The Sociological Imagination, By Martin Luther King

By the beginning of the second Millennium, many countries realized the need and necessity to cope up with the rest of the rapidly developing world. As they realized this necessity, they also realized that the key to growth and development is, indeed, education. As a result, many countries around the world entered the heated race of reforming their education systems hoping that this would ensure them a foothold in the modern world.

“Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance wheel of the social machinery”

Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Martin Luther King Jr. In 1967, King separated himself from the world and hid from the Civil Rights Movement. King writes out his thoughts, plans, and dreams for America’s future. As part of this plan he mentions what would come with this dream and that’s better jobs, houses, higher incomes, and better education. Most importantly King speaks out against the war. Kings speech titled “Beyond Vietnam”. Which explains the relationship of the Civil Rights and peace movement. King asked that all bombing stop in North and South Vietnam be an agreement and remove all troops and give the people of slavery a decision on reaching agreements. King believed that the Vietnam War took money and attention from programs that helped the poor. Furthermore, King said “the war was doing far more devastating the hopes of the poor at home we were taking the black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in Southwest Georgia and East Harlem (Martin Luther King, Jr speaks out against the war, ‘1967)

The 20th century saw more changes to education than the thousand years preceding it. This was largely in response to a recently industrialised country; with newly acquired voting rights, it became apparent that education should not be only for elites. Education is a crucial element of social mobility and it is important we fully understand both the positive and negative aspects of previous legislation to help us plan for the future. The were two major 20th century pieces of legislation: 1944 Education Act and 1988 Education Reform Act. Both brought with them changes that are still being felt today. This essay will cover those Acts in detail, along with other sizable changes such as comprehensivisation, marketization and how other external

Melbourne Declaration: Policy for Equitable Access to Education Introduction The Melbourne Declaration as a new national declaration of educational goals for young Australian released by Australian Education Ministers, aims to provide an adequate education for all students, and especially to extend the equity in access to education and reduce outcome gaps for students from different social groups. This paper provides a critical analysis of Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians Policy enacted in 2008 with reference to its values, objectives, implementation approach, and the basis upon which it was developed and enacted. Policy overview Australia comprises of 6 states and 2 territories that values education as a pivotal

This essay will explore the 1988 Education reform act by looking at past, during and after ramifications that the act brought . These will include the view that the 1988 Education Reform Act is influential in terms of controlling and progressing schools further could be seen as decisive, one reason being it could be a means of achieving control of the curriculum and the assessment, enabling them to progress and monitor their spending control, as well as the rise in the standards of school in terms of the competition and choice (Parliament, 1989). There are also views that education has since, in similar ways, become more like a business, this comparison was made by sociologist Stephen Ball (1990), this would be

According to Ken Robinson, the current education system has yet to adapt to the modern world and it’s different modes of thinking, creating a stand still in curriculum success that is in desperate need of reform. After explaining how countries around the world want to reform education and carry on legacies, Robinson makes the case that our current education system is out dated. The current system was established during the 18th century during the Industrial Revolution, which was based largely on agricultural and urban advancements. As Robinson mentions, every community wants their children to be prepared for the current economic opportunities and carry a cultural legacy, but that’s hard to do when our current system isn’t cohesive to today’s circumstances. “People are trying to work out how we educate our children to their place in the economies of the 21st century.” (Robinson, RSAnimate)

The recent proposal for a common national curriculum across all Australian States and territories has sparked large debate across the education board. This has left many Australians questioning the future direction of education in Australia. Stephen Buckle, principal at Narrenwood Secondary College, an Anonymous writer and a cartoon by Jobs provide strong opposing views on the suggested common curriculum. Buckle’s “Why should schooling change at every State border?”, reasonably contends that because all Australians are one, an individuals education should not be determined by where they live. She calls on the “predictable” choices made by State Education Ministers to be replaced by a common curriculum consistent across

As a student just out of high school, due for at least four more years of higher-education, the problems in education addressed during Chapter 8 are especially pertinent to my own life. However, that’s not to say that the problems in the education system aren’t important on a society-wide level as the quality of education is a major indicator for a society’s level of development and by extension the knowledge and to a degree the values of its citizens. The rhetorical question the textbook asks is a good summary of the flaws of the education system, “education is often claimed as a panacea – the cure-all for poverty and prejudice, drugs and violence, war and hatred, and the like. Can one institution, riddled with problems, be a solution for

The civil rights movement was a time of fighting, fright, and change, and arguably one of the most important times in history. Many strategies and events have been credited with advancing and affecting the civil rights movement. Dennis Chong argues that nonviolence was the most effective strategy used by activists in the civil rights movement (Chong 20). However, Kathleen Hall Jamieson argues that the civil rights movement “was catalyzed … by eloquent pictures” (Jamieson 57-58). With its power to impact and transform opinions, and change the trajectory of different events, visual art became a major factor in the civil rights movement. Norman Rockwell’s paintings worked to eliminate the pervasive racial stereotypes, changing the opinions of many Americans and the trajectory of the civil rights movement as a whole.

6). Brady and Kennedy recognise that teachers are the professionals as their training equips them with the skills and knowledge, in other words “teachers, in reality, are the mediators of the curriculum” (Brady & Kennedy, 2014, p. 6). Businesses are the stakeholders who employ these students in the future, so they wish to see that “the school curriculum must deliver outcomes that are relevant to employment opportunities and the economic needs of society” (Brady & Kennedy, 2014, p. 4). The governments have the same enthusiasm as the businesses when it comes to the designing of the school curriculum. One of the government’s main reasoning of involvement in the school curriculum is because of the awareness progressing design of the knowledge development of Australia’s future citizens. “In general, democratic governments wish to see a community that is socially cohesive, politically literate, culturally sophisticated, tolerant and just” (Brady & Kennedy, 2014, p. 7). The school curriculum has a big impact and can do what the governments and businesses want for the

For Week 8 of Cultural Anthropology, my main interest came from my readings about human power. Even before I began taking this class, I have always wondered if power was simply just an instinct we humans strive for in our everyday lives, or, does this striving urge come from violence or peace? Through Chapter 12, I was able to dive into the naturality of human behavior towards power. From natural expression, DNA, and adoption, several factors have an effect on human authority and control.

A National Curriculum has been of some importance within the Australian Governments for some time. Previous national planned curriculums have been developed and failed a number of times. The Australian Governments with the guidance of the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians have developed ‘The Australian Curriculum’; A planned national curriculum from Foundation to Year 12 covering a variety of learning areas or subjects catering for Diversity, Differences and the needs of the 21st Century. The introduction of the Australian Curriculum is designed to supply all young Australians across the States and Territories an education that is of equal and high standards. This Essay will discuss the structure of the

These mini essays will discuss Aboriginal Australian history and it’s connections to official education policies both past and present.

The universities are predominantly owned by the government and relay on government subsidy as their main source of income to run their everyday business. Universities argue that the reduction in funding tertiary education would bring a crisis in higher education system (King 2001, p. 191). On the other hand, government of all political persuasions seems to accept university funding as a trivial government agenda. Even though, recently elected coalition government has announced a slight-increase in research funding, the package seems too little compared to recent plan on university funding cut (King 2001, p. 191). The fresh proposal to cut university funding will hamper Australian’s education system, may