1.1. Purposes of Schooling include intellectual, political, social & economic.
1.2. Conservative Perspective originated in the 19th century by the sociologist William Sumner. This perspective looks at social evolution as a process that allows the strongest individuals to survive. It also looks at human & social evolution as adaptation to changes in the environment.
1.3. Charles Darwin also had theories & ideas that applied to the Conservative Perspective.
1.4. The traditional vision views schools as necessary to the transmission of the traditional values of US society including hard work, family unity & individual initiative.
1.5. The traditional visions encompass more of the conservative & right liberal ideas.
1.6. Education Reform has been a hot topic for years and has lead to programs being implemented such as No Child Left Behind.
2. History of US Education
2.1. HeadStart is a reform movement that provided early school opportunities to disadvantaged children. This program was used to help these children be prepared and ready for public schools.
2.2. One historical reform movement was the NCLB Act implemented in 2002. This movement was supposed to help students, but ended up being a movement to simply raise test scores in a few basic subjects.
2.3. Women and education began to make progress around the end of 1820. Many girls attended elementary school and some were admitted to private schools.
2.4. G. Stanley Hall was an advocate for child-centered reform. His idea was that schools should tailor their curriculum to the stages of child development.
2.5. In 1918, the Cardinal Principles were implemented. They included health, command of fundamental processes, worthy home membership, vocation, citizenship, worthy use of leisure, & ethical character.
2.6. In 2011, President Obama began to grant NCLB waivers to states that propose alternatives to provisions of NCLB.
3. Sociological Perspectives
3.1. The first theoretical perspective is the functional theory. This views society as a kind of machine, where one part articulates with another to produce the dynamic energy required to make society work.
3.2. Another theoretical perspective is the conflict theories. This theory states that schools are similar to social battlefields, where students struggle against teachers, teachers against administrators, and so on.
3.3. The last theoretical perspective is the interactional theories. This theory attempts to make the commonplace strange by turning on their heads everyday taken-for-granted behaviors and interactions.
3.4. I believe that teacher behavior is very important in the school environment and the effect it has on students. The teachers attitude and behavior sets the whole tone for the classroom environment. And the classroom environment sets the tone for learning to occur.
3.5. Another important part of schooling that effects students is their peer group. Many times friends are just as important as the curriculum that is being taught. If people are part of a good group of friends then this makes the learning environment much easier. For children who may not be part of a group of friends, going to school in general may be a difficult task.
3.6. The curriculum being taught is very important and can have a lasting effect on students. The curriculum should be geared toward developmentally appropriate ideas and content for each grade level.
4. Philosophy of Education
4.1. Generic Notions-Many philosophers ask difficult questions that are not easily answered. Plato helped initiate this tradition through his search for the truth.
4.2. Key researchers include Plato, Aristotle and Dewey. Each of these researchers had a unique perspective on the philosophy of education.
4.3. In order to obtain the goals of education, the role of the teacher was very important, the curriculum was very important and the methods of instruction were very important to they students learning and obtaining the goals set before them.
4.4. The role of the teacher was very important in any view of education. In the progressive setting, the teacher is not the authoritarian figure, but more of a facilitator. In the idealist classroom, the teacher plays an important role in discussions, providing materials and creating an environment for the students to achieve these goals.
4.5. Method of instruction is very important in the classroom environment. Idealist teachers take an active part in their students' learning. Realists support many methods, including lecture and question and answer.
4.6. The curriculum is also very important for students to obtain their desired levels of learning. The curriculum in the realist classroom would include the basics of science, math, reading and writing. Existentialists and phenomenologists would choose curriculum heavily based toward the humanities.
5. Schools as Organizations
5.1. Senator for our area is Dr. Larry Stutts. House of Representatives for our area is Johnny M. Morrow.
5.2. State Superintendent of Education is Dr. Tommy Bice.
5.3. Franklin County Schools superintendent is currently Gary Williams. This is an elected position.
5.4. Franklin County School Board is comprised of Ralton Baker, Pat Cochran, Shannon Oliver, Mike Shewbart & Terry Welborn. These are elected positions.
5.5. Another close school system is the Russellville City School system. The superintendent is interviewed and hire by the board members. There are five board members that must be appointed. No election is held for Superintendent or board members.
5.6. Superintendent of Russellville City Schools is Heath Grimes and Board Members include Greg Trapp, Jerry Groce, Greg Batchelor, Judy Pounders & Bret Gist.
6. Curriculum and Pedagogy
6.1. Developmentalist curriculum is related to the needs and interests of the students rather than the needs of society.
6.2. Modern functionalist theory stressed the role of the schools in preparing students for the increasingly complex roles required in a modern society,
6.3. Two dominant traditions of teaching are the mimetic and the transformative. Mimetic tradition is based on the viewpoint that the purpose of education is to transmit specific knowledge to students. The transformative tradition rests on a different set of assumptions--to change the student in some meaningful way.
6.4. The sociological approach is important because it rejects the view that the curriculum is objective and insists that the curriculum is subjective.
6.5. The curriculum policy making is for the most part left up to state and local government.
7. Equality of Opportunity
7.1. The US is the most unequal industrial country in terms of distribution of income.
7.2. Economic/Political resources influence the selectivity of schools and authority within schools and this influences the climate of expectations and patterns of interactions within schools.
7.3. Recent data suggests that in many countries girls have now caught up to boys in almost all measures of academic achievement.
7.4. Reponses to Coleman-Round Two states that the differences that do exist between public and Catholic schools are statistically significant, but in terms of significant differences in learning, the results are negligible.
7.5. Children from working class and underclass families are more likely to underachieve, drop out and resist the curriculum of the school.
7.6. Much research indicates that social class is strongly and independently related to educational attainment and achievement.
8. Educational Inequality
8.1. Data indicates the family relations, background and economic outcomes have a powerful effect on education achievement and economic outcomes.
8.2. Some argue that school differences are not the most significant variable for lower educational achievement, they argue that it is the differences within the groups of students.
8.3. Cultural deprivation theorists assert that the poor have a deprived culture, one that lacks the value system of the middle class culture.
8.4. Poor people suffer from significant health problems which can lead to lower academic achievement.
8.5. School-centered sees different academic achievement as the result of student differences prior to entering school.
8.6. Teacher perceptions of students and their abilities have an impact on what is taught, how it is taught and student performance.
9. Educational Reform
9.1. One school-based reform is charter schools. Some believe that charter schools provide a more effective alternative for low income children.
9.2. A political reform would be the NCLB Act that has also become known as the "testing movement".
9.3. Since NCLB was implemented, teacher quality has been an important factor. The NCLB Act required that all teachers be highly qualified.
9.4. Some people think the way to improve schools is to educate the whole community, Full service schools focus on students and their families educational, physical, psychological and social needs.
9.5. There are several factors that have an impact on student achievement including content, pedagogy, technology and class size.
9.6. Several school-business partnerships were formed because businesses thought that schools were not producing the graduates that they needed for their businesses.
