1. Sociology of Education
1.1. Theoretical Model of Relevant Variables and Their Interrelationships.
1.1.1. Societal Level: includes most general structures of a society, including political and economic systems, its level of development, and system of social stratification.
1.1.2. Institutional Level: includes society's major institutions (family, school, church, business, government, etc).
1.1.3. Interpersonal Level: includes the processes, symbols, and interactions (language, gestures, rituals, etc) that occur within such institutional settings.
1.1.4. Intrapsychic Level: includes individual thoughts, beliefs, values, and feelings.
1.2. Purpose of sociological inquiry is to focus on the influence of schooling on equity and opportunity for students.
1.2.1. Schools serve as "gatekeepers" of knowledge and skills, and hence provide students with both economic and social worth in the world of employment.
1.2.2. Schools shape children's perception of the world by processes of socialization and act as sorters and selectors of students.
1.3. Three founding sociological theories:
1.3.1. Functional Theories:
1.3.1.1. Functional sociologists assess the interdependence of the social system; viewing society as a machine where one part works with another to make society work.
1.3.1.2. Functional Theory interprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole society.
1.3.1.2.1. Each part of society is functional for the stability of the whole society. Everyone contributes. When one part of the system isn't working, it affects all other parts and creates social problems, which leads to social change.
1.3.1.3. Based on sociologist, Emile Durkheim, who believed education was of critical importance in creating the moral unity necessary for social cohesion and harmony. Moral values were the foundation of society.
1.3.2. Interactional Theories:
1.3.2.1. Interactional sociologists take a close-up view of the interactions between students/students and teachers/teachers.
1.3.2.2. An approach to questions about social cognition, or how one understands other people, that focuses on behaviors and environmental contexts rather than on mental processes or academic achievement.
1.3.3. Conflict Theories:
1.3.3.1. Conflict sociologists assert that society is not held together by shared values alone, but on the ability of dominant groups to impose their will on subordinate groups. Emphasis is on struggle.
1.3.3.2. Conflict Theory is a Marxist-based social theory which argues that social classes within society have differing amounts of material and non-material resources (such as the wealthy vs. the poor).
1.3.3.2.1. Believe that inequality exists because those in control of a disproportionate share of society's resources actively defend their advantages.
1.3.3.2.2. Some argue that educational credentials are primarily status symbols. Schools pass onto students specific social identities that either enhance or hinder their life chances.
1.4. Effects of Schooling on Individuals
1.4.1. Knowledge and Attitudes
1.4.1.1. More years in schooling leads to greater knowledge and social participation.
1.4.1.2. Academically oriented schools produce higher rates of learning. Student achievement goes up when students are compelled to take academic subjects and there is consistent discipline.
1.4.2. Employment
1.4.2.1. College education leads to greater employment opportunities despite research indicating that level of education is essentially unrelated to job performance.
1.4.3. Education and Mobility
1.4.3.1. Contest mobility: belief that the more education, the greater the chances for mobility.
1.4.3.2. Number of years of education is one measure of education, but where one goes also affects mobility.
1.5. Education and Inequality
1.5.1. Inadequate schools: Overcrowded, poor physical condition of building, lack of materials/supplies of teachers and students. Urban education has failed to educate minority and poor.
1.5.2. Tracking: (ability grouping) placement of students in curricular programs based on abilities, inclinations, class or race. Students in lower tracks don't receive high quality education.
1.5.3. De Facto Segregation: Racial segregation, especially in public schools, that happens "by fact" rather than by legal requirement.
1.5.4. Gender discrimination: Schools reinforce cultural messages about gender.
2. Educational Inequality
2.1. Unequal Education Achievement
2.1.1. Explanations of Unequal Educational Achievement
2.1.2. Functionalist Vision
2.1.2.1. Vision of a "just society" is one where individual talent and hard work are based on universal principles of evaluation.
2.1.2.2. Functionalist believe that the role of schools is to provide a fair and meritocratic selection process for sorting out the best and brightest individuals, regardless of family background.
2.1.2.3. They expect that the process of schooling will produce unequal results, but that the results should be due to individual differences between students, not on group differences.
2.1.2.4. Foundation of liberal educational policy in the U.S. since the 1960s.
2.1.3. Conflict Theory
2.1.3.1. Conflict theorists believe that the role of schooling is to reproduce instead of eliminate inequality, the fact that educational outcomes are to a large degree based on family background is fully consistent with this perspective (Coleman Report).
2.1.4. Interactionist Theory
2.1.4.1. Interactionist theory suggests that we must understand how people within institutions such as families or schools interact on a daily basis in order to comprehend the factors explaining academic success or failure.
2.2. Student-Centered Explanations
2.2.1. Student-centered or extra-school explanations of inequalities focus on factors outside of school such as family, the community, culture, peer groups and the individual student.
2.2.1.1. Functionalist support this explanation.
2.2.2. Genetic Differences
2.2.2.1. Although weakly argument, biological factors cannot be ruled out.
2.2.3. Cultural Deprivation
2.2.3.1. Theory suggests that working-class and nonwhite families often lack the cultural resources, such as books and educational stimuli, and thus arrive at school at a disadvantage.
2.2.4. Cultural Difference Theory
2.2.4.1. Agrees that there are cultural and family differences between working-class and nonwhite students, and white middle-class students.
2.2.4.2. Attributes cultural differences to social forces such as poverty, racism, discrimination, and unequal life chances.
2.3. School-Centered Explanations
2.3.1. School-centered or within-school explanations of inequalities focus on factors within the school such as the teachers, teaching methods, curriculum, ability grouping, school climate and teacher expectations.
2.3.2. School Financing
2.3.2.1. Serrano v. Priest (1971), the California Supreme Court ruled the system of unequal school financing between wealthy and poor districts unconstitutional. It did not, however, declare the use of property taxes for school funding illegal.
2.3.2.2. In Abbott v Burke (1990) the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the funding differences between rich and poor districts was unconstitutional.
2.3.3. Effective-School Research
2.3.3.1. Research suggests that there are school-centered processes that help to explain unequal educational achievement by different groups of students. It supports the later work of Coleman that argues that Catholic schools produce significantly better levels of academic achievement because of rigorous academic curriculum and higher expectations.
2.3.3.2. Effective school literature suggests that there are characteristics that help explain why students achieve academically:
2.3.3.2.1. Climate of high expectations
2.3.3.2.2. Effective leadership
2.3.3.2.3. Accountability
2.3.3.2.4. Monitoring of student learning
2.3.3.2.5. High degree of instructional time on task
2.3.3.2.6. Flexibility for experimentation
2.3.4. Between-School Differences: Curriculum and Pedagogic Practices
2.3.4.1. School Climates do affect educational outcomes independent of extra-school factors. Schools can make a difference in lower socioeconomic communities. However, there are significant differences between school cultures and climates in lower- and higher-socioeconomic communities.
2.3.5. Within-School Differences: Curriculum and Ability Grouping
2.3.5.1. Problems with tracking:
2.3.5.1.1. Is placement fair and based on merit?
2.3.5.1.2. Students cannot learn what they are not taught.
2.3.5.1.3. Unequally demanding curriculum produces inequalities of learning.
2.3.5.2. Lower tracks have didactic, teacher-directed practices with rote-learning and fact-based evaluations, whereas, higher tracks are more likely to have more dialectical, student-centered practices, with discussion and thinking-based evaluation.
2.3.6. Gender and Schooling
2.3.6.1. Female scholarship has attempted to understand the ways in which schools limit educational and life chances of women.
2.3.6.2. Carol Gilligan argues that women do reason in a different voice and it should not be devalued as society has done by rewarding men for "male" behavior and negatively towards women for "female" behavior.
3. History of Education
3.1. Three Main Ideas of Education:
3.1.1. From inception, schools assumed the roles that once were the responsibility of family, church, and community.
3.1.2. Schools continue to serve as a focal point in larger issues of societal needs.
3.1.3. There is little agreement on the motives for school reforms.
3.2. Old World & New World Education: Colonial Era
3.2.1. Nine institutions of higher learning were founded prior to the American Revolution. Among them, Harvard University was established in 1636.
3.2.2. 18th Century: Development of a national interest in education, state responsibility for education, and growth in secondary education.
3.2.3. There were different themes regarding the purpose of education: Religious, Utilitarianism, and Civic.
3.2.3.1. Religious: Puritans wanted their children educated so as not to be "wanton" and "immodest." 1647 Puritans of New England "Old Deluder Satan Laws"were regarded as the historical first step toward compulsory government-directed public education in the U.S.
3.2.3.2. Utilitarianism: In 1749, Ben Franklin's "Proposals Related to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania" called for education to be based on secular/utilitarian studies rather than religion and rote learning.
3.2.3.2.1. 1751 The Franklin Academy opened in Philadelphia.
3.2.3.3. Civic Motive: Thomas Jefferson proposed a bill in 1779 to provide free education to all children for the first three years of elementary school and limited meritocracy afterward.
3.2.3.3.1. 1785, 1787 Land Ordinance Act, Northwest Ordinance-required land owners to pay property tax.
3.2.4. 1687-1890 New England Primer was the first reading textbook designed for the American Colonies. It was the most successful educational book published in the 18th century America and was the foundation for most education before 1890s.
3.2.4.1. 1783 Noah Webster's American spelling book was published and used in schools.
3.2.5. Schools varied in quality in the colonies.
3.2.5.1. New England: Called dame schools, often taught by elderly housewives, lessons consisted of reading, writing, and religion. Students taught through memorization and strict discipline measures. Secondary education was reserved for the elite sons.
3.2.5.1.1. 1635 Boston Latin Grammar school established.
3.2.5.2. Middle Colonies: More diverse schools as the region consisted of vast religious and cultural differences.
3.2.5.3. Southern Colonies: Education of both sexes though confined to upper class and took place at home. African-Americans kept illiterate.
3.3. Age of Reform: Rise of Common School
3.3.1. 19th Century: Increasing role of public secondary schools, increased but segregated education of women and minorities, attention to the field of education and teacher preparation.
3.3.1.1. 1821 Emma Willard's Troy Female Seminary opens as the first endowed secondary school for girls.
3.3.1.2. 1821 First public high school opens in Boston.
3.3.1.3. 1837 Horace Mann became Secretary of the Board of Education in Massachusetts. He was a politician and educational reformer who argued that establishment of the "common school," or publicly funded elementary schools, was the best way to turn children into responsible citizens and allow for social mobility. Mann's reform is credited for the popularization of "normal school" that trained professional teachers.
3.3.1.4. 1846 Roberts vs. City of Boston ruling established that local schools had the right to establish separate schools for whites and blacks.
3.3.1.4.1. 1868 Freedman's Bureau helped establish Black Colleges, including Howard University and Hampton Institute.
3.3.1.5. 1855 First kindergarten in the U.S. opens.
3.3.1.6. 1874 Kalamazoo Case established the use of taxes to fund public schools.
3.3.1.7. 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling the upheld the constitutionality of laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the principle of "separate but equal."
3.4. 20th Century: Progressive Moment reformers looked to schools as a means of preserving and promoting democracy within the new social order.
3.4.1. There was an increase in federal support for educational rights of underachieving students; increased federal funding of specific educational programs.
3.4.2. 1909 First junior high school opened in Columbus, Ohio.
3.4.3. John Dewey created the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago where he advocated for acitive, hands on, inquiry based learning.
3.4.4. Child-centered reform: G. Stanley Hall (Darwin of the mind) believed schools should tailor curriculum to the stages of child development.
3.4.5. Social engineering reform: Edward L. Thorndike believed schools could change human beings in a positive way. This thinking led to belief schools should be a meaningful experience for students and should prepare them to earn a living.
3.4.6. 1918 The NEA's Commission to reorganize secondary schools proposed the Cardinal Principles that stated the main goals of secondary schools were: health, command of fundamental processes, worthy home-membership, vocation, citizenship, worthy use of leisure, and ethical character.
3.4.7. 1932 Roosevelt's New Deal Education Programs.
3.5. Post-World War II Equity Era: 1945-1980 focus on expanding opportunities to the post-secondary level.
3.5.1. Cycles of reform: Progressive and Traditional
3.5.1.1. Debates continued focused on curriculum and method, but main question became equity versus excellence.
3.5.1.2. Traditionalists believed in knowledge-centered and teacher-centered education, subject-centered curriculum, discipline and authority, defense of academic standards in the name of excellence.
3.5.1.3. Progressives believed in experiential and child-centered education, a curriculum that responded to the needs of students and the times, freedom and individualism, and the relativism of academic standards in the name of equity.
3.5.2. Equality of Opportunity
3.5.2.1. 1944 GI Bill of Rights provided tuition and/or technical training to soldiers returning from WWII.
3.5.2.2. 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson and determined that separate was not equal and that segregation in schools and all other public forums was unconstitutional.
3.5.2.3. 1957 SPUTNIK leads to increased federal education funds/1958 National Defense Education Act.
3.5.2.4. 1964-1965 Head Start funded.
3.5.2.5. 1972 Title IX prohibited discrimination on basis of sex in public education and federally assisted programs.
3.5.2.6. 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is passed.
3.5.2.7. 1979 Cabinet-level Department of Education is established.
3.6. Education Reaction and Reform and the Standards Era: 1980-2012
3.6.1. 1983 The National Commission on Excellence, founded by President Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Education, Terrill Bell, issued his report "A Nation at Risk."
3.6.2. 1994 President Clinton's Goals 2000
3.6.3. 2001 President G.W. Bush's No Child Left Behind Act called for increased school accountability.
3.6.4. 2009 President Obama's Race to the Top
3.7. Different Historical Interpretations
3.7.1. The differing interpretations of the history of education revolve around disagreements regarding equity and excellence, the social and intellectual functions of schools, and educational goals.
3.7.2. The American school system has expanded over the years to serve more students for longer time periods than any other country in the modern world.
3.7.2.1. This occurred by the extending of primary school through education laws during the Common School Era, then extending high school for all adolescents during the Progressive Era, and by offering post secondary education to the largest number of high school graduates in the world by the mid-1950s.
3.7.3. Democratic-Liberal School
3.7.3.1. -asserts that the history of education in the U.S. involves progressive evolution, although flawed, of school systems that are committed to providing equal opportunity for all students.
3.7.3.2. -believea that each period of educational expansion involved liberal reformers who helped expand educational opportunities to larger portions of the population.
3.7.4. Radical-Revisionist School
3.7.4.1. -asserts that educational expansion has benefited the elite few rather than the general population, and has not produced equality of opportunity or effective results.
3.7.4.2. -has a pessimistic interpretation of the history of education reform due to ongoing lack of educational equality.
3.7.5. Conservative Perspective
3.7.5.1. -asserts that due to progressive movements in education, academic quality has suffered.
3.7.5.2. -argues that the liberal pursuits of social and political objectives have resulted in significant damage to the traditional academic goals of schools.
4. Politics of Education
4.1. Education: "deliberate, systematic, and sustained effort to transmit, evoke, or acquire knowledge, attitudes, skills, or sensibilities, as well as any outcome of that effort..." (defined by Lawrence A. Cremin). Education can be taught by anyone, group, organization, religion, institution, etc.
4.2. Schooling: narrow term; only concerned with activities of a school for intellectual, political, social, and economic purposes.
4.2.1. Intellectual purposes are to teach basic cognitive skills; transmit specific knowledge; and help students acquire higher-order thinking skills.
4.2.2. Political purposes are to inculcate patriotism; prepare citizens to participate in politics; help create common political order; and teach basic laws of society.
4.2.3. Social purposes are to help solve social problems; ensure social cohesion; socialize children into according to roles, behaviors, and values of society.
4.2.4. Economic purpose is mostly to prepare students for the work force.
4.3. Conservative Perspective: positive view
4.3.1. Unequal School Performance: Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds begin with unequal opportunities.
4.3.2. Based on Darwinism: survival of the fittest; human progress is dependent on individual initiative and drive. Capitalism is most productive economic system.
4.3.2.1. Role of School: to ensure talented and hard-working students receive tools to maximize economic and social productivity.
4.3.2.2. Unequal School Performance: Individual achievement is determined by intelligence, hard work, and initiative.
4.3.2.3. Educational Problems: due to decline of standards, cultural literacy, values, and authority.
4.3.2.4. Policy and Reform: support a return to basics, traditional curriculum, and accountability.
4.4. Liberal Perspective: positive view
4.4.1. Based on John Dewey and progressivism: concerned with equality; insists government involvement in economic, political, and social arenas ensures fair treatment of all citizens.
4.4.1.1. Role of School: to train and socialized students as well as give all students equal opportunity to succeed in society.
4.4.1.2. Unequal School Performance: Students began school with different life chances, some having significant advantages over others.
4.4.1.3. Educational Problems: Schools limit chances of poor and minority, place too much emphasis on discipline and authority, disregards cultural diversity.
4.4.1.4. Policy and Reform: support quality with equality, effective research, enhanced opportunities for disadvantaged groups, a more culturally diverse curriculum, and a balance between performance standards and ensuring students can meet them.
4.5. Radical Perspective: negative view
4.5.1. Based on Karl Marx (Socialism): suggests the capitalist system causes U.S. social problems and the fundamental contradictions will transform into socialism.
4.5.1.1. Role of School: should eliminate inequalities in society, however, equality in schools is only an illusion.
4.5.1.2. Educational Problems: Schools fail the poor, minorities, women through classist/racist policies and stifle understanding of societal problems by promoting conformity and inequality.
4.5.1.3. Policy and Reform: support teaches/parents/students having a greater voice in decision making, curriculum based on multicultural/antiracist/anticlassist.
4.6. Neo-liberal Perspective
4.6.1. Combination of conservative and liberal perspectives: suggests traditional schooling is failing due to teacher unions, tenure, layoffs based on seniority, and absence of accountability.
4.6.1.1. Policy and Reform: support the need for reform in austerity, the market model, individualism, state intervention, and economic prosperity, race, and class.
4.6.1.1.1. Austerity: Efficiency can reduce costs and improve quality.
4.6.1.1.2. Market Model: support charter schools, private school vouchers, and privatization of schooling.
4.6.1.1.3. Individualism: educational success or failure is result of individual effort, or perhaps due some to quality of school.
4.6.1.1.4. State Intervention: at times necessary to ensure equality of opportunity and that failing schools improve.
4.6.1.1.5. Economic prosperity, race, and class: are important factors in the achievement gap, but improving education is fundamental to US global economic superiority.
5. Schools as Organizations
5.1. Schools are powerful organizations that profoundly affect the lives of all who come in contact with them.
5.2. School processes help define the way school culture is created and maintained. These include instructional processes, organizational processes, administration processes, school improvement processes, and programs.
5.3. Structure of U.S. Government
5.3.1. The organization of U.S. schools is the product of ideology, pragmatism, and history. It is unlike any other educational system because it is decentralized and dedicated to equal educational opportunity. There are public and private systems that sometimes work in tandem and sometimes in opposition.
5.3.2. Governance:
5.3.2.1. It is a decentralized system in that each state retains authority and responsibility for educating their citizens. Taxpayers within a particular district have stake in the schools.
5.3.2.2. Federal government entered in to enforce civil rights in the 1960s and have increased its role by creation of the U.S. Department of Education.
5.3.3. Size and Degree of Centralization:
5.3.3.1. School systems have grown considerably in last 80 years and thus have consolidated and become more centralized for efficiency. This has caused a negative impact on the diversity of schools, diminished the amount of democratic participation, and become more bureaucratic.
5.3.4. Student Composition:
5.3.4.1. De jure segregation has been replaced by de facto segregation.
5.3.5. Degree of "Openness:"
5.3.5.1. U.S. schools are open in that all students are entitled to enroll and remain until they graduate. There are few forced exits.
5.3.6. Private Schools:
5.3.6.1. In last 50 years, there's been a remarkable growth in private schools as consolidation of public schools has become more prevalent.
5.3.6.2. Private schools tend to have students from wealthier families with strong commitments to education. Most are on the East and West Coasts.
5.3.6.3. There is more diversity in private schools, although they are mostly affiliated with religious organizations.
5.4. International Comparisons
5.4.1. Great Britain
5.4.1.1. Dual educational system whereby State-run schools are controlled by LEAs, while Church schools continue to operate funded by the State through the LEAs.
5.4.1.2. U.K. has a highly centralized national curriculum and system of national assessment.
5.4.1.3. The education system is less stratified and more open than it was 25 years ago. There are five stages of education: Early Years, Primary, Secondary, Further Education and Higher Education.
5.4.2. France
5.4.2.1. Education is highly centralized, with the French government controlling the educational system all the way to the individual classrooms.
5.4.2.2. Schools are highly stratified and there are typically 2 public school systems--one for ordinary people and one for the elite.
5.4.2.3. Most secondary graduates complete some form of postsecondary occupational education, while only 15% go on to graduate university.
5.4.3. Former Soviet Union
5.4.3.1. Citizens are still experimenting with new curricula, privatization, school choice, and new educational philosophies.
5.4.4. Japan
5.4.4.1. Schools are widely regarded as the benchmark for educational effectiveness. Double-schooling occurs whereby students are exposed to two sets of educational systems: traditional public and Juku (study institution).
5.4.4.2. Japanese school system is highly competitive due to its emphasis on achievement and attainment.
5.4.5. Germany
5.4.5.1. Germany selects and sorts its children at at young age and tracks them into a tripartite system of secondary education in which there is no movement out of.
5.4.5.1.1. Hauptschule is for those destined for blue-collar and lower-level service positions.
5.4.5.1.2. Realschule is for lower-level white collar and technical positions.
5.4.5.1.3. Gymnasium is for academic preparation for university and the intellectual and management professions.
5.4.6. Finland
5.4.6.1. Finland has some of the highest test scores in math, science, and literacy; and there is little variation in student outcomes on the exams across all populations of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.
5.4.6.1.1. Success is due to equal access to curriculum, elimination of tracking and standardized testing, and dedication to teacher education and respect given to the profession.
5.5. School Processes and School Culture
5.5.1. Willard Waller, a sociologist of education, said that schools are separate social organizations because they have a definite population, clearly defined political structure, represent a central network of social relationships, are permeated with a "WE" ideal, and each have a definite culture that is specific to the individual school.
5.5.2. Schools are political organizations in which there are numerous competing interests. The culture of one particular school is the product of the political compromises that have been created in order for the school to be viable.
5.5.2.1. The school's principal establishes its goals, level of social and academic expectations, and effectiveness of the discipline.
5.5.3. Sociologist Max Weber said that schools are bureaucratic in nature. Bureaucracies are an endeavor to organize human behavior in order to achieve specific goals, but they can suppress creativity required for learning.
5.6. Teachers, Teaching, and Professionalization
5.6.1. Teachers are key players in education but are seldom given the opportunity to be utilized in making major decisions in the professional arena.
5.6.2. Teachers are expected to play various roles in their profession: colleague, nurturer, facilitator, researcher, program developer, leader, activist, etc. This role switching may be one of the reasons for teacher burnout.
5.6.2.1. Teacher Role Switching
5.6.3. "The social realities of teaching" identify elements that give teaching a uniqueness whereby there exists a central contradiction.That is teachers have to teach groups of students and at the same time deal with each child as an individual.
5.6.4. Teachers have to develop classroom strategies that become highly personal and evolve into a teaching style that is similar to an art form.
5.6.5. NCLB data revealed a practice called out-of-field teaching whereby teachers are being assigned to teach subjects that do not match their training or education. This contributes to highly qualified teachers are may become highly unqualified.
5.6.6. Contradictions of control refers to when attention is placed on keeping things under control, the educational purposes diminish when teachers begin to be part of a controlling process rather than an instructional one.
5.7. Alabama Educational Stakeholders and District Leaders
5.7.1. Senators Richard Shelby (Rep) and Jeff Sessions (Rep)
5.7.2. District 5 Congressional Representative Mo Brooks
5.7.3. State Superintendent Thomas R. Bice
5.7.4. State School Board District 8 Representative Mary Scott Hunter
5.7.5. Madison City Schools Superintendent Dee O. Fowler
5.7.5.1. School Board Members: Dr. Terri Johnson, Mrs. Connie Cox Spears, Mr. Tim Holtcamp, Ms. Ranae Bartlett, Mr. David Hergenroeder
6. Curriculum, Pedagogy and Transmission of Knowledge
6.1. Traditional Curriculum
6.1.1. Traditional approaches view curriculum as objective bodies of knowledge and examine the ways in which this knowledge may be designed, taught, and evaluated. This objectivist perspective seldom questions critically the knowledge and values being transmitted.
6.1.2. The sociological approach labeled "critical curriculum theory" rejects the objective view and insists that curriculum should subjectively reflect particular interests within a society.
6.2. History of Curriculum: 4 Types
6.2.1. Humanist Curriculum:
6.2.1.1. The humanist curriculum is based from the idealist philosophy that knowledge of the traditional liberal arts as the basis of an educated society and the purpose of education is to present students the best of what has been thought or written.
6.2.1.2. There is a call to return to a traditional liberal arts curriculum for all students and it should focus on the Western heritage tradition of English study, foreign language, math, history, and science.
6.2.1.3. Traditionalists support the humanist curriculum model and the strong classification between academic subjects. Role of curriculum is to give students the knowledge, language, and values to ensure social stability, to further the common social order.
6.2.2. Social Efficiency Curriculum:
6.2.2.1. The social efficiency curriculum is a pragmatic/progressivism approach with the belief that different groups of students with different sets of needs, should receive different types of schooling.
6.2.2.2. The term pedagogical progressivism emerged that stressed the relationship between schooling and the diverse activiites of adults iwth society.
6.2.2.3. With emphasis on efficiency, the scientific management of schools, and differentiation of the curriculum, the development of the highly debatable standardized testing and tracking of students.
6.2.3. Developmentalist Curriculum:
6.2.3.1. The developmentalist curriculum is also based on progressive educational practices. John Dewey and Jean Piaget emphasized the importance of the process of teaching along with the curricular content. This curriculum focuses on the needs and interests of each individual child at each of the particular developmental stages.
6.2.3.2. Romantic progressivism reemerged out of this curriculum that proposed a no required curriculum notion in an "open" and "free" schools forum.
6.2.4. Social Meliorist:
6.2.4.1. The social meliorist curriculum is based on social reconstructionist, radical progressive educational practices that schools should work to change society and help solve fundamental social problems.
6.2.4.2. The social meliorist tradition is a precursor to what is called contemporary critical curriculum theory. Stresses the role of curriculum in moving students to become aware of societal problmes and active in changing the world.
6.3. Politics of Curriculum
6.3.1. The politics of curriculum analyzes the struggles over different conceptions of what should be taught. Conflicts over curriculum are more likely to occur in public schools than in private schools.
6.3.2. Neo-Marxist conflict theorists believe the dominant capitalist class controls what is taught.
6.3.3. Non-Marxist conflict theorists believe many groups struggle over the curriculum, with different groups winning and losing at different historical periods.
6.3.4. Functionalists subscribe to a pluralist democratic model of schooling. This model argues that the political system is not controlled by any one group, but by the input of many groups, each attempting to exercise influence and control.
6.3.5. The political elite model argues that a small number of powerful groups dominate the political landscape and have disproportionate control over political decision-making.
6.3.6. Scopes Trial
6.3.6.1. 1925 trial involving TN biology teacher John Scopes who violated state law prohibiting the teaching of evolution and requiring teaching of creationism. The trial became a symbol of the conflict between the tradtional religious world values and the values of the secular modern world.
6.4. Sociology of the Curriculum
6.4.1. Sociologists believe school curriculum includes formal (what is formally included as the subject matter to be learned) and informal curriculum and hidden curriculum.
6.4.2. Functionalists view
6.4.2.1. Functionalists believe that curriculum of schools should promote integrating children into the existing social order based on consensus and agreement. Thus, the role of the curriculum is to give students the knowledge, language, and values to ensure social stability.
6.4.3. Conflict Theorists view
6.4.3.1. Conflict theorists believe curriculum is a reflection of ideology. They do not believe schools should teach liberal values such as tolerance and respect.
6.4.3.1.1. They believe that school's "hidden curriculum' teaches the attitudes and behaviors required in the workplace and that the formal curriculum represents the dominant cultural interests in society. Hidden curriculum is taught through implicit rules and messages, but not written in the official curriculum.
6.4.3.1.2. Null curriculum is that which is specifically omitted from being taught in schools.
6.4.4. Multicultural Education
6.4.4.1. James Banks presented the typology of 5 dimensions of multicultural education: content integration, knowledge construction, predidice reduction, equity pedagogy, and empowering school culture.
6.4.4.2. Culturally relevant pedagogy refers to the teacher-student relationship being fluid, extending beyond the classroom; the teacher demonstrates a connectedness with all students; the teacher encourages a "community of learners"; and the teacher encourages collaborations among students.
6.5. Differing Views on Pedagogic Practice
6.5.1. Mimetic tradition is that knowledge must be transmitted to students. This tradition coincides with traditional model of education and relies on the didactic method of lectures or presentations. The teacher is the authority figure in the classroom.
6.5.2. Transformative tradition coincides with progressive models of education. It is a mulitdimenstional theory of teaching. The purpose of education is to change the student in a meaningful way, intellectually, creatively, spiritually, and emotionally. Proponents of this view argue against authoritarian relationship between teacher and students and instead say they learn from each other.
6.6. Stratification of Curriculum
6.6.1. Since 1920s, the dominant social efficiency curriculum has been stratified with some students receiving an academic curriculum and others receiving a vocational or general curriculum.
6.6.1.1. Ability grouping, the separation of students into groups based on putative ability, is another form of stratification. It begins at the elementary level.
6.6.1.2. Ability grouping in younger grades is often directly related to later high school curriculum tracks and ability groups.
6.6.1.2.1. There are various ways in which schools do this. Heterogeneous grouping is all students learn same curriculum without regard to ability. Homogeneous grouping is all students learn same curriculum but grouped by ability. Third, students grouped by ability and learning different curriculum.
6.6.1.2.2. Issues with Curriculum tracking and ability grouping
7. Equality of Opportunity and Educational Outcomes
7.1. America was founded on deep belief in equality of opportunity. Public education was conceived as social vehicle for minimizing class and wealth as determinant of who gets ahead.
7.1.1. Meritocracy is the belief that hard work and thrift determines who benefits socially and economically.
7.1.2. The underside of U.S. education is that it has only partially created a system that is truly based on meritocracy.
7.2. Educational Outcomes
7.2.1. Social stratification: a structural characteristic of societies that causes human differences.
7.2.1.1. There is a perception that individuals can overcome effects of stratification through their own efforts. However most individuals will remain in same social class into which they were born.
7.2.1.2. U.S. Social Stratification by % of population:
7.2.1.2.1. Upper Class: 1-3%; Upper Middle: 15%; Lower Middle: 25%; Working Class: 40%; Underclass/Lower Class: 20%
7.2.2. Caste stratification: occurs in farming societies where social level is defined in terms of some strict criteria such as race or religion.
7.2.3. Estate stratification: occurs in farming societies where social level is defined in terms of the hierarchy of family worth.
7.2.4. Class stratification: occurs in industrial societies that define social level in terms of a hierarchy of differential achievement by individuals, especially in economic pursuits.
7.3. Achievement Gap: the observed disparity of educational measures between the performance of groups of students.
7.3.1. Status-attainment process is the study of mobility. There is a relationship between education and attainment.
7.3.2. Economic and political resources directly influence the selectivity of schools and the authority structures within them, which then influence the climate of expectations and patterns of interactions within schools.
7.3.3. Class:
7.3.3.1. Students in different social classes have different kinds of educational experiences. Social class and level of educational attainment are highly correlated.
7.3.3.2. There is direct correlation between parental income and children's performance on achievement tests, placement in ability groups, and curriculum track in high school.
7.3.4. Race:
7.3.4.1. U.S. is still highly stratified by race. Minorities do not receive same educational opportunities as whites and their rewards for educational attainment are significantly less. Minorities have lower SAT scores and therefore less admission into colleges.
7.3.5. Gender:
7.3.5.1. Historically, gender was directly related to educational attainment. In last 20 years the differences in males and females in these terms has been reduced.
7.3.5.2. Females are less likely to drop out of school and have higher level reading and writing proficiency. More are attending post-secondary schools than males.
7.3.5.3. Males still outperform females in math and science.
7.3.6. Educational Achievement and Attainment of African American, Hispanic-American, and Women Students:
7.3.6.1. Females achieve at higher levels in reading at ages 9,13, and 17, but achieve lowers levels in science.
7.3.6.2. Since 1988, achievement gaps have widened or remained steady .
7.3.6.2.1. Gaps between African-Americans and Hispanics on one hand, and whites on the other have increased in reading and math.
7.3.6.2.2. Studies show that achievement gaps begin well before kindergarten.
7.3.6.3. Abbott v. Burke mandated free preschool to New Jersey for all 3- and 4-year-olds in the low-income, urban districts in New Jersey.
7.3.7. Students with Special Needs:
7.3.7.1. 1975 Education of All Handicapped Children Law was reauthorized in 1996 as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
7.4. The Coleman Report
7.4.1. Controversial study that was based on an extensive survey of educational opportunity that was mandated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and directed by the sociologist James Coleman.
7.4.2. Coleman's work was oft misinterpreted as an argument that 'schools don't matter, only families matter.'
7.4.3. Coleman's subsequent work was designed to help identify the characteristics of schools which did matter, so that the impact of school relative to that of family could be increased.
8. Educational Reform
8.1. A Nation at Risk (1983) report kicked off the first wave of educational reform by conservatives.
8.1.1. A Nation at Risk
8.1.2. First wave of reform was centralized at the state level and stressed the need for increased educational excellence through increased educational standards.
8.1.3. Reform focused on:
8.1.3.1. The need for excellence and equity in schools.
8.1.3.2. The need to clarify educational goals.
8.1.3.3. The need to develop a common core curriculum.
8.1.3.4. The need to eliminate tracking programs.
8.1.3.5. The need for major changes in vocational education.
8.1.3.6. The need for education to teach technology.
8.1.3.7. The need to increase duration and intensity of academic learning.
8.1.3.8. The need to recruit, train, and retain more academically able teachers.
8.1.4. Second wave of reform was more decentralized to the local and school levels and based on the recommendations made at the State Governor's Conference.
8.1.4.1. Reform focused on:
8.1.4.1.1. Teaching, leadership, and management
8.1.4.1.2. Parental involvement and choice in schools
8.1.4.1.3. Student readiness for school (preschool)
8.1.4.1.4. School facilities being fully utilized
8.1.4.1.5. Quality colleges and accountability for learning
8.2. Goals 2000 (Clinton administration)
8.2.1. Goal 1: All Children will start school ready to learn.
8.2.2. Goal 2: High school graduation rates will increase to at least 80%.
8.2.3. Goal 3: American students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12, having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter so that they would be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our modern economy.
8.2.4. Goal 4: U.S. students will be first in the world in math and science achievement.
8.2.5. Goal 5: Every adult American will be literate and will possess the skills necessary to compete in a global economy.
8.2.6. Goal 6: Every school will be free of drugs and violence and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning.
8.3. No Child Left Behind (Bush administration)
8.3.1. Annual testing required of students in grades 3-8 in reading and math, plus at least one test in grades 10-12 with testing in science. Graduation rates are used as secondary indicator for high schools.
8.3.2. States and districts are required to report school-by-school data on student test performance, broken out by whether the student is African-American, Hispanic American, Native American, Asian American, white non-Hispanic, special education, limited English proficiency, and/or low income.
8.3.3. States must set adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals for each school.
8.3.4. Schools that don't meet AYP for 2 years are labeled "In Need of Improvement" and the schools must offer students the option to go to another public school and/or receive federally funded tutoring. Funds would also be made available for teacher professional development. If the school does not meet subsequent year's AYP, it would be subject to restructuring.
8.3.5. Schools must have "highly qualified" teachers for the "core academic subjects."
8.4. Race to the Top (Obama administration)
8.4.1. Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy.
8.4.2. Building data systems that measure student growth and success and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction.
8.4.3. Recruiting, developing, rewarding and retaining effective teachers and principals.
8.4.4. Turning around the lowest-achieving schools
8.5. Approaches to Reform
8.5.1. Neo-liberal approach stresses the independent power of schools in eliminating the achievement gap for low-income students.
8.5.2. Broader Bolder Approach stresses that school level reform alone is necessary but insufficient, and that societal and community level reforms are necessary.
8.5.2.1. Call for "an all-out attack on poverty and racial isolation" to remove barriers that currently stand in the way of urban educational change.
8.6. School-based Reforms
8.6.1. School choice is controversial because it is deeply political and rests on questionable assumptions about educational marketplaces and private schools.
8.6.1.1. Intersectional choice plans include public and private schools. The U.S. Supreme Court In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris ruled that Cleveland voucher program did not violate separation of church and state, making future voucher programs more likely.
8.6.1.2. Intrasectional choice policies include only public schools, allowing students to attend schools outside of their community school district.
8.6.2. Charter school demand remains high. Charter schools are public schools that are free from many of the regulations applied to traditional public schools, and are held accountable for student performance.
8.6.2.1. They are paid for with tax dollars and must be open to all students in the school district.
8.6.2.2. Proponents argue that they provide a more effective and efficient alternative for low-income children, especially in urban areas.
8.6.3. Vouchers advocates argue that school choice will increase low-income parental satisfaction, provide better learning environments resulting in higher achievement of low-income students, and will force closure or improvement of urban public schools.
8.6.4. Privatization
8.6.4.1. Privatization in the 1990s occurred as private education companies becoming involved in a variety of ways.
8.6.4.1.1. Edison Company took over management of failing school districts.
8.6.4.1.2. Kaplan and Sylvan Learning Centers have majority of supplemental tutoring contracts.
8.6.5. Teacher Education
8.6.5.1. Teacher education began to be critically viewed. Therefore, National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers took an active role in recognizing and improving problematic conditions.
8.6.5.1.1. The Carnegie Report "A Nation Prepared: Teachers for a 21st Century focused on the educational quality of teacher education programs. It asserted:
8.6.5.2. Holmes Group Report "Tomorrow's Teachers"outlined a set of 5 goals and proposals for the improvement of teacher education.
8.6.5.2.1. Goals included raising the intellectual soundness of teacher education, creating career ladders for teachers, developing entry-level requirements into the profession, linking schools of education at the university level to schools, and improving schools for students and teachers.
8.6.6. Effective School Movement: research points to 5 key factors that define school success:
8.6.6.1. High expectations for all students, and staff acceptance of responsibility for student learning.
8.6.6.2. Instructional leadership on the part of the principal
8.6.6.3. A safe and orderly environment conducive to learning.
8.6.6.4. A clear and focused mission concerning instructional goals shared by the staff.
8.6.6.5. Frequent monitoring of student progress.
8.6.7. School Finance Reform
8.6.7.1. When in 1973 Supreme Court in Rodriquez v. San Antonio declared there is no constitutional right to an equal education, school finance equity and adequacy advocates litigated at the state level.
8.6.7.2. Campaign for Fiscal Equity is a non-profit group comprised of concerned parents and advocates that challenged the state to provide a "sound basic" education for all students that prepares them to participate in society.
9. Philosophy of Education
9.1. Philosophy of education is firmly rooted in practice.
9.1.1. It helps teachers to clarify what they do and to justify why they do what they do.
9.1.2. It helps lend authority to their decision-making.
9.2. Three areas of philosophical inquiry:
9.2.1. Metaphysics concerns itself with questions about the nature of reality. What is meant by being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, space, and other abstract concepts.
9.2.2. Epistemology concerns itself with questions about the nature of knowledge, with regard to its methods, validity, and limits.
9.2.3. Axiology concerns itself with the nature of values, with regard to ethics, religion, and aesthetics.
9.3. Idealism (Platonic Philosophy
9.3.1. Generic Notions:
9.3.1.1. Based on Plato's and Socrates' ideas and methods in the search for truth. Ideas and thoughts are the only real knowable reality. Truth is eternal, unchanging. Matter cannot be trusted as truth because it is constantly changing. The only constant is mathematics.
9.3.1.2. Dialectic approach of questioning that leads individuals from world of matter to world of ideas.
9.3.1.3. Plato believed in a tracking system whereby brighter students (thinkers) should follow abstract curriculum focused on ideas and assume roles as rulers and state leaders and the less able (doers) should be assigned to data collecting and maintenance of city-state.
9.3.2. Key Players:
9.3.2.1. Plato, St. Augustine (added religion), Rene Descartes, Immanuel Kant, George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
9.3.3. Goal of Education:
9.3.3.1. Goal should be to search for truth and then enlighten others with it with the belief that ideas can change lives.
9.3.4. Role of the Teacher:
9.3.4.1. Teachers subscribe to the "doctrine of reminiscence". By why of dialectic method, teachers pose questions, select materials, and establish environments that bring out what is already in the minds of the students. They also are role models to be emulated.
9.3.5. Methods of Instruction:
9.3.5.1. Teachers take active part in their students' learning by posing questions that encourage discussion, analysis, synthesis, and application, collaboration and individual work, lecturing only to fill in background material.
9.3.6. Curriculum:
9.3.6.1. Based on the belief contemporary problems are rooted in the past, a study of the classics, help students understand how previous individuals dealt with them.
9.3.6.1.1. Great Books, Back-to-Basics Approach.
9.4. Essentialism/Realism: based on Aristotle's systematic theory of logic.
9.4.1. Generic Notions:
9.4.1.1. Realists argue that the material world or matter is real, independent of ideas.
9.4.2. Key Players:
9.4.2.1. Aristotle developed a systematic theory of logic using dialectic reasoning called syllogism. Syllogism contains a major premise, a minor premise,and a conclusion. All parts have to be correct, for the conclusive logic to hold true.
9.4.2.2. Neo-Thomism: Derived from Thomas Aquinas, God can be understood through reasoning based on the material world.
9.4.2.3. Modern Realism: Developed by Francis Bacon, inductive reasoning or scientific method of learning begins with observation that becomes a generalization tested for verification. John Locke's empirical point of view says the mind begins as a blank slate and builds based on information gathered through senses and experiences.
9.4.2.4. Contemporary Realists: Alfred North Whitehead focused on search for "universal patterns." He and Bertrand Russell coauthored PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA.
9.4.3. Goal of Education:
9.4.3.1. Goal is to help individuals understand and then apply the principles of science to help solve the problems in our modern world.
9.4.4. Role of Teacher:
9.4.4.1. Teachers transmit academic principles and knowledge necessary for continuance of human race.
9.4.5. Methods of Instruction:
9.4.5.1. Realists support various methods such as lectures and questions and answer and competency-based assessment.
9.4.6. Curriculum:
9.4.6.1. Essential basics like science, math, reading, writing, and humanities.
9.5. Progressivism/Pragmatism
9.5.1. Student-centered philosophy that encourages critical thinking skills of current issues for people to achieve their desired ends. It is action-oriented, inquiry-based problem solving.
9.5.2. Key Players:
9.5.2.1. John Dewey founded the progressive education movement, introducing the concepts of instrumentalism and experimentation. Instrumentalism is the work relationship between school and society. Experimentation is the application of ideas to educational practice through experimentation.
9.5.2.2. John Locke believed people acquired knowledge through one's senses, but could not verify ideas through material world.
9.5.2.3. Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed people were innately good and it was society that corrupted them. He emphasized importance of environment and experience in education, particularly nature.
9.5.3. Generic Notions:
9.5.3.1. Attainment of a better society is through education. Social reform is born of education.
9.5.4. Goal of Education:
9.5.4.1. Schools are important for social order continuance, a place where students should pursue their interests and needs through active participation in implementing, challenging, and restructuring ideas.
9.5.4.2. Schools should balance needs of society and community with those of the individual.
9.5.4.3. Role of school is to integrate children into a democratic society and therefore be an embryonic society where cooperation and collaboration is emphasized.
9.5.5. Role of Teacher:
9.5.5.1. Teacher is a facilitator of knowledge, guiding, encouraging, questioning, offering suggestions, and helping students plan and implement their course of studies.
9.5.6. Method of Instruction:
9.5.6.1. Children learn by working individually and in groups by problem-solving (inquiry method) through experimentation, field trips, and projects.
9.5.7. Curriculum
9.5.7.1. Elastic, Integrated curriculum comprised of math, science, history, reading, writing, music, art, wood or metal working, home economics, language,
9.6. Existentialism and Phenomenology
9.6.1. Generic Notions:
9.6.1.1. Both existentialism and phenomenology are modern individualistic philosophies so they are commonly combined.
9.6.1.2. Existentialists believe individuals are given freedom to make their own sense and meaning out of the chaos they encounter.
9.6.1.3. Phenomenologists focus on perception, consciousness, and meaning from individual experiences.
9.6.2. Key Players
9.6.2.1. Existentialists: Soren Kierkegaard, Martin Buber, Jean Paul Sartre, and Maxin Greene.
9.6.2.2. Phenomenology developed by Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty.
9.6.3. Goal of Education:
9.6.3.1. Existentialists believe education should focus on the needs of the individual, both cognitively and affectively. Focus is on the rational and non-rational world as well as conflict created by living in the world.
9.6.3.2. Phenomenologists emphasize the role of possibility in one's life and see education as the way to liberation from a world of chaos.
9.6.4. Role of Teacher:
9.6.4.1. Teachers need to understand their own "lived worlds"in order to help their students with theirs. They must be willing to take risks, expose themselves, and constantly work to help students become "awakened" by posing questions and generating activities. They emphasize introspection and power of choices.
9.6.5. Methods of Instruction:
9.6.5.1. Learning is viewed as intensely personal. Each teacher must help each child find their own learning style. Student and teacher learn from each other by working together by way of a nonthreatening friendship.
9.6.6. Curriculum:
9.6.6.1. There is much emphasis on the humanities: art, drama, music, and literature and exposure to problems, possibilities, and mankind horrors and accomplishments.
9.7. Neo-Marxism
9.7.1. Generic Notions:
9.7.1.1. Based on radical critique of capitalism and an education system that reproduces the ideology of the dominant class and produces unequal economic outcomes.
9.7.1.2. The key component is that through conflict and struggle, the dominant social group must preserve order through force and coercion through ideology. However, in order for change to occur, the subordinate group must rise up.
9.7.2. Key Players:
9.7.2.1. Communist founder Karl Marx played a key role in the view that education should bring about social change and solution to class struggle.
9.7.3. Goal of Education: 2 Theories
9.7.3.1. Reproduction theories say the education in capitalist societies is for reproduction of economic, social, and political status quo.
9.7.3.2. Resistance theories say that schools have the potential to empower students to question the dominant ideology.
9.7.4. Role of Teacher:
9.7.4.1. Teachers engage the students in critical examination of the world and seek radical alternatives to existing problems.
9.7.5. Methods of Instruction:
9.7.5.1. Transformation occurs through dialectical approaches to instruction. Questioning and answering move students to awareness and towards changing their world.
9.7.6. Curriculum:
9.7.6.1. Curriculum favors what the powers that shape it want the students to know. Teachers need to be able to reshape the curriculum to represent a fairer world view.
9.8. Postmodernist and Critical Theory
9.8.1. Generic Notions:
9.8.1.1. Developed out of dissatisfaction with modernism. Explanations of the world are more localized and particular. There is a connection between theory and practice.
9.8.2. Key Players:
9.8.2.1. Derrida, Baudrillard, Lyotard, Giroux
9.8.3. Role of Education:
9.8.3.1. Schools are seen as sites for democratic transformation where ethics and allowance of differences are central concerns.
9.8.4. Role of Teacher:
9.8.4.1. Teachers are agents of political change.
9.8.5. Methods of Instruction:
9.8.5.1. Analysis of competing discourses and critique of what exists and development of what is possible.
9.8.6. Curriculum:
9.8.6.1. Curriculum must incorporate different voices and student reflection needs to be connected to the conception of a transformative democratic community.