My Foundations of Education
by Sierra Childers
1. As far as attainment goes for the Hispanic Americans, they are lacking compared to the White. The chart with the percentage of high school graduates with substantial credits shows that the Hispanic Americans had the second lowest percent. From 1982-2005 the percent of graduates went from 4% to 42%. This was only higher than the American Indian/Alaskan Native percentage.
2. Politics of Education
2.1. Conservatism in education supports the idea that people are suppose to adapt to the changing environment around them.
2.2. Conservatism and Schooling http://homepages.wmich.edu/~nbarnes/Document2.pdf
2.3. "...schools lost their traditional role of teaching moral standards and values." Throughout the years, schools are all about focusing on teaching the material that they have to test on. Sometimes, this is not always a good thing.
2.4. "Traditional visions tend to view the schools as necessary to the transmission of the traditional values of the U.S. society, such as hard work, family unity, individual initiative, and so on." School really should set the foundation for these young people to know what is expected of them in the real world. Hard work will be rewarded in the end.
2.5. William Graham Sumner developed the Conservative perspective. He believes that the strongest people are able to be alive with evolution.
2.6. Conservatives want to make the students learn the important basic skills sufficiently. Problems should be addressed individually so that it can be pinpointed precisely.
3. History of U.S. Education
3.1. This represent the growing rate of people attending school with the education for women and African-Americans.
3.2. Emma Hart Willard- opened the Troy Female Seminary in Troy, New York. Catherine Esther Beecher and Mary Lyon contributed to opening schools for females as well.
3.3. With the reform education for women and African-Americans, many schools were opened to the women so that they could obtain a similar education that of the males. There were many women reformers that opened schools for females.
3.4. The Amendments played a huge role in the African-Americans being allowed to obtain a public education. The 13th and 14th Amendments helped to free the African-Americans. Freedman's Bureau established Black colleges for the African-Americans to obtain their education.
3.5. "Democratic-liberals believe that the U.S. educational system must continue to move closer to each, without sacrificing one or the other too dramatically."
3.6. "Democratic-liberals believe that the history of U.S. education involves the progressive evolution, albeit flawed, of a school system committed to providing equality of opportunity for all."
3.7. Lawrence A. Cremin- popularization and multitudinous were the terms he used to describe the growth pf education throughout the years.
3.8. The child-centered reform: Hall made the suggestion that schools should individualize instruction for the students because each student has different needs. *I absolutely love this approach. Every kid learns differently, and I believe that teachers need to incorporate different types of learning techniques to ensure that every student has a way that they can grasp of learning a certain topic.
3.9. Hall really "believed that children, in their development, reflected the stages of development of civilization." Halls suggestions, and arguments led to the child-centered reform coming into play.
4. Sociology of Education
4.1. I really liked the statement the book made about hard work. "... the United States is a land of opportunity where hard work is rewarded." This is a major part in students succeeding like they do in the U.S.
4.2. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) embraced a functional point of view.
4.3. Functional theories: stresses the interdependence of the social system. To me, this theory simply talks about school shaping each individual person.
4.4. A great point in the reading under Functional Theories through "schools pass on to graduates specific social identities that either enhance or hinder their life of chances." This is a great quote. From my own experience, I feel that school influences who we are just as much as teaching us.
4.5. The first thing that I think has been a major effect from school is employment. There is a huge difference in salary between high school graduates, and college graduates. The employment rate has a impact as well.
4.6. "The Rising Cost of Not Going To College" http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/02/11/the-rising-cost-of-not-going-to-college/
4.7. Knowledge and Attitudes are something that schooling has a huge effect on. "Education is also related to individuals' sense of well-being and self-esteem."
4.8. One thing that I personally think that schooling has had a huge effect on helping people become well-rounded individuals. With this, I mean that college has allowed me to find myself. College has allowed me to find myself, and see my worth. This is something that is so much more valuable.
5. Philosophy of Education
5.1. Chosen school of philosophy for myself: Pragmatism. Pragmatic schema outline: problem - speculation thought - action - results. This came from the Greek word pragma that means work.
5.2. The roots of pragmatism are brought back to Francis Bacon (1561-1626).
5.3. Dewey brought about the instrumentalism and experimentalism in pragmatism.
5.4. Dewey's progressive view of education would allow instruction to be based off of the students in the classroom. The lessons would be experimental for the students to learn in that manner. The students would build their own lesson plans in a sense. They would get to participate in several types of learning such as individually, or group work.
5.5. The goal of this type of education was growth. Dewey wanted each individual to become a well-rounded person that would work with other persons to help form a great society. He wanted the schools to push for democratic environment basically. He wanted the schools to have their education balanced with forming the students social skills, and personal development.
5.6. In this type of schooling, the teacher is merely the facilitator. The teacher will answer questions, give advice, and help plan lessons for the students to follow through with. The teacher writes the curriculum. To me, this means that the teacher has to state what the students have to learn in the lessons, and the students can help incorporate a lesson on their own to learn the specific standards.
5.7. What I really like about this type of learning is that the students get to choose their own method of instruction for the most part. Each child learns differently, so this can be very beneficial in my opinion. The students get to work in groups, or individually. This is a really great thing fr schools to do if they have a lot of ELL students. ELL students will be able to do whichever method they can learn better with. As it says in the book, this can look like it is chaos in the classroom. I feel that it will take a class that respects their teacher to be able to do this, or the class may become unruly. Field trips are a great thing to do with this type of method. More projects are probably done with this type of method than others.
5.8. The curriculum is based off the students needs, and wants. I really like this because I live on a farm, and would love to incorporate things I know about the farm life, and animals into my classroom. It is not something that is in the standards, but I do believe that it is important for the students to know about. The curriculum is subject to change based off of the students each year, and their specific needs. I do believe that their are certain things students need to know that would not be something they want to know, but overall I really like this type of schooling because it is all based on the students, and they are going to learn more if it is things that pertain to their interests.
6. Schools as organizations
6.1. State senator: Richard Shelby. He has been one of Alabama's state senators since 1987.
6.2. State senator: Jefferson Sessions. He has been one of Alabama's state senators since 1997.
6.3. Alabama State Superintendent: Tommy Bice
6.4. Alabama Board of Education Representatives: Governor Robert Bentley- president Philip Cleveland- officer Jefferey Newman- vice president Yvette Richardson-president pro tem Matthew Brown- district 1 Betty Peters- district 2 Stephanie Bell- district 3 Ella Bell- district 5 Hunter- district 8
6.5. Madison County Superintendent: Matt Massey
6.6. Alabama State Senators: Martha Roby Terri Sewell Bradley Byrne Mo Brooks Gary Palmer Robert Anderholt Michael Rogers
6.7. Madison county school board members: Dan Nash- district 1 Angie Bates- district 2 Mary Louise Stowe- district 3 David Vess- district 4 Jeff Anderson- district 5
6.8. The U.S. has the one type of public school where France has the two types of public schools; one for ordinary people, and one for the elite.
6.9. France has small institutions that produce member's of the country's governmental and intellectual elite.
6.10. The French educational system is very competitive as in the students are divided by their knowledge. In the U.S. we choose to take the AP classes, and exams. We have more freedom with what we want to do with our knowledge.
6.11. The French is a lot more centralized than the U.S. schools are.
6.12. A third of the French students who are 17 and 18, sign up for a higher education, and only about 15% of these graduate from the higher education.
6.13. Overall, education is truthfully more competitive to the French than it is here in the U.S. U.S. students are normally just there because they have to be. Seems like the French are probably there to prove themselves to be worthy og=f being at the top.
7. Curriculum and Pedagogy
7.1. Historical philosophy of curriculum: Developmentalist Curriculum. This is related to needs of the students rather than the needs of society.
7.2. Dewey and Piaget are contributors to the come about of this particular historical curriculum. This goes along with the teaching philosophy that I chose because it is student centered as the philosophy is.
7.3. I would advocate this particular historical curriculum because it is focused on meeting the needs of each individual student, and basing the curriculum around the students and their outside lives.
7.4. Truthfully, it stunned me when I read that this is more commonly found in private schools. This is something I would want to be implementing into public schools as well.
7.5. The functionalist theory is based on the concern "with the role of schools in combating the social and moral breakdown initiated by modernization." This is the theory I would advocate for the sociology curriculum.
7.6. Emile Durkheim had work that led to the creation of the functionalist theory.
7.7. "Schools had to teach students to fit into the less cohesive modern world."
7.8. The things essential to modern society were beliefs the functionalists perceived to be important for schools to teach.
7.9. Functionalists main goals were to make students prepared students for the modern world.
7.10. Modern functionalist theory focused on preparing students for the modern world that is growing more complex.
8. Equality of Oppurtunity
8.1. Achievement of Hispanic Americans tends to be less than that of white individuals, but more than African Americans in most of the charts shown throughout the chapter for achievement.
8.2. If one focuses on the Hispanic American trend for reading starting at age 9, and getting results at 13 and 17 as well, then one can see that the average reading score tends to go up as it would be expected to. There is more of an increase from 9-13 than from 13-17.
8.3. Looking at the charts, one can see that the Hispanic Americans have on average better math scores than reading scores. At age 9 the reading scores started out lower than the math scores started out at age 9.
8.4. On the age 13 for Hispanic Americans, the revised assessment format score for them was less than either the White or African Americans was.
8.5. At age 9 there was more improvement for the Hispanic Americans on the revised assessment format than there was the African Americans, but not the White.
8.6. There were certain years that there was lower test scores for the Hispanic Americans than either the White, or African Americans. For example, at age 17 in math in 1990, the original assessment format score for the Hispanic Americans was lower than either of the others was for that year.
8.7. The Hispanic Americans had the second highest increase in percent under the category of high school course taught by a teacher that was not certified or not in their major field.
8.8. Response to Colemen: Round one, case 1966. There was evidence found that supported what Coleman had found with his colleges held true.
8.9. Yet "...where an individual goes to school has little effect on his or her cognitive growth or educational mobility." Coleman believed that there was a difference in education based on t=where students went to school.
8.10. During the '70's there was intriguing information found that led scientists to believe it was possible for schools that had access to more materials may produce better educated students. It was not yet fully convincing.
8.11. The Hispanic Americans had the second highest increase in percent
9. Educational Inequality
9.1. School centered explanation: Gender and schooling. "If men and women see the world differently, why does this occur?"
9.2. The second wave of feminism began in the 1960's. The differences between men and women are not cultural, but they are biological. "The Next Great Moment in History Is Theirs" argued this point,
9.3. Research was taken place to determine the difference between the education of a man and a woman, and the difference between men and women, and the difference of the jobs they hold in education.
9.4. Gilligan's work is some of the most controversial when it comes to educational feminism.
9.5. "... feminists agree that schooling often limits the educational opportunities and life chances of women in a number of ways."
9.6. The curriculum portrays men;s and women's roles by stereotyping.
9.7. Women's history is often omitted from the curriculum.
9.8. The hidden curriculum often reinforces traditional gender roles.
9.9. Schools often reinforce "gender roles and gender inequality."
9.10. "Student-centered" or "extra-school" are terms used under the sociological theories.
9.11. "The first is centered on factor outside of the school, such as family." This is the first set of explanation to the race, gender, and gender-based inequality.
9.12. Genetic differences is one student-centered factor. The environment, and social environment are influential on the human behavior.
9.13. Arthur Jensen argued that the unequal education performance from various classes has to do with genetic differences.
10. Educational Reform and School Improvement
10.1. School-Business Partnerships: It was a concern that the schools were not producing students that were prepared for the "revitalization of the U.S. Economy."
10.2. The Boston Compact begun in 1982. This was the most notable school-business partnerships.
10.3. Test scores were promised to be raised of the graduates. Improvement on grade promotion rates was also promised.
10.4. "Over the past decade, however, a group of foundations and entrepreneurs have contributed significantly to educational reform efforts, most often of the neo-liberal variety."
10.5. There is little evidence that the school-business reforms have improved the schools significantly.
10.6. Privatization: There was little distinction between private and public schools in the 1990's.
10.7. Edison Company took over failing schools.
10.8. Many schools will low student achievement rates, hired for-profit companies. Edison, and local universities were examples of such.
10.9. Full Service and Community Schools: "Another way to attack education inequity is to examine and plan to educate not only the whole child,but also the whole community." This really stuck with me, and I feel like this is a very true statement. To fully invest in a student means that you will have to invest in their surrounding environment, such as the community, and home lives of the students.
10.10. "Full service schools focus on meeting students' and their families educational, physical, psychological, and social needs in a coordinated and collaborative fashion between school and community services." This is just another great quote from this section.
10.11. Full-service schools main point is to improve at-risk neighborhoods. They want to prevent problems while supporting them.
10.12. Schools may serve as community support centers to the neighborhoods.
