School & Community Flashcards
teachers, instruction, and classroom
o characteristics of the teacher determine the environment of the classroom
• teacher qualification = strongest correlation for academic achievement
• represents flexibility, efficiency, background knowledge
o teacher’s professional identity and pedagogical beliefs
• teacher’s identity fueled by abilities, goals, and expectations of the classroom, students, and self
• persistence, management style, emotions – all influential variables
• “social teachers” as “academic instructions” are the most efficient
• teacher’s stereotypes/expectations of specific students alters behavior
• doesn’t matter if these thoughts are positive or negative
Pedagogical goals
• achievement goal theory – belief cognitive purposes/goals organize the quality of individual’s attention, emotion, cognitions, and behavior (during teaching), leading to altered teaching styles
• relative ability goal orientation –how much one compares to others
o can lead to self-handicapping
• mastery and self-improvement goal – acknowledging individual improvement and progression
o promotes meaningful learning, adaptation, collaboration
• in big classes, teacher has less personal connections to students, thereby mostly focuses on the material rather than guiding the individual students
teacher-student relationships
• stronger relations = improve motivation, self-esteem, achievement, emotions
• but need balance of autonomy and support
• as students progress from elementary to middle to high school
• to increase autonomy, need to properly foster motivation first
o without this, there is a decrease in academic achievement
• Increase in discipline within violent schools, due to personal safety, decrease academic performance
school climate and management
- students are motivated in environments that match their interests
- = person-environment fit
- self determination theory – humans are determined to feel competent, socially attached, and autonomous
- expectancy value theory – belief a teacher’s characteristics can influence a student’s motivation for learning, if the student accepts the teacher’s values
academic tracks and curricular differentiation
o tracking problems are controversial
• popular due to their ability to distinguish students for later performance
o alters quality of received treatment, peer groups, academic identity
• the suffering students continue to suffer, or become worse
schools as organizations with cultures
School resources
• low SES families, poorer school districts, fewer resources, unqualified teachers, poor academic performance by students
School size
• smaller schools = Increase in adult monitoring/responsibility of performance, close relationships, ability to be involved in extracurriculars, academic performance
School culture
• each school has unique interpersosal, moral, and academic expectations
• ex) more value placed in a catholic school vs. public school
• use of honor rolls and other systems that emphasis achievement leads to the development of students own goals and beliefs
• but too much of a focus on this has the opposite effect
Unsupervised school spaces
• such as parking lots and bathrooms, tends to have victimization
School hours and schedules
• earlier start time in later years: wrong, the body wants to sleep later
• leads to earlier dismissals, with time before parents arrive home
o leads to more delinquency at this time
• school calendar runs from Sept. to June, but this gap, which is historically influenced, leads to retaining issues
• well off children: placed in summer programs to counter this
school-home-community connections
o home-school connections
• the parents involvement within school leads to better academic and socioemotional outcomes, but is limited by parental availability, economic resources, failure to understand the course material, etc
o school-community connections
• the strength between these two is correlated with increased achievement, community involvement, self-esteem, & decrease in drop out, and suspension rates
transition into elementary school
o systematic changes in social world, though the earlier the better
o now surrounded by those of one’s own age
o teachers assessment sets tone for later motivation, achievement, and behavior
The middle school transition
o increased test anxiety, decreased interest in school, academia, and achievement • due to puberty, inappropriate transitions, intrapsychic variables, increased class population, creating weaker teacher-student bonds, need for more teacher control in order to control larger classes, (opposing adolescents desire for autonomy), testing focuses on more pragmatic results, (as opposed to simply testing for knowledge) o for best outcome, instruct how to prepare for high standards, while supporting a climate that supports intellectual development
The high school transition
o even weaker teacher-student relationships, stricter guidelines, more tracking
Neighborhood and Community Influences
• emphasis on this due to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of development
• research shows those students already suffering, continue to do so due to environment
o resource exposures:
• by preschool: negative aspects of parent’s behavior, unhealthy lifestyle,
• by adolescence: neg. encounters w/ poor school systems and community
Community and School-based Free-time Activities
• constructive organized activates
o decreases one’s exposure to risky behavior, teaches how to be healthy engaged,
o increases possibility of establishing positive social supports/networks, developing intellectual skills, a sense of community, understanding of values
• involvement requires effort and commitment, but is associated with lower levels of criminal offenses, dropping-out, and higher GPAs, sport engagement, and overall health
Peer Culture as a Primary Mediator of School Community and Free-time Activity Effects
• contains both positive and negative aspects, depending on values and norms
• allows for cooperative learning via sharing material, model skills, and tutoring
• clustered, peer groups leads to reinforcement of a group norms/values
o physical appearance seems to be on entrance criteria for such groups
Peers’ Role in the Coordination of Multiple Goals
• peer groups seem to influence desirability level of goals for its members
Conclusion
• school = a multilevel system of organization and interaction
o this degree of variation exists within the school and with external systems
Parental School Involvement & Children’s Academic Achievement (Hill & Taylor)
o parental involvement within a school leads to positive school-related outcomes
(although this involvement typically decreases in middle and high schools)
• increases social capital
o provides parent with better understanding of school, allowing them to aid in work
• social control
o both can work together to accomplish/reinforce goals of each
Family and School Characteristics that Influence Parental School Involvement
• high SES: typically more involved || low SES: typically have barriers to involvement
o low SES is usually less educated and affiliates negative experiences with school
• cultural differences
o African American parents involved with home
o European Americans more involved with schools
• teacher’s culture, parent’s culture, and parental cognitions all play a role
