1. Sociological Perspectives
1.1. 1. Functionalism- Concerned with ways that societal and institutional forces create.
1.2. 2. Conflict Theory- Concerned with ways in which differences among groups at the societal level produce conflict and domination that may lead to change.
1.3. 3. Interactionism- A theory that views that human personalities are formed by their interaction with others.
1.4. Teacher Behavior- Teachers influence students learning in more ways than one. Research shows that the more the students are praised, the better they do academically.
1.5. Tracking- I believe that tracking is to set a goal for students to be placed in the "gifted" programs. It helps push themselves to do well academically and behavioral.
1.6. Knowledge and attitude- It is believed that the higher class, the more academic achievement but I believe that it's up to the student to study and want to learn.
1.7. Student peers and alienation is negative in schools because of the tv shows that promote violence. Like the book explained, by the age 12 they will have been exposed to 18000 tv murders. This impacts students negatively.
1.8. Education and inequality- Not feeling equal in school makes students not want to attend school, which stunts the growth of the students learning.
2. Philosophy of Education
2.1. The key researcher in Existentialism was European philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. The most recent philosophers who work in the school are Martin Buber. Karl Jaspers, Jean Paul Sartre, and Maxine Greene.
2.2. Generic Notions- Existentialism is the belief that individuals are placed on this earth alone and must make some sense out of the chaos they encounter. Jean Paul Satre believes that people should create their own meaning. For example, they create good and evil. Satre did not believe in the existence of God but European philosopher Soren Kierkergaard was a christian. Kierkergaard was against the scientific reason for existence, while Sartre was trying to figure out the world that supported inhumane beliefs.
2.3. Goal of Education- Existentialists believe that the main goal of education is the needs of the individuals. Also, they believe that education should not make everyone feel the same.
2.4. The role of the teacher is to open the students minds to all the possibilities of the world. Teachers work constantly to give their students everything they can learn.
2.5. Method of Instruction- Existentialists believe that teachers should help find what helps each students learning style. Martin Buber wrote about an I-thou approach, where students learn with teachers. This allows students to understand through questions, activities, and group work.
2.6. Curriculum- Existentialists really believe that Literature is important because they feel as if it opens students minds to explore new things. They believe in showing young children problems and scary things that they will encounter as they grow older.
3. Curriculum & Pedagogy
3.1. 1. Developmentalist Curriculum is what I advocate the most because I thoroughly believe that learning is about the kids and what the kids want. Many teachers now put standards before the students. If a child is not understanding a lesson, it's the teachers job to go back and give the child one-on-one attention.
3.2. 2. The two dominant traditions of teaching are the mimetic and the transformative. The mimetic tradition is based on the viewpoint that the purpose of education is to transmit specific knowledge to students. The transformative tradition rests on a different set of assumptions about the teaching and learning process.
4. Equality of Opportunity
4.1. 1. Class has an impact because upper class has an increased chance of finishing school, but middle class has an increased chance of dropping out. The reading levels of African Americans and Hispanic-American students and significantly lower than white students, which affects SAT's and scholarships. Opportunities for minorities is lower than whites. Females are less likely to drop out and have a better reading proficiency. Women have a higher chance of getting a post secondary education than men.
4.2. 2. The first response to the Coleman study explained that the idea is not resolved that private school students "do better" than public school students because of the organizational characteristics. Jencks (1985) found that there is no significant difference in their learning. The second response explains that students' socioeconomic composition plays a role in how well that do in school. Borman and Dowling argue that socioeconomic and race dominated by middle-class values are largely responsible for academic gaps in student achievement.
5. Schools as Organizations
5.1. State Senator: Tim Melson
5.2. House of Representatives: Danny Crawford
5.3. Local School Board Member: Ronald Christ
5.4. Local Superintendent: Tom Sisk
5.5. Representative on State Board: Jeffrey Newman
5.6. State Superintendent: Michael Sentance
5.7. 2. Educational systems are not easy to change because they take pride in their cultures. School cultures are vulnerable to disruption and that tradition is maintained through authority. Another way to define a school is a political organization. The culture of a school is the product of a political organization made for the school to be viable. In order to change a school it will take patience just like changing anything. Things such as changing schools that have been around since the 1800's can not happen overnight.
6. Educational Inequality
6.1. Cultural Deprivation theory is defined as working-class and nonwhite families lacking the cultural resources putting them at a significant disadvantage at school. One theory explains that middle-class values hard work and initiative, the delay of immediate gratification for future reward, and the importance of school as a means to future success. The other theory states that the culture of poverty delays gratification for immediate reward, rejects hard work and initiative as a means to success, and does not view schooling as the means to social mobility.
6.2. 1. School Financing: Jonathan Kozol documented the differences in school financing between affluent and poor districts. Public schools are financed through a combination of revenues from local, state, and federal sources. The majority of public school funds mainly come from local property taxes. Therefore, since property taxes are higher in affluent communities, they raise more money for their schools.
6.3. 2. Effective School Research- Coleman and Jencks explain that if student differences are more important that school differences, then teachers cannot be blamed for the lower academic performance of nonwhite and working-class students. If school effects' are not significant than teacher's can do very little to make a difference to make a positive impact.
6.4. 3. Curriculum and Pedagogic Practices- Research shows that schools do affect educational outcomes. Some theorists think that there are differences between culture and climate of schools in lower socioeconomic and higher socioeconomic communities. There is a growing research that suggests that the existence of class-based school differences.
6.5. 4. Curriculum and Ability Grouping- The fact that different groups of students in the same schools are academically different suggests that there may be school characteristics affecting these outcomes. Elementary school students' are separated based on test scores, teacher recommendations, class, or gender. The students' get taught the same curriculum but are taught at a different pace.
7. Politics of Education
7.1. Purpose of Education
7.1.1. Political
7.1.1.1. Inculcate allegiance to the existing political order (patriotism); to prepare citizens who will participate in this political order; to help assimilate diverse cultural groups into common political order; and to teach children the basic laws of the society.
7.1.2. Social
7.1.2.1. Helps solve social problems; to work as one of many institutions, such as 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.
7.1.3. Economic
7.1.3.1. 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 students for work varies from society to society, but most schools have at least an indirect role in the process.
7.1.4. Intellectual
7.1.4.1. Teach basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics; to transmit specific knowledge; and to help students acquire higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation, and synthesis.
7.2. Perspective
7.2.1. Role of the School
7.2.1.1. The conservative perspective 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. In addition, conservatives believe that schools socialize children into the adult roles necessary to the maintenance of the social order. Finally, they see the school's function as one of transmitting the cultural traditions through what is taught (the curriculum) Therefore, the conservative perspective views the role of the school as essential to both economic productivity and social stability.
7.2.2. Explanations of unequal performance
7.2.2.1. The liberal perspective 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.
7.2.3. Definition of education performance
7.2.3.1. The radical perspective, although often similar in its analysis to the liberal viewpoint, is quite different in its tone. The radical perspective argues that the educational system has failed the poor, minorities, and women through classist, racist, sexist, and homophobic policies. Also, the schools have stifled critical understanding of the problems of American society through curriculum and teaching practices that promote conformity. Next, the traditional curriculum is classist, racist, sexist, and homophobic and leaves out the cultures, histories, and voices of oppressed. Lastly, the educational system promotes inequality of both opportunity and results.