1. The Sociology of Education
1.1. Schools, as well as other groups, shape child perceptions of the world by the process of socialization. That is, the values, beliefs, and norms of society are internalized within children so they come to act and think like other members of society. Socialization process can shape children's consciousness profoundly. A good definition of theory is "an integration of all known principles, laws, and information pertaining to a specific area of study". Theory, then, as inadequate as it is, is one's best conceptual guide to understanding the relation between school and society because it gives one the intellectual scaffolding from which to hang empirical findings. Essentially there are three major theories about the relation between school and society: functionalism, conflict, and interactional.
1.2. Employment: Most students believe that graduating from college will lead to greater employment opportunities, and they are right. Education and Mobility: The belief that occupational and social mobility begin at the schoolhouse door is a critical component of the American ethos. Teacher Behavior: It may seem obvious, but teachers have a huge impact on student learning and behavior. Teachers are models for students. Tracking: This refers to the placement of students in curricular programs based on student's abilities and inclinations. Knowledge and Attitude: Research indicates that differences between schools in terms of there academic programs and policies do make differences in student learning.
2. The Philosophy of Education
2.1. Pragmatism is generally viewed as an American philosophy that developed in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Pragmatism comes from the Greek word pragma, meaning work. This philosophy encourages people to find processes that work in order to achieve their desired ends. In Dewey's form of pragmatism, instrumentalism and experimentalism, was found on the new psychology, behaviorism. His ideas were influenced by the ideas of evolution. He believed in a better society through education. Children could learn skills through books and experimentally. Dewey's goal of education focused on that the role of the school was to integrate children into not just any type of society, but a democratic one. The role of the teacher was to be a facilitator. The teacher encourages, offers suggestions, questions, and helps plan and implement the plan of study. Dewey proposed that children learn individually and in groups. Progressive school generally follow Dewey's notion for a core curriculum. Howard Gardner felt that Dewey proposed a balance between traditional disciplines, and the needs and interests of the child.
3. Curriculum and Pedagogy
3.1. A curriculum theory in which I am an advocate.
3.1.1. Developmentalist Curriculum- Is related to the needs and interests of the student rather than the needs of society. This progressive philosophical approach t learning was student centered an was concerned with relating the curriculum to the needs and interest of each child at particular developmental stages.
3.2. Two Dominant Traditions of Teaching
3.2.1. Mimetic Tradition- Is based on the viewpoint that the purpose of education is to transmit specific knowledge to students. The educational process of transferring knowledge from one to the other and is based on the belief that the student does not posses what the teacher has.
3.2.2. Transformative Tradition- Proponents of this tradition believe that the purpose of education is to change to student in some meaningful way, including intellectually, creatively, spiritually, and emotionally.
4. Equality of Opportunity
4.1. How race, class, and gender impact educational outcomes.
4.1.1. Race- Minorities do not receive the same educational opportunities as whites, and their rewards for educational attainment are significantly less.
4.1.2. Class- Education is extremely expensive. Families from the upper class and the middle class are also more likely to expect their children to finish school, whereas working-class and lower class families often have lower level of expectation for their children.
4.1.3. Gender- Today, females are less likely to drop out of school than males, and are more likely to have a higher level of reading proficiency than males.
4.2. Coleman Study from 1842
4.2.1. Round Two: The debate over the High School Achievement findings had centered on the interpretations attached to the magnitude of the findings. What Coleman and his associates saw as significant, others did not.
4.2.2. Round Three: More than forty years after the publication of Coleman's Equality of Educational Opportunity, Geoffrey Borman and Maritza Dowling applied the most sophisticated statistical tools to evaluate educational data in a similar manner as Coleman had done in 1966.
5. Politics of Education
5.1. Purposes of Education: Intellectual purposes of schooling are to teach basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics. Political purposes of schooling are to inculcate allegiance to the existing political order. Social purposes of schooling are to help solve social problems. Economic purposes of schooling are to prepare students for their later occupational roles.
5.2. Explanations of Unequal Performance: Conservatives argue that individuals or groups of students rise and fall on their own intelligence, hard work, and initiative, and that their achievement is based on hard work and sacrifice.
5.3. The Role of the School: The conservative perspective sees the role of the school as 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.
5.4. Definition of Education: The conservative perspective states that the schools have had a decline of standards., decline of cultural literacy, decline of values or of civilization, and a decline of authority.
6. The History of U.S. Education
6.1. In my opinion, the education of women had a lot of influence. Traditionally the roles for women were that of a homemaker. Education opportunities for women vastly changed. The University of Iowa was the first state university to accept women in 1856.
6.2. Democratic- Liberals believe that the history of education involves the progressive evolution, albeit flawed, of a system committed to providing equality of opportunity for all. Although Democratic Liberals tend to interpret U.S. educational history optimistically, the evolution of the nation's schools have been flawed, often conflictual march toward increased opportunities. They believe that the U.S. educational system must continue to work toward equality and excellence without sacrificing either one.
7. Educational Inequality
7.1. Two Types of Cultural Deprivation Theory
7.1.1. The poor have a deprived culture-- one that lack the value system of middle-class culture. According to this perspective, middle-class culture values hard work and initiative, the delay of immediate gratification for future reward, and the importance of schooling as a means of future success. This deprivation results in educationally disadvantaged students who achieve poorly because they have not been raised to acquire the skills and dispositions required for satisfactory academic achievement.
7.1.2. The relative failure of many of the compensatory education programs that were based on its assumptions about why disadvantaged children have lower levels of achievement than more advantaged children. Compensatory programs, as a whole, have not improved significantly the academic performance of disadvantaged students.
7.2. School-Centered Explanations for Educational Inequality
7.2.1. School Financing- Public schools are financed through a combination of revenues from local, state, and federal sources. However, the majority of funds come from the state and local taxes, with local property taxes a significant source.
7.2.2. Effective School Research- Conducted that if students form the same racial and socioeconomic backgrounds attending different schools within the same community perform at different levels, then it must be something within the school that is affecting their performance. Studies what qualities makes a school successful.
7.2.3. Gender and Schooling- States that men and women see the world differently. Equality between men and women has been continuously fought for since the mid nineteenth century. FEMINIST movement. Women are not treated equally in school systems. Feminists agree that schooling often limits their opportunities and life chances by the way women are portrayed throughout curriculum.
7.2.4. Within School Differences-Curriculum and Ability Grouping- Elementary students are divided into groups based on race, gender, teacher recommendations, test scores, etc. At the secondary level, students are grouped based on their ability and curriculum. These groups often receive different types of education within the same school system. can cause students not to be able to reach their full potential.
8. Educational Reform
8.1. School Based Reforms
8.1.1. Privatization- Privatizing public schools. The private schools step in to help public schools with management. Private schools help failing public schools.
8.1.2. School-Business Partnership- Businesses connect with schools and offer scholarship programs and adopt schools to try and boost a revitalization of the U.S economy. There is little evidence that these partnerships have significantly improved schools.
8.2. Societal, Community, Economic, and Political Reforms
8.2.1. Full Service and Community Schools.- Attacks school inequity. It aims to educate an entire community. These schools focus on meeting students' needs and families educational, physical, psychological, and social needs in a coordinated fashion between school and community.
8.2.2. Harlem Children's Zone- Created by Geoffrey Canada. His idea to help children deal with changes. Instead of removing children from their neighborhood, he wants to leave them and create changes within the neighborhood. His aim was to "positively contaminate Harlem".