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Development and Structure of Education

School administration in the early 1900s was based on a factory model of education–educators believed that children could be and should be educated in much the same way as cars were mass produced.

Although teachers and administrators work hard today to personalize the time spent in school, public education remains an impersonal bureaucratic process.

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Education can be accomplished most efficiently for large numbers of students when they are at similar stages in their ability and development.

There were just over 53 million students in the United States’ public school system in 2000.

A teacher can develop one lesson plan for a number of students.

Age-based classrooms, in which all students receive the same instruction improves efficiency.

Teaching the same content also aids efficiency.

Why should schools be standardized?

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The old factory, or bureaucratic, model is not appropriate for schooling.

Children are not inorganic materials to be processed on an assembly line.

Children are human beings who come into school with previous knowledge and who interact socially and emotionally with other students.

A bureaucratic school cannot respond to the expressive, creative, and emotional needs of all children.

What do critics of the bureaucratic model say?

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The aim of the humanist movement of the 1960s was to create a more democratic, student-focused learning environment.

It has proven to be an influential forerunner of classroom reform by offering the following alternatives:

the open classroom,

cooperative learning,

integrative curriculum.

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Democratic Reforms in the Classroom

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The open classroom is a nonbureaucratic approach to education based on democratic relationships, flexibility, and noncompetitiveness.

– Educators avoid the sharp authoritarian line traditionally drawn between teachers and students.

– The idea that all children of a given age should follow a standardized curriculum is dropped.

– Graded report cards based on comparison of student performance are abandoned.

What is the open classroom?

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What is cooperative learning?Cooperative learning allows students to study in

groups using teachers as guides.

This approach requires some teacher expertise, but it can discourage students motivated by letter grades based on individual work.

The benefits of cooperative learning follow: 1) Improved cooperation, 2) Reduced stress, 3) Increased academic performance, 4) Creation of positive attitudes, 5) Decreased racial and ethnic antagonism, 6) Increased self-esteem.

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What is the integrative curriculum?The integrative curriculum is created by students

and teachers working together.

Students and teachers become collaborators in curriculum design and content.

Subject matter is selected and organized around certain real-world themes or concepts.

Instruction emphasizes hands-on experience and utilizes the multiple intelligences of various students.

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In the 1990s, the “Back-to-Basics” movement emerged due to worries about low scores on achievement tests.

Supporters pushed for a return to traditional curriculum based on more bureaucratic methods.

The following recommendations were made: 1) Teach more basis skills, 2) Strengthen high school graduation requirements, 3) Lengthen school days and/or years, 4) Administer standardized achievement tests, 5) Give more homework in high school, and 6) Tighten discipline.

Back-to-Basics Movement

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Alternative ways to organize, fund, and administer public schools are being implemented.

The “school choice” movement proposes that the best way to improve schools is by using the free enterprise model and creating some competition for the public school system.

Alternatives to the Public School System

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Methods used to accomplish this goal include the following:

– The voucher system makes government money spent per child on public education available to families to use for public, private, or religious schools.

– Charter schools are publicly funded schools operated like private schools by public school teachers and administrators.

– Magnet schools are public schools that achieve high standards through academic specialization.

– For-profit schools are run by private companies using government funds.

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Functionalist PerspectiveFunctionalists think social institutions develop

because they meet one or more of society’s basic needs. They distinguish between a manifest function–an intended and recognized result–and a latent function–an unintended and unrecognized result.

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Functionalist PerspectiveThe manifest function of schools includes the

following:

Teaching academic skills

Transmitting culture

Creating common identity

Selecting and screening talent

Promoting personal growth and development

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Schools transmit culture by instilling the basic values, norms, beliefs, and attitudes of the society in students. For example, the value of competition, is taught through emphasis on grades, sports, and school spirit.

How do schools transmit culture?

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The educational system creates a common identity among a diverse population in the following ways.

How do schools help create a common identity?

Teaches an official language

Shares history and patriotic themes

Exposes students to similar informational materials

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Scores on intelligence and achievement tests are used for grouping children in school.

Testing identifies an individual’s talents and aptitudes.

Test scores are used for tracking–placing students according to academic ability.

Counselors use test scores to predict career choices.

How do schools select and screen students?

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Schools expose students to a wide variety of perspectives and experiences, encouraging them to develop the following things:

How do schools promote personal growth?

creativity

verbal skills

artistic expression

intellectual accomplishments

cultural tolerance

ability to function in work world

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Latent Functions of EducationThe educational institution has developed latent functions. It serves as the following:

daycare facility

prospective mate pool

juvenile crime deterrent

athletic training grounds

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Conflict PerspectiveConflict theorist think that popular conceptions

about school and society are not accurate.

America is meritocracy, where social status is based on achievement and ability.

American education is based on competition– rewards are given for performance.

Tools used to measure achievement and performance do not account for racial, ethnic, and gender differences.

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Cognitive ability–the capacity to think abstractly–has been used as a measure of overall intelligence on intelligence tests.

Some researchers believe intelligence is inherited.

Other researchers think that intelligence tests do not consider the effects of students economic, social, and psychological environments.

Another group of researchers feel that the testing situation itself affects performance.

Cognitive Ability

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Although it is difficult to completely overcome the barriers of economic and social class, policy makers and educators are exploring ways to promote educational equality in the following ways:

By achieving racial balance in the classroom through school desegregation, and

By offering compensatory education through curriculum designed to overcome deficiencies.

Promoting Education Equality

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Symbolic InteractionismSymbolic interactionist study how schools transmit

culture through the socialization process.

Schools teach basic academic skills in their standard curriculum.

Schools also teach a hidden curriculum–a nonacademic agenda that teaches children norms, values, beliefs, and attitudes such as discipline, order, cooperativeness, and conformity.

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Textbooks convey values and beliefs, but they don’t always give an accurate portrayal of society.

Textbooks show bias by what they include and omit.

Textbooks can convey gender and racial stereotypes.

Textbooks often depict a homogeneous society, failing to show American diversity.

Textbooks

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Classroom teachers have a unique and important role in socializing children. They serve as a child’s first authority figures outside the family and affect children’s academic performance.

Students’ performances can be affected by the self-fulfilling prophecy, a prediction that results in behavior that makes the prediction come true.

Teachers may unconsciously transmit sexual bias toward behavior and academic performance.

Teachers and Socialization