Teaching, Learning, and Schooling: A 21st Century Perspective

Teaching, Learning, and Schooling: 21st Century argues that American society has undergone a series of profound social, cultural, and political changes since the 1960s that have redefined the meaning of teaching, learning, and schooling in a postmodern culture. The text directs students toward many of the most vital issues in contemporary education. While drawing on traditional sources in educational sociology, history, and anthropology, it also addresses the work of educational theorists such as C. A. Bowers, Henry Giroux, Joe Kincheloe, Peter McClaren, and Shirley Steinberg. It covers traditional subjects in the Social Foundations of Education, such as the organization of schools and the Separation of Church and State, and also deals at length with newer issues, such as the impact of media and computing on children and the schools, the role of gender (including the rights of gay teachers and students), and the changing nature of the family.

Table of Contents:
Each Chapter concludes with “Conclusion”, “Discussion Questions”, and “Sources”. Preface. Sources. I. EDUCATION AND SCHOOLING IN A POST-MODERN CULTURE. 1. Introduction. 2. Schools as Cultural Institutions. Introduction. What Is Culture? Education as Cultural Capital. Cultural Literacy? What Does it Mean to Be Culturally Literate? Can Schooling Be Neutral? The Hidden Curriculum. The Null Curriculum. Religion and the Null Curriculum. Resistance Theory and Learning. Developing a Critical Pedagogy. 3. Sustaining Our Culture and the Goals of Education. Goals of American Education. Educational Lobbying Groups. The Great School Legend. Should People Be Compensated for Past Injustices? Ecological Principles Applied to Schools. Dare the School Build a New Social Order? Critical Questions About the Nature and Purpose of Schooling. 4. Education and American Society. Online Information About Education. What Does the Public Think About Its Schools? Education and Power. Paulo Freire: Education as Cultural Action for Freedom. Educational Colonialism. Education and Hegemony. Key Court Cases: The Pledge of Allegiance. Schools as Social Systems. What Are Education and Schooling Really About? 5. Teachers in American Society. Teaching in America: An Overview. Teachers as Professionals. National Board Certification for Teaching. National Education Association Code of Ethics of the Education Profession. Teaching as a “Moral Craft.” The Teacher as a Moral Force. The American Federation of Teachers. Teaching in America: Historical Development. Education and Literature: Laura Ingalls Wilder. Education and Literature: John Steinbeck. Why Do People Become Teachers? The Typical American Teacher. Teaching as a Feminized Profession. The Professional Socialization of Teachers. Teacher Salaries. Merit Pay for Teachers. Teacher Demand. Recruitment of Minority Teachers. Teacher Unions. Rewards and Satisfaction for Teachers. Teachers' Rights. He? She? The Teacher as a Social Force. Post-Modern Trends and Their Implications for the Work of Teachers. II. THE ORGANIZATION AND CONTROL OF AMERICAN SCHOOLS. 6. Local and State Involvement in American Education. Schools as Bureaucracies. School System Web Sites. School Districts and School Boards. Historical Foundations of School Boards. Contemporary Schoolboards. National School Boards Association. Principals. The Superintendent of Schools. Financing the Schools. The Superintendent of Schools. State Department of Education Web Sites. Controls and Influences. Federal Involvement in American Education. The Land Grant College Act of 1862. The United States Office of Education. Patterns of Federal Influence. Federal Control of Education: Summary. Post-Modern Trends and Their Implications for the Local, State, and Federal Control of Schools. 7. Private Education and Religion in the United States. Origins of Private Education. Issues in Private Education. Catholic Education. Education and Literature: Richard Rodriguez. Separation of Church and State. In God We Trust. Judicial Decisions. A Moment of Silence. Christian Fundamentalism and the Schools. Educational Vouchers and Tuition Tax Credits. A Moment of Silence? Types of Private Schools. Government Regulation of Private Schools. Public Funding for Private Schools. III. MULTICULTURALISM AND THE FAMILY IN AMERICAN SOCIETY. 8. Immigration, Education, and Multiculturalism. Restrictions on Immigration. Should We Limit Immigration? The Americanization of Immigrants. Americanizing Immigrants. Teaching Immigrant Students: Alice Boardman, Barre, Vermont. Defining Cultural Pluralism and Multiculturalism. Multicultural Models as a Continuum. Ethnicity and Multiculturalism. Immigrant Voices: Steve Commeau, French Canadian Immigrant. A Survey of Ethnics. Immigrant Voices: Andreas Ueland, Norwegian Immigrant. Japanese Americans. German Americans. Immigrant Voices: Hilda Polacheck's Essay Describing the Russian Immigrant Jacob Saranoff and His Family. Italian Americans. Chinese Americans. Education and Literature: Mark Twain's Comments About Chinese Immigrants in California. Haitian Americans. Education and Literature: Maxine Hong Kingston. Bilingualism and American Education. The New Immigration. 9. Childhood, Adolescence and the Family. The Family and Compulsory Education. The Great Change in Childhood. Childhood and Contemporary Culture. Child and the Adult World. The Changing American Family. Compulsory Education. Home Schooling. Home Schooling Resources. IV. EDUCATION AND EQUALITY. 10. Race and American Education. Dominated Cultures. Native Americans as a Dominated Group. What's in a Name? Native American Resources on the World Wide Web. Puerto Rican Americans: A Dominated Culture. African Americans: A Dominated Group. Blacks and American Education. Slave Narratives: Frederick Douglass. Opposing Models of Black Education. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois. The Movement for Civil Rights. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Should We Be Ashamed of George Washington? Desegregating Little Rock's Central High School. Reverse Discrimination. Busing. Compensatory Education. Dominated Cultures and the Concept of “Privilege”. Is there such a thing as “Whiteness”? 11. Gender and Education. Sexism and Language. Women and American Education. Women and Contemporary Education. Sexual Discrimination in the Classroom. Sexism in Children's Books and Textbooks. Alternative Sexual Orientations. Does Homosexuality Encourage Homosexuality? The Rights of Gay Teachers. Counseling and Nurturing Homosexual Students. Sex Education and the Schools. 12. The Education of Students With Special Needs. The Growth in Special Education. The Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Public Law 94-142. Is Mainstreaming Always Justified? Equal Access and the Special Student. Identifying Individuals with Special Needs. Labeling as an Issue in Education. The Gifted and the Talented as Students with Special Needs. V. TEXTBOOKS, TELEVISION, AND COMPUTERS. 13. Textbooks and the Curriculum. Textbooks as Curriculum and Cultural Capital. Textbooks and Their Role in the History of Education. The McGuffey Readers. The Dick and Jane Readers. The Textbook Business. Controversies Over the Content of Books. State Adoptions of Textbooks. Textbooks in a Post-Typographic Culture. 14. Media, Computers, and Education. Television and the Electronic Screen as Culture. Television and American Culture. Television as Teaching Machine. Television Violence. Television's Potential Positive Promise. Online Information About Electronic Media and Education. Computing in Contemporary Culture. The Computer as the Children's Machine. Computers and Their Educational Meaning. Are Video Games Teaching Machines? Computers and Equity. Technological Requirements for Future Teachers. Appendix: INTASC Standards. Glossary. Index.