Ch. 12 Education
Development and Structure of Education
Bureaucracy in Education
•Schools today are still based onspecialization, rules and procedures,and impersonality
•Standardization leads totransferability, and equality ofeducation
•Critics claim that old factory,bureaucratic model is notappropriate for schooling
–Formal schooling – education that isprovided and regulated by society
–The school’s bureaucratic nature isunable to respond to the expressivecreative, and emotional needs of allchildren
Democratic Reforms in the classroom
•In 1647 Massachusetts required towns of 50 ormore to have a schoolmaster
•American progressive education movement ofthe 1920s and 30s was a reaction to strictVictorian authoritarianism of early 19th centuryschool
–John Dewey led the progressive educationmovement which emphasized:
•Knowledge related to work and individual studentinterests
–Almost disappeared in the 50s but came back inthe 60s as humanistic movement
•3 ways to express humanistic educationalimpulse: open classroom, cooperativelearning, intergrative curriculum
Open classroom
Open classroom – a non-bureaucratic approach toeducation based on democracy, flexibility, andnon-competitiveness
•Competition is not a good motivator for children
•No graded report cards based on comparison ofstudent performance
Cooperative learning
Cooperative learning – instructionalmethod that relies on cooperationamong students
•Teachers are guides not controllingagents
•Students learn more when activelyinvolved w/ others in class
•Benefits of cooperative learning
–Uncooperativeness and stress amongstudents is reduced
–Academic performance increases
–Students have more positive attitudestoward school
–Racial and ethnic antagonism decreases
–Self-esteem increases
Integrative Curriculum
Integrative Curriculum – approach to educationbased on student-teacher collaboration
•Subject matter is selected and organized around certainreal-world themes or concepts
Back-to-basics Movement
•Worried by low scores on achievement tests,supporters pushed for a return to a traditionalcurriculum based on more bureaucratic methods
•A Nation at Risk – a report that warned thatAmerica was at risk of being overtaken by some ofits world economic competitors
•Solutions –
–Teaching basic skills such as reading andmathematics
–Graduation requirements should be strengthened
•4 years English, 3 years of math, science, and SS, and ½year of computer science
–School days and/or school year lengthened
–Standardized achievement tests given to movefrom one grade to the next
–High school students should have more homework
–Discipline tightened
Alternative to the Public School System
•School choice – the best way to improvepublic schools is by using the free enterprisemodel and creating some competition for thepublic school system
•Methods to accomplish this goal: vouchersystem, charter school, magnet schools, for-profit school
Voucher system
Voucher system – system in which publicschool funds may be used to supportpublic, private, or religious school
•Parents who choose public schools paynothing
•Parents who choose private or religiousschools receive a government voucher topay a portion of tuition
–Voucher is equal in value to what thegovernment spends per child in publicschool
•Currently only affects 1/10 of 1% ofAmerican school kids
•Favored by African and HispanicAmericans
Charter School
Charter School – public schools that are operated likeprivate schools by public school teachers andadministrators
•Do not answer to local school boards
•Can shape their own curriculum and use traditional and non-traditional teaching methods
•Success is directly tied to the commitment and talent of theteachers and principals, and to the support of parents
Magnet Schools
Magnet Schools – public schools that focus onparticular disciplines or areas, such as fine arts orscience
•Designed to enhance school quality and to promotedesegregation
For-profit schools
For-profit schools – schools run by private companieson government funds
•By borrowing from modern business practices theseschools could be
–Efficient
–Productive
–Cost effective
•Issues
–Mixing profit and public service
–What’s more important students needs or profit margins
–Who would oversee the schools
–Voters would lose the power to influence officials and educationalpolicy
Functionalist Perspective
Manifest Functions of Education
•Social institutions develop because they meetone or more of society’s basic needs
•Manifest function – an action that producesan intended and recognized result
–Schools teach reading, writing, and math
–Transmit culture
•Instill basic values, norms, beliefs,and attitudes of society
•Ex. – value of competition
–Create a common identity formembers of society
•Learning an official language
•Sharing a national history andpatriotic themes
•Being exposed to similarinformational materials promote ashared identity
–There is a debate over bilingualeducation, does it disrupt thecommon identity
»This has led 23 states to adoptEnglish as their official language
–Select and screen talent
•For over 50 years scores on intelligence and achievement testshave been used for grouping children in school
•Test scores have been used for tracking
–Tracking – placement of students in programs according to academicability levels
–Promote personal growth and development
•Exposes students to a wide variety of perspectives andexperiences that encourage them to develop:
– creativity,
–verbal skills,
–artistic expression,
–intellectual accomplishment
–cultural tolerance
•schools attempt to prepare students for the world of work
Latent function
Latent function – an action thatproduces an unintended andunrecognized result
–Day-care facilities for dual-employedcouples or single parents
–Dates and/or marriage partners
–Prevent delinquency by holdingjuveniles indoors during the day
–Training of athletes
–Tracking can perpetuate an unequalsocial-class structure fromgeneration to generation
