Foundations of Education

1. Economic

2. Philosophy of Education

2.1. Existentialism philosophy of education.

2.1.1. Goal of Education: The belief that education should focus on individuality since the individual changes is a constant state of becoming. It emphasizes the notion of possibility. Education is an activity liberating the individual from a chaotic world.

2.1.2. Generic Notions: People must create themselves and their own meaning through the choices they make in their own lives. Individuals are in a state of constantly becoming, creating good and evil, chaos and order.

2.1.2.1. Key Researchers: Both existentialism and phenomenology have much in common. One of the first existentialism philosophers was Soren Kierkegaard. More recent include Martin Buber, Karl Jasper, Jean Paul Sartre and Maxine Greene. Phenomenology philosophy founders include Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty.

2.1.3. Role of the Teacher: Teachers should understand their students in order to help them achieve the best "lived worlds" they can, as well as their own "lived worlds" The role of the teacher is a personal one that carries tremendous responsibility.

2.1.4. Method of Instruction: Learning is intensely personal. Each child has a different learning style. It is up to the teacher to discover what works for each child. Together they come to an understanding of past, present and a future full of possibilities.

2.1.5. Curriculum: Heavily biased toward humanities. Literature that is able to evoke responses in readers that might move them to new levels of awareness. Believe in exposing children to problems and possibilities as well as accomplishments humankind is able to produce.

3. Equality of opportunity

3.1. Educational impacts

3.1.1. Class- is directly related to achievement and to educational attainment. Schools represent the values of the middle and upper classes. Families from the upper and middle class expect their children to finish school. Underclass families often have lower expectations for their children.

3.1.2. Race- plays a critical role in how minority students' access and experience learning. It is very difficult to seperate race from class. Minority students receive fewer educational opportunities than white students.

3.1.3. Gender-females are less likely to drop out of school than males, more likely to have a higher reading level in proficiency and in writing than males. Males outperform in mathematics.

3.2. Responses to the Coleman Study (1982) Are Private schools better than Public schools?

3.2.1. The differences do exist but in terms of significant differences in learning the results are negligible. Private schools seem to advantage low income minority students.

3.2.2. The racial, ethnic and social composition of a student's school are more important than the student's individual race, ethnicity or social class for educational outcomes.

4. Politics of Education

4.1. Four purposes of education

4.1.1. Intelectual

4.1.1.1. to teach basic cognitive skills like reading, writing and math to transmit specific knowledge and help acquire higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, education and synthesis.

4.1.2. Political

4.1.2.1. to inculcate allegiance to the existing political order to prepare citizens who will participate in this political order, to help assimilate diverse cultural groups into a common political order and to teach children the basic laws of the society.

4.1.3. Social

4.1.3.1. to help solve social problems; to work as one of many institutions, such as family and church, to ensure social cohesion and to socialize children into the various roles, behaviors and values of society. Socialization is a key ingredient to the stability of any society.

4.1.4. Economic

4.1.4.1. 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 students for work varies from society to society, but most schools have at least an indirect role in this process

4.2. The role of the school

4.2.1. The conservative perspective is based on the belief that individuals succeed largely on their own accord. They argue that the role of the school is to provide a place for individual merit to be encouraged and rewarded.

4.3. Explanations of unequal performance

4.3.1. Radicals believe that the conditions that result in educational failure are caused by the economic system, not the educational one and can only be ameliorated by changes in the political-economic structure.

4.4. Definition of educational problems

4.4.1. The liberal perspective argues

4.4.1.1. 1. Schools have limited the life chances of poor and minority children

4.4.1.2. 2. Schools place too much emphasis on discipline, limiting the role in students developing as individuals.

4.4.1.3. 3. The difference in quality and climate between urban and suburban of low and high socioeconomic backgrounds results in inequalities of these two groups.

4.4.1.4. 4. Traditional curriculum leaves out the diverse cultures of groups that comprise the pluralistic society.

5. Schools as organizations

5.1. Alabama State school Board

5.1.1. Huntsville, Alabama School Board

5.1.1.1. Superintendent- Dr. Matthew Akin

5.1.1.2. District 1- Michelle Watkins

5.1.1.3. District 2- Beth Wilder (Third presiding officer)

5.1.1.4. District 3 (my zone)- Elisa Ferrell (President)

5.1.1.5. District 4- Walker McGinnis (Vice president)

5.1.1.6. District 5- Pam Hill

5.1.2. Superintendent- Michael Sentance

5.1.3. District 1- Jackie Seigler

5.1.4. District 2- Betty Peters

5.1.5. District 3- Stephanie Bell

5.1.6. District 4- Yvette Richardson (Vice president)

5.1.7. District 5- Ella Bell

5.1.8. District 6- Dr. Cynthia McCarty

5.1.9. District 7- Jeff Newman

5.1.10. District 8 (Huntsville) - Mary Scott Hunter (President)

5.2. Alabama state senators

5.2.1. Alabama House of Representatives

5.2.1.1. District 1- Bradley Byrne

5.2.1.2. District 2- Martha Roby

5.2.1.3. District 3- Mike Rogers

5.2.1.4. District 4- Robert Aderholt

5.2.1.5. District 5- Mo Brooks (Huntsville)

5.2.1.6. District 6- Gary Palmer

5.2.1.7. District 7- Terri Sewell

5.2.2. Jeff Sessions

5.2.3. Richard Shelby

6. Curriculum and pedagogy

6.1. Social Meliorist - is a curriculum associated with social reconstruction and developed out of the writings of John Dewey. It stresses curriculum that allows students to question and become more aware of society problems and in motivating them to become more active in changing the world.

6.2. Dominant traditions of Teaching

6.2.1. The mimetic or traditional (conservative)- is based on that the purpose of education is to give specific knowledge to students. This is also called the didactic method which uses lecture or presentation as the main form of teaching.

6.2.2. The transformative or progressive tradition- believes that the purpose of education is to change the student intellectually, creatively, spiritually and emotionally. They have a more multi-demensional theory of teaching.

7. History of U.S. Education

7.1. Progressive and traditional cycles of reform

7.1.1. Traditionalists believed in a knowledge-centered education. They believed in the traditional subject-centered curriculum, discipline and authority and the defense of academic standards in the name of excellence based on teacher-centered education.

7.1.2. Progressives believed in experiential education . Curriculum that responded to the needs of the students and the times. Freedom, individualism and and the relativism of academic standards in the name of equity based on child-centered education.

7.1.2.1. John Dewey was central to the progressive movement in education. He believed children learn through a "hands on" approach. Educational philosophy of pragmatism.

7.1.2.1.1. John Dewey Slide show http://www.slideshare.net/CPappasOnline/educational-progressivism

7.2. Reform movement

7.2.1. The "new progressivism" influence on education

7.2.1.1. This reform challenged traditional schooling. It was a new progressive cycle that developed during the mid -1960's and linked the failure of schools to the problems of society. It provided an intellectual and pedagogical way to change traditional education, its racism, authoritarianism, misplaced values of intellectualism and failure to meet psychological and emotional needs of children. It emphasized the education of disadvantaged children. racial minorities and was dedicated with the concerns for equity. Occurred during the Civil Rights movements and the Free Speech Movements.

7.3. Historical interpretation of U.S. Education

7.3.1. The Democratic-Liberal School

7.3.1.1. Historians believe that the tensions between equity and excellence are inevitably irreconcilable, resulting in necessary compromise. These are ideals and must continue to move closer to each other without sacrificing one or the other too dramatically within the U.S. educational system.

8. Sociological Perscpectives

8.1. Theoretical perspectives between school and society

8.1.1. Functionalism stresses that the most important function of education is socialization. Theorists believe that educational reform creates structures and programs that encourage social unity.

8.1.2. Conflict theory emphasizes the conflict and struggle in schools. Theorists argue that social order is based on unequal distribution favoring the dominant group. The rich and powerful benefit at the expense of the poor.

8.1.2.1. Emile Durkheim, one of the first functionalist, Karl Marx and Max Weber, sociologists, were the three founders of sociology that formally established this academic discipline.

8.1.3. Interactional theorists observe both functionalism and the conflict theory. This theory analyses the macrosociological levels of education. Students labeled gifted or learning disabled stem from interactional theories.

8.2. Effects of schooling on individuals

8.2.1. Content of what schools teach is very important. Curriculum expresses the culture of certain groups' ideas, beliefs and prejudices. Curriculum placement in schools has a direct impact on the likeliness of students attending college.

8.2.1.1. Information must be clear, relevant and meaningful and can be related to existing knowledge. Individuals with learning disadvantages must be addressed when curriculum placement is implemented.

8.2.2. Teachers have a large impact on student learning and behavior. Teachers are models for students. They set the standards and influence student self-esteem and sense of efficacy. When teachers demand more from students and praised them students learned more and felt better about themselves.

8.2.2.1. Teachers with poor communication skills or have not yet mastered teaching will be clear to the students. Students may get frustrated in learning or development low self-esteem.

8.2.3. Academically oriented schools do produce higher rates of learning. The higher the social class background of the student, the higher his or her achievement level. Highly educated people are more likely to be liberal in their political and social attitudes. Education is related to individuals' sense of well-being and self-esteem. The more years of schooling leads to greater knowledge and social participation.

8.2.3.1. Low quality schools may leave a student unprepared to master skills thus raising the cost in psychological terms of becoming more educated.

8.2.4. Student culture plays an important role in shaping the student's educational experiences. Schools develop cultures, traditions and restraints that influence those who study and work in them. Schools socialize, sort and select students which in return reproduces society.

8.2.4.1. May create culture clash on the less dominant group. Causing individuals to struggle in school.

8.2.5. Inadequate schools particularly Urban education have failed to educate minority and poor children. They will not prepare children for productive fulfilling lives. Students who attend suburban or private schools get a better education and substantial educational benefits in their actual educational experience and the social value of their diplomas.

8.2.5.1. Can have a huge negative impact on an individual's life and self-worth.

9. Educational Inequality

9.1. Cultural deprivation theory

9.1.1. Working-class and nonwhite families often lack the cultural resources, such as books and other educational stimuli and therefore arrive as school at a disadvantage.

9.1.2. Middle class culture values hard work and initiative. The culture of poverty rejects hard work and initiative as a means to success and does not view school as a means to social mobility.

9.2. School-centered explanations for educational inequality

9.2.1. School Financing-more affluent communities are able to provide more per-pupil spending than poorer districts.

9.2.2. Effective School Research-researchers do not provide clear findings or provide answers to how effective schools are created.

9.2.3. Curriculum and Pedagogic Practices-differences in academic achievement are caused by the differences in curricula, pedagogic practices and expectations in different schools.

9.2.4. Gender and Schooling-boys and girls view the world differently. Gender socialization and society rewards men for "male" behavior and negatively affect women for "female" behavior.

10. Educational Reform

10.1. School-based reforms

10.1.1. Privatization

10.1.1.1. Private education companies increasingly became involved in public education in a variety of ways starting in the 1990's when the traditional distinction between public and private education became blurred.

10.1.2. School-to-work Programs

10.1.2.1. School-business partnerships became incorporated into school-to-work programs in the 1990's. The intent was to extend vocational emphasis to non-college bound students regarding skills for successful employment to stress important work-based learning.

10.2. Societal reform-

10.2.1. Reforming society by reforming education on more scientific, humanistic, pragmatic and democratic principles.

10.3. Community reform-

10.3.1. A combination of school, community, and societal level reforms are necessary. Successful school reform must be based on essential supportsincluding leadership, parent-community ties, professional capacity, student-centered learning climate and instructional guidance.