1. Philosophy of Education
1.1. EXISTENTIALISM
1.1.1. Existentialism is an idividualistic philosophy that does not adhere to a particular school of philosophy.
1.1.2. One of the most recent philosophers of existentialism was Maxine Greene. Greene. Greene wrote a book titled Wide Awakeness and the Moral Life, which details "arguments for teachers to become critically aware of the world around them and to help students better understand their own lives; which is a necessary condition for social improvement"(Exp. Edu. pg 197).
1.1.3. Existentialism focuses on the needs of an individuals mental and physical well-being. It stresses individualality as a both non-rational and rational tensions in the world-such as anxiety.
1.1.4. This philosophy ask for teachers to understand the world they live in, and the students-which may differ greatly. It ask for teachers to "take risk and expose themselves to resistent students; and work constantly to enable their students to become, in Greene's(1978) words, "wide awake"(Exp. Edu. pg 191).
1.1.5. Existentialist do not like to use methods of instruction. It is believed that learning is very personal, and that each child has different learning styles; and that it is up to the teacher to discover that works for each child. Martin Buber wrote that, "the teacher constantly rediscovers knowledge, the student discovers knowledge, and together they come to an understanding of past, present, and future"(Exp. Edu. pg 191).
1.1.6. Lastly, existenialist believe heavily in a cirriculum based on humanities-literature, art, drama, and music. They beleive this because these ways are "able to evoke responses in readers that might move them to new levels of awareness"(Exp. Edu. pg 191).
2. Curriculum and Pedagogy
2.1. Developmentalist curriculum "relates to the needs and interests of the student rather than the needs of society" (Exp. Edu. pg. 284). This means that the curriculum should hold the interest of the students while introducing the core values of school as well.
2.2. Developmentalist, such as John Dewey and Jeane Piaget, wrote that you should look for a "relationship between the child and the curriculum" (Exp. Edu. pg. 284). Content taught to children should be a process that is emphasized by the teachings built into it.
2.3. This type of curriculum gave a progressive idea to teaching. It was very student centered and related its curricuum to the needs and interests of every individual child and their developmental stages (Exp. Edu. pg. 284).
2.4. Historians like to beleive that this model was not influential in U.S public schools, but that it has been incredibly experienced in teacher education programs (Exp. Edu. pg. 284).
2.4.1. This continued in the mid 1900's with the reemergence of philosophical curriculum-which is strange because schools that followed this rule didnt really have a set curriculum! (Exp. Edu. pg. 284)
2.5. "Sociologists of curriculum have focused on what is taught AND why it is taught" (Exp. Edu. pg. 291). Funcionalists would say curriculum is has coded meanings of knowledge; and that students should learn to become the best members of society. (Exp. Edu. pg. 291)
2.6. Emile Durkhiem (1962, 1938/1977) thought that the role of schools should be modernized by moral breakdowns on social interactions. He believed schools should teach students to fit into a world that was unequal. (Exp. Edu. pg. 291)
3. Equality of Opportunity
3.1. African-american academic achievement and attainment is marginally different from that of white american gains. African-americans make up majority of what is called "working-class and underclass. These classes of society have a direct correlation to obstacles such as parental income, performance in the classroom, and placement of curriculum. (Exp. Edu. pg. 342)
3.2. African-American students drop out rate is 9.3% compared to the 5.2% of white students. (Exp. Edu. pg. 343)
3.3. White Americans achieve an intermediate reading level by the age of 17 at a rate of 89%; however that percentage drops among African-Americans to 66%. (Exp. Edu. pg 343)
3.4. Due to these levels of proficiency, our book states that "it is not surprising that minorities have lower SAT scores than white students" (Exp. Edu. pg. 343).
3.5. With this information, it is not hard to see why minorities do not recieve the same educational opportunities as whites, and see significantly less educational attainment awards. (Exp. Edu. pg 343)
3.6. With the Round One response to Colemans research, I tend to agree that where an individual attends school does not have a great effect on their educational attainment. I beleive that students have a level of common sense, and peer groups can help elevate that.
3.6.1. Public schools, to that effect, are the best places for students to attain academic achievement and societal knowledge. It provides equal opportunity efficacy, however, it is up to student-teacher relationships and those teachers drawing out the potential in every student.
4. Educational Inequality
4.1. Persell (1977) argues educational inequality as a product of relationships between the societal, institutional, interactional, and intrapsychic variables. Education and inequality should be explored by what happens in society and institutions, while connecting effects on individuals and groups. (Exp. Edu. pg. 420)
4.1.1. Sociological researchers look to divide these variables by gender, race, and ethnicity.
4.1.1.1. It is a very difficult task to distinguish the relationships, but it has shown that social class background has the most powerful effect on educational achievement and attainment. (Exp. Edu. pg. 420)
4.2. Genetic Differences- This question remains most controversial and whether there is evidence or not to support this argument are continuously up for debate.
4.2.1. Arthur Jensons article in the Harvard Educational Review (1969) stated that the root of the educational gaps were not of societal differences, but genetic, or biological.
4.2.1.1. Jenson argued that "African-Americans, genetically, are less intelligent than whites and therefore do less well in school" (Exp. Edu. pg. 422).
4.3. Hurn (1993, pg. 142-152) dissmisses these claims and believes social factors play the biggest part.
4.3.1. Hurns also argued that there is no persuasive evidence that social class and racial differences are due to gentic factors (Pg. 422).
5. Educational Reform and School Improvement
5.1. School-Business Partnerships began during the 1980s when economic leaders felt concerns over the production of inefficient graduates.
5.1.1. One major example of these partnerships is The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which donted to smaller schools and teacher effectiveness.
5.1.1.1. Calhoun Community College has recently made partnerships with TVB to expand their college resources by building the Robotics Park. Here is a link describing some detail: http://www.calhoun.edu/non-credit/tennessee-valley-best-robotics
5.2. Community based reforms, such as Dryfoos model of full service schools (Dryfoos, 1994, 2005) focus on meeting students and their families educational, physical, psychological, and social needs by community and school working together. (Exp. Edu. pg. 539)
5.2.1. This model creates schools as service centers to a given neighborhoods. They extend open hours and provide adult education, health clinics, recreation facilities, after school programs, mental health services, drug programs, tutoring, and job placement and training programs. (Exp. Edu. pg. 539)
5.2.1.1. These centers are created for, specifically, troubled areas at high risk; with in mind to prevent problems, and support the prevention.
6. Politics of Education
6.1. The liberal perspective was created by a U.S. philosopher named John Dewey, and became popular during the FDR administration.
6.2. This perspective is "concerned primarily with balancing the economic needs of the majority of people in the United States; primarily equality of opportunity"(Ex. Edu, pg. 24).
6.3. In the role of school, the liberal perspective likes to stress a role that provides education necessary to show all students have an equal opportunity to succeed in society; focusing importance of citizenship and participation. It will also argue that certain groups of students have advantages(disadvantages) based on life chances.
6.4. Liberals put more concern into social and political functions of school over economic functions. "Extending public education to the [majority] and providing more opportunity for mobility"(Exp. Edu, pg. 32).
6.5. The new process of neo-liberal reform, however, has stressed a argument that there is a monopoly of public schools that do not provide the "competition required to improve urban schools"(Exp. Edu, pg 32).
6.6. Many federal mandates, such as No Child Left Behind(2001) have become an important feature in the U.S.
7. History of U.S. Education
7.1. After World War II, there were debates over academic issues between progressivism and traditionalism; which focused on educational goals and its processes. These "questions regarding the type of edcation children should recieve and whether ALL children should recieve the same education"(Exp. Edu. pg 74).
7.2. According to our text book, traditionalists believed in knowledge-centered education, a traditional subject-centered curriculum, teacher-centered education, discipline and authority, and the defense of academic standards.
7.3. On the other end, progressives believed in experiential education, a curriculum that responded to both the needs of students and the times, child-centered education, a freedom and individualism.
7.4. After the Soviet launch of Sputnik, there was a national urgency to improve educational standards. In the 1960s, the Civil Rights movement began to discuss equality. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 emphasized the education of disadvantaged children.
7.5. Progressive ideas from the SDS, which issued the Port Huron Statement, critiqued U.S. society and a call for action by U.S students; along with UC Berkeley's Free Speech Movement that protested university rules limiting assembly and demonstrations on campus.
7.6. According to Ravitch (1983 pg. 14), the GI Bill, which offered 16 million servicemen and women the opportunity to pursue higher education, was "the most ambitious venture in mass higher education that had ever been attempted by any society"(Exp. Edu. pg 76).
7.7. The Old Deluder Law, created by Puritans in New England around 1642-1647, were some of the first formalized educational acts. Though not very popular, it established a precedent for public responsibility for education. Ben Franklin was one of the first to call for a reform on education at this time as well, and did not like the Old Deluder Law.
8. Schools as Organizations
8.1. U.S. compared to Great Britain
8.1.1. Before the 1944 Education Act, which began intergrating schools, England was almost entirely composed of Private Schools. The wealthier families sent there children to those schools, and the poor families were left with "charity" or "church" schools. For almost its entire exixtence, G.B. was a fundamentally elitist state.
8.2. Compared to France
8.2.1. Unlike the U.S., Frances centralized education system is gov't controlled. They have two sub sections of school-for ordinary students, and another for elite students. They are meant to compete students and institute a overachieving system for eximplary students.
8.3. Compared to Russia
8.3.1. Prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the educational system was highly centralized, stratified, and idealogical. There were schools for students of high ranking families, and there were underfunded and underequiped schools for lower families.
8.4. Compared to Japan
8.4.1. The Japanese system of education is highly competitive. Japanese families place high regard for education. The two systems in place are traditional public schools, and non formal schools that act as a national system of tutorial opportunities for students (Exp. Edu. pg 228).
8.5. Compared to Finland
8.5.1. Finland has one of the best educational systems in the world. In comparison to the U.S., which has large gaps in the performance of high/low student grades, Finland has a very consistent high scoring throughout its population. This is likely stemming from the incredibly high qulifications it takes to be a teacher. Only 15% of college graduates who apply for TEP programs are admitted, and are highly regarded once out of the program (Exp. Edu. pg 229).
8.6. Decatur City Schools Stakeholders
8.6.1. State Senator for Decatur- Arthur Orr
8.6.2. House of Rep.- Mo Brooks
8.6.3. State Superintendent- Tommy Brice
8.6.4. Rep. on the state board- Karen Duke
8.6.5. Local superintendent- Dr. Dan Brigman
8.6.6. Local school board is comprised of- Joe Propst, Michele Gray King, Dwight Jett, Jr., Donnie Lane, and Melanie Maples