1. Ch. 5 Philosophy of Education
1.1. Pragmatism is generally viewed as an American philosophy that developed in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Pragmatism is a philosophy that encourages people to fund processes that work in order to achieve their desired end goals.
1.1.1. Dewey`s form of pragmatism-instrumentalism and experimentalism- was founded on the new psychology, behaviorism, and the philosophy of pragmatism.
1.1.2. Goal of education for Dewey was simple. He believed that schools should balance the needs of society and community on one hand and the needs of the individual on the other hand. This tension is central to understanding Dewey`s work. The role of the school was to integrate children into not just and type of society but a democratic one. Education had no other goals than growth- growth leading to more growth.
1.1.3. The role of the teacher was to assume the peripheral position of facilitator. The teacher encourages, offers suggestions, questions, and helps plan and implement courses of study. The teacher also writes curriculum and must have a command of several disciplines in order to create and implement curriculum.
1.1.4. The methods of instruction includes that children learn both in groups and individually. He believed that children should start their modes if inquiry by posing questions about what they want to know. Today we refer to this method as problem solving.
1.1.5. Curriculum would be integrated. All the academic and vocational disciplines in an integrated and interconnected way. Some felt as though Dewey proposed a balance between traditional disciplines and the needs and interest of the child.
2. Ch. 6 Schools as Organizations
2.1. State Senators: 1. Richard Shelby & 2. Jefferson Sessions
2.1.1. House of Representatives: Mickey Hammon (majority leader) & Craig Ford (Minority Leader)
2.1.1.1. State Superintendent of Education: Dr. Philip Cleveland
2.1.1.1.1. State School Board Representative: Ken Johnson
2.2. School Culture & Processes
2.2.1. School cultures are not easy to explain because culture, by definition, is exactly that which one takes most for granted. Schools, as they are now organized, are shaped by a series of inherent contradictions that can develop cultures that are conflictual and even stagnant. Changing the cultures of schools requires patience, skill, and good will. The culture of a school, in order to make the school more learner centered requires time, effort, intelligence, and good will.
2.2.2. School processes are elusive and difficult to define , but all powerful none the less. This does not mean that planned change is not possible. It does mean that planned change requires new ways of thinking. It is our contention that teachers must be at the forefront of educational change and, therefore the very definition of the profession must be defined.
3. Ch. 7 Cirriculum, Pedeolgy
3.1. Curriculum Theory
3.1.1. Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence (rationalism, empiricism) over acceptance of dogma or superstition
3.2. Dominant Traditions of Teaching
3.2.1. 1.) Mimetic Tradition is based on the viewpoint that the purpose of education is to transmit specific knowledge to students. Thus, the best method of doing this is through what is termed the didactic method, a method that commonly relies on the lecture or presentation as the main form of communication.
3.2.2. 2.) Transformative Tradition believes that the purpose of education is to change the student in some meaningful way, including intellectually, creatively, spiritually, and emotionally. Transformative educators do not see the transmission of knowledge as the only component of education and thus, they provide a more multi-dimensional theory of teaching.
4. Ch.8 Equality of Opportunity
4.1. How does class, race, and gender impact educational outcomes?
4.1.1. The significance of these issues ( class, race, & gender) is often muted by public perceptions that in the United States, individuals, through their own efforts, can overcome the effects of stratification- that is, educational and social mobility are matters of individual life experiences.
4.1.1.1. Students in a different class have different kinds of educational experiences. Underclass families often have lower levels of expectation for their children
4.1.1.2. Race effects educational outcomes because minorities often do not receive the same educational opportunities as whites, and their rewards for educational attainment are significantly less.
4.1.1.3. Historically, an individuals gender was directly related to his or her educational attainment. 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. The same is true for writing. Males outperform females in Mathematics. In the last 20 years, gender differences in terms of educational attainment have been reduced.
4.1.2. Although it is true that certain individuals do become upwardly mobile because of their success in business or because they possess an unusual talent, the stark fact is that the overwhelming number of individuals will remain in the social class into which they were born. Social stratification is a structural characteristic of societies. Human differences do not cause social stratification; Social stratification causes human differences.
4.2. What were the two responses to the Coleman Study from 1982?
4.2.1. 1. Where an individual goes to school has little effect on his or her cognitive growth or educational mobility.
4.2.2. 2. Where an individual goes to school is often related to her race and socioeconomic background,but the racial and socioeconomic composition of a school has a greater effect on student achievement than an individuals race and class.
5. Ch. 9 Educational Inequality
5.1. Cultural Deprevation Theories
5.1.1. School difference and Resources- The working class and nonwhite families often lack the resources such as books and other educational stimuli. Therefore they arrive to school at a significant disadvantage. The poor have a deprived culture that lacks the value system of the middle class culture. Students at a educational disadvantage who achieve poorly because they haven't been raised in to acquire the skills and dispositions required for satisfactory academic achievement.
5.2. 4 School centered explanations for educational inequality
5.2.1. The Four School-Centered explanations for educational inequality are individual differences in intelligence and initiative, differences in student knowledge prior to entering school, vast differences between funding in affluent and poor districts, and cultural differences. School processes are essential to understanding unequal educational performances which is the source of unequal academic achievement.
6. Ch. 10 Educational Reform
6.1. School Based Reforms
6.1.1. 1. School Choice- By the late 1800`s school choice was at the forefront of the educational reform movement. Presidents Raegan and Bush supported choice and one influential White House report enumerated a number of reasons why choice was the right reform for the times. In essence, choice was a panacea that was nonbureaucratic, inexpensive, and fundamentally egalitarian because it allowed market forces to shape school policy rather than subjecting educators to the heavy hand of the educational bureaucracy. Congressional support for greater school choice was expressed in a bill that was passed by the House of Representatives in the summer of 1990. Intersectional choice plans include public and private schools. Intrasectional school choice include only public schools.
6.1.1.1. School-Business Partnerships- developed in the 1980s because business leaders were concerned that the nations schools were not producing the kinds of graduates needed to revitalize the US economy.
6.1.2. 2. Charter Schools- passage of the first state-legislated charter law in Minnesota in 1991 has spawned enactment of charter laws in 41 states. Demand for charter schools remain high. States are responding to this demand by authorizing more charters and amending charter laws to accommodate the desire for growth, while other states without charter laws consider their enactment. Charter schools are public schools that are free from many of the regulations applied to traditional public schools and in return, held accountable for student performance.
6.2. Societal, Economic, Community, and Political Based Reforms
6.2.1. 1.
6.2.1.1. 1. School Finance Reforms-The court ruled in 1990 stating that more funding was needed to serve the children in the poorer school districts. Funding was equalized between urban and suburban school districts. It was also determined that extra funding was to be distributed to provide additional programs in and to eliminate disadvantages within poorer school districts. Public schools are financed through a combination of revenue from local, state, and federal sources. Plus, a majority of funds comes from state and local taxes with local property taxes a significant source. Since property taxes are based on the value of property it is a proportional tax. So, affluent communities are able to raise more money for their schools. Thus, they are able to spend more per pupil.
6.2.2. Another way to attack education inequity is to examine and plan to educate not only the whole child but also the whole community. 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.
7. 1. Political-to inculcate allegiance to the existing political order; prepare citizens who will participate in this political order; to help assimilate diverse cultural groups into a common political order and to teach children the basic laws of the society.
7.1. 2. Social – to help solve social problems; to work as one of many institutions such as the family and the church to ensure social cohesion; and to socialize children into their various roles.
7.1.1. 3. Economic- to prepare students for their later occupational roles and to select, train, and allocate individuals into the division of labor.
7.1.1.1. 4. Intellectual- to teach basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics; to transmit specific knowledge ; and to help students acquire higher-order thinking skills.
8. Ch.2 Politics of Education
8.1. Conservatives argue the explanations of unequal performance that individuals or groups of students rise and fall on their own intelligence.
8.1.1. Conservvatives definition of educational problems are decline of standards, cultural literacy, decline of values or civilization, and decline of authority.
8.2. The role of the school from a conservative perspective is providing the nessecary educational training to ensure that the most talented and hard-working individuals receive the tools nessecary to maximize economic and social productivity.
8.3. 4 Politics of Education:
9. Ch.3 History of U.S. Education
9.1. 1.
9.2. The progressives believed experimental education, a curriculum that responded to both the needs of the students and at times, child-centered education, freedom, and individualism , and the relativism of academic standards in the name of equity.
9.3. The Democratic- Liberal School is a school system committed to providing equality of opportunity for all. They believe that we must continue to move closer to each, with out sacrificing one or the other too dramatically.
10. Ch.4 Sociological Perspective
10.1. Conflict Theory- Conflict sociologist emphasize struggle in explaining social order. From a conflict point of view, schools are similar to social battlefields where students struggle against teachers, teachers against adminstrators, etc
10.2. Functionalism- Functionalist tend to assume that consensus is the normal state functioning society and that conflict represents a breakdown of shared values. Functionalist emphasize cohesion in explaining social order
10.3. Interactionalism - Interactionalist theories tend to make the commonplace strange by turning on their heads everyday taken-for-granted behaviors and interactions between students and students and between students and teachers.
10.4. 5 Effects of Schooling
10.4.1. 1. Knowledge and Attitude – generally, it is found that the higher the social class background of the student, the higher the higher his or her achievement level. The amount of time students spend in school is directly related to how much they learn. More years of school is related to greater knowledge and more social participation.
10.4.1.1. 4. Tracking- tracking refers to the placement of students in curricular programs based on students` abilities and inclinations. In reality, it has been found in many thorough studies that tracking decisions are based on other criteria such as students class or race. Students in lower tracks experience more alienation and authoritarian teachers that high track students
10.4.2. 2. Teacher Behavior- teachers have as many as 1,000 interpersonal contacts each day. Teachers are extremely busy people. Teachers are required to wear many hats. Sometimes this can lead to role strain where a teacher can not feel totally adequate because such conflicting demands are placed on them. Student expectation of teachers influences student achievement.
10.4.2.1. 5. Inadequate Schools – differences in schools and school systems reinforce existing inequalities. Urban education has failed to educate minority and poor children. Students who attended suburban schools and private schools get a better educational experience than other children.
10.4.3. 3.Student Peer Groups and Alienation- when you reflect on your highschool career you undoubtably have strong memories of your fellow atudents and the various social groups that they created. Nobody wants to be labeled the “nerd” and in most schools, the student culture realizes athletic ability, looks, and that detached style that indicates “coolness”. Student subcultures even come into play in college. These cultures play an important role in shaping students` educational experience.