools can change the social order.
2.3. Education for Women and African-Americans
2.3.1. The role of the women has changed drastically throughout the years. Education for women was viewed as biologically harmful or too stressful. Only a few females received an education.
2.3.1.1. By the nineteenth century, a lot of females attended elementary schools and some were admitted to private schools.
2.3.1.2. In 1821, Emma Hart Willard opened the Troy Female Seminary. The purpose of this school was to be provide an education like the males receive.
2.3.2. African American were limited to schooling. Teaching reading and writing were strictly forbidden.
2.3.2.1. After Roberts v. City of Boston, it was ruled that separate educational facilities for blacks were created.
2.4. Post WWII
2.4.1. After WWII, it was a continuation of the process that defined comprehensive high school.
2.4.2. The question, "should all students receive the same education?" remained an important one.
2.4.3. Tensions between equity and excellence became crucial in this period.
2.5. Brown v. The Board of Education was a big case that changed education.
2.5.1. This case involved a student that had to walk a mile just to get to school. They were "separate, but equal." They said that this was unconstitutional. They fought to put the schools into one, which included blacks and whites. They found that being separated had an effect on the students. It consisted of separate cases.
2.6. Which one had the most influence?
2.6.1. All of the history of education have a big impact on the system and education itself. I believe the reform that had the most impact was the school choice movement. This gave the parents a chance to different schools.
2.6.2. Something else that had an impact on education was being integrated with whites and blacks. This was a big thing for us and it increased scores and different stats.
3. Sociological Perspectives
3.1. Schools shape children's perceptions of the world by socialization. Schools are unintentionally shaping children's thoughts and promoting different things like gender definitions and stereotypes.
3.2. The theoretical perspective concerning school and society is broken down into three different theories.
3.2.1. Functional sociologist begin with a picture of society that stresses interdependence. They examine how well these parts are integrated with each other.
3.2.1.1. They view society like a machine. One part articulates with another to produce the energy to make society work.
3.2.1.2. In a highly functioning society, schools socialize students into the appropriate values. They sort out students according to their abilities.
3.2.2. The conflict theorist believe that the social order is not based on some collective agreement. It is based on the ability to impost their will on subordinate groups through force, cooperation, and manipulation.
3.2.2.1. Do not see the relation between school and society as unproblematic or straightforward.
3.2.3. Interactional theories are primarily critiques and extensions of the functional and conflict perspectives. They arise from the observation that they are very abstract. They also emphasize structure and process it at a very general level of analysis.
3.3. One effect of school that it can have on an individual is knowledge and attitudes. When a student is consistently getting disclipine, the student achievement scores go up. This is surprising to me because I would think that students would do worse because they did not care. I do agree that students in high social classes have higher achievement levels.
3.4. Another effect of schooling that it can have on individuals is employment. This drives students to succeed because they would like to have a good job. A lot of employers have certain expectations, so when the students know these, they want to succeed to impress the employers.
3.5. The last effect of schooling that it can have on an individual is education and mobility. A lot of people believe that education leads to economic and social mobility. The students must contribution if they want to succeed.
3.6. Social stratification- a society's categorization of people into socioeconomic strata based on occupations, income, wealth, and social status.
4. Philosophy of Education
4.1. The philosophy that best fits me is progressivism.
4.1.1. Problem --> speculative thought --> action --> results
4.1.2. Dewey was the main philosopher. It was based off the ideas of Francis Bacon. Another philosopher that followed the beliefs was John Locke.
4.2. Generic Notion- It was influenced by Dewey. His ideas were influenced by the theory of evolution and 18th century progress.
4.2.1. He believed teachers should focus on the needs and interests of the child. His notion rested on the fact that children were active, organic beings, growing and changing, and required a course of study that would reflect their stage of development.
4.3. Goal of Education- Dewey's vision of school was rooted in the social order. He believed schools should provide "conjoint, communicated experience." It should function as a preparation for life in a democratic society.
4.3.1. Schools needed to balance the needs of society and community & needs of the individual.
4.3.2. Schools had to play a key role of social cohesion by socializing diverse groups into a cohesive community.
4.3.3. Growth was the primary goal.
4.4. Role of the teacher- teacher is not an authoritarian figure. They are like a mentor.
4.4.1. They take on the peripheral position of facilitator. The need to write curriculum and have a command of several disciplines to create a curriculum.
4.5. Method of Instruction- Dewey believed that children should start their mode of inquiry by posing questions about what they want to know.
4.5.1. The method that is used in progressivism is problem-solving or the inquiry method. It may of looked chaotic to outsiders, but teachers did not teach in big settings. It was replace with individualized study, problem-solving, and the project method.
4.5.2. Teachers should let them pick the unit topic.
4.6. Curriculum- Progressivism follows an integrated curriculum. The do not have a fixed curriculum. It changes as the social order changes. It also changes if the interest and needs of the child change.
4.6.1. Books are a tool, rather than authority.
4.6.2. Choice and freedom is a big thing for progressivist.
5. Schools as Organizations
5.1. In the US, each state is responsible for their own education system. Most schools are paid for by their property tax.
5.1.1. There are 55 million kids enrolled from kindergarten to 12th grade. The cost to educate this much is about $650 billion annually.
5.1.2. The school system is quite open. They have to enroll and remain in school until they graduate. There are multiple points of entry into the school system and a few forced exits. This is openness for the school systems.
5.2. Private schools are not included in the public school statistics. There are 28,220 private schools enrolling 5.5 million students.
5.2.1. There are 15 major categories of private schools. Most of these are affiliated with religious organizations.
5.2.2. The autonomy of private schools is mostly protected by a series of decisions made by the US supreme court.
5.3. In France, the education system is centralized compared to the US. It is way different. The central government controls the educational system. They have two public school systems- one for ordinary people and one for elite.
5.3.1. George Male says the French educational system is excessively verbal. They are taught to frame ideas almost as an end unto itself.
5.3.2. The objective is to produce a small number of highly qualified intellectuals. To identify this, they have set up different examinations that sort out academic talent. It is mostly competitive.
5.3.3. In the past decade, it has become more democratic.
5.4. Teachers must be highly qualified to be able to have a teaching job. The No Child Left Behind Law has different conditions that tell us who is qualified or not.
5.4.1. Teachers who are highly qualified have a college degree. They have a full certificate or license. Lastly, they can demonstrate content knowledge in the subject they are teaching.
5.5. Madison City Schools superintendent is Dr. Dee Fowler. The state superintendent is Thomas R. Bice. The state representative is Mary Scott Hunter.
5.6. The state senators are Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions. The House of Representatives is Mo Brooks.
6. Curriculum and Pedagogy
6.1. The humanist curriculum reflects the idealist philosophy. It focused on the Western heritage as the basis for intellectual development.
6.1.1. Bennett emphasized the need for a traditional core of subjects and readings that would teach students a common set of worthwhile knowledge and an array of intellectual skills.
6.2. The social efficiency curriculum was rooted in the belief different groups of students should receive different types of schooling. People believed this was a distortion of Dewey's progressive vision.
6.3. Modern functionalist theory stresses the role of schools preparing the students for increasingly complex roles required in modern society. The curriculum is designed to let students be able to function in a democratic, meritocratic, and expert society.
6.3.1. It went away from memorization and went to learning how to learn the material.
6.3.2. The believe that schools teach students the values that are essential to a modern society. It is a positive view of the role of the schools and suggests that what schools teach are the general norms, values, and knowledge required to maintain and development in modern society.
6.4. Conflict theorist do not believe that schools teach liberal values and attitudes such as tolerance and respect. They believe schools' hidden curriculum teaches the attitudes and behaviors required in the workplace. They also believe that the formal curriculum should represent the dominant cultural interest in society.
6.4.1. I believe this is what happens in classroom most often. We want to succeed in their work places, so they probably learn different behaviors, attitudes, morals, and values from us. This is something I would probably do in my classroom.
6.5. Hidden curriculum is something that is learned, but not openly intended.
6.5.1. A student might ask a question that leads to another discussion. They might learn something from that other discussion or the teachers might end up doing a whole activity on it.
6.5.2. It could also be a moral a child learns from a lesson.
6.6. The transformative tradition believes that teaching and learning are inextricably linked. They reject the authoritarian relationship between teacher and student.
6.6.1. The mimetic tradition believes that the purpose of education is to transmit specific knowledge. The method that is best at doing this is the didactic method. It is basically a lecture or presentation as the main form of teaching.
7. Equality of Opportunity
7.1. Class- students in different socials classed have different kinds of educational experiences.
7.1.1. Higher classes have higher expectations for their kids to finish. Lower classes do not believe their child will finish, so they have lower expectations.
7.2. Race has a direct impact on how much education he or she is likely to achieve.
7.2.1. Whites have a lower percent of drops out than Hispanics and blacks. Whites also have a higher percent of students reading at an intermediate level.
7.3. Gender- back in the day, gender was directly related to educational attainment.
7.3.1. Today, females are less likely to drop out. They also have a higher reading proficiency than males. Males outperform females in math.
7.3.2. In the last 20 years, gender differences between men and women have reduced.
7.4. Females have outperformed males in reading since 1973. Males have outperformed females in math since 1973. Whites have outperformed blacks and Hispanics in math. Hispanics have outperformed blacks in math.
7.5. Special education still remains a conflict. Theorists have found that students labeled as handicapped do better in a mainstream setting.
7.6. The Coleman Study- the motivation behind this was to demonstrate that African Americans students and white students had fundamentally different school experiences.
7.6.1. Mcdill believes that where a student goes to school has little effect on his or her cognitive growth or educational mobility.
7.6.2. He did it again and found that private schools were more effective learning environments than public schools.
8. Educational Inequality
8.1. There are two major sociological theories of education that provide a general understanding of the problem.
8.1.1. Functionalist expect that the schooling process will produce unequal results. They are based on individuals differences, not group differences.
8.1.2. Conflict theorists do not believe that equality of opportunity is a sufficient goal.
8.2. The Coleman Report argued that school differences were not the most significant explanatory variable for lower educational achievement of working class and nonwhite students.
8.2.1. Found out that the reason students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds did less well in school had to do more with the student, their family, community, culture, and genetic makeup.
8.3. The research done by Coleman and Jencks cast doubt on the claim that differences between schools explained the performance gap among students from different socioeconomic or racial backgrounds.
8.4. Unequal educational performance could be due to genetic makeup. Where they grew up could be the cause.
8.5. There is so much research and theories to conclude that educational inequality is complex and confusing.
8.6. Student-centered theories suggest that these unequal outcomes are the result of differences at the societal and institutional levels. The families and communities are more important than schools.
8.6.1. School-centered theories stress the importance of schooling in reproducing inequality. Persell's model tells us that society, communities, families, and schools cannot be separated from each other.
9. Educational Reform
9.1. The educational reform consisted of two waves.
9.1.1. The first wave was concerned primarily with the issues of accountability and achievement.
9.1.2. The second wave was targeted at the structure and processes of the schools themselves. It placed far more control in the hands of the local schools, teachers, and communities.
9.2. Clinton promised to revitalize education and pay close attention to issues of equity and community service. He wanted college loans to be easier to obtain and at a lower interest level.
9.3. No Child Left Behind Act represented a logic extension of a standards movement that tossed the left's critique of the US education back on itself.
9.3.1. It mandated the uniform standards for all students in order to reduce and eventually eliminate the social class and race achievement.
9.4. Some key components of NCLB were:
9.4.1. Annual testing is required of students in grades 3 through 8 in reading and math.
9.4.2. States and districts are required to report school-by-school data on student test performance
9.4.3. States must set adequate yearly progress goals for each school.
9.5. Charter schools-a demand for charter schools has increased and now there is a waiting list. A charter school is paid for with tax dollars. It must be open to all students in the school district.
9.6. Having high qualified teachers is a problem in urban schools. A lot of the teachers are not qualified to teach.
9.6.1. I believe it is important for a teacher to qualified because it will help the student succeed. They are taught and licenses to teach these students are a reason.