1. Conflict Theory
2. Society and schooling are codependent of one another.
3. Interactionalism
3.1. Analysis of the education system to get the "big picture." This analysis does not truly depict the schools on a day to day basis.
4. Society is not held together by one thing but many, such as economy, politics, cultures, and military power.
5. Effects of Schooling on Individuals
5.1. Gender-During their schooling, girls' aspirations drop below those of boys'. Their self esteem can drop greatly during schooling. Up until recently sexism was not even discussed in our school systems and blatantly ignored.
5.2. Teacher Behavior-Teachers play many roles in the classroom and that can lead them to become tired. Teachers tend to be the primary role model for students and if they began to slack students think that they can as well.
5.3. Inside the Schools-Every school has its benefits and detriments. Students in large schools would come across things that students in small schools would.
5.4. Education and Inequality-Just like in society, there is a class system in schools, though there should not be.
6. Politics of Education
6.1. The Four Purposes
6.1.1. Intellectual
6.1.2. Political
6.1.3. Social
6.1.4. Economic
6.2. The Role of Schools
6.2.1. The role of a school is to teach students the curriculum while providing equal opportunity to succeed.
6.3. Unequal Performance
6.3.1. Backgrounds and home life can give children different results in opportunity and achievement. Certain groups can fall behind, while other groups that have advantages can get ahead.
6.4. Educational Problems
6.4.1. Conservatives believe that there has been a decline in many things such as standards, cultural literacy, values, and authority. Liberals believe chances at success are limited to those of the poor. They believe that the curriculum leaves out groups of children. Radicals believe the school system has failed women and the poor due to its being classist, racist, and sexist.
7. History of U.S. Education
7.1. Democratic Liberal
7.1.1. The democratic-liberals believe that the evolution of the education system was due to providing equal opportunity to all. They rejected the idea that schools were just for the privileged.
8. Sociological Perspectives
9. Philosophy of Education
9.1. Pragmatisim
9.1.1. Generic Notions-Children could learn from books as well as from traditional information. Students helped the teacher with planning the class.
9.1.2. Key Researchers-George Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) William James (1842-1910) John Dewey (1859-1952)
9.1.3. Goal of Education-Goal was all about social order and informing students on how to improve what was already in place.
9.1.4. Role of the Teacher-Teacher was no longer an authoritative figure in the classroom, but a facilitator.
9.1.5. Methods of instruction-This philosophy looks at problem-solving and inquiry based methods. Group work was encouraged.
9.1.6. Curriculum-The curriculum is not a fixed curriculum. They used a curriculum that they could integrate into everyday life
10. Sociology of Education
10.1. Functionalism
11. Schools as Organizations
11.1. Alabama Senator
11.1.1. Richard Shelby
11.2. Alabama Superintendent
11.2.1. Michael Sentance
11.3. Morgan County Superintendent
11.3.1. Bill Hopkins
11.4. Morgan County School Board
11.4.1. Mr. Jimmy Dobbs
11.4.2. Mr. Adam Glenn
11.4.3. Mr. Paul Holmes
11.4.4. Mr. Mike Tarpley
11.4.5. Mr. Tom Earwood
11.4.6. Mr. John Holley
11.4.7. Mr. Billy Rhodes
11.5. Alabama House of Representatives (Morgan County)
11.5.1. Micky Hammon
11.5.2. Ken Johnson
11.5.3. Terri Collins
11.5.4. Ed Henry
11.5.5. Randall Shedd
11.6. Representative on Alabama School Board
11.6.1. Stephanie Bell
12. Curriculum and Pedagogy
12.1. Developmentlist Curriculum
12.1.1. The developmentalist curriculum focuses on the students' needs and interests. The curriculum is flexible with both what is taught and how it is taught to adjust to the needs of the students. Lessons are related to real life experiences that the students may go through.
13. Equality of Opportunity
13.1. Class-students come from different classes which means that they've had different life experiences that lead to different school experiences. Upper and middle class students are expected to finish school by their families, while working class and lower class may have lower expectations about their education.
13.2. Race-Even though schools are no longer segregated and there are civil rights laws in place, race still places a large roll in education. Race reflects on the dropout rate.
13.3. Gender-In the past, gender was directly related to the level of education on received. According to the text, males perform better in math than females, on factor being that the math teachers to not tend as closely to the female students thinking that they will not understand. This is just one of many examples of gender inequality found in schools.
13.4. Coleman Study 1982
13.4.1. They found that private/Catholic schools were more academically effective due to how disciplined the schools were.
13.4.2. They found that an individual goes to school where their race and class are found, but the make up of the school affects a student's education more than the idividual's race and class makeup does.
14. Educational Inequality
14.1. Cultural Deprivation
14.1.1. On theory suggests that the poor live a deprived culture and lacks a value system. The culture of poverty does not believe that hard work and initiative leads to success, so this is not encouraged for schooling at home in some cases.
14.1.2. Cultural differences causes students to become part of a minority which can cause them to be oppressed in the school system.
14.2. School-Centered Explanations
14.2.1. School financing has always been an issue with the public school system. One public school may have great financing with new books, computers, and programs, while the one ten miles down the road has none of those things and is considered "behind."
14.2.2. Students are tracked through their school experiences. They are put into groups like reading groups and math groups through this tracking. They are also sorted with certain teachers through tracking and usually always with the same group of students. This seems unequal due to the unlikelihood to advance.
14.2.3. Gender can play a role in the inequality that comes to play in school. One thing the book points out is that women usually teach elementary and men are more typically seen through secondary school.
14.2.4. School climates can effect how the school performs. Schools with a lower socioeconomic neighborhood may perform differently than those in a upper class neighborhood.
15. Educational Reform
15.1. School-based
15.1.1. Charter schools-Charter schools are public schools that do not have to follow as many of the regulations that traditional public schools have to follow. The school is then held completely responsible for how the students perform. The actual "charter" is a performance contract that measures the school's success.
15.1.2. Privatization-The line between public and private schooling became blurred in the 1990's. Private education companies have become more involved in the public education system through out the years. They take over for failing school districts.
15.2. Community
15.2.1. Full service and Community Schools-Full service schools focus on meeting students' and their families' need in a collaborative fashion between the school and community. These are designed to improve at risk neighborhoods.
15.2.2. Harlem Children's Zone-After having a bad school experience, Geoffrey Canada wanted to ensure that other African-American children were prepared for later challenges similar to the ones he faced in college. He began to change the neighborhood for the better by providing programs for the parents in Harlem to give them the knowledge they need before their children were even born.