1. Politics of Education
1.1. The 4 purposes of education
1.1.1. Intellectual-The intellectual purposes of education are to teach the basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and math. It is also to transmit specific knowledge and to help students acquire higher thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation, and syntheses.
1.1.2. Political- The political purposes of schooling are to inculcate allegiance to the existing political order; to prepare citizens who will participate in this political order; and to help assimilate diverse cultural groups into a common political order; and to teach children the basic laws of the society.
1.1.3. Social- The social purposes of education are 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 the various roles, behaviors, and values of the society.
1.1.4. Economic- The economic purposes of education are to prepare students for their later occupational roles and to select, train, and allocate individuals into the division of labor.
1.2. The role of school
1.2.1. One perspective for the role of school is the liberal perspective. The liberal perspective on a political level, stress the importance of citizenship and participation in a democratic society and the need for an educated citizenry in such a society.
1.3. Explanations of unequal performance
1.3.1. Conservatives 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 liberal perspective argues that individual students or groups of students begin 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.
1.4. Definition of educational problems
1.4.1. The conservative perspective argues several points such as that in their response to the liberal and radical demands for greater equality in the 1960's and 1970's, schools systematically lowered academic standards and reduced educational quality. They often refer to this as the decline of standards. The liberal perspective also argues several points, one of which is schools have too often limited the life chances of poor and minority children and therefore the problem of underachievement by these groups is a critical issue.
2. History of U.S. Education
2.1. A reform movement that has had an influence on education is the emergence of the public high school. Before the year 1875, less than 25,000 students were attending public high schools. Most students who were attending some sort of secondary education were going to private academies that were either traditional, preparing for college, or some type of vocational schools. After the year 1880, more and more students started to attend high school. As our book states, by 1940, 6.5 million students attended public high school. For this reason, the public high school had to be better structured and attendance policies came into place. Public high schools were not based on volunteers only anymore. I feel this made a major difference in our education system today.
2.2. One historical interpretation of U.S. Education is the Democratic-Liberal School. As stated in the book, the democratic-liberal school is committed to providing equal opportunity for all. Lawrence A. Cremin portrayed the education in the U.S. in terms of 2 ways, the popularization and multitudinousness. As more students went to school for longer lengths of time, the expectations of education in the school systems became more diverse. As we read, it seemed as though social goals became more important than intellectual ones. Cremin didn't deny the educational problems, but stood by his way of thinking on education policies of popularization and mutitudinousness. Cremin said, "That kind of organization (referring to U.S. higher education) is part of the genius of American education-it provides a place for everyone who wishes one, and in the end yields one of the most educated populations in the world"(p.46), which is stated in our book (p. 83). The Democratic-liberals believe that the U.S. educational system must move closer to equality and excellence (p. 83).
3. Sociological Perspectives
3.1. The theoretical perspectives, according to the text, is much like an X-ray machine. It allows one to see past the obvious and observe the hidden structures. There are 3 major theories about the relation between school and society, functional, conflict, and interactional.
3.1.1. The functional theory is viewed as a machine, where one would use one part along with another to make society work. It is thought that the earliest sociologist to accept the functional point of view was Emile Durkheim (1858-1917).
3.1.2. The conflict theory is based on struggle. According to the text, conflict sociologists refer to school as battlefields where the students struggle or work against the teachers, and the teachers struggle against the administrators (pg. 119). We also read in the book that a growing body of literature suggests that schools pass on to graduate specific social identities that either enhance or hinder their life chances (pg. 120).
3.1.3. The interactional theories about the relation of school and society are critiques and extensions of the functional and conflict perspectives (pg. 120). Interactional theories attempt 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 (pg. 120).
3.2. 5 effects of schooling on individuals that I feel have the greatest impact on students are employment, knowledge and attitudes, teacher behavior, gender, and sociology and the current educational crisis.
3.2.1. As we read in the text, it states that most students believe that graduating from college will lead to greater employment opportunities, and they are right (pg. 121). Research shows that large organizations, require high levels of education for white-collar, managerial, or administrative jobs (Collins, 1971) (pg. 121-122).
3.2.2. Knowledge and attitudes also has a great effect on students. Research shows that the more education one has, the more likely they are to read newspapers, books, and magazines, as well as take part in public affairs (pg. 121). Education is also related to individuals' sense of well-being and self-esteem (pg. 121).
3.2.3. Teachers behavior has a strong impact on students. Students look to their teachers for guidance, support, educator, and even a friend. According to the text, Persell (1977) found that when teachers demanded more from their students and praised them more, students learned more and felt better about themselves (pg. 124).
3.2.4. Gender also has a big impact on students. Men are often paid more for work that women are also doing. By the end of high school, girls have lower self-esteem and lower aspirations than boys do (pg. 127). Men and women do not share equally in U.S. society (pg.127).
3.2.5. I think the current educational crisis must be recognized as having a huge impact on students and their future. The text states that at least one-third of the nation's children are at risk at failing in school, even before they enter kindergarten (pg. 128). As of 2009, there were 15.5 million children from families living in poverty and an additional 31.9 million children from low-income families (pg. 128). As stated in the book, the current educational crisis is complex, and solutions to the pressing problems are difficult to find (pg. 128).
4. Philosophy of Education
4.1. One world view of student-centered philosophy of education is pragmatism.
4.1.1. Dewey's Pragmatism: Generic Notions- Dewey's form of pragmatism was founded on the new psychology, behaviorism, and the philosophy of pragmatism (pg. 187). For Dewey, this meant the attainment of a better society through education (pg. 187), and the school became a "embryonic community" where children could learn skills both experimentally as well as from books, in addition to traditional information, which would enable them to work cooperatively in a democratic society (pg. 187).
4.1.2. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) is a French philosopher, he believed that individuals were good, but were corrupted by society. John Dewey (1859-1952) , his philosophy of education was the most important influence on what has been termed progressive education.
4.1.3. The goal of education by Dewey was rooted in social order: he did not see ideas as separate from social conditions (pg. 188). He stressed the importance of the school as a place where ideas can be implemented, challenged, and restructured, with the goal of providing students with the knowledge of how to improve the social order (pg. 188).
4.1.4. Role of the teacher: The teacher encourages, offers suggestions, questions, and helps plan and implement courses of study (pg. 189). The teacher must also have a plan to be able to implement the curriculum.
4.1.5. The method of instruction: Dewey proposed that children learn both individually and in groups. He believed that children should start their mode of inquiry by posing questions about what they want to know (pg. 189). Today we refer to this method of instruction as the problem-solving or inquiry method (pg. 189).
4.1.6. Curriculum: There has been controversy over Dewey's ideas about traditional discipline-centered curriculum (pg. 190). Progressive educators support starting with contemporary problems and working from the known to the unknown and are not wedded to a fixed curriculum. They think that curriculum changes as the social order changes and as children's interests and need change (pg. 190).
5. Schools as Organizations
5.1. The state senators is Rickard Shelby, he is the senior United States Senator from Alabama. Alabama is a U.S. state with two senators and 7 representatives. Michael Sentence is the next Alabama superintendent, and Kevin Dukes is the newly named superintendent of Jackson County.
5.1.1. According to the text, schools, as they are now organized, are shaped by a series of inherent contradictions that can develop cultures that are conflictual and even stagnant. Because schools are so deeply political, effecting change within them is very difficult. To change the culture of schools, patience, skill, and good will are required.
6. Curriculum & Pedagogy
6.1. There are 4 different types of curriculum; the humanist, social efficiency, developmentalist, and social meliorist curriculum. The humanist curriculum, in the text, reflects the idealist philosophy. It states that the purpose of education is to present to students the best of what has been thought and written. It was recommended in 1893 that all secondary students, whether they planned to attend college or not, must be liberally educated and should study English, foreign languages, mathematics, history and science (Ravitch, 1983, pg. 47) (pg. 282).
6.1.1. 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 (pg. 282).
6.1.2. The developmentalist curriculum is more student centered and is related to the needs and the interests of the student rather than the needs of society. It emphasizes the process of teaching as well as its content (pg. 284).
6.1.3. The social meliorist curriculum is the radical wing of progression according to the text. It focuses on schools that reform society. The curriculum should teach students to think and help solve societal problems, if not to change the society itself (pg. 284-285).
6.2. The 2 dominant traditions of teaching are mimetic and the transformative, which was also referred to as progressive and traditional models in U.S. education. The mimetic tradition is based on the viewpoint that the purpose of education is to transmit specific knowledge to students (pg. 296).
6.3. The second dominant tradition is the transformative tradition. The transformative tradition believes that the purpose of education is to change the student in a meaningful way; such as intellectually, creatively, spiritually, and emotionally (pg. 297).
7. Equality of Opportunity
7.1. Class, Race, and gender each impact educational outcomes. Class effects students because of the expenses of going to college. Families of upper class are more financially able to help their children finish college; whereas families from lower class may not have the means to afford to help their children complete their education.
7.2. Race also has an impact on a child's education. According to the text, among 16-24 year-olds, for instance, 5.2 percent 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 (pg. 343). The minority race also receives significantly less financial help than those of whites, which provides less opportunities for the minority.
7.3. Gender has also impacted educational outcomes greatly. According to the text, women are often rated as being better students than men, in the past they were less likely to attain the same level of education. Today, females are less likely to drop out of school as males (pg. 343).
7.4. There have been many impacts on education, and as we can read the information above, class, race, and gender have had some of the greatest impacts of all. Although some of the issues with class, race, and gender have improved, there is still much to be overcame.
7.5. The Coleman Study of 1982 was based on a study that compared Public, Private, and Catholic schools. James Coleman and his associates, Thomas Hoffer and Sally Kilgore, found that private school students scored much higher than public school students in every subject. They concluded that differences among students do make a difference (pg. 368).
7.6. One response to The Coleman Study of 1982, was that when public schools were compared to private schools, private schools seem to "do it better" (pg. 368). This holds true particularly for low income students (Chubb & Moe, 1990; Bryk, Lee & Holland, 1993). It has seemed that private schools have better organizational characteristics that are related to student outcomes, but whether or not it is significant, is still being debated upon. As stated in the text, Catholic schools seem to advantage low income minority students, especially in urban areas (pg. 369).
7.7. Another response to The Coleman Study of 1982 according to the text is, 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 individual's race and class (pg. 369). In conclusion, the question was asked, "Do school differences make a difference in terms of student outcomes?" According to the text, the answer realistically is yes (pg. 369).
8. Educational Inequality
8.1. There are 2 types of cultural deprivation theories. One of which states, according to the text suggests that working class and nonwhite families often lack the cultural resources, such as books, and other educational stimuli, and thus arrive at school at a significant disadvantage (pg. 423).
8.1.1. Another type of cultural deprivation theories is that the working class and nonwhite family students are resisting the dominant culture of the schools, according to the text in chapter 9. According to this type of cultural difference theory, these cultural norms are not inferior to middle class norms, only different (pg. 426).