1. Libeeral
2. Philosophy Of Education
2.1. Teachers
2.1.1. 1.Who they are or intend to be. 2. Why they do or propose to do what they do.
2.1.2. 3 areas of Philosophy.
2.1.2.1. 1. Metaphysics- questions about the nature of reality. 2. epistemology- questions about the nature of knowledge. 3. axiology- the nature of values.
2.1.3. Idealism=Plato (427-347B.C.)- Was the creator of Idealism. Plato believed that the senses could not be trusted, because they would always deceive us. He believed that education was a means of moving students to achieving the good. As a teacher of idealism they believe ideas can change lives.
2.1.4. Aristotle (384-322)- A student of Plato, Believed that in order to develop ideas a person must first study the material. He was the first Philosopher to develop a system for the logic of statements made by a person.
2.1.4.1. "Aristotle's Systematic Theory of Logic" 1. a major premise, 2. a minor premise, 3. a conclusion.
2.1.5. Pragmatism- comes from the Greek word pragma, meaning to "work". Pragmatists are action oriented.
2.1.5.1. "What will I have to do to reach my life long goal?"
2.1.6. John Dewey (1859-1952), "Progressive Education". Believed that the child should play an active role in the planning of the courses of study. Teacher holds position of Facilitator
2.1.6.1. Believed that children should ask questions about things they wish to know. Today this method of instruction is known as "problem-solving".
3. Equality Of Opportunity
3.1. Rossides (1976) described 3 basic forms of social stratification. 1 Caste stratification 2. Estate stratification 3. Class stratification
3.2. Social stratification is a hierarchical of families who have differential access to whatever is of value in the society at a given point and over time, primarily because of social, not biopsychological, variables.
3.3. Individuals can experience caste stratification because of their race, while simultaneously experiencing class stratification because of their occupation and lack of property.
3.4. Students in different classes have different kinds of educational experiences. Education expenses is 1 of 7 kinds of experiences. The longer they stay in school the more support they will need from their parents.
3.5. Despite the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960's, U.S. society is still highly stratified by race. An individuals race has a direct impact on how much education he /she is likely to achieve.
3.6. Among 16-24 year olds, 5.5% of white students drop out of school, whereas 9.3% of African-Americans students and 17.6% of Hispanic-American students are likely to drop out of school.
4. Politics of Education
4.1. Conservative
4.1.1. Developed originally by the Sociologist William Graham Sumner.
4.1.2. Looks at social evolution as a process that enables the strongest individuals or groups to survive.
4.1.3. Individuals must carry the burden of social problems. And individuals have the ability to earn their place within the economy.
4.2. Liberal
4.2.1. Schools should spend more time teaching students and less time with discipline.
4.2.2. A balance should be maintained between performance standards and ensuring that all kids meet those standards.
4.3. Radical
4.4. Neo-Liberal
4.5. Traditional
4.5.1. Hard work, family unity, and individual unity are all traditional values produced by schools.
5. Curriculum and Pedagogy
5.1. The Social Efficiency curriculum was a philosophically pragmatist approach developed in the early 20th century as a putatively democratic response to the development of mass public secondary education.
5.1.1. Rather than viewing the need for a common academic curriculum for all students, as with the humanist tradition, the social efficiency curriculum was rooted in the belief that different groups of students, with different sets of needs and aspirations, should receive different types of schooling
5.2. The Social Efficiency curriculum-The scientific management of the curriculum involved both the division of knowledge into strictly defined areas and it's transmission into scientifically defined goals and objectives, as well as the division of students into different aspects of curriculum, based on ability.
5.2.1. The definition of ability became increasingly based on performance on standardized tests.
5.3. The hidden curriculum includes what is taught to students through implicit rules and messages, as well as through what is left out of the formal curriculum.
5.4. Stakeholders-State Senators=Richard Shelby & Jeff Sessions. House of Representatives= 1st Distr. Bradley Byrne, 2nd Distr. Martha Roby, 3rd Distr. Mike Rogers, 4th Distr. Robert Aderholt, 5th Distr. Mo Brooks, 6th Distr. Gary Palmer, 7th Distr. Terri Sewell. State Superintendent=Tommy Bice. Rep. of State School Board=Dist. 05 Ella Bell, Distr. 07 Jeff Newman, Distr. 01 Al Thompson, Distr. 02 Betty Peters, Distr. 03 Stephanie Bell, Distr. 04 Yvette Richardson, Distr. 06 Cynthia McCarthy, Distr. 08 Mary Scott Hunter. Local Superintendent= Dr. Craig Ross. Local School Board= Cullman County. Cullman County Board Member=Kenny Brockman (Hanceville)
5.5. Curriculum decisions occur through a number of different channels, including the legislative and the executive branches of government; the levels of the school system; and other interests, including professional associations, bureaucratic interests, and private interests (such as business and parent groups.
5.5.1. In the U.S. education is controlled at the state and local levels.
5.6. The Mimetic Tradition or "mimic", the key idea is that some kind of knowledge or skill is 1st possessed by the teacher, then passed to his/her student.
5.6.1. mimetic knowledge consists of 5 steps. 1.Test 2.Present 3.Perform/Evaluate 4.Reward/Remedial Loop 5.Advance
6. Sociological Perspectives
6.1. Functional Theories-
6.1.1. Functionalist view Society as a kind of machine, where one part articulates with another to produce the dynamic energy required to make society work.
6.1.1.1. Functionalists believe that as long as everyone stay on one accord society will continue to be normal and there will be no conflict.
6.2. Emile Durkheim (Sociologist)- Believed moral values were the foundation of Society.
6.3. "A Nation at Risk" (1983)- Schools were responsible for Social & Economic problems.
6.4. Functionalist believe that Schools and educators are responsible for giving students the knowledge to help make up a productive Society.
6.4.1. Conflict theory- believe that Society is not held together by a collective agreement, but by dominate groups able to impose their will on the weak.
6.4.1.1. Conflict Theory- Teachers v. students
7. Educational Inequality
7.1. The Functionalist vision of a just society is one where individual talent and hard work based on universal principles of evaluation are more important than ascriptive characteristics based on particularistic methods of evaluation.
7.2. Functionalist expect that the schooling process will produce unequal results, but these results ought to be based on individual differences between students, not on group differences.
7.3. Conflict theorists believe that the role of schooling is to reproduce rather than eliminate inequality.
7.4. Cultural Difference theorists believe that there are cultural and family differences between working-class and nonwhite students, and white middle-class students.
7.5. Cultural Deprivation theorists believe that working-class and nonwhite families often lack the cultural resources, such as books and other educational stimuli, and arrive at school at a significant disadvantage.
7.6. Genetic Difference
7.6.1. Arthur Jensen-offered that unequal educational performance by working-class and non-white students is due to genetic differences in intelligence.
7.6.1.1. Hurn argues it is due to cultural bias IQ test questions and cultural, family differences.
8. Educational Reform
8.1. The 1980's and 90's thru the 21st century were periods of significant debate and reform in U.S. education. Beginning in 1983, with the National Commission on Educational Excellence's report a Nation at Risk, government leaders, educational reformers, teacher organizations, administrators, and various other interest groups attempted to improve the quality of U.S. schools.
8.2. The educational reforms from the 1980's to today consisted of 2 waves of reform. The 1st wave was concerned with the issues of accountability and achievement.
8.2.1. Many states increased graduation requirements, toughened curriculum mandates, and increased the use of standardized test scores to measure student achievement.
8.3. The 2nd wave of reform was targeted at the structure and processes of the schools themselves, placing far more control in the hands of local schools.
8.3.1. Decentralized to the local and school levels.
8.4. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Based on the critique that U.S. education has historically underserved low-income and minority children through curriculum tracking, poor instruction, and low-quality teachers in urban schools, (NCLB) mandates the uniform standards for all students in order to reduce and eventually eliminate the social class and race achievement gap by 2014.
8.4.1. (NCLB) was the centerpiece of President George W. Bush's educational policy.
8.5. Advocates of NCLB, including progressive organizations such as the Education Trust, argue that it's annual testing and disaggregation requirements will force states to ensure that low-income students who continue to lag far behind higher income students will meet the same standards, and thus reduce the achievement gap by 2014.
8.6. During the 1980's and 90's, many educational researchers and policy analysts indicated that most public schools were failing in the terms of student achievement, discipline, and morality. At the same period, some researchers were investigating private schools and concluding that they were more effective learning environments than public schools. Private schools were reputed to be accountable, efficient, and safe.
9. History of U.S. Education
9.1. Equality of Education
9.1.1. (1903) W.E.B. DuBois- Published "The Souls of Black Folk". -Which criticized Booker T. Washington and called for Academic Education and Civil Rights protest against institutional racism.
9.1.2. (May 17, 1954) Brown v. Board of Education- Ruled that the state-imposed segregation of schools was unconstitutional.
9.1.3. (1957) President Eisenhower- Sent troops to enforce desegregation at High Schools in Little Rock, Arkansas.
9.1.4. (1960's & 1970's) The Coeducational Movement- Major men and women Colleges became Co-Ed.
9.1.5. (1960's & 1970's) Project Head Start- Reform efforts were aimed at providing early preschool educational opportunities for the disadvantaged.
9.1.6. (1974) Milliken v. Bradley- Ruled that the Detroit city-suburb busing plan was unconstitutional.
10. Schools as Organizations
10.1. school processes- examining the way school cultures are created and maintained.
10.2. Degree of "openness"- This means that every child has the right to enroll in to any public school and remain in that given school until they receive a diploma.
10.2.1. "common school"- There are multiple ways for a child to enter a school system, but less ways to force a child out.
10.3. Student composition- students in wealthy districts vs. students in poor districts.
10.3.1. Students in wealthy districts have more curriculum options, more qualified teachers, more extracurricular activities.
10.4. out-of-field-teaching- happens when you have well qualified teachers that become unqualified because they are teaching subjects they little training in.
10.4.1. low-income public schools have higher level of out-of-field-teaching.
10.5. Linda M. McNeil (1988b) Educational researcher- "Contradictions of Control".
10.5.1. Bureaucratic design of schools frees teachers to teach by assigning to administrators and business managers the duties of keeping the school "under control".
10.6. Lieberman and Miller (1984)- Teachers have two missions: 1. universal and cognitive 2. particular and affective.
10.6.1. 1. deal with and teach a group of kids. 2. deal with each child as an individual.