1. Sociological Perspectives
1.1. Theoretical Perspectives
1.1.1. Functionalism - How well each part is integrated with one another.
1.1.2. Conflict Theory - the theory that determines if school and society are problematic.
1.1.3. Interactionalism - the relation of school and society.
1.2. Five effects of schooling
1.2.1. 1. Knowledge and Attitudes - each student may have a different knowledge and attitude about school.
1.2.2. 2. Education and Mobility - occupational and social mobility.
1.2.3. 3. Teacher Behavior - The teachers behavior can affect the students. Teachers sometimes get stressed about the things they have to get done within the week this can cause a role strain.
1.2.4. 4. Student Peer Groups and Alienation - peer groups can be looked at as the "groupings" of athletes vs the children who are not involved in anything. This can cause some children to feel as if they do not belong or "fit in".
1.2.5. 5. Gender - the equality of men and women. Girls start out ahead of guys cognitively and by the end of high school girls have a lower self-esteem than guys.
2. Philosophy of Education
2.1. Pragmatism - is generally known as an American philosophy that developed in the 19th century. The founders of this school of thought were George Peirce, William James, and John Dewey. The word pragmatism comes from the greek word pragma which means work. This philosophy is describes as a process that works in order to achieve a desired end. Pragmatism are action oriented.
2.1.1. Generic Notions - This was Dewey's form of pragmatism which was founded on the psychology, behaviorism, and the philosophy. This meant acquired of a better society through education. Children would learn skills through experientially and the books this would enable them to work in a democratic society this became know as "embryonic community".
2.1.2. Goal of Education - Dewey did not see ideas being separate from social conditions. He stressed that school was a place where children's ideas were implemented, challenged, and restructured. He believed that schools should be preparation for later in life. He wanted to integrate children into a democratic society.
2.1.3. Role of the Teacher - Teachers are no longer the authoritarian figure. The teacher is there to encourage, offer suggestions, help plan and also implement the course of study. The teacher has to write the curriculum.
2.1.4. Methods of Instruction - Dewey said that children learn in both groups and on their own. He believed that children should use the problem-sloving or inquiry method which is posing a question about what they want to know. Through this the formal instruction was dismissed. Children sat at tables with chairs instead of desk that were nailed to the floor.
2.1.5. Curriculum - The schools usually followed Dewey's core curriculum or an integrated curriculum. This was a way of not using a fixed curriculum but instead using curriculum that changed as the social order changed or the children's interest or needs changed.
3. Schools as Organizations
3.1. Federal Alabama Senators- Richard C. Shelby and Luther Strange
3.2. Federal Alabama House of Representatives - Robert Aderholt, Mo Brooks, Bradley Byrne, Gary Palmer, Martha Roby, Mike Rogers, and Terri Sewell.
3.3. Alabama Senator for Walker County- Connie Rowe and Tim Wadsworth.
3.4. Alabama House of Representative for Walker County- Greg J. Reed
3.5. State Superintendent- Ed Richardson serving as an interim after Michael Sentence resigned.
3.6. Alabama representative on school board- Ella Bell
3.7. Superintendent for Walker County- Jason Adkins
3.8. Board Members for Walker County- Brad Ingle (Chairman of Board), Jamie Rigshy (board member #1), Todd Vick (board member #2), Bill Gilbert (board member #3), and Lee Ann Headrick (board member #4).
3.9. School processes- are identified by the powerful cultural which are also emotional recalls of the school you attended. Thinking back on how school was when you attended and what it was like.
3.10. School Cultures- are classified by the unity of interacting personalities. All the different personalities who meet in the school are bound together in an organic relation.
4. Equality of Opportunity
4.1. Class, race, and gender all come with impacts on the education outcomes of students. Class stands on which the individual comes from a rich or poor family. With rich children you can expect them to go to college back someone will pay for it but for the poor students if they ever go to college it'll be based on federal aid or loans. Race has a impact because of how much education he or she is likely to achieve. It has been shown that African- Americans and Hispanics have a higher drop out rate then Whites. Gender comes into play because it has been shown and stated that women are better students than men. Women are less likely to drop out of school. Although men sometimes out rank the women gender still plays a school in education and even within jobs.
4.2. The two responses to the Coleman Study were that private school were more effective learning environments than public school and that private schools enforce discipline in a way that is consistent with student achievement.
5. Educational Reform
5.1. School Based Reforms
5.1.1. School- Business Partnerships- Business leaders became concerned that students were not becoming the kind of graduates that were ready for the U.S. economy. The city promised that test scores would be brought up by the graduates and that it would improve grade promotion rates. These business partnerships included scholarships for the poor students to be able to attend college. Although school-business partnerships have attracted the media there is little evidence that they improved the schools.
5.1.2. School-to-Work Programs- This was meant for students that were non-college bound and planned to go into the work force. This new program had three core elements to it which were school-based learning, work-based learning, and connecting activities. This program somewhat failed because it did not always connect them to their career path as it was suppose to.
5.2. Full Service and Community Schools- This is a plan to educate not just the child but the whole community. Full service schools meet the students and families educational, physical, and social needs between school and community services. Schools also provide care to certain communities such as health clinics, adult education, after-school programs, mental health services, and drug and alcohol programs.
5.3. Harlem Children's Zone- Geoffrey Canada started to provide parents in Harlem a program to help them provide knowledge to their children once they are born. This started when he was younger and was not prepared for the social and educational challenges he was going to face. This program brings hope to those that might think they don't have a chance to get an education.
6. Politics of Education
6.1. Purpose of Education
6.1.1. Intellectual Purpose - To teach the basic cognitive skills. To help promote students to a higher level of thinking.
6.1.2. Political Purpose - To teach the basic laws of society.
6.1.3. Social Purpose - To teach the keys to any society to children.
6.1.4. Economic Purpose - To prepare the children for their occupational roles for later in life.
6.2. The role of the school
6.2.1. Liberal Perspectives see school has having an equal opportunity to succeed in todays society. They see fit that children learn about diverse societies. Liberal perspectives think that all citizens should receive a fair and equal opportunity.
6.3. Explanations of unequal performances
6.3.1. Conservatives think that individuals as well as groups of students rise and fall based on their own hard work and intelligence. The school systems allow the opportunity for individuals to succeed but the students just have to put fourth the effort.
6.4. Educational problems
6.4.1. I do not understand the radical perspective on the educational problems. I'm not sure how we as an educational system have failed the poor, minorities, and the women. One thing I see as a valid point is that the educational system fails to teach children about the history and cultures of our country. I feel that the children should know what it was like for our ancestors and realize where we are today as a society is a product of good and bad past behaviors and as long as we do not adhere to the past we should be able to move beyond the past and become a better society.
7. History of U.S. Education
7.1. Opposition to Public Education - not all people liked the idea of the common school. Taxation within the public education system was viewed as "injustice" by non- recipients. In 1860 elementary schools were on the rise throughout the United States. Education was considered private academics until 1862 when the Morrill Act was passed which let public money be used for public schools.
7.2. Radical - Revisionist School - Historians argued that the history of U.S. education expanded for different reasons with different reasons. The historians believed that the expansion led to stratification of working- class and poor stricken students. They all agreed that the end result was not in equality of opportunity.
8. Curriculum & Pedagogy
8.1. I advocate the humanist curriculum because of the requirements of what the students have to take throughout high school whether they go to college or not.
8.2. Mimetic tradition is based on the view point that education is used to give students the knowledge that need. This way of education requires a relationship with the knower (teacher) and the learner (student).
8.3. Transformative tradition is believed to make the student change. This change is in a way of spiritually, emotionally, and creatively. This is a multidimensional theory of teaching.
9. Educational Inequality
9.1. First type of cultural difference is Ogbu's believes that the only way for African- American students to succeed in school is that they adapt to the dominant culture which is white middle class. He thinks that blacks have to act white in order to succeed. Second type is that other see working-class and nonwhite students resisting the dominant culture of the schools. This resistance results in those dropping out of school and going into the work force.
9.2. School- centered explanations
9.2.1. Effective School Research- goes to show how effective school is to students. School can make a huge difference in a students life. Effective schools is done with traditional academic achievement such as standardized testing.