Transcript The Education System

Role of educational
system
 Content of
educational materials
 Delivery of content


What role does the education system
play in our society?
Structural Functionalists:
 education a crucial part of the
socialisation process
 transmits and reinforces society’s norms
& values
 prepares children for adult roles
 selects young people in terms of their
abilities for crucial roles
 Meritocracy: work hard – get ahead
Marxism
 the role of the education
system is to reproduce &
justify the existing class
structure
 serves to coerce people
into accepting their "roles"
in an unequal society


socializes young
people into
accepting the role
assigned to them by
the capitalist class
unwritten social rules
and expectations of
behavior that we all
seem to know, but
were never taught
(Bieber, 1994).
the institutions of society, like education,
were reflections of the world created by
human activity & the ideas that arose
from and reflected the material
conditions and circumstances in which
they were generated
 "the class which is the dominant material
force in society is at the same time its
dominant intellectual force" (The German
Ideology)






ideas are not neutral
determined by the existing relations of
production - the economic structure of society
Ideas change according to the interests of the
dominant class in society
Antonio Gramsci -> "ideological hegemony" describes the influence the ruling class has over
what counts as knowledge
hegemony is exercised through institutions such
as education, or the media - Althusser refers to
this as the Ideological State Apparatus.
Formal Learning
 How has educational content changed over the
years?
 What does this tell us about our social and cultural
needs?
Ridley College, St. Catharines
Burlington High School

Standardized tests let
administrators, politicians & parents
know:
› how much students have learned
› whether standards are being met
› whether educators have done the job
they were hired to do.


‘Standardized testing is
wiping out the most
innovative instruction and
beating down some of
the best teachers and
administrators.’
‘In reality we want our
students to be achieving
the best they can,
however by imposing
unrealistic expectations
on our schools, it is
unrealistic to think that
students will be of higher
quality. ‘





Emphasizes a
rewards and
punishment system
Harder does not
mean better
Motivation
How learning
happens is
misunderstood
Wrong type of
assessment

"Today’s classrooms need to prepare
students to become citizens of the
information age. Students must think
critically, analyze and synthesize
information to solve technical, social,
economic, political, and scientific
problems, and work productively in
groups" (Mills & Roblyer, 2002).




1. Specialist physicians
$179,514
2. Judges $178,053
3. Senior managers of
financial, comm & other
business services
$162,376
4. Senior managers of
goods production,
utilities, transportation &
construction $160,947






5. General
practitioners & family
physicians $132,615
6. Dentists $131,552
7. Senior managers of
trade, broadcasting &
other services $124,080
8. Lawyers $123,632
9. Engineering
manager $113, 403
10. Banking, credit and
investment managers
$101,845
the study of being a teacher or the
process of teaching
 strategies of instruction, or a style of
instruction

lecture styles with a topdown approach
 power relations between
professor & student have
situated information
delivery often as linear &
static.
 Traditional methods of
knowledge transfer &
learning strategies are not
only mind-numbing but
also do not allow for nor
encourage constructive
interaction between
students, and between
students and instructors.

Researchers have long since argued for
a more interactive and empowering
pedagogical style of learning and
knowledge construction inside and
outside the classroom (Briskin & Coulter,
1992; Brown, 1992).
 Recent literature examining the use of
ICTs in the curriculum notes the need for
creative interfaces that encourage
learner-centered activities (Aguilera &
Mendiz, 2003; Gee, 2003).






All of us are potential teachers as well as
learners - in a true collaborative environment
we are both.
We learn particularly well from the act of
creating or expressing something for others to
see.
We learn a lot by just observing the activity of
our peers.
By understanding the contexts of others, we
can teach in a more transformational way
(constructivism)
A learning environment needs to be flexible
and adaptable, so that it can quickly respond
to the needs of the participants within it.


Moodle explained with LEGO
http://bit.ly/18gy02Y
(Modular Object Oriented
Dynamic Learning Environment)
It is an online course
management system, an
adjustable environment for
learning communities, a
software package design using
pedagogical principles and
designed to support a social
constructionist framework of
education. It is an open source
and freely available.
It supports: small and large
learning communities, different
learning and teaching styles,
delivery of learning activities
and publishing of resources,
collaboration and
communication and
compatibility with different
standards and tools.
 A Vision of Students
http://bit.ly/1dWXfqP
 A Vision of K-12
http://bit.ly/PZpcX8
Today
Students Today
Think
 Create
 Analyze
 Evaluate
 Apply

Do these traditional settings encourage these skills?





Think
Create
Analyze
Evaluate
Apply







Television/video
Cell phones
Smart phones
Digital cameras
E-readers
Mp3 players
Laptops/netbooks

What kinds of technological changes
have we seen in the education system?
› Students
› Faculty
› Administration

What are some outcomes or
implications?

TEKKRU ICT Video 2009
http://bit.ly/1Dvqw4Y

Tech Trek....ICTAM's Aboriginal Youth ICT
Challenge
http://bit.ly/1N8rqfF

UWinnipeg Diploma Will Open Doors For
Aboriginal People In Information And
Communication Technology Careers
http://bit.ly/1E9lmB2

Computers for Schools Kenya.
http://bit.ly/1Gb1Qog

Digits4Change: Connecting Islands
http://bit.ly/1wJHBpg

Inner-city school gets new high-tech
building
http://bit.ly/1GGUxCl