Chapter 13 - Governance and Financing of Elementary and Secondary Schools

The funds for public elementary and secondary schools are split between the federal government (8.8%), the state government (48.6%), and the local government (42.7%). The state that is ranked number one in operating districts and enrollment in public schools is California, followed by number two Texas, and number three New York. At the local level, there are important people such as the superintendent and the school boards. The superintendent is the chief administrator of the school district, and the school board is the governing body for the operation of a school district. At the state level, there is a state board of education (policy-making body), a state department of education (administrative agency), and a chief state school officer (serves as executive officer of the state board of education and administers the state department of education). The goals that are followed in order to distribute money are equity, adequacy, and choice. Equity refers to the equal treatment of persons in equal circumstances. Adequacy refers to the extent to which educational funding is sufficient to provide the programs and services needed by all students. Choice has two different goals; one goal is the local control of funding decisions and the other is to give parents the power to select the school that their child will attend. Some state finance programs are equalized foundation grants, equalized effort-oriented programs, full state funding, flat grants, categorical grants, and state spending differences. Certain issues that deal with the financing of education are the new federal roles, the expanded state and local responsibilities, accountability, funding an adequate education and the increases in school enrollment.

~DaNo~

Chapter 8 - The Social and Cultural Contexts of Schooling: Their Influence and Consequence

The big topic of this chapter that I retained are the social agents in society. They are the school, the family, technology, the workplace, the print media, the arts, sports, the electronic media, the peer group, the neighbourhood, the community, and the church. The functionalist perspective, the conflict theory perspective, and the interactionist perspective are the three perspectives on the purposes and expectations of schooling. The functionalist perspective sees education as essential for an orderly and efficient society and key concepts of this perspective are socialization and other functions. Their curriculum is official and hidden. The conflict theory perspective sees the educational system as perpetuating social inequality and key concepts of this perspective are the prestige hierarchy of the schools and the cultural capital. The interactionist perspective sees education as an interaction in the social setting of the school and key concepts of this perspective are labeling and self-fulfilling prophecies. There are a lot of statistics from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and their diagrams are very interesting to analyze. The U.S. population is composed of mostly white, non-Hispanic people. After that, in order, are the Black non-Hispanic people, the Hispanics, the Asian/Pacific Islanders, and the Native Americans. The fastest growing minority in the U.S. are the Hispanic Americans. Most people believe that an equal education opportunity for everyone is impossible in the United States.

~DaNo~

Chapter 15 - Instructional Practices in Effective Schools

This chapter was about different instructional practices that are associated with effective teaching methods. Educational goals are "general statements about directions toward which we want learning outcomes to lead." Educational objectives are "clearly defined, observable, and measurable student outcome that indicates learner progress toward the achievement of a particular educational goal. There are eight intelligences: verbal-linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, spatial intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, musical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence and naturalist intelligence. Every person has a part of all of these eight intelligences, the amount per intelligence just differs from person to person. There are four main models of instruction: family, the social family, the personal family, and the behavioural systems family. These four families differ in their orientation. The information processing family focuses on a student-centered orientation that resembles constructivism. Examples of this model are inquiry instruction, critical thinking instruction and synectics. The social family focuses on a student-centered orientation that resembles progressivism. Examples of this model are cooperative learning and problem-based instruction. The personal family focuses on a student-centered orientation that resembles Rogerian counseling. An example of this model is non directive instruction. Lastly, the behavioural systems family focuses on a teacher-centered orientation that resembles behaviourism. Examples of this model are direct instruction and mastery learning. Students vary in many different ways, and one way is the way the learn things. The imaginative learner, the analytic learner, the commonsense learner, and the dynamic learner are the four main types of learners.

~DaNo~

Chapter 14 - The School Curriculum: Development and Design

When making a curriculum, there are four questions that need to be asked and answered: 1. Who initiates the curriculum? 2. Who determines properties? 3. Who implements the curriculum? 4. Who is responsible for what happens? There are three major curriculum developments, and they are the following: prescriptive perspective, deliberative perspective, and critical perspective. The prescriptive perspective is the technical production perspective, where the curriculum planning is viewed as an objective, linear process. Planning its curriculum is a four-stop process. You start by identifying the purpose, aims, and goals. Next you identify and select the learning experiences. After this you organize the learning experiences, and then finish off with the evaluation. The descriptive perspective is the deliberative perspective that focuses on how curriculum decision making occurs in practice. This curriculum decision making happens in three phases: platform, deliberation, design. The critical perspective is the artistic perspective that views curriculum decision making as embodying educational imagination and transformation. The development of this curriculum is consensus building. It has an emphasis on learning events that are meaningful, has a need for deliberation in establishing priorities, has multiple modes of presentation and takes into consideration a nonlinear, cross-curriculum content organization. There are six different curriculum designs: 1. Subject-area (essentialism) 2. Integrated 3. Core (perennalism) 4. Student-centered (progressivism) 5. Constructivism (progressivism, social reconstructivism, postmodernism) 6. Social justice (social reconstructivism, postmodernism) Each of these curriculum designs have similarities and differences. Different forces that can influence the curriculum are the national curriculum standards, textbooks, mandated assessments, state governments, teachers, local school boards, parent and community groups, as well as the federal government.

~DaNo~

Chapter 12 - Teachers, Students, and the Law

Every teacher, or any employee I should say, has certain rights and responsibilities. This chapter discusses the rights and responsibilities related to terms and conditions of employment, teacher dismissal, teacher rights inside and outside the classroom, tort liability, discrimination, equal opportunity and affirmative action, and certain legal responsibilities of teachers. Education laws are different, depending on which State you are teaching in. In order to be a teacher, not only do you need certification, but you also need to be a citizen of (or reside in) the United States. Another requirement to be a teacher is to have a health and physical test done, as well as sign an employment contract. In order for this contract to be valid, there are certain basic elements that it needs to contain. These elements are the following: offer and acceptance, legally competent parties, consideration (compensation), legal subject matter, and agreement in the form required by law. This chapter also discusses teacher dismissal, which is the termination of employment during the term of the contract. Dismissal can be challenged, and usually the challenge revolves around two issues: whether the conduct in question fits the statutory grounds for dismissal and if so, whether the school board presented the facts necessary to sustain the charge. A few examples of reasons for dismissal are immorality, incompetency, and insubordination. Teachers have the right to express themselves, as long as they do not affect their teaching negatively. Freedom from employment discrimination and sexual harassment are two very important rights that teachers have. Other than rights, teachers also have certain legal responsibilities that they must follow in order to be a teacher and to keep their job. These responsibilities are reporting child abuse and neglect, and observing copyrights. The major type of student discipline that teachers use are suspensions and expulsions. Corporal punishment is only allowed in certain states, and is most often done by the principal, in the presence of another adult. This chapter was very interesting because it explained a lot of what teachers can and can not do.

~DaNo~

Chapter 7 - Modern American Education: From The Progressive Movement To The Present

This chapter is about how much education has changed and evolved from different points in time. Starting from the twentieth century unfolds, to the progressivism in education, to the postwar years, to Sputnik to the new federalism, to the 1990s, to the new century beginning. Important people to recognize in the beginnings of progressive education are John Dewey (in favor of the child-centered curriculum) and Ella Flagg Young. Other parts looked at during the progressive education times are the influences on higher education and the second world war, the child study movement, the measurement movement, and education during the great depression. The war had a great impact on schools because of teachers leaving and being enrolled in the army, as well as students not returning in order to work. In the postwar years, the most important thing was the Montessori movement, which has interest and motivation at the heart of the curriculum. The Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka had a huge impact on the civil rights movement. The 1970's brought retreat and retrenchment, the 1980's brought renewed conservatism and reform, where as the 1990's brought national goals, national standards, and choices. The new century begins with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which was offered by the president at the time, George W. Bush. This act required students in grades 3-8 to take tests in reading and math every year, and again in grades 10-12. The NCLB created new and expanded roles for the state and federal governments, as well as challenges for school districts.

~DaNo~

Chapter 11 - Legal Framework For The Public Schools

This chapter was pretty much exactly what the title says it is. It talks mostly about the different laws and what is legal/illegal when it comes to education. The federal government has no say in education, as it is reserved to the States to do so. The federal court system consists of three levels of courts of general jurisdiction: a supreme court, district courts, and courts of appeals. What I found most interesting is that there are thirteen different circuit courts. Twelve of those thirteen have jurisdiction over a specific geographic area, where as the thirteenth has jurisdiction to hear appeals in specific areas of federal law, called the Federal Circuit. A big controversy in education is the religious aspect, more so the religious activities in public schools. Some example of religious activities are: prayer and bible reading, prayer at school-sponsored events, the pledge of allegiance, religion displays and observances, wearing of religious attire, distribution of religious literature, religious access to school buildings and released time for religious instruction. Attendance at school is mandatory between the ages of 7 to 16, whether it is a private school, public school, or home schooled. A fact in this chapter that I found very interesting was the one about homeschooling, and how much it has grown over the years. In 1994, 600,000 children were home schooled, compared to 1.1 million in 2003.

~DaNo~

Chapter 10 - Students at Risk

This chapter was all about students at risk, how to identify certain students at risk, how to prevent certain problems, and how to intervene if need be. The following risks were discussed:

1. Tobacco, drugs, and alcohol use/abuse

2. Suicide

3. Dropping out of school

4. Teenage pregnancy

5. HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STI)

6. Child abuse and neglect

7. School violence

8. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth

I found the statistics for each of these risks to be very interesting and the different indicators were interesting as well. This chapter made me really think about certain of these problems, and how I would react to them personally. Some of the situations would not be easy to deal with, some others might be a little easier because of the personal experiences I have had. All in all, I found this chapter extremely interesting and gave me some very positive feedback on how to deal with, or prevent, certain situations. You never know what you will come across in your life...

DaNo

Childhood and Parenting in Children's Popular Culture and Childcare Magazines

I really enjoyed this text because I think it describes perfectly how society actually is. Luke talks about how girls and boys, at a very young age, are separated. The toys in a store (specifically Toys R Us) are placed in a strategic manner, so that the girls have to walk through all the boy toys before getting to their section. He gave an example about water guns, which really got me thinking. The boys water guns are shaped like actual hand guns, in metallic or primary colors. The girls water guns were shaped like lip sticks, compacts, or nail polish bottles, in different pinks and purples. All the boy toys were "high-tech" and the girl ones were kitchen appliances, ironing boards, and dolls. Another aspect he spoke about was how magazines affected a parents outlook on childhood. The articles in these magazines were very short, not written by professionals, and usually had a lot of advertising in them. Often first-time mothers will read these magazines and books like they have all the answers. Another interesting fact about these magazines is that they all revolved around women, and never spoke of fatherhood. I found this article very interesting because I had never really paid attention to the whole toys issue, but now the more I think about it, the more it makes total sense.

Chapter 9 - Responding To Diversity

After reading all those history chapters, I found this one to be very interesting. The introduction to this chapter explained a scenario where a girl was in an auto mechanics class, and she was not being treated equal to the boys in the class. The author asks us if the girl should drop the class or not. I don't think she should, because American society needs to realize that things are changing and becoming more diverse, therefor, should encourage this girl for exploring auto mechanics; going beyond the stereotypes. I learned that a very important difference is all the different cultures; macroculture and microculture. Teachers need to understand the means of communication, the means of interaction, and the values of driving people or groups, and how these things influence learning. A new term I learned is enculturation, which means learning formally or informally through parents or other adults. Certain strategies on teaching culturally diverse students are as follows: emphasizing verbal interactions, teaching students to use self-talk, facilitating divergent thinking, using small-group instruction and cooperative learning, employing verve in the classroom, focusing on real-world tasks, and promoting teacher-student interaction. Multicultural education has two primary goals; 1. promote educational equality for all students, male and female, minority or majority, able or disabled 2. enable all students to learn and develop knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to successfully participate in and contribute to an increasingly diverse society. Multicultural education has five dimensions and they are: content integration dimension, knowledge construction process dimension, prejudice reduction dimension, equity pedagogy dimension, and empowering school culture and social structure dimension. Multicultural education also has five approaches and those are: teaching the exceptional and culturally different approach, human relations approach, single group studies approach, inclusive multicultural education approach, and educational multiculturalism and social reconstructionism approach. The author also states that the hardest thing as an immigrant is keeping a healthy ethnic identity while developing an American identity. The major elements that are produced by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are: the right to a free and appropriate education, identification and nondiscriminatory evaluation, an individualized education program, least restrictive environment, and procedural due process. There were many other major points covered in this chapter, but these are the ones I found most interesting. America needs to learn to adapt to every situation, and realize that the whole world is slowly becoming a mixture of all the different cultures!

DaNo

Freire Text

After reading the Freire text, I learned that his education philosophy is based on his belief in human liberation, through the use of critical consciousness and dialogical methods of interaction between people. He didn't agree with the method of "banking" teaching, but favored more of a "problem-posing" method. A "banking" method is where teachers "deposit" knowledge, the things they know best, into student's minds. The students record, memorize, and repeat what they are taught, without truly understanding what everything really means. The people who think they are the most knowledgeable feel as if they are giving a gift of knowledge to those who know nothing. Freire did not like the "banking" concept, and preferred the "problem-posing" method. For him, this meant that teachers, as well as students, develop their own visions of the world by using their own voices, not someone else's. Education should be a practice of freedom. I agree with Freire's "problem-posing" method, because we have the right to be who we want to be and believe what we want to believe. I don't like it when people try and impose things on me that I don't believe in or don't want to belong too.

Illich and Goodlad

Goodlad's text was about the different purposes of schooling. There were twelve in total. Here they are:
1. Mastery of basic skills or fundamental procedures
2. Career education-vocational education
3. Intellectual development
4. Enculturation
5. Interpersonal relations
6. Autonomy
7. Citizenship
8. Creativity and aesthetic perception
9. Self-concept
10. Emotional and physical well-being
11. Moral and ethical character
12. Self-realization

Illich's text was about disestablishing school. He thinks schools have a way of destructing the lives of the children who attend them and that the children are being brainwashed into believing whatever the people with the highest power believe. He thinks teachers have too much of an impact on their students lives and therefor doesn't let the student make its own decisions and doesn't have enough control over their own life. There are three different roles a teacher can play: teacher-as-custodian, teacher-as-moralist, teacher-as-therapist. Although Illich has some very strong points about this topic, I do think that school and education is still necessary in everyday life.

Chapter 6 - American Education: From Revolution To The Twentieth Century

Chapter 6, just like chapter 5, was full of interesting historical information. One thing I will now always remember was who invented the dictionary; Noah Webster. Back then, their dictionary was called the "blue-back speller" because of the color of the book's binding. That fact will definitely stick with me. There were many different types of schools as well. For example, monitorial schools, charity schools, Sunday schools, infant schools and academies. An interesting thing about those days, that is very different from now a days, is that men often made twice as much money than women did, for doing the SAME job! If things were like that now, I don't think I would be a very happy woman! HAHA! The part of this chapter that I found most interesting was the part about the education of minorities in America. The main social groups I learned about were the Native Americans, the Hispanic Americans, the Asian Americans, the African Americans, as well as women. The education for these groups of people was often neglected, segregated, and not fair to them at all. They were not allowed to learn anything but English and were forced to assimilate into the American society. Often the ones that dropped out and went back to their homes found that what they were taught in the schools was useless. Personally, I think education has come a long way and will only keep improving as time goes on! :)

Dano

Brown vs. Board of Education + Savage Inequalities

Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas is what reversed Plessy vs. Ferguson. The law was that the white and black people could be separate, as long as they had something of their own that would be equal to what the other had. For example, bathrooms, schools, restaurants, etc. In Brown vs. Board of Education, the separate but equal law was found to be inherently unequal. Brown sued the Board of Education because they wouldn't let his daughter go to the white schools, even though they were a lot closer to home than the black schools were. The education for the white people was very private and taught by private groups, where as the education for black people was almost nonexistent, and in some states, even forbidden. Separating young kids because of their race gives them a feeling of inferiority in society and will most likely affect their hearts and minds. Today, education is a right that is made available to everyone on equal terms (or should be anyways)

In the text Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools, the author argues that American schools are even more segregated now than they were back in 1954. The author describes his experiences as a teacher, when he visited countless different schools in different cities/places in America. There were never specific ones, he just went wherever he knew people. Most of his experiences in these schools were bad ones. The kids were not getting proper education, if you could call what they were getting education at all. There were not enough teachers for the amount of kids, barely any learning materials, and not even enough room in a classroom for all the students. I couldn't believe what I was reading throughout this whole text. It amazes me that these poor children have to go through all that pain and uncomfortableness in order to learn what it is they learn. So many kids drop out because they have no motivation and it doesn't matter to them at all whether they are getting an education or not. I found this article to be very sad and I really wish there was something that could be done to improve these school systems and help these poor kids get the education they deserve.

Chapter 5 - American Education: European Heritage and Colonial Experience

After reading Chapter 5, I was completely...speechless. There was so much information that it was hard to retain the most important parts. Personally, I find history really boring and hard to remember all the different aspects. The biggest thing I learned in this chapter was that our education today has evolved a lot and has come a long way since the "Ancient Societies". There are a lot of different, yet important, people who influenced education in many ways and at many different times in history. For example, Socrates (Education in Ancient Societies), Thomas Aquinas (Education in the Middle Ages), John Calvin (Education During the Reformation), Friedrich Frobel (Later European Educational Thought), and many, many more. I found out what a bunch of new terms meant, such as: humanism, naturalism, hornbook, dame schools, and many others as well. Another interesting point is that Christianity (or religion in general) had a huge impact on education and society. The five steps that Johann Herbart followed to plan his classes (preparation, presentation, association, generalization, application) are still very similar to the way we plan our classes now a days. The first education laws were that selectmen from each town had to go around in houses and check up on the children, make sure their parents are teaching them what they are supposed to be taught. Girls could attend dame schools, but most of them received very minimal education. There is a lot more information given in this chapter, it is hard to narrow it down. Overall, after having read this chapter, I feel a lot more educated on the history of our education today.

~Dano~

Chapter 4 - The Impact of Educational Theories on Educational Practice

This chapter talks about the different theories of education. There are six main ones: Perennialism, Progressivism, Behaviourism, Essentialism, Social Reconstructionism and Postmodernism. For each of these six theories we learn about general information, their purpose of schooling, the nature of their learner, their curriculum, their instructional methods, their classroom management, their assessments, the way their teachers are and their leading educational proponents. There is a lot of information about every single one of these theories in the chapters. At the end of the chapter, the authors ask the reader which theory they can most relate too. Just like the philosophies, I still haven't quite decided which theory I can most relate too. I'm hoping the more I learn in this class, the clearer it will be for me. It is not necessary to fit clearly into one theory/philosophy, because most of them somehow overlap each other. Even taking bits and pieces of a few of them and putting them together could possibly create a great teaching method. I also learnt that the theories are constantly changing due to economic, social and political climates. With all this new knowledge, I can't wait to start figuring things out for my own teaching career!

~Dano~

Chapter 3 - The Major Philosophies

This chapter really got me thinking about certain things. The definition of philosophy is as follows: "the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct" To understand your own philosophies, you must ask yourself three questions: 1. What is the nature of reality? 2. What is the nature of knowledge? 3. What is the nature of values? Answering these questions will help you figure out which philosophy you might relate to the most. I also learnt that there are three branches of philosophy (metaphysics, epistemology and axiology) and two types of logic (deductive and inductive). The traditional philosophies are idealism, realism and Neo-Thomism, which is "the belief in certain preestablished metaphysical truths." The modern philosophies are pragmatism, existentialism and analytic philosophy, which is "the belief that there are no preestablished truths." After reading this chapter, I tried to see which philosophy I could relate to the most, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. One last quote that really got me thinking... "I think, therefore I am" :)

Teacher Education Handbook

The Teacher Education Handbook had a lot of very interesting details in it. Being a student from Canada, I had no idea how the certification and degree-seeking worked. After having read this handbook, I knew basically everything I had to know. I learnt about the history of our university and that the Education program mission is as follows: "Preparing leaders of vision in a learning community dedicated to academic excellence, spiritual growth and service." I also enjoyed the lists of what these three aspects were. I find that the outcomes of the program are very realistic and I can see myself reaching every single one of them, and improving the skills I already do have. Having everything written in front of you in detail makes decisions a lot easier. I also really enjoy how we are going to be getting so much field experience in our stay at Finlandia, and I think with that experience will come the confidence needed to become an excellent teacher. I also really liked the list about what we will achieve on page 40 and 41 of the handbook. Again, being a student from Canada, I thought it was pretty interesting to read about the Michigan standards, and compare them to the Canadian ones. I saw that the GPA you need to maintain is 2.70 overall, so I guess that means I will have to study hard and do well in all my classes!

Chapter 2 - Development of the Profession

The first thing that caught my attention reading this chapter was the following quote: "Teaching is a work of the most demanding sort, for teachers must make dozens of decisions daily, command a wide body of knowledge and skill, learn to react instantly, and be disposed to act wisely in difficult situations." Teachers are very tough people; mentally, physically and emotionally. They can handle a lot and must know how to work well with kids. In this chapter, I learnt the requirements of a profession, the factors working to improve the professionalization of teaching, the professional development for teachers, the evaluation of teacher performance and the professional organizations for teachers. I learnt about the Code of Ethics and also found out that teachers have a high degree of autonomy. One statistic that I found quite interesting was that 80% of teachers believe they could make a difference in their students life. Personally, from experience, I believe that as a role model, you can make a difference in their life. The National Board Certification is a great way to be recognized as a teacher. Two ways to really help out teachers (new and old!) is by having mentoring programs as well as self-renewal programs. Every teacher needs a break sometimes!! This chapter contained a lot of important information and this is only the beginning of our great adventure on becoming a teacher!!

Chapter 1 - Status of the Profession

The first thing I agreed with while reading this chapter is that a lot of people who became teachers were positively influenced by a former teacher. This is exactly my scenario. My elementary school physical education teacher and my high school guidance counselor is the one person who influenced me the most. Since the day I met her, I have wanted to be a teacher. I learnt in this chapter that a big benefit to being a teacher is having the long summer vacations. One of my teachers in high school told me that those vacations are much needed because by the time the school year is over, some of those kids are to the point where it gets really hard to handle them. There are three main reasons people want to become teachers, and I think the best one to have is the desire to work with kids. I have been working with kids for a very long time. I went from babysitting, to coaching elementary basketball teams, to working at a youth drop-in center, to substitute teaching. If you don't have a desire to work with kids and want to see them accomplish things in their lives and make it to the next level, teaching would probably be a very hard thing to do. Other things I learnt while reading this chapter were the ten standards that teachers need to follow and the different types of salaries for teachers. Most teachers salaries are based on the single schedule salary, which pays the same salary for the amount of preperation and experience. Last, but not least, I learnt that the status of the teaching profession is slowly improving. This chapter was a very good introduction to the profession of teaching and I can't wait to learn more about it!!