My Foundations of Education

1. Sociological Perspectives

1.1. Schools shape children's perceptions of the world by processes of socialization

1.1.1. Socialization: Values, beliefs, and norms of society are internalized within children so that they come to think and act like other members of society

1.2. Socialization processes shape a child's conscious

1.3. Schools play a major part in determining who will get ahead in society

1.4. Effects of Schooling on Individuals

1.4.1. Differences between schools in terms of academic programs and policies make a difference in student learning.

1.4.2. Student discipline causes student achievement levels to go up

1.4.3. Graduating from college makes employment opportunities go up.

1.4.4. Education is related to an individual's sense of well-being and self-esteem.

1.4.5. Civil Religion: abiding faith that education is the great equalizer in the "great status race."

2. History of U.S Education

2.1. Emergence of Public High School

2.1.1. Committee of Ten was headed by Harvard President Charles Eliot to reform public high school education.

2.1.2. Purpose of secondary education is to prepare students for the "duties of life."

2.1.3. Five Model Curricula was proposed:

2.1.3.1. Classical and Modern languages

2.1.3.2. English

2.1.3.3. mathematics

2.1.3.4. history

2.1.3.5. science

2.1.4. All students should be taught in the same manner

2.1.5. Cardinal Principles : Progressive response to Committee of Ten

2.1.5.1. Health

2.1.5.2. Command of Fundamental processes

2.1.5.3. Worthy home-membership

2.1.5.4. Vocation

2.1.5.5. Citizenship

2.1.5.6. Worthy use of leisure

2.1.5.7. Ethical character

2.1.6. "Education for Life Adjustment": Curriculum proposed to address the practical concerns of daily living.

3. Politics of Education

3.1. Conservative Perspective

3.1.1. Origins in the 19th century social Darwinist thought.

3.1.2. Developed originally by William Grahm Sumner

3.1.3. Looks at social evolution as a process that enables the strongest individuals and or groups to survive

3.1.4. Looks at human social evolution as adaption to changes in the environment

3.1.5. Human progress is dependent on individual initiative and drive

3.1.6. Applauded President Reagan's policies and credited him with restoring U.S economic growth

3.2. Traditional Vision of Education

3.2.1. Tend to view the schools as necessary to the transmission of the traditional values of U.S society

3.2.2. Hard work

3.2.3. Family

3.2.4. Unity

3.2.5. Individual Initiative

3.2.6. Relates to the conservative perspective

4. Schools as Organizations

5. Philosophy of Education

5.1. Idealism

5.1.1. First systematic philosophy in Western thought.

5.1.2. Created by Greek philosopher Plato

5.1.3. Interested in the search for truth through ideas rather than through examination of the matter.

5.1.4. Teachers- encourage students to search for truth as individuals

5.1.5. Ideas can change lives; education is transformation

5.1.6. Teachers play an active role in discussion and posing questions, establishing an environment and selecting materials

5.1.7. Curriculum is based on the study of the classics

5.2. Realism

5.2.1. Follows Idealism

5.2.2. Associated with Plato and Aristotle

5.2.3. Goal is to help students understand and apply principles of science to solve problems

5.2.4. Teachers should have a solid grounding in science, math, and humanities

5.2.5. Lecture and question and answer

5.3. Pragmatism

5.3.1. John Dewey

5.3.2. Interested in contemporary issues

5.3.3. Goal of education: Growth

5.3.4. Teachers are no longer the authoritarian figure

5.3.5. Group work

5.3.6. Student-centered learning

5.4. Existentialism

5.4.1. Modern philosophy

5.4.2. Education should focus on the needs of individuals

5.4.3. Stresses individuality

5.4.4. Teachers must take risks

5.4.5. Learning is intensely personal

5.4.6. Curriculum heavily based on humanities

5.5. Neo-Marxism

5.5.1. Karl Marx

5.5.2. Teachers encourage students to engage in critical examination of the world

5.5.3. Dialectical approach

6. Curriculum and Pedagogy

6.1. What do schools teach?

6.1.1. Schools teach a specific curriculum

6.1.2. Student teachers are taught to design curriculum based off standards and objectives

6.1.3. Sociology of curriculum analyzes what is taught in schools

6.2. History

6.2.1. Helps explain why curriculum looks the way it does today

6.2.2. Humanist curriculum: reflects idealist philosophy

6.2.3. Social efficiency curriculum: pragmatist approach

6.2.4. Developmentalist curriculum: related to the needs and interests of the students

6.2.5. Social Meliorist curriculum: social reconstructionist

6.3. Politics

6.3.1. Analyzes the struggles over different conceptions of what should be taught

6.3.2. Who shapes the curriculum?

6.4. Sociology

6.4.1. Why it is taught

6.4.2. reflection of particular interests within a society

7. Equality of Opportunity

7.1. Stratification

7.1.1. Effects: Educational and social mobility are matters of individual life experiences.

7.1.2. Caste Stratification: social level is defined in terms of some strict ascriptive criteria such as race and/or religious worth.

7.1.3. Social Stratification: hierarchical configuration of families

7.1.4. Estate Stratification: social level is defined in terms of hierarchy of family worth

7.1.5. Class Stratification: social level is defined in terms of a hierarchy of differential achievement by individuals, especially in economic pursuits.

7.1.6. All three levels of stratification can overlap within any given society

7.2. Class

7.2.1. students in different social classes have different kinds of educational experiences

7.2.2. Families from upper class and middle class are more likely to expect their children to finish school

7.2.3. Working class and under class families have lower levels of expectation for their children

7.2.4. Class is directly related to achievement and to educational attainment

7.3. Race

7.3.1. U.S society is highly stratified by race

7.3.2. An individual's race has a direct impact on how much education he or she is likely to achieve.

7.3.3. 16-24 year olds- 5.2% of white students drop out; 9.3% of African-American students drop out; 17.6% of Hispanic-American students drop out

7.4. Gender

7.4.1. Directly related to his or her educational attainment

7.4.2. Women are often rated as being better students than men

7.4.3. Females are less likely to drop out than males

7.4.4. In the last 20 years, gender differences in terms of educational attainment have been reduced

8. Educational Inequality

8.1. Functionalists

8.1.1. 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

8.1.2. vision: individual talent and hard work based on universal principles of evaluation are more important than ascriptive characteristics based on particularistic methods of evaluation

8.1.3. Expect that the schooling process will produce unequal results

8.1.4. believe that unequal educational outcomes are the result of unequal educational opportunities

8.2. Conflict Theorists

8.2.1. believe that the role of schooling is to reproduce rather than eliminate inequality

8.2.2. concerned with inequality and its eradication

8.2.3. concerned with both equality of opportunity and results

8.3. Interactionism

8.3.1. one must understand how people within institutions such as families and schools interact on a daily basis in order to comprehend the factors explaining academic success and failure

8.4. Race, class and gender based inequalities

8.4.1. Student-centered (Extra-school explanations)

8.4.1.1. centered on factors outside of the school, such as family and community

8.4.2. School-centered (Within-school explanations)

8.4.2.1. centered on factors within the school, such as teachers and teaching methods, curriculum tracking, school climate, and teacher expectations.

9. Educational Reform

9.1. Effective Teachers

9.1.1. a talented and dedicated teacher can make a difference

9.1.2. if teachers expect all students to learn and excel, they can and do

9.2. Reform

9.2.1. 1980s- shifted from federal to the state and local levels

9.2.2. President Bush- No Child Left Behind

9.2.3. President Clinton- Goals 2000

9.2.4. President Obama- Race to the Top

9.3. Federal Involvement

9.3.1. 1990- President G.H.W Bush announced 6 national goals for U.S education

9.3.1.1. 2000- all children will start school ready to learn

9.3.1.2. 2000- high school graduation rate will increase at least 90%

9.3.1.3. 2000- American students will leave grades 4,8, and 12 having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter including math, english, science, history, and geography; all schools wil ensure students use minds well so they're prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment

9.3.1.4. 2000- U.S students will be first in world in math and science achievement

9.3.1.5. 2000- every adult American will be literate

9.3.1.6. 2000- every school in America will be free of drugs and violence and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning