1. Philosophy of Education
1.1. Pragmatism
1.1.1. generic notions
1.1.1.1. Problem>Speculative Thought>Action> Results
1.1.2. Key Researchers:
1.1.2.1. George Sanders Pierce
1.1.2.2. William James
1.1.2.3. John Dewy
1.1.3. goal of education
1.1.3.1. To provide "Conjoint, communicated experiences. School was in with the social order and so ideas were not separate from the social conditions.
1.1.4. role of teacher
1.1.4.1. Teacher is no longer a figure of full authority and teaches in a way in which they are only spectators and helpful advisers. Students take on the role of teaching themselves, but with a teacher who makes sure to encourage and them lessons that help them learn on their own.
1.1.5. method of instruction
1.1.5.1. Teachers were to teach students to work both individually and in groups. This would bring them closer together and in a not so constricting manor.
1.1.6. curriculum
1.1.6.1. Discipline Centered, meaning the lessons and plans form around the children's interests rather than the standard curriculum. This type of curriculum is often controversy among other educators who claim that the students should learn what is need whether they think it interesting or not.
2. Equality of Opportunity
2.1. Describe how class, race, and gender each impact educational outcomes.
2.1.1. Class: Students who come from upper class and middle class families are most likely to finish school than poor families. Education from start to finish can be expensive and most poor families have a hard time playing for all their child will need. Sometimes, these poor students have trouble with middle-class English and they are labeled. Once they are labeled, teachers tend to use their own judgement on the student rather than see to their needs.
2.1.2. Race: Race is always an issue and has been for many years. Unfortunately, a student's race impacts the amount of education they receive. Race and Class go hand-in-hand sometimes because it can be hard to distinguish between the two.
2.1.3. Gender: Used to be a huge issue in how a student's education would be administered. Males used to be given more opportunities than females, but the tables have slightly turned nowadays. Females are more likely to stay in schools than males. However, despite the progress, there are still those issues that ask are males getting better treatment than females.
2.2. What were the two responses to the Coleman Study from 1982?
2.2.1. Response 1: Said that differences between public and Catholic schools were significant, but the learning differences weren't not so different.
2.2.2. Response 2: Said that where an a student goes to get their education relates to race and socioeconomic background, but that composition of the school has more effect on achievement than the student's race and class.
3. Educational Inequality
3.1. Explain the two types of cultural deprivation theories.
3.1.1. Cultural deprivation theory: States that working-class and nonwhite families often lack cultural resources and so go to school at a disadvantage.
3.2. Describe at least four school-centered explanations for educational inequality.
3.2.1. School Financing: Schools are funded for by various revenues from local, state, and federal sources, however, taxes from the state and the local area is what makes up the majority. Therefore, poor communities are not as affluent as middle and upper class who can pay a bit more toward schooling.
3.2.2. Effective School Research: States that there are good and bad schools as well as good and incompetent teachers. All of these are factors that can define how well a student does in school.
3.2.3. Gender: States that females are not just biologically different to males, but they are culturally as well.
3.2.4. Schooling: Unequal outcomes are the result of differences in both societal and institutional levels. Families and communities are more important than schools.
4. Schools as Organizations
4.1. Stakeholders in my District
4.1.1. State Senator: Tim Melson, House of Representatives: Michael Sentence, Local State Board: Jeffery Newman.
4.2. Elements of Change
4.2.1. Governance: States retained authority and responsibility for education, so the U.S has fifty school systems. Private schools and public schools are within each state. The citizens of particular districts are responsible for mandating the curriculum, the teaching qualifications, and the safety codes.
4.2.2. Size and Degree of Centralization: Sizing issues are a concern. The number of pupils per teacher is decreasing, large institutions are more bureaucratic so they are more centralized which means democratic participation diminishes.
4.2.3. Student Composition: In 2010, fifty percent of students were white. 10 states have no minority students and large states are racially mixed. Urban schools mostly enroll the minority students. There’s a high degree of segregation. It is becoming more diverse and wealthier school districts get better teachers, more curriculum offers, and more extracurricular activities.
4.2.4. Degree of “Openness”: U.S. schools are open and encourage everyone to enroll and gives many offers for advancement. Few forced exits and more multiple points of entry. Elementary is K-5or6, Junior High is 7-9, and High School is 9-12.
4.2.5. Private Schools: Has a incredible amount of diversity although it is for the affluent community. Most of these schools are hand-in-hand with Church affiliations. They are shown to teach better with effective learning environments than public schools.
5. Curriculum and Pedagogy
5.1. Explain a curriculum theory which you advocate (humanist, social efficiency, developmentalist, or social meliorist).
5.1.1. Humanist: This theory supports the teaching philosophy that I admire, Progressivism. The student has more control over their education. The teacher is the facilitator, watching and guiding the student without being overbearing and critical. These types of schools have different means of doing things and spend a lot of time outdoors as well as in the classroom.
5.2. Identify and describe the two dominant traditions of teaching.
5.2.1. 1.Mimetic: Believes that the purpose of education is to transmit specific knowledge. Meaning that lectures and presentations are the best form of communication. 2.Transformative: Believes that the purpose of education is not only the transmission of knowledge a component of learning, but provides more multidimensional teaching theories.
6. Theoretical Perspectives
6.1. functionalism: Functionalists. Positive functions preformed by the education system. Such as social solidarity, teaching skills, core values, and meritocracy
6.2. conflict theory: This theory believes the purpose of education is maintain social inequality and preserving power of those who dominate society. Examines the same functions as Functionalists.
6.3. internationalism: Focuses on teachers and students in the classrooms and their attitudes, perceptions, and performances.
7. Politics of Education
7.1. The four purposes of Education:
7.1.1. Intellectual: to teach basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics; to transmit specific knowledge such as in literature, history, and the sciences. This helps students reach a higher-order thinking skills.
7.1.2. Political: to inculcate allegiance to the existing political order (patriotism); to prepare citizens who will participate in this political order. This teaches children the basic laws of society
7.1.3. Social: to help solve social problems; to work as one of the many institutions such as the family and the church. Socialization is the key to the stability of all society.
7.1.4. Economic: to prepare students for their later occupational roles and to select train and allocate individuals into the division of labor. Schools have indirect roles in preparing students for work.
7.2. Perspectives
7.2.1. The role of the school- 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- The liberal perspective. The individual students or groups of students begin school with different life chances and therefore some groups have significantly more advantages than others.
7.2.3. Definition of educational problems-The radical perspective.
7.2.3.1. 1. The educational system has failed the poor, minorities, and women through the classist, racist, sexist, and homophobic policies. 2. The schools have stifled the critical understanding of the problems of American society through a curriculum and teaching practices that promote conformity. 3. The traditional curriculum is classist, racist, sexist, and homophobic and leaves out the cultures, histories, and voices, of the oppressed. 4. In general, the educational system promotes inequality of both opportunity and results.
8. History of U.S. Education
8.1. Reform Movement
8.1.1. The Progressive Movement: A movement encouraged by Dewy. Progression of education through learning by doing, an integrated curriculum, more problem solving and critical thinking.
8.2. Historical Interpretation of U.S. Education
8.2.1. The Democratic-Liberal School: Believed in equal opportunities for all in education and followed the Progressive Movement's way of thinking, while rejecting the conservative ways.
9. Sociological Perspectives
9.1. 1. Gender: This plays a large role in society. Girls start out more successful than boys but by the time they graduate, they seem to have lost that need for success. Boys tend to get paid more than girls and more opportunities for jobs. Teachers are usually female therefore studies show that males seems to get more attention than the female students both good and bad behavior.
9.2. 5 Effects of Schooling
9.2.1. 2. Teacher Behavior: Teachers behavior can have a huge impact on students. Teachers can get strained in their everyday roles as anything a child needs from a instructor to a confidant which can impact how a teacher responds. And that in turn changes a students perspective.
9.2.2. 3. Employment: College age students are wanting more education with the promise for better jobs. Although, most of the time that is true, education can have little to no impact on some more menial jobs.
9.2.3. 4. De Facto Segregation: It is shown through many studies that African American students do better in racially mixed schools than in segregated ones. The issue of segregation will never truly go away, but there is no doubt that students do better working among everyone else and not just their own race.
9.2.4. 5. Inadequate Schools: Are just about everywhere and most of the time students are poor and/or a minority. It is a struggle for some schools to even get by or have enough funding for a child's education.
10. Educational Reform
10.1. Describe two school-based reforms (school-based, school-business partnerships, privatization, school-to-work programs, teacher education or teacher quality)
10.1.1. School-to-Work Programs: Relevant education, allowing students to explore different careers, Skills obtained by training include necessary skills of a particular career
10.1.2. Teacher Education: Need to attract and retain competent teacher candidates, perceived lack of rigor and intellectual demands in teacher education programs
10.2. Describe at two societal, economic, community, or political reforms.
10.2.1. Community: Not only is the school responsible but so is the community as a whole.
10.2.2. Economic: Changing school funding and getting more support from everyone is a start to a new beginning. With financing troubles, most students do not receive the education that they deserve.