School and Society - Assignment Example

of the of the Concerned 7 September 2008 School and SocietyThere exists a symbiotic relationship between schools and the society they serve. A plethora of historical and contemporary perspectives often have a direct influence on the social relevance of the teaching practices followed in schools as well as on the institutional goals and procedures that directly mould the classroom approaches (Tozer, Violas, & Senese 3). Thus for an academician, it is vital to study and understand the relationship that exists between schools and the society they enlighten, from a historical point of view. Considering the vast scope and size of the American society and its level of diversity, education has a broad role to play in addressing vital issues such as the levels of education in the ethnic and underprivileged sections of the society. It is next to impossible to do so without understanding the ramifications of the range of social and administrative measures in the aid of education, adopted by the American society from time to time. Q 1. Describe the perspectives of liberal and vocational education in the development of the comprehensive high schools. Provide examples of how each has helped to shape the role of education in the United States. How do they continue to impact contemporary education? Ans. Considering the rapid changes being unleashed in the 21st century and the basic societal issues, challenges and opportunities that the students have to contend with in an American and a global context, it is important to seriously meditate on the ingredients of the curriculum that will enable the students to lead a positive, productive and meaningful life. Thus it is imperative to expose the students to a wide range of disciplines (U.S. Newswire 1). In that sense, liberal education has played a groundbreaking role in the development of comprehensive high schools in the US. The augmenting need for increasing pragmatism in the 21st century America cannot dilute the importance of traditional liberal education in the schools. However, one cannot underestimate the need for vocational education in schools. Vocational education in tandem with liberal education prepares the individuals to be productive leaders and workers who adhere to a sound ethical background. The signing of the Vocational Education Act by President Lyndon Johnson gave way to the most comprehensive vocational education program in the history of America. Q2. Compare the major educational recommendations of James B. Conant with those advocated by Mark Van Doren in the article “Education for All”, assessing their relative significance for democratic life. Which school of thought continues to have the greatest impact on contemporary education? Ans. James B. Conant was an educationist who exercised a major influence on the education system in the US. He vociferously advocated the inclusion of the history of science in the school curriculums so as to make students understand the varied dimensions of scientific development. In a way he gave preference to the study of science in the schools over other humanistic disciplines such as sociology, economics and politics. Doing so, Conant reinforced the American Cold War ideology as he did not mind the defense oriented scientific research and the military funding of research programs. On the contrary, Mark Van Doren (1894-1973), a renowned American poet, critic and a dedicated teacher adhered to a different point of view. His immensely influential work Liberal Education (1943) vied for a rediscovery of the American classicism. He was an acknowledged champion of arts and recommended an intensive study of humanities in the academic institutions. In the current scenario, considering the scientific supremacy of the United States of America and its role as a world leader, it would certainly not be wrong to say that both of these intellectual giants made a decisive contribution to the American education system in terms of ideology and guidelines. Q3. Explain the Hegemony Theory and its intent to control the masses through the media and public education. Provide examples of how this theory has been implemented to determine who, what and how children are educated. Ans. Hegemony defines the control of one social group over the other. For the dominant class to exercise a decisive control over the dominated majority, it is imperative to resort to a series of financial, political and cultural tactics to solicit the consent, partial if not absolute, of the less fortunate social groups. In a narrow sense, hegemony stands for a non-military dominance that is primarily cultural in its moorings. The basic objective of the hegemonic class is to be potent enough to actively control the preferences and choices of all the ideological, cultural and social institutions lying within its domain. It involves within its scope a series of measures such as the use of academic curricula and institutions to solicit a formal acceptance of the hegemonic power, the use of popular media to immerse the mass consciousness in the dominant class’s propaganda and ideology, developing a loyal and staunch bureaucratic system to camouflage the actual source of power, and to mobilize the legal institutions and instruments of violence such as police and armed forces to restrain and snub opposition. During the Cold War era, hegemonic tactics were actively used by the state in both the US and the erstwhile USSR, in the designing of the school curricula and the management and administration of academic institutions to make the masses believe in the propaganda being disseminated by the then leadership and the dominant groups on both the sides. Q 4. Describe the Early Cold War Era. What was its impact on schooling during this period? How did James Bryant Conant influence the role of public education and post secondary education during this period? Provide examples of his influence. Ans. Now is the time to realize that the Cold War era had a profound and somewhat debilitating impact on the education system in the US. At a military level, US worked hard to thrust its influence in the East by seeking the cooperation of the major Western powers that ultimately materialized into NATO. At a local level, it was practically mandatory for the state to make the masses ardently believe in the threat imposed by the Communist challenge and to solicit the willing cooperation of the masses in the Cold War efforts and the resultant centralization of power. Besides it was imperative to develop a mass consciousness that silently accepted the behemoth expenses being incurred by the military and the defense related R&D and efforts. The framework for such a rigid and bipolar world was assembled in the schools and universities of those times. The American realization of the Soviet Union as a potent military and technological adversary resulted in one of the most important instruments of legislation pertaining to education i.e. the 1958 National Defense Education Act (Lambert 7). Cold war efforts were declared to be a top priority and the study and research in the defense related technology was tacitly accepted to be the first priority of academic institutions. Thus, the humanities were delegated to a back stage in the overall education system. Proponents of science like James B. Conant extended the required ideological and theoretical support to this marked shift in the academic priorities. Cold War also led to many positive changes such as the Federal initiative to desegregate the public schools in the US. Q 5. Describe how literacy has impacted the quality and level of education in ethnic and economically disadvantaged communities? How has the redefining of literacy impacted the rates of functional illiteracy within the United States? What has been the role of conventional, functional, cultural, and critical literacy in defining contemporary education? Ans. The improvement in the overall literacy rates have somewhat improved the quality and level of education in the ethnic and underprivileged segments of the society. Illiteracy and language can often prove to be a major obstacle to the assimilation of these segments of the society into the mainstream culture. The redefining of literacy in terms of information literacy can further aggravate the plight of these groups. Luckily, the education system is recognizing the relevance of functional, cultural and critical literacy in a diverse and democratic society. Teachers, librarians and academic professionals are being sensitized to the needs and requirements of ethnic communities (de la Pena 2). The curricula are also being reinvented taking into consideration the cultural preferences and concerns of ethnic communities. Q 6. Describe the efforts to establish teaching as a bona fide profession. What has been the role of Horace Mann, James B. Conant, and John Dewey in the process to establish education as a profession? How did their approaches differ? Which of their approaches appear to have the greatest influence on the No Child Left Behind Act? Ans. Educationists like Horace Mann and John Dewey played a pivotal role in establishing teaching as a bona fide profession. Horace Mann, a celebrated educational reformer, who acted as the secretary, board of education in Massachusetts started the tradition of holding the teachers’ conventions to upgrade their skill levels and advocated a single school system throughout a state. John Dewey a writer, lecturer and philosopher gave theories that left a profound and lasting influence on the American school system. He gave call for a rational reform of the public education system and considered vocational training and experimentation to be an integral part of education system. Whereas Mann worked for achieving sweeping reforms pertaining to the organizational structure and administration of schools, Dewey supported pragmatic educational methods based on instrumentalism. James B. Conant expanded the scope of educational reforms by stressing upon the need for including sciences in the school curricula. The reforms wrought by these almost revered educationists established education as a complete discipline in itself and made an immense contribution towards establishing teaching as a skilled and cherished profession. The No Child Left Behind (NCLP) Act of 2001, which intends to improve the performance of primary and secondary schools by enhancing accountability of the managing authorities and giving more flexibility to parents so far as the onerous task of choosing a school for their children is concerned, has its moorings in the ideals established by these three champions of educational reforms. 1. Carl D. Perkins Act The leaders and educationists in the US do understand that educational reforms are a continuous process and many statutory instruments testify to this fact. Carl D. Perkins Act of 1998 is a major legislative document that aims at streamlining the education system to enable the secondary and post secondary students hone their vocational and technical skills while studying (The Library of Congress). It urges the states and localities to improve their academic standards. This act encourages research so as to extend professional and technical assistance to schools in improving their vocational and technical education programs. 2. Title IX Educational Amendment Title IX, Education amendments of today are a potent and effective attempt to do away with the gender oriented lacunas in the education system. They prohibit discrimination in education programs on the basis of sex (U.S. Department of Labor). 3. Head Start Head Start Act aims at providing “low income children and their families with health, educational, nutritional, social and other services… (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). This act will go a long way in ameliorating the lot of the underprivileged segments of the society in the US. 4. National Board of Professional Teaching Standards National Board of Professional Teaching Standards is an autonomous, non-profit organization funded by the US Department of Education and private corporations that assesses the skills and the abilities of teachers so as to certify them as qualified professionals. This organization has played an exceptional role in improving the quality of teaching methods and teaching skills over the years. 5. Vocational Education versus Career and Technical Education There exist marked differences and similarities between career education and vocational education. Career education is generally open to all students whereas vocational education is primarily directed towards students who intend to acquire skills pertaining to a specific job. Career education is a loosely broader concept with multiple disciplines incorporated in its curriculum whereas vocational education has a curriculum oriented towards acquiring skills in a particular trade area. Both the types of educational approaches constitute an integral part of the contemporary education system. 6. Multicultural Education Multicultural Education is an emerging discipline that intends to create equal educational opportunities for students hailing from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. The primary objective of the Multicultural Education is to arm these students with the relevant knowledge and skills that are necessary to be a productive citizen in a multicultural society. Considering the cultural diversity of America, this discipline has become a vital component of the contemporary education system. 7. Bilingual Education Bilingual Education aims at ushering in the ideal of political correctness in the education system of a culturally diverse country like the US. It involves teaching most of the subjects in the schools in two languages i.e. English and some other minority language. 8. Lau versus Nicholas Lau versus Nicholas was an epoch making law suit filed against the San Francisco Unified School District by the Chinese-American students. The decision went in favor of the plaintiffs. This decision pushed the federal government to take initiative in the favor of bilingual education that materialized into the passing of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act by the Congress, the very same year. The education system in any democratic society is always a continuously evolving body and it is vital for the concerned professionals in the field of education to be conversant with the historical and contemporary influences that have and had pivotal role in deciding the direction of education and instruction in a vibrant society. Works Cited Charles D. Perkins Act (1998). The Library of Congress. 7 Sept. 2008 : de la Pena, Kathleen. “Punto Final! Empowerment of Hispanics through Information Literacy” (1999). The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. 7 Sept. 2008 Head Start Act. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 7 Sept. 2008 < http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/legislation/HS_act.html#635> Lambert, Dejong. Rethinking Little Rock: The Cold War Politics of School Segregation in the United States. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2007 “Rollins College to Host Colloquy to Explore the Role of a Liberal Education in The 21st Century”. U.S. Newswire (2007). 7 Sept. 2008 Title IX, Education Amendment of 1972. U.S. Department of Labor. 7 Sept. 2008 Tozer, Violas, and Guy Senese. School and Society- Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. New York: McGraw Hill, 2001. Read More