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The social foundations of education course is an exploration and analysis of the underlying issues within contemporary educational policies, practices, and theories. It is an attempt to ground the day-to-day realities of the classroom within larger philosophical, historical, anthropological, political, legal, and sociological contexts. Such an interdisciplinary perspective will allow students to begin to reflect upon the structures and practices of American education and provide a foundation from which to continue becoming reflective and critical educational practitioners and leaders. Through classic and contemporary texts, this class will explore numerous issues at multiple levels: classroom, school, and school system. Overarching questions of multiculturalism, inequity, identity formation, the role of schooling, and issues of power will be discussed. So will more specific issues, such as tracking, educational reform, dropouts, community-school relations and affirmative action. Moreover, the class will make use of field observations in schools, service-learning and experiential learning activities to highlight and reinforce the relationship between the theory and practice of education. Fundamentally, this course investigates the role of schools in a democratic society (philosophical and historical foundations), the relationships between school and social change (multicultural and sociological foundations), and the perspective of school as an organization (anthropological, political, and legal foundations). |
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Under construction
some resources
so you want to learn more about...
SUMMERHILL
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There's a local school in Harrisburg (PA): Circle School
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An article in Teacher Magazine
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An article in Education Week
COALITION OF ESSENTIAL SCHOOLS
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Ted Sizer, the founder of CES
MONTESSORI SCHOOLS
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read about Maria Montesorri
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read her book, The Montessori Method
CORE KNOWLEDGE SCHOOLS
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read more articles by E.D. Hirsch
WALDORF SCHOOLS
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There's a local school in Marietta (PA): Susquehanna Waldorf School
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An article in Education Week
OTHER ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS
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Paideia Schools; read about the founder, Mortimer Adler
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Big Picture Company [individualized learning] (e.g. Met School) Read an article about it in Education Week
RACE AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT
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Stephen Jay Gould's "The Geometer of Race" article
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PBS's series: Race: The Power of an Illusion
US DEMOGRAPHICS
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The New York Times has an excellent set of articles about class in the US.
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
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Brown versus Board of Education (summary; full report [in pdf] can be found at: Supreme Court Historical Society and Street Law)
ACCESS TO COLLEGE
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Anthony Carville and Stephen Rose, “Socioeconomic Status, Race/Ethnicity and Selective College Admissions”
DROPOUT RATE/GRADUATION RATE
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One of the first reports to give an accurate perspective on the actual graduation rate; from the Manhattan Institute
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an article from Education Week
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“Locating the Dropout Crisis” - a recent Johns Hopkins University report detailing the massive dropout rates of schools serving primarily low-income and nonwhite students.
GENDER
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB)
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No Child Left Behind - homepage on the US Department of Education
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Education Week overview
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a critique - from Rethinking Schools
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a critique - from Alfie Kohn
SPECIAL EDUCATION
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IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act) - homepage on the US Department of Education
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Education Week overview
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US Department of Education Guide to the IEP
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learn about IEP legal information from Wrightslaw
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learn about "least restrictive environment" from the Information Center on Disabilities and Gifted Education or here from the least Restrictive Environment Coalition
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learn about FAPE