EDF 415 Syllabus

 

Program Requirement Note:  This course is part of a Professional Preparation Program. Therefore, prior acceptance into the Professional Program is required.  In addition, all pre- and co-requisites must be met if you are to remain in the class.

Central Connecticut State University

 

EDF 415   Foundations of Education   Mulcahy

 

 1.      Catalog Description: Aims of modern education are studied with respect to the historical, philosophical, psychological, and sociological forces which have shaped the modern school.

 

 2     Textbooks/Readings:

       Readings on Reserve in Library

 

 3     Objectives and Rationale:

1  Growth in awareness of the variety of social contexts in which schooling occurs

2  To debate contemporary educational issues

 

    This course will focus upon a consideration of the various contexts within which schooling is conducted: historical, philosophical, social, economic, political and international. The purpose of the course is to enable students to develop a heightened awareness and understanding of the influence of such contextual factors on the conduct of schooling and on their own practice as professional educators.

 

    To enable you to bring your heightened understanding and awareness of the contextual factors which influence education to bear upon practice, the course aims at enabling you to shape your own vision of education, to critically consider existing and proposed policies affecting schooling, to debate orally and in written form the central issues, and to articulate coherent and forceful positions.

 

    The course is based on the premise that teachers have an important professional role to play in education, that they ought to assume leadership in policy debates on education in both the school and public arenas, and that they ought to be educated for such a leadership role at the same time as they are trained in the methods of effective and reflective classroom practice.

 

      Topics to be dealt with will have a bearing on practice and typically belong to the following classes of educational problems: aims in education, curriculum structure and content, teaching and assessment, and school organization, administration, and governance

 

4. Course Outline

Historical topics

Landmarks in the development of education in the U.S.

education in colonial times

educational ideas of Benjamin Franklin

educational ideas of the revolutionary era

the common school crusade

the spread of popular education in the nineteenth century

the emergence of the high school

federal involvement in education in the twentieth century

 

Philosophical topics

            The concept of education and the language of education

            Ethics and education

            Education and censorship

            Education and the nature of knowledge

            Significant educational ideas throughout history

                 liberal education

                education for leadership

                 education for citizenship

                 the relationship between liberal and professional education

            Building a personal philosophy of education

 

The school and society topics

The role of the school in society

education and citizenship

education and opportunity

schooling and cultural and ethnic diversity

schooling and poverty

schooling and gender

schooling and social clas

The organization of schooling

Home schooling

The role of the school in the economy

The role of the teacher as a leader for learning communities

leadership in the community of the school

leadership in the surrounding community

leadership in the teaching profession

 

International/comparative topics

            International patterns in curriculum

            International patterns in assessment

            International patterns in organization and financing of education

            International trends in educational policy

 

Educational policy topics

            Education and local control

            Education and state control (with reference to Connecticut)

            Educational policy at the federal level

            Education and the Supreme Court

            Educational policy and the policy making process

            Educational leadership and the role of the teacher

 

5. Class requirements

            Satisfactory class participation and completion of assignments and tests/exams

 

6. Evaluation and semester grade computation:

            1. Class projects:                          10%--one treats of your philosophy of education

            2. Two Mid-term essay tests:        30% each

            3. Final examination:                     30% (Final is objective and comprehensive)

 

The grade scale is as follows:

 

A+=100; A=95; A=90; B+=87; B=84; B=80; C+=77; C=74; C=70;

D+=64; D=57; D=50; F=0-49

Note:  At the discretion of the Professor, there may be a penalty of a half grade for any telephone interruption.

7. Instructional Model: The method of instruction employed in this class is largely a combination of lecture, questioning and discussion and is based on a combination of direct instruction and reflective teaching models of instruction. Use is made of audiovisual materials. Class presentations by students may be required.

 

8        Bibliography:

A Bibliography is attached

 

9   Miscellaneous information:

            Office:                         Barnard 271

            Tel:                              832-2418

            e-mail:                         Mulcahy@ccsu.edu

            Office hours:                As posted


Bibligraphy

Adler , Mortimer J. The Paideia Proposal.  New York: Macmillan, 1982.

Apple, Michael. Cultural Politics and Education. New York: Teachers College Press, 1996.

Bacharach, S. B. Education Reform: Making Sense of it All. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1990.

Best, John H., Benjamin Franklin on Education. (New York: Teachers College Press, 1962.)

Casella, Ronnie.  “Being Down”: Challenging Violence in Urban Schools.  New York.  Teachers College Press, 2001

Cremin, Lawrence A. American Education: The Metropolitan Experience 1876-1980. New York: Harper and Row, 1990.

Dewey, John. Democracy and Education. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1916.

Elmore, R.E. and S.H. Fuhrman, eds, The Governance of Curriculum. Washington, D.C: ASCD, 1994

Feinberg, Walter and Jonas F. Soltis, School and Society. New York: Teachers College Press, 1988.

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Trans. by Romos, Myra. New York: Herder & Herder, 1971.

Goals 2000: Educate America Act, 1994

Gutek, Gerald, L. American Education in a Global Societv. New York: Longmans, 1993.

Hirst, P. H. and R.S. Peters. The Loqic of Education. London: RKP, 1970.

Illich, Ivan. De-Schooling Society.  New York: Harper and Row, 1971

Martin, Janet. Lessons from the Hill. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1994.

Marx, Karl. The Communist Manifesto.(Many editions available)

McLaren, Peter. Life in Schools.  White Plains, N.Y.: Longmans, 1994.

Mulcahy, D. G.  Knowledge, Gender, and Schooling.  Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, 2002

Newman, J. H. The Idea of a University. (Many editions available.)

Peters, R.S. Ethics and Education.  London: Allen and Unwin, 1966.

Plato, The Republic. (Many translation available)

Rousseau, J. J. Emile (Many translations available).

Rury, John L., Education and Social Change.  Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2002.

Selakovich, Daniel, Schooling in America. New York: Longman, 1984.

Spring, Joel, American Education. New York: McGraw Hill, 1998.

Spring, Joel. Conflict of Interests. New York: McGraw Hill, 1998.

Spring, Joel, The American School. New York: McGraw Hill, 1997

St. Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana. (Any translation)

U.S. Department of Education. America 2000. Washington, D.C.: USDE, 1991.

The Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education.  1918

The National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, 1983.

Tozer, Steve, et al, School and Society. (New York: The McGraw-Hill, 1995)

Tyack, David B., ed. Turning Points in American Educational History. Waltham, MA: 1967