1. Politics of Education
1.1. The role of the school
1.1.1. conservative perspective-
1.1.1.1. providing necessary educational training
1.1.1.2. socialize children into the adult roles necessary to the maintenance of the social order
1.1.1.3. transmitting the cultural traditions of what is taught
1.1.1.4. views the role of the school as essential to both economic productivity and social stability.
1.2. explanations of unequal performance
1.2.1. liberal perspective
1.2.1.1. schools have limited the life chances of the poor and minority children
1.2.1.2. Schools place too much emphasis on discipline and authority, thus limiting their role in helping students develop as individuals.
1.2.1.3. the traditional curriculum leaves out diverse cultures that make up our society.
1.3. definition of educational problems
1.3.1. conservative perspective
1.3.1.1. schools lowered academic standards and reduced educational quality
1.3.1.2. watered down the traditional curriculum and weakened the schools ability to pass on the heritage of American and Western civilizations to children
1.3.1.3. schools lost their traditional disciplinary function
1.3.1.4. schools are stifled by bureaucracy and inefficiency.
1.4. 4 purposes of education
1.4.1. intellectual - To teach basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing and mathematics.; to transmit specific knowledge and to help students acquire a higher order of thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation, and synthesis.
1.4.2. political- inculcate allegiance to the existing political order. To prepare citizens who will participate in this political order, to help assimilate diverse cultural groups into a common political order, and to teach children the basic laws of society.
1.4.3. social- to help solve social problems, to work as one of many institutions, such as family and the church to ensure social cohesion., and to socialize children into various roles, behaviors, and values of society.
1.4.4. Economic- To prepare students for their later occupational roles and to select, allocate, and train individuals into the division of labor
2. Schools as Organizations
3. Curriculum and Pedagogy
4. Equality of Opportunity
5. Educational Inequality
6. Educational Reform
7. History of Education
7.1. A Nation at Risk
7.1.1. The National Commission on Excellence founded by Terrell Bell, issued 'A Nation at Risk.' This report provided serious indictment of US education and cited high rates of adult illiteracy, declining SAT scores, and low scores on international comparisons of knowledge by US students as an example of the decline of literacy and standards. They offered five recommendations as solutions
7.1.1.1. All students graduating from high school had to complete the "new basics" which were 4 years of English, 3 years of science and mathematics, and social studies, and a half year of computer science.
7.1.1.2. all schools expect higher achievement from their students and that colleges raise their admissions requirements.
7.1.1.3. More time be devoted to teaching the new basics
7.1.1.4. That the preparation of teaching be strengthened and that teaching be made a more rewarded and respected profession
7.1.1.5. That citizens require their elected representatives to support and fund these reforms.
7.2. historical interpretation
7.2.1. The Democratic-Liberal school
7.2.1.1. US education involves the progressive evolution, albeit flawed, of a school system committed to providing equality of opportunity for all..
8. Sociological perspectives
8.1. theoretical perspectives concerning the relationship between school and society
8.1.1. functionalism
8.1.1.1. Schools socialize students into the appropriate values, and sort and select students according to their abilities
8.1.2. conflict theory
8.1.2.1. educational credentials are primarily status symbols rather than indicators of actual achievement. The rise of credentialism does not indicate that society is becoming more expert, but that education is becoming increasingly used by dominant groups to secure more advantageous places for themselves and their children within the occupation of social structure.
8.1.3. interactionalism
8.1.3.1. The critique arises from the observation that functional and conflict theories are abstract and emphasize structure and process at a very general level of analysis..
9. Philosophy of education
9.1. Generic Notions
9.1.1. pragmatism
9.1.1.1. Dewey founded his form of pragmatism on the new psychology, behaviorism and the philosophy of pragmatism.
9.1.1.2. This meant the better attainment of society through education.
9.1.1.3. The school became an "embryonic community"' where children could learn skills experientially as well from books, in addition to traditional information which would enable them to work cooperatively in a democratic society.
9.2. key researchers (Pragmatism)
9.2.1. John Locke
9.2.1.1. Believed that the mind was tabula rasa, a blank tablet, and that one acquires knowledge through their senses.
9.2.2. John Dewey
9.2.2.1. Produced his own philosophy that brought about the terms 'instrumentalism" and "experimentalism"
9.2.2.2. Instrumentalism refers to pragmatic realtionship between school and society
9.2.2.3. experimentalism refers to the application of ideas to educational practice on an experimental basis.
9.2.3. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
9.2.3.1. Believed individuals in their primitive state were naturally good and that society corrupted them
9.2.3.2. Placed important emphasis on environment and experience, which makes him important to subsequent pragmatic thinkers.
9.3. goal of education
9.3.1. Deweys philosophy of education made a conscious attempt to balance the social role of the school with its effects on the social, intellectual, and personal development of individuals
9.3.2. For Dewey and Durkheim, the schools had to play a key role in creating a modern form of cohesion by socializing diverse groups into a cohesive democratic community.
9.3.3. Deweys view of integration is premised on the school as an embryonic democratic society where cooperation and community are desired ends
9.4. role of the teacher
9.4.1. The teacher is no longer an authoritarian figure, but a facilitator. The teacher is there to encourage, offer suggestions, questions, and helps plan and implement courses of study. The Teacher also writes curriculum, and must have a command of several disciplines in order to create and implement curriculum.
9.5. method of instruction
9.5.1. Dewey proposed that children learn individually and in groups
9.5.2. Formal instruction was abandoned. Traditional blocks of time for specific discipline were eliminated
9.5.3. children were learning in nontraditional but effective, natural ways
9.6. curriculum
9.6.1. Progressive schools usually follow Deweys notion of a core curriculum.
9.6.2. Progressive educators support starting with contemporary problems and working from the known to the unknown.