EDCI 231 - Historical.,
Social, and Phil. Foundations of Education
Instructor
Statement
of Purpose
The
fundamental role of Western Carolina University is to develop a
community of
scholarship in which students, faculty members, administrators, and
staff
members earn and apply the products of learning. The
General
Description
This
course
is
an
introductory
study
of
the
historical,
philosophical,
political
and sociological foundations of American
Education. This
course also introduces students to policies, procedures and
requirements of the
teacher education program. A field experience is required.
Text:
Teachers, Schools and Society: A
Brief Introduction to Education, David Sadker
and Karen Zittleman, McGraw-Hill, Second
Edition.
Class Attendance: Class attendance is
required. For more
information about class attendance, see the Grading Criteria
section.
During bad weather, students should use good judgment concerning their
personal
safety.
Academic
Honesty:
University
policy
will
be
followed
in
cases
of
plagiarism
or
cheating.
(See
the Student Handbook for an explanation of University
policy.)
Conceptual
Framework:
The professional education program at
Disability
Services:
Field
Experience:
As part of this course students are required to participate in a K-12
classroom
for 14 hours. Completion of the field experience is required
in order
to pass the course. Students are responsible for
maintaining field
experience time sheets and log. Forging a supervising teacher's
signature
is a serious breach of professional honesty, resulting in a grade of
"F."
It is the goal of the
This reflection should be approximately two pages
(no more
than three). Your focus for this
reflection will be your expanded perspective from time in the
classroom, both
from participating in EDCI 231 and your field experience observation. Consider and respond to the following
questions:
2. What benefits have you seen?
3. What questions still remain related to a career in teaching?
Grading
Criteria
Students
contract for the grade they want to earn. Earning the desired grade
involves
doing both the required quantity and quality of work. After you choose
the
quantity of work you will attempt, it is my job to give you feedback on
the
quality of your work. In this class, if the quality of your work is not
satisfactory for the desired grade, you may revise and re-submit
it. (See
re-submission requirements.)
Because
you contract for the grade you desire, student attendance must be
factored into
grade requirements. Otherwise, a student who contracts for an “A”
and
does all the required work for an “A,” but misses 6 classes, would get
the same
grade as the person who did all the required work for an “A,” and
missed no
classes. This would be unfair.
Therefore,
for all absences, you must contact me for a make-up assignment.
Class
attendance is a required part of earning whatever grade you
desire.
Consequently, grades are lowered for students who both fail to attend
class and
fail to do the makeup work.
1. Read the text
assignments
and complete all exams up to a "C" standard.
2. Satisfactorily
complete
the field experience report.
3. Satisfactorily
complete
three (3) written
assignments.
Quantity
requirements for
a "B:"
1. Read the text
assignments
and complete all exams up to a "B" standard.
2. Satisfactorily
complete
the field experience report up to a "B" standard.
3. Satisfactorily
complete five (5) written
assignments.
Quantity
requirements for
an "A:"
1. Read the text
assignments
and complete all exams up to an "A" standard.
2. Satisfactorily
complete
the field experience report up to an "A" standard..
3. Satisfactorily
complete seven (7) written
assignments.
Written
Assignments
Following are
descriptions of the written assignments:
1. Submission of an an analysis of a case study in the Reader. These reports do the following:
a. Describe three of the issues raised
in the case.
b. Explain your stance on each of the issues.
c. Explain what might be said by people who disagree with
you.
d. Explain how you respond to those disagreements by describing
what is gained and what is lost in your position.
2. Submitting
an analysis of an article from the Reader.
These analyses
do the following:
3.
Submission of the Field Experience Report on Taskstream. (Described
above.)
Three
Exams
In-class essay exams cover
class discussions and videos. Dates are on the Class Schedule.
You can re-submit
your work
if you have not received the desired grade.
This
includes tests and written assignments. Before you re-submit,
however, know what you need to do to improve it. Don't
just
re-write
some
things
and
re-submit
it.
Unless you make it
substantially better, it will not earn a better grade.
Along with your
re-submission, include the work that did not receive the
desired
grade. On your re-submission, start with
a brief explanation of how your new work is improved. Point me
toward
your revisions and additions by describing where you improved your
work.
For example, you might write, “I better supported my second point by
adding an
example.” Or you might explain, “I improved the second paragraph
by
eliminating an unclear sentence and clarifying the topic
sentence.” I
will re-evaluate your work and change your grade to coincide with the
quality
of the revision.
Effective
educators are people who understand complex ideas and express them
clearly to
others. Clarity of writing reflects clarity of thinking. Unclear
writing
reflects fuzzy thinking, which leads to fuzzy instruction. Humans
write so their ideas can be studied by others. And this is
what
college is all about -- expressing and examining our own ideas and
those of
others. As you realize this, and become serious about your professional
growth,
you develop an urge to write. You feel a need to examine your own ideas
and
learn more about the ideas of others. This systematic expression and
examination of ideas prepares you to become a thoughtful teacher.
Consequently,
in grading written assignments, the first thing I look for is your
interest in
sharing the ideas that are important to you. Second, I look for the
breadth and
depth of your treatment. In other words, "Is enough there? Is it
treated
thoughtfully? Do you grapple with the ideas? Then, as I read, I
experience how
easy it is to understand your ideas (clarity).
When it is apparent
that the
ideas are important to you, when it is easy for me to understand your
points,
and when you grapple with the topics in enough breadth and depth, you
are doing
"A" quality work. When you do the assignment and include some of your
own ideas, you receive a "B." When it is clear that you are submitting
work to fulfill a course requirement (in other words,
you do
not struggle with the ideas or include your own thinking or
explanations), you
receive a "C" or lower.
Schedule for Spring, 2010
Week
Class Activities
Assignments/Topics
Week 1
Introductions, Syllabus, Field
Exp.
Chapter
1 (Teaching Profession)
Week
2
Discuss Chapter 1
Chapter
2 (Different Ways of Learning)
Tour of Curr.
Materials Center
Prepare case
study or article (2)
Discuss case
studies & articles
Educating Peter video
Prepare case study or
article (4)
Week 5
Discuss
Chapter
4
Chapter
5 (History of Am. Ed.)
Discuss case
studies & articles
Exam #1 on Chapters 1-4 and 1
video.
Week 6
Discuss
Chapter
5
Work on writing assignments
Diversity
Activity
History of American Ed. Video
Mid-term
Break, no class 3/4
Work on writing assignments
Week 9
Discuss
Chapter
7
Chapter
8 (Law and Ethics)
No Other
Choice video
Prepare case study or article (8)
Discuss case
studies & articles --
Decisions that Have Shaped U.S Education
Amanda Jackson, Ellen Norton Diane News
Week 11
March
23
–
Exam #2 on Chapters 5 - 8 and 2
videos.
March 25 – No class, complete exam and turn
in to Killian 250.
Week 12
Discuss
"Questionable
Assumptions
About Schooling," Allison Cohen,
Chapter 9 (Choice and
Challenges)
Amy
Rothman
It’s a Bull Market video
Prepare
case study or article (9)
Week 13
Discuss
Chapter
9
Chapter
10 (Curriculum, Standards, Testing)
Discuss
case studies & articles
Prepare case study or article
(10)
Week 14
Discuss
Chapter
10
Chapter
11 (An Effective Teacher)
Discuss case
studies & articles
Prepare case study or article
(11)
Week 15
Discuss
Chapter
11
Study
for Exam
Discuss case studies & articles Taskstream report due May 1.
Wonder Years video