1. Chapter 6 Schools as Organizations
1.1. State of Alabama
1.1.1. Governor Robert Bentley
1.1.1.1. State Senators
1.1.1.1.1. Represetative Clay Scofield
1.1.1.1.2. Representative Ed Henry
1.1.1.2. State School Board Resprentative
1.1.1.2.1. Cynthia Sanders McCarty, Ph. D
1.1.1.3. State Superintendant
1.1.1.3.1. Michael Sentance
1.1.1.4. Marshall County
1.1.1.4.1. House of Representatives
1.1.1.4.2. Albertville City Schools
1.2. School Processes
1.2.1. The powerful cultural qualities of schools that make them so potent in terms of emotional recall, if not in terms of cognitive outcomes.
1.3. School Cultures
1.3.1. Defined by Willard Waller
1.3.1.1. The school is a unity of interacting personalities. The personalities of all who meet in the school are bound together in an organic relation. The life of the whole is in all it's parts, yet the whole could not exist without any of its parts. The school is a social organism.
1.3.1.1.1. Separate because they have a definite population
1.3.1.1.2. Separate because they have a clearly defined political structure, arising from the mode of social interactions, characteristics of the school, and influenced by numerous minor processes of interaction.
1.3.1.1.3. Separate because they represent the nexus of a compact network of social relationships.
1.3.1.1.4. Separate because they are pervaded by a "we feeling"
1.3.1.1.5. Separate because they have a culture that is definitely their own.
1.4. Four elements of change
1.4.1. Conflict is a necessary part of change.. Schools do not create conflicts but allow it by allowing previous hidden problems, issues, and disagreements to surface. Staff involvement in school restructuring must be prepared to elicit, manage, and resolve conflict.
1.4.2. New behaviors must be learned. Change requires new relationships and behaviors. The change process must include building communication and trust, enabling leadership and initiative to emerge and learning techniques of communication, collaboration, and conflict resolution.
1.4.3. Team building must extend to the entire school. Shared decision making must consciously work out and give on-going attention to relationships within the rest of the school staff to avoid resistance to the change.
1.4.4. Process and content are interrelated. The process a team uses in going about its work is as important as the content of educational changes it attempts. The team must have good communication and trust between it and the school in order for the projects to be effective and succeed.
2. Chapter 2 Politics of Education
2.1. Four purposes of Education
2.1.1. Intellectual
2.1.1.1. To teach basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics; to transmit special knowledge (e.g., in literature, history, the sciences, etc.); and to help students acquire higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation, and synthesis.
2.1.2. Political
2.1.2.1. to inculcate allegiance to the existing political order (patriotism) to prepare citizens who will participate in this political order (e.g., in political democracies); to help assimilate diverse cultural groups into a common political order; and to teach children the basic laws of the society.
2.1.3. Social
2.1.3.1. to help solve social problems; to work as one of may institutions, such as the family and the church (or synagogue) to ensure social cohesion; and to socialize children into the various roles, behaviors, and values of the society. This process, referred to by sociologists as socialization is a key ingredient to the stability of any society,.
2.1.4. Economic
2.1.4.1. to prepare students for their later occupational roles and to select, train, and allocate individuals into the division of labor. The degree to which schools directly prepare student for work varies from society to society, bus most schools have at least an indirect role in this process.
2.2. The Role of the School
2.2.1. Conservative Perspective
2.2.1.1. 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.
2.2.1.2. socialize children into the adult roles necessary to the maintanance of the social order.
2.2.1.3. they see the school's function as one of transmitting the cultural traditions through what is taught (the curriculum)
2.2.1.4. view the role of the school as essential to both economic productivity and social stability
2.2.2. Liberal Perspective
2.2.2.1. in line with the liberal belief in equality of opportunity, it stresses the school's role in providing the necessary education to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed in society.
2.2.2.2. stress the pluralistic nature of U.S. society and the school's role in teaching children to respect cultural diversity so that they understand and fit into a diverse society.
2.2.2.3. stress the importance of citizenship and participation in democratic society and the need for an educated citizenry in such a society.
2.2.2.4. stressed individual as well as societal needs and thus sees the school' role as enabling the individual to develop his or her talents, creativity, and sense of self.
2.2.3. Radical Perspective
2.2.3.1. Although radicals believe schools out to eliminate inequalities, they argue that schools currently reproduce the unequal economic onions of the capitalist economy and socialize individuals to accept the legitimacy of the society.
2.2.3.2. Through what radicals term social and cultural reproduction, the school's role is to perpetuate the society and to serve the interest of those with economic wealth and political power.
2.2.3.3. through a vastly unequal educational system, radicals believe the schools prepare children from different social backgrounds for different roles within the economic division of labor.
2.2.3.4. views equality of opportunity an illusion and as no more than an ideology used to convince the individuals that they have been given a fair chance, when in fact they have not.
2.2.3.5. argues that schools reproduce economic, social, and political inequaity within the US society.
2.3. Explanations of Unequal Performance
2.3.1. Conservative
2.3.1.1. argue that individuals or groups of students rise and fall on their own intelligence, hard work, and initiative, and that achievement is based on hard work and sacrifice. The school system, from this vantage point, is designed to allow individuals the opportunity to succeed.
2.3.2. Liberal
2.3.2.1. argues that individual students or groups of students begin school with different life chances and therefore some groups have significantly more advantages than others. Therefore, society must attempt through policies and programs to equalize the playing field so that students from disadvantaged backgrounds have a better chance.
2.3.3. Radical
2.3.3.1. believe that students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds begin school with unequal opportunities. The believe that the conditions that result in educational failure are cased by the economic system, not the educational system, and can only be ameliorated by changes in the political-economic structure.
2.4. Definition of Educational Problems
2.4.1. Conservative
2.4.1.1. decline in standards
2.4.1.2. decline of cultural literacy
2.4.1.3. decline of values or of civilization
2.4.2. Liberal
2.4.2.1. limited the life chance of poor and minority children
2.4.2.2. place too much emphasis on discipline and authority, limiting their role in helping students develop as individuals
2.4.2.3. schools with low socioeconomic backgrounds and high socioeconomic backgrounds is a central problem related to inequalities of results
2.4.2.4. traditional curriculum leaves out the diverse cultures of the groups that comprise the pluralistic society
2.4.3. Radical
2.4.3.1. education systems have failed the poor, minorities, and women through classist, racist, sexist, and homophobic policies.
2.4.3.2. the schools have stifled critical understanding of the problems of American society through a curriculum and teaching practices that promote conformity.
2.4.3.3. traditional curriculum is classist, racist, sexist and homophobic and leaves out the cultures, histories, and voices of the oppressed.
2.4.3.4. the education systems promotes inequality of both opportunity and results.
3. Chapter 3 History of US Education
3.1. A Nation at Risk
3.1.1. Founded by President Reagan's Secretary of Education, Terrel Bell in 1983 - Offering 5 recommenations
3.1.1.1. 1. That all students graduating from high school complete "new basics" - 4 English, 3 math, 3 science, 3 social studies, and 1/2 year computer science.
3.1.1.2. 2. that schools at all levels expect higher achievement from their students and that four-year colleges and universities raise their admission requirements.
3.1.1.3. 3. that more time be devoted to teaching the new basics
3.1.1.4. 4. that the preparation of teachers be strengthened and that teaching be made a more respected and rewarded profession.
3.1.1.5. Check out this video on Nation at Risk
3.2. Conservative Perspectives
3.2.1. Claiming that US students knew very little and that US schools were mediocre. They believed that the historical pursuit of social and political objectives resulted in significant harm to the traditional academic goals of schooling.
4. Chapter 4 Sociological Perspective
4.1. Theoretical Perspective
4.1.1. Functionalism
4.1.1.1. Functionalists view society as a kind of machine where one part articulates with another to produce the dynamic energy required to make society work.
4.1.2. Conflict
4.1.2.1. From a conflict point of view, schools are similar to social battlefields, were students struggle against teachers, teachers against administrators and so on.
4.1.3. Interactionalism
4.1.3.1. the relationship between school and society are primarily critiques and extensions of the functional and conflict perspectives. For example: the processes by which students are labeled gifted or learning disabled are, from an interactional point of view, important to analyze, because such processes carry with them many implicit assumptions about learning and children.
4.2. 5 Affects of Schooling on Individuals
4.2.1. Knowledge and Attitudes
4.2.1.1. Generally, it is found that the higher the social class background of the student, the higher his or her achievement level.
4.2.2. Employment
4.2.2.1. Most students believe that graduating from college will lead to greater employment opportunities.
4.2.3. Education and Mobility
4.2.3.1. The belief that occupational and social mobility begin at the schoolhouse door is a critical component of the American ethos. As prt of what might be termed civil religion, there is an abiding faith among most Americans that education is the great equalizer iin the "great status race."
4.2.4. Teacher Behavior
4.2.4.1. Teachers are models for students and, as instructional leaders, teachers set standards for students and influence student self-esteem and sense of efficacy.
4.2.5. Student Pier Groups and Alienation
4.2.5.1. Student culture play an important role in shaping students' educational experience. There are 4 major types of students
4.2.5.1.1. Careerists
4.2.5.1.2. Intellectuals
4.2.5.1.3. Strivers
4.2.5.1.4. Unconnected
5. Chapter 5 Philosophy of Education
5.1. Pragmatism
5.1.1. Pragmatism is a philosophy that encourages people to find processes that work in order to achieve their desired end.
5.1.1.1. Generic Notions
5.1.1.1.1. Dewey's ideas about education, often referred to as progressive, proposed that educators start with the needs and interest of the child in the classroom, allow the child to participate in planning his or her course of study, employ project method or group learning, and depend heavily on experiential learning.
5.1.1.2. Key Researchers
5.1.1.2.1. John Dewey
5.1.1.2.2. Sanders Pierce
5.1.1.2.3. William James
5.1.1.3. Goal of Education
5.1.1.3.1. The role of the school was to be "a lever of social reform" that is, to be the central institution of societal and personal improvement, and to do so by balancing a complex set of processes.
5.1.1.4. Role of Teacher
5.1.1.4.1. The teacher encourages, offers suggestions, questions, and helps plan and implement courses of study. The teacher also writes the curriculum and must have a command of several disciplines in order to create and implement curriculum.
5.1.1.5. Method of Instuction
5.1.1.5.1. Children learn both individually and in groups. Children should start their mode of inquiry by posting questions about what they want to know. We refer to this method of instruction as the problem-solving or inquiry method.
5.1.1.6. Curriculum
5.1.1.6.1. Progressive educators are not wedded to a fixed curriculum. Curriculum changes as he social order changes and as children's interests and needs change.
6. Chapter 7 Curriculum & Pedagogy
6.1. Curriculum Theories
6.1.1. Humanist
6.1.1.1. knowledge of the traditional liberal arts is the cornerstone of an educated citizenry and that the purpose of education is to present to students the best of what has been thought and written.
6.1.1.1.1. No matter what the students goals are they should always have the basics.
6.1.2. Social Efficiency
6.1.2.1. was a philosophically pragmatist approach developed in the 20th Century as a putatively democratic response to the development of mass public secondary education.
6.1.2.1.1. teaching is based more on the goals from testing scores.
6.1.3. Developmentalist
6.1.3.1. is related to the needs and interest of the student rather than the needs of society
6.1.3.1.1. the teacher was not a transmitter of knowledge but rather a facilitator of student growth
6.1.4. Social Meliorist
6.1.4.1. was philosophically social reconstructionist developed in the 1930's, both out of the writings of Dewey, as well as a response to the growing dominance of the social efficiency curriculum.
6.1.4.1.1. the school curriculum should teach students to think and help solve societies problems if not change society itself.
6.2. Dominant Traditions of Teaching
6.2.1. Transformative
6.2.1.1. rest on a different set of assumptions about the teaching and learning process.
6.2.2. Mimetic
6.2.2.1. purpose of education is to transmit specific knowledge to students.
7. Chapter 9 Educational Inequalities
7.1. Two types of Cultural Deprivation
7.1.1. working-class
7.1.2. nonwhite
7.2. Four school Centered Explinations for Educational Inequality
7.2.1. Academic Performance
7.2.2. School Process
7.2.3. School Finances
7.2.4. Individual Differences
8. Chapter 8 Equality of Opportunity
8.1. Impacting Educational Outcome
8.1.1. Class
8.1.1.1. Students in different social classes have different kinds of educational experiences.
8.1.1.1.1. Example: Upper and Middle Class students sometimes get treated better because they have more money or are smarter.
8.1.2. Race
8.1.2.1. An individual's race has a direct impact on how much education he or she is likely to achieve.
8.1.2.1.1. Example: Minorities do not receive the same educational opportunities as whites, and their rewards for educational attainment are significantly less.
8.1.3. Gender
8.1.3.1. An individual's gender was directly related to his or her educational attainment.
8.1.3.1.1. Example: Even though women are often rated as being better students than men, in the past they were less likely to attain the same level of education.
8.2. Coleman Study 1982
8.2.1. Response 1: The differences that do exist between public and Catholic schools are statistically significant, but in terms of significant differences in learning, the results re negligible.
8.2.2. Response 2: Where the 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 individual's race and class.
9. Chapter 10 Educational Reform
9.1. Two School Based Reforms
9.1.1. School-Based Reforms
9.1.1.1. School Choice
9.1.1.1.1. Because research had shown that public schools were failing in terms of student achievement, discipline, and morality, parents were given a choice to go to a private school. Research shown that private schools were more effective.
9.1.1.2. School-Business Partnership
9.1.1.2.1. Where foundations and entrepeneurs contribute funds to help with educational reform efforts.
9.2. Community Reform
9.2.1. When you not only educate the whole child but the community as well. This would include such programs as mental health services, tutoring, job placement and health clinics to name a few.
9.3. Societal Reform
9.3.1. Providing a combination of support such as parent-community ties, professional capacity, student-centered learning climate, and instructional guidance.