My Foundations of Education

1. Chapter 2-Politics of Education

1.1. Purposes of Education: 1. intellectual purposes-to teach basic cognitive skills like reading, writing, and math to transmit specific knowledge and help students acquire higher order thinking skills. 2. Political Purpose- to inculcate allegiance to the existing political order; to prepare citizens who will participate in the political order; to help assimilate diverse cultural groups into a common political order; to teach children the basic laws of society. 3.Social Purpose- to help solve social problems; to work as one of many institutions (family and church); to socialize children into the various roles, behaviors , and values of society. 4. Economic Purpose- to prepare students for their later occupational roles and to select, train, and allocate into the division of labor.

1.2. Role of the School: Conservative Perspective- providing necessary educational training to ensure that the most talented individuals receive necessary tools to maximize economic and social productivity. They believe schools should socialize children into the adult roles for social order. Explanations of Unequal Performance: Liberal Perspective- argue that some individuals have more advantages than others because of different life chances. They believe that society must work through policies and programs to make sure everyone gets an equal chance. Definition of Educational Problems: Radical Perspective- The educational system has failed the poor, minorities, and women through their policies; schools have stifled critical understanding of the problems of American society through curriculum and teaching practices; traditional curriculum is classist, racist, sexist, and homophobic; the educational system promotes inequality.

2. Chapter 3-History of U.S. Education

2.1. Education for Women and African Americans: Education for women was first deemed to be biologically harmful or too stressful. Jean-Jacques Rosseau gave a good example of this in his book Emile. Few females obtained an education until the middle of the nineteenth century. In 1821, Emma Hart Willard opened the Troy Female Seminary. Other important people in this movement were Catherine Beecher and Mary Lyon. This also sparked education for African Americans. Still, African American education was not looked at as a positive and was very limited. Benjamin Roberts filed a lawsuit over his daughter being forced to attend a segregated school. After Abraham Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation, the African American population were eventually given rights and began to form black colleges and institutions. These two topics are important because if these events had not happened, women and African Americans would still not be able to receive an education and we would miss out on some very bright minds.

2.2. Democratic-Liberal School: This interpretation of education believes in equality of opportunity for all. Ellwood Cubberly, Merle Curti, and Lawrence A. Cremin are all historians who believed in expanding educational opportunities to larger segments of the population and rejecting the conservative view of schools as elite institutions for the privileged. Cremin believed that it was important for schools to see all types of people and diversity because the goals of education will become more diverse. Democratic-liberals believe that the education system should continue to move towards both equality and excellence without sacrificing one or the other.

3. Chapter 4-Sociological Perspectives

3.1. 1. Functionalism- Stresses the independence of social system. View society as a machine with one part articulating with another to produce dynamic energy to make society work. Emile Durkheim virtually invented the sociology of education. His major works: Moral Education, The Evolution of Educational Thought, Education and Sociology. 2. Conflict Theory- Some sociologists argue that social order is not based on collective agreement, but on the ability of dominant groups to impose their will on subordinate groups through force, cooptation, and manipulation. They do not see the relation between school and society as unproblematic and straightforward. They emphasize struggle. Karl Marx is the intellectual founder of the conflict school in the sociology of education. Max Weber was convinced that power relations between dominant and and subordinate groups structure societies, but believed that class differences alone could not capture the complex ways human beings form hierarchies and belief systems. Willard Waller wrote The Sociology of Teaching based on this concept, and Randall Collins also worked with this concept. 3. Interactional Theories- Primarily critiques and extensions of the functional and conflict perspectives. Attempt to make the commonplace strange by turning on their heads everyday taken-for-granted behaviors and interactions between students and students and students and teachers.

3.2. 1. Employment- Graduating college will lead to better employment opportunities. Most jobs require high levels of education. Schools act as gatekeepers in determining who will get employed in high status occupations. College graduates usually earn more money as well.   2. Teacher Behavior- Teachers have a huge impact on student learning and behavior. Teachers are models for students and set standards for students and influence student self-esteem and sense of efficacy. Persell found that when teachers demanded more from their students and praised them more, students learned more and felt better about themselves. Teachers should not be scapegoated for society's problems, but the attitudes of teachers toward their students may have a significant influence on student achievement and perceptions of self. Student 3.Peer Groups and Alienation- The adult culture of the teachers and administrators is in conflict with the student culture. This can lead to alienation and even violence. Student violence continues to be a major problem. Students not only attack each other, but also the teachers. Being bad is now seen as being cool or tough. Student cultures play an important role in shaping students' educational experiences. 4. Inadequate Schools- Urban education has failed to educate minority and poor children. Differences between school systems reinforce existing inequalities. Students who attend suburban schools and private schools get a better educational experience, and students who attend the most elite private schools obtain educational benefits. 5. Gender- schools reproduce inequalities through gender discrimination. Men and women are not equal in our society. Men get paid more  than women and women receive fewer occupational opportunities frequently. Most teachers are female, and most administrators are male. This could be sending the wrong messages to students. Until recently, women accomplishments were not talked about in textbooks. Consequences of certain school policies may reproduce inequality unintentionally.

4. Chapter 5-Philosophy of Education

4.1. Existentalism:Generic Notions- Existentialists pose questions as to how their concerns impact on the lives of individuals. They believe that the individuals are placed on this earth alone and must make sense out of the chaos that they encounter. Sartre, for example, believed that "existence precedes essence", which means people have to create their own meaning. This is done with the choices that people make in their lives. Sartre himself rejected the existence of God, but other existentialists like founder Soren Kierkergaard were devout Christians. They proposed "a great leap of faith" through which people could come to know and accept God's existence.Goal of Education-Existentialists believe that education should focus on the individual's needs. They believe education should stress individuality, include discussion of rational and non-rational world, and that tensions of living in the world (anxiety generated through conflict) should be addressed. Role of the Teacher- Teachers should understand their own worlds as well as the student's worlds. Teachers have to take risks, expose themselves to resistant students, and work constantly to keep students "awake". The role of the teacher is a very personal one and has a lot of responsibilities. Methods of Instruction- Existentialists do not agree with methods of instruction because they believe learning is personal. Each child has a different learning style and the teacher has to work to discover these styles. Martin Buber wrote about the teacher and student having a personal friendship, and that both the teacher and the student should learn from one another. The role of the teacher is to help students understand the world through posing questions, generating activities, and working together. Curriculum- Existentialists choose curriculum that focuses on the humanities. Literature is a big part of this because it is able to revoke responses in readers that could lead them to higher awareness. Art, drama, and music are also important in the curriculum. They believe in exposing students to both problems and possibilities at an early age.

5. Chapter 6-Schools as Orginizations

5.1. 1. State Senators- Clay Scofield. 2. House of Representatives- Kerry Rich, Will Ainsworth, David Standridge, Ed Henry. 3. State Superintendent- Michael Sentance. 4. Representative on State School Board- Kerry Rich. 5. Local Superintendent- CIndy Saye Wigely. 6. Local School Board- Bill Aaron, Vince Edmonds, Terry Kennamer, Mark Rains, Tony Simmons.

5.2. Elements of Change Between School Processes and School Cultures- 1. Conflict- efforts to democratize schools do not create conflict, but they allow problems, issues, and disagreements to surface. 2. New Behaviors must be learned. Must include building communication and trust, enabling leadership, and learning techniques of communication, collaboration, and conflict resolution. 3. Team building must extend to the entire school. Must take part in shared decision making so resistance to change will not persist. 4. Process and Content. The process a team uses in going about its work is as important as the content of educational changes it attempts. The substance of a project depends upon the degree of trust and openness built up in the school. Also, usefulness and visibility of the project will influence future commitments from and the relationship among staff and others involved.

6. Chapter 7-Curriculum, Pedegogy

6.1. The two dominant traditions of teaching: 1. Mimetic- based on the viewpoint that the purpose of education is to transmit specific knowledge to students. You do this through the didactic method, which is a method that commonly relies on the lecture or presentation as the main form of communication. This tradition has a clear statement of learning goals and a clear means to asses whether students have acquired them. 2. Transformative-  believe that the purpose of education is to change the student in some meaningful way, including intellectually, creatively, spiritually, and emotionally. They do not see the transmission of knowledge as the only component of education. They think teaching and learning are linked. They want the student to be a part of the teaching process as well. The dialectical method, which involves questioning, is encouraged.

6.2. Social Efficiency Curriculum- Rather than viewing a need for a common academic learning and teaching method for all students, the social efficiency curriculum was rooted in the belief that different groups of students, with different sets of needs and aspirations, should receive different types of schooling.The development of the curriculum was related to scientific management of schools. The school had an emphasis on efficiency, time on task, and a social division of labor. This curriculum involved standardized testing. This was how schools placed children in a fair manner, and is now used in schools everywhere.

7. Chapter 8-Equality of Opportunity

7.1. Class: Students in different social classes have different kinds of educational experiences. The wealthier someone is, the easier it will be to obtain an education. Families of upper and middle class usually expect their children to finish school, whereas working and lower class both expect less from their children. Teachers usually think higher of high and middle class children than they do lower class children. Studies show that class is related to achievement on reading tests and basic skills tests. Race: An individual's race has a direct impact on how much education a student is likely to achieve. 5.2 of white students drop out of school, whereas 9.3 percent of African American students and 17.6 percent of Hispanic American students are likely to drop out of school. The ability to read is also higher for white children. Minorities usually have lower SAT scores than white students. Minorities do not receive the same educational opportunities as whites. Gender: Females are less likely to drop out of school than males, and are more likely to have a higher level of reading and writing proficiency than males. Males outperform females in mathematics. Males are more likely to score higher on SAT's than females. Gender differences between men and women have been reduced in the educational field in the last 20 years.

7.2. First response to Coleman Study: What Coleman saw as significant, others saw as insignificant. There were not many significant differences in learning between public and private schools. Second response to Coleman Study: Borman and Dowling's findings partially confirm both Coleman's original data from 1966 and his 1982 study more than 40 years later. Borman and Dowling's study concludes that education reform must focus on eliminating the high level of segregation that remains in the United States' educational system and that schools must bring an end to tracking systems and biases that favor white and middle class students.

8. Chapter 9-Educational Inequality

8.1. Cultural Deprivation Theories: Suggests that working-class and non-white families often lack the cultural resources, such as books and other educational stimuli, thus arrive at school at a significant disadvantage. Cultural deprivation theorists say that the poor have a deprived culture- one that lacks the value system of a middle class culture. This makes poverty stricken students achieve poorly because they have not been raised to acquire the skills and dispositions required for satisfactory academic achievement. These things are the reasons that programs such as Head Start were formed. Many people have attacked this theory and suggest that it is very racist. They also have suggested that people should not label children who are going through poverty issues as being less educated or motivated than other students.

8.2. School Centered Explanations: Gender and schooling- In the past, women have argued that the differences between men and women are cultural instead of biological. Women deserve quality just as much as men do. Plenty of research has been done to find the differences between men and women, and how women are treated differently in school systems than men are. Curriculum is still very traditional and stereotypical. It is also interesting to see that women are usually teachers in schools, while men are usually principals. Other researchers believe that the gender gap is diminishing, and has almost disappeared. School Financing- Many researchers believe that school financing should be equal for all schools. Public schools in suburbs and public schools in poor inner cities differ in school financing, with suburban schools having much more financing than poor schools. Having financing be based on taxes is discrimination according to some researchers, and even unconstitutional. This issue causes effect on unequal achievement because not every school system is given the same opportunities. Financing definitely is an important factor in school systems.

9. Chapter 10-Educational Reform

9.1. School-Business Partnerships- Business leaders became concerned that schools were not producing the kind of graduates necessary for the economy in the 1980's. Many school-business partnerships were formed including the Boston Compact. Corporate and business support has fallen dramatically since the 1970's. Over the past decade, groups have tried to encourage this process. School-business partnerships attract a lot of outside attention, but there is not much evidence that they really improve schools or education. Teacher quality- How to recruit and retain high quality teachers is one of the most important problems in American education. All teachers appear to be highly qualified, but no one is quite sure if the way teachers are determined to be highly qualified is accurate or not. Teachers sometimes are required to teach classes that they did not major in (math, science, etc.) Principals find it easier to hire unqualified teachers rather than qualified ones. When teachers are fired and re-hired constantly, they cannot develop experience. School improvement reformers have started to stress the existence of teacher tenures to help prevent teacher inequality.

9.2. Full Service and Community Schools- Not only the child should be educated, but also the entire community. Full service schools focus on meeting students' and families' educational, physical, psychological, and social needs in a coordinated and collaborative fashion between school and community services. Services such as adult education, health clinics, mental health services, after school programs, job placement and training programs, etc. should be put into place to help with these issues. Harlem Children's Zone- Geoffrey Canada wanted to ensure that African American students are prepared for the academic and social challenges they will face in their lives, as he felt he was not prepared. Providing quality early childhood education helps minority and low-income children to be successful, rather than further behind, when they begin formal schooling. Canada provides programs for parents even before their children are born to educate them, which is called "Baby Colleges". They teach parents how to have academic conversations with their children, as well as providing them with a healthy home environment. Canada's ideas are proven to work because of some of his students improving state test results to be up to grade level. The impact of programs like the one Canada created have been praised by critics.