My Foundations of Education

1. Politics of Education

1.1. Liberal

1.1.1. https://www.aacu.org/leap/what-is-a-liberal-education

1.1.2. Philosopher John Dewey, FDR/New Deal era

1.1.3. Equality of opportunity and cultural sensitivity

1.2. Progressive

1.2.1. Essential to the development of individual potential. Focus on the individual learner.

1.2.2. Schools are central to solving social problems

1.2.3. Schools should be part of the steady progress to make things better

2. Sociological Perspectives

2.1. Interactional Theory

2.1.1. 1http://www.enotes.com/research-starters/sociology-education-theory-symbolic-interactionism

2.1.2. Social interaction in schools affects the development of gender roles and that teachers’ expectations of pupils’ intellectual abilities affect how much pupils learn.

2.1.3. An approach to questions about social cognition, or how one understands other people. This approach focuses on behavior and environmental contexts rather than on mental processes or academic achievement.

2.2. Effects of Schooling

2.2.1. Knowledge- Higher education achievement does seem to rely on the educational setting, with costlier private schools seeing more results than many underfunded public schools.

2.2.2. Employment- Most individuals believe that a degree is required for adequate employment.

2.2.3. Education and Mobility- The belief that occupational and social mobility begins at the schoolhouse door,

3. Schools as Organizations

3.1. Governance

3.1.1. Senators                               Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions

3.1.2. State Representative                                   Mo Brooks

3.1.3. State Superintendent                           Tommy Bice

3.1.4. State School Board Representative   Cindy McCarty

3.1.5. Morgan County Superintendent                Bill Hopkins

3.1.6. Morgan County School Board

3.2. http://www.gsgi.co.uk/articles/curricula-and-exams/the-french-system-in-all-its-gloire

4. Equality of Opportunity

4.1. Implications of race

4.1.1. White students perform better on the SAT

4.1.2. African Americans and Hispanics lag behind white students in achievement.

4.1.3. Minority students in a lower socioeconomic bracket perform even lower.

4.2. Response to the Coleman Study

4.2.1. Study by sociologist James Coleman

4.2.2. First study found that there was no relation on where one went to school as far as cognitive growth and educational mobility.

4.2.3. Many argued that schools should be mixed by socioeconomic levels, poor students with middle class students to even out the educational experience.

5. Educational Inequality

5.1. Cultural difference theory

5.1.1. 1. African American children do less well in school because they adapt to their oppressed position in the class structure.

5.1.2. 2. Views working class and non-white students as resisting the dominant culture of schools.

5.1.3. 3. Assertion that Asian Americans possess family values that place great emphasis on educational achievement along with high expectations for children.

5.2. School-centered explanation

5.2.1. School financing

5.2.2. School climate

5.2.3. Pedagogic practices

5.2.4. Effective versus ineffective schools

6. NCLB

7. Philosophy of Education

7.1. Pragmatism

7.2. Instrumentalism and experimentalism. Attainment of a better society through education.

7.3. John Dewey, Francis Bacon, John Locke, Ned Noddings

7.4. Schools rooted in social order. The role of school is to integrate students into a democratic society.

7.5. The role of the teacher becomes more of a facilitator in a student-led education setting.

7.6. Problem solving and inquiry led based learning strategies.

7.7. Integrated curriculum, as suggested by Dewey. Curriculum changes as the social order changes and as the interests and needs of the students change.

8. History of U.S. Education

8.1. Public High School Emergence

8.1.1. Compulsory school attendance was law in all states by 1918.

8.1.2. Diane Ravitch: noted the tensions between classical and modern subjects, difficulty of meeting varying college entrance requirements, studying traditional academic subjects or subjects that would prepare students for life, and whether all students should study the same thing or study things that interested them and applied to them individually.

8.1.3. The Committee of Ten (1893)

8.1.3.1. Health

8.1.3.2. Command of fundamental processes

8.1.3.3. Worthy home membership

8.1.3.4. Vocation

8.1.3.5. Citizenship

8.1.3.6. Worthy use of leisure

8.1.3.7. Ethical character

8.2. The Democratic-Liberal School

8.2.1. Progressive evolution to providing equal opportunity for all.

8.2.2. Supports Common Schools. Historians Cubberly, Curti, Cremin represent this movement.

8.2.3. Diverse student backgrounds shift the goals of education to more social aspects.

9. Curriculum and Pedagogy

9.1. Developmentalist Theory

9.1.1. Focuses on the needs and interests of the student rather than the needs of society.

9.1.2. Jean Piaget- http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

9.1.3. Based on progressive educational theories.

9.2. Functionalist Theory

9.2.1. The role of the curriculum is to give students the knowledge, language, and values to ensure a stable society.

9.2.2. To further the common social order.

9.2.3. Identifies education as an integral part of the social structure. All governments since WW2 have recognized the importance of education.

10. Educational Reform

10.1. First wave of school-based reform

10.1.1. Stressed the need for increased educational excellence through increased educational standards

10.1.1.1. Excellence and equity in schools

10.1.1.2. Need to clarify educational goals

10.1.1.3. Need to develop a core curriculum

10.1.1.4. Need for major changes in vocational education

10.1.1.5. Need for technology education

10.1.1.6. Increase the duration and intensity of academic learning

10.1.1.7. Need to recruit, train, and retain more academically able teachers

10.2. Race to the Top

10.2.1. Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy.

10.2.2. Building data systems that measure student growth and success and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction

10.2.3. Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals

10.2.4. Turning around the lowest achieving schools