1. Philosophy of Education
1.1. Existentialism
1.1.1. Generic notions
1.1.1.1. Individuals make sense of their own purpose and are responsible for the choices they make.
1.1.2. Key researchers
1.1.2.1. Soren Kierkegaard (beginning of existentialism), Martin Buber, Karl Jaspers, Jean Paul Sartre, Maxine Greene
1.1.3. Goal of education
1.1.3.1. Focuses on individuals. "Non-academic" matters should be stressed (real world situations).
1.1.4. Role of the teacher
1.1.4.1. Teachers are responsible for creating personal relationships with students individually. They help students see value in their own choices and actions.
1.1.5. Method of instruction
1.1.5.1. Teachers are responsible for including lessons that cater to each student's particular learning style. Students will be exposed to group work and activities that should resonate inside the classroom and out in the "real world".
1.1.6. Curriculum
1.1.6.1. Prefer curriculum based on the humanities (art, music, literature). They believe in exposing children to human works, both positive and negative, at an early age.
2. Schools as Organization
2.1. Major Stakeholders
2.1.1. Madison County Board Members
2.1.1.1. District 1: Nathan Curry
2.1.1.2. District 2: Angie Bates
2.1.1.3. District 3: Mary Louise Stowe
2.1.1.4. District 4: Dave Weis
2.1.1.5. District 5: Shere Rucker
2.1.2. Madison County Superintendent
2.1.2.1. Matthew Massey
2.1.3. Alabama State Board of Education Members
2.1.3.1. President: Governor Robert Bentley
2.1.3.2. Secretary and Executive Officer: Michael Sentance
2.1.3.3. President Pro Tem / District 8: Mary Scott Hunter
2.1.3.4. Vice President / District 4: Yvette Richardson
2.1.3.5. District 1: Jackie Zeigler
2.1.3.6. District 2: Betty Peters
2.1.3.7. District 3: Stephanie Bell
2.1.3.8. District 5: Ella B. Bell
2.1.3.9. District 6: Dr. Cynthia Sanders McCarty
2.1.3.10. District 7: Jeffry Newman
2.1.4. Alabama State Superintendent
2.1.4.1. Michael Sentance
2.1.5. Senator
2.1.5.1. Richard Shelby
2.2. Elements of change within school processes and school cultures (pg 232)
2.2.1. 1. Conflict is a necessary part of change - In order for problems to come to the surface and be solved, conflict will occur and must be handled professionally.
2.2.2. 2. New behaviors must be learned - Better communication and new relationships must be built in order to have successful change.
2.2.3. 3. Team building must extend to the entire school - Everyone should be involved in making decisions and upholding the new relationships.
2.2.4. 4. Process and content are interrelated - The team must build toward a certain goal (educational change) and relies on the process (relationship building) and vice versa, as the point of attempting the process is to work toward the main goal.
3. Equality of Opportunity
3.1. Impact on Educational Outcomes
3.1.1. Class- The amount of education a student receives is often linked to the amount of financial support they are able to get from their parents. This situations are easier for wealthy families. Children from underclass and middle class families are much more likely to drop out of school.
3.1.2. Race - There is a higher dropout rate among minorities. Minority students tend to have lower scores on high-stakes tests than their white counterparts. These tests often effect a student's options of higher education. Minorities often do not receive the same educational opportunities as white students.
3.1.3. Gender - Women are often more likely to perform better than men in reading and writing proficiency. Men are often likely to outperform women in mathematics. While the gender differences in education have been greatly reduced in the last 20 years, men are still more likely to be accepted to prestigious institutions than women.
3.2. Responses to The Coleman Study of 1982
3.2.1. Coleman and his colleagues argued that private schools demand more from their students than public schools. This was based on the fact that public schools did not do better on tests scores than private schools - in any area.
3.2.2. Borman and Dowling argue that race and class are indicators of academic success. They argue that segregation in school, based on race and socioeconomic status, and responsible for much of the gaps in student achievement.
4. Educational Inequality
4.1. Cultural Deprivation
4.1.1. Theorists such as Lewis and Deutsch claim that the poor have a deprived culture. This culture supposedly lacks the values of middle-class culture. The culture of poverty rests on immediate gratification and does not put emphasis on school as a social mobility tool. These theorists assert that this deprivation results in disadvantaged students.
4.1.2. Social scientists in the 1960s and 1970s began to argue with the theories put in place by Lewis & Deutsch. These social scientists believe the deprivation theories merely shift the blame from schools and teachers and places it on families of lower-class students.
4.2. School-Centered Explanations of Educational Inequality
4.2.1. School Financing: Jonathan Kozol documents the vast differences between affluent and poor districts in his book Savage Inequalities. Public schools are funded through various local, state, and federal resources. A significant amount of funding comes from local property taxes. Schools in affluent communities will therefore receive more funding than poorer communities. Serrano v. Priest (1971) ruled unequal funding of wealthy and poor schools unconstitutional, but did not make it illegal to use property taxes for school funding.
4.2.2. Gender and Schooling: Feminist scholarship attempts to understand the ways schools limit the educational and life chances of women. The argument that women are more caring and connected, and men are more competitive and intellectual, may reproduce the sexist stereotypes historically deemed the domestic roles of women. Boys and girls are socialized differently in the school setting. Even curriculum materials can portray traditional male and female roles.
4.2.3. Curriculum and Ability Grouping: Begins in elementary school. Based on test scores, teacher recommendations, and other characteristics, students are grouped into reading groups and classes. In elementary, they are all often taught the same material, just at a different pace. As these students progress through school, they are often receiving different instruction and curriculum in secondary school. Albert Shanker asserts that the students who are on lower tracks are often perceived as incapable, and therefore do not receive the attention higher ability students may get.
4.2.4. Curriculum and Pedagogic Practices: Bernstein asserts that schools in working-class neighborhoods often adopt authoritarian and teacher-directed pedagogic practices. Schools in middle-class neighborhoods are more likely to have student-centered pedagogic practices. Students in upper-class neighborhoods are more likely to go to elite schools with authoritarian pedagogic practices.
5. Educational Reform
5.1. School-based Reforms
5.1.1. School-to-Work Programs: Intended to extend training and skills to non-college-bound students. These programs are used to allow students to explore various vocations, as well as obtaining the skills needed to perform these jobs after high school. These programs contain three key elements. 1) School based learning. 2) Work-based learning. 3) Connecting activities
5.1.2. Privatization: In the 1990s, for-profit organizations began to adopt failing schools and districts. These school districts allow their schools to be run by organizations that may raise student achievement, and businesses seek this out as a profitable opportunity. The success of these types of reforms have been mixed.
5.2. Societal, Community, Economic, and Political Reforms
5.2.1. Full Service and Community Schools: Community-based reform. Focuses not only on the whole child, but on the whole community. These full-service schools are designed specifically for at-risk neighborhoods. There is no evidence of these schools affecting student achievement. Some examples of these would be Canada's Harlem Children's Zone, and Newark's Broader Bolder Approach.
5.2.2. School Finance Reforms: Funding was equalized in 1990 between urban and suburban schools. Extra funding was distributed to schools in poorer areas as to eliminate disadvantages. In 2009 the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered a new funding formula, SFRA, which implemented a formula for allocating funding to school districts based on student needs.
6. Politics of Education
6.1. Purposes of Education
6.1.1. Intellectual: To teach basic skills such as reading, writing, and math. These basic skills will help students acquire a higher level of thinking later on.
6.1.2. Political: To educate students who will one day participate in politics. To teach students the basic laws in our society.
6.1.3. Social: To help solve social problems. To socialize children into roles, behaviors, and values in society.
6.1.4. Economic: To help prepare and train students (directly or indirectly) for their future occupations.
6.2. Perspective
6.2.1. The role of the school: Conservatives view the role of school as providing talented and hard working students with resources needed to receive an education that eventually benefits society. Liberals stress more on equal opportunity and diversity.
6.2.2. Explanation of unequal performance: Conservatives believe the performance of individuals and groups of students is based solely on their own merit and hard work. Liberals suggest that we should "equalize the playing field" in order to give disadvantaged students an equal chance.
6.2.3. Definition of educational problems: Conservatives believe there has been a decline of standards, cultural literacy, values, and authority. This is based on adjustments made from demands of liberals, who believe the basis of educational problems lie in the differences in life chances in the minorities and poor children versus the wealthy.
7. History of U.S Education
7.1. Reform movement- Equality of Opportunity
7.1.1. 1) GI Bill of Rights allowed 16 million servicemen/women to further their education after serving in the U.S military.
7.1.2. 2) Plessy v. Ferguson - "seperate but equal" was the precedent set. African Americans were still exposed to inequalities in education, even post-Civil War.
7.1.3. 3) Brown v. Topeka Board of Education (1954)- segregation of schools ruled unconstitutional.
7.1.4. 4) Project Head Start- helping disadvantaged preschoolers to better educational opportunities.
7.1.5. 5) Coeducation movement in universities (1960s and 1970s)- including women in traditionally all-male ivy league schools.
7.2. The Democratic-Liberal interpretation of education
7.2.1. Education has progressively aimed for equality in opportunities for all students. Democratic-liberals believe in the educational system pursuing a fair education for minority and disadvantaged students to obtain an education traditionally granted to the wealthy.
8. Sociological Perspectives
8.1. Theoretical Perspectives
8.1.1. Functional- All parts of society depend on each other to make the system "work" as a whole. Emile Durkheim insisted that education is a pivotal part of any society. (Education creates shared values.)
8.1.2. Conflict- Society is held together by power. Education is no exception- schooling is a power struggle among students, teachers, and administration. Karl Marx contributed greatly to this perspective with his class system.
8.1.3. Interactional- Critiques of both the conflict and functional perspectives. It focuses more on the every day interactions that are had within a school/system instead of the role in society as a whole. You can't get the bigger picture without understanding the various small ones first.
8.2. Effects of Schooling on Individuals
8.2.1. 1) Employment - A degree or higher education leads to more employment opportunities. More often than not, you will receive higher wages if you have received a degree or certification.
8.2.2. 2) Knowledge and Attitudes - More schooling often leads to more socially responsible citizens. Educational programs can have an impact on individuals in a multitude of ways.
8.2.3. 3) Tracking - "Gifted" or "high ability" students generally receive better tools for education than "lower-track" students. The priority seems to be placed on "high-ability" students where the "lower-track" students could also use the resources to possibly better their education and understanding.
8.2.4. 4) Inadequate Schools - Many urban schools often do not provide the education minority and poor students need. Their educational experience is less than their wealthy counterparts.
8.2.5. 5) Teacher Behavior - The everyday interactions between teachers and students greatly impact the students as individuals. When there is a positive classroom experience, students have the opportunity to thrive.
9. Curriculum and Pedagogy
9.1. Social Meliorist
9.1.1. - Social reconstructivist philosophy
9.1.2. - Developed in the 1930s
9.1.3. - Dewey: He was concerned with the role of schools in reforming society
9.1.4. - George Counts and Harold Rugg: schools should change society. Schools should at least help solve society's fundamental problems.
9.1.5. - Curriculum concerns changing the world and awareness of societal problems
9.1.6. - Maxine Greene and Paulo Freire: adopted this philosophy
9.2. Two traditions of teaching
9.2.1. Mimetic - commonly relies on lecture on presentation as the main form of communication. Transmission of knowledge is the sole purpose of education.
9.2.2. Transformative - seek to transform the students in a meaningful way. They reject the authoritarian relationship between teacher and student.