1. Sociological Perspectives
1.1. Theoretical Perspectives
1.1.1. 1. Functionalism views society as a machine. It examines how well one part works with another too form the energy required to make society work.
1.1.2. 2. A conflict sociologist's view would be like comparing schools to a social battlefield. This theory selects students based on their abilities, not social status.
1.1.3. 3. Interactionalism is a combination of critiques and extensions of functionalism and conflict theory. This emphasizes structure, whereas the other two are more abstract.
1.2. 5 effects of schooling
1.2.1. 1. Knowledge and attitude - Schools play such a huge role in students lives. It would only make sense that these two things would be an effect of schooling.
1.2.2. 2. Employment - Going to school, and then later attending college does increase your likelihood to be hired.
1.2.3. 3. Education and Mobility - Being around different cultures while in schooling helps with mobility because it doesn't become a shock, that not everyone believes like them, when students get out in the real world.
1.2.4. 4. Teacher Behavior - Like I mentioned earlier, schools play a huge role in students lives, and a huge reason behind it is the teachers. The way a teacher presents themselves, can effect different students, in different ways.
1.2.5. 5. Gender- Girls usually start a little bit ahead of the boys when first starting school. And studies show that girls have lower self esteem, and lower aspirations than boys by the end of school. Something had to have happened in between that was a cause of schooling to allow this to happen.
2. Philosophy of Education
3. Schools as Organizations
4. Equality of Opportunity
4.1. Education is not free and it is not cheap. In order to receive a "top notch" education it is important to have the funds to do so. This being said, it is obvious that the more money you have the better when it comes to education. Often times you can tell what social class someone is in by the amount of education they obtain.
4.2. Race has always been and always be an issue in our world. Statistically speaking, our book shares with us examples such as 89% of whites will be able to read at the intermediate level by age 17, where only 66% of African Americans could and 70% of Hispanics.
4.3. Gender, in my personal opinion, is not near as big of a deal as it use to be. Looking at history, men have always had better education opportunities than women. However, recent studies have shown that roles have actually reversed, more women are furthering their education versus men.
4.4. Two responses from the Coleman Study in 1982 were that public schools did not do as well as private schools. Also, the difference in how demanding the school curriculum is, is why some schools seem to outperform others. `
5. Educational Reform
5.1. Charter schools are essentially public schools where tuition is free and anyone in the district can go. They are required to show progress in the students and are held accountable for student progress.
5.2. School-to Work programs in school prepare students for work. This specifically prepares skills man, those who may not be going to college and want to learn how to work now so that when they get out of school they will be prepared,
6. Politics of Education
6.1. Purposes
6.1.1. 1. The intellectual purpose of schooling is to teach the basic core subjects. Such as, math, literature, science, and history.
6.1.2. 2. The social aspect of schooling is to prepare students on how to appropriately act with others.
6.1.3. 3. The political purpose of school is to ensure the students understand the laws and order of their nation, to achieve political order.
6.1.4. 4. The economic purpose of schooling, either directly or indirectly, is to prepare students for their future jobs and careers.
6.2. Perspective
6.2.1. The Role of the School
6.2.1.1. 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.
6.2.2. Explanations of Unequal Educational Performance
6.2.2.1. The liberal perspective argues that individual students or groups of students begin school with different life chances, causing others to have more advantage.
6.2.3. Definition of Educational Problems
6.2.3.1. The radical perspective is quite close to that of the liberal but the radical side of things, the tone is what really sets them a part. Overall it is saying, it is classist, racist, sexist, and homophobic.
7. History of U.S. Education
7.1. Reform Movement
7.1.1. For a very long time, up until the 19th century, women and men had totally separate roles. The man was the head of the household, who made more money and took care of the "important" things. Women were more known for being a helpmate or homemaker. Education was thought to be to biologically harmful/stressful for women. However, in 1821, Emma Hart Willard opened the Troy Female Seminary, with the same curriculum the males were receiving. This movement spread all over the world and became the norm, which is why I can sit here and type this today.
7.2. Historical interpreatation of U.S. Education
7.2.1. Radical-Revisionist are more critical than that of a democratic-liberal. They do not deny that the educational system has grown, but rather it did so for the working class, and immigrants.