EDUCATION 430: FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
Sections A & B
Spring 2000
3 Semester Hours
Prerequisite: Education 211
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Lawrence Simon
OFFICE: Mooney 307-C
PHONE: 584-2351
E-MAIL:
OFFICE HOURS: Mon. and Wed. 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Tues. and Thurs. 9:40-11:40 a.m. and 3:50-4:50 p.m.
CLASS HOURS: 3:10-4:50 p.m. Monday & Wednesday
2:10-3:50 p.m. Tuesday & Thursday
CLASSROOM: MW: Mooney 105
TTH: Mooney 207
IMPORTANT CLASS DATES:
TBA
REQUIRED TEXTS: Introduction to the Foundations of American Education, by J.A.Johnson et al. (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1999, 11th edition) and Teacher As Decision Maker: Real Life Cases to Hone Your People Skills, by Dale L. Brubaker and Lawrence H. Simon (Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press, 1993). Each student needs to have his/her copy of each text.
COURSE CONTENT: This course is a survey of the social, historical, philosophical, and legal foundations of American education. Particular emphasis is given to five contemporary American educational philosophies and their underlying “pure” philosophies. In addition, several controversial philosophical issues facing the classroom teacher are discussed. The various roles of the teacher are discussed - viz.: (1) instructor, (2) facilitator, (3) mentor,
(4) evaluator, (5) manager, (6) professional. Cases of interpersonal conflict in K-12 schools are discussed. Strategies for effective classroom control are discussed. The issues, roles, cases in conflict, and strategies of classroom control are treated as matters of personal philosophical preference.
ATTENDANCE POLICY: “As you are now involved in your professional sequence of courses, absences must not be taken lightly. The knowledge and skills provided through class participation and field work are essential to meet the course objectives. Reflective of this belief, it is the Department policy that one point per absence will be deducted from your final grade. Three (3) tardies constitute one absence."” (This policy is to be on every syllabus and enforced.) Make-up quizzes are not given if a quiz is missed for any reason. The instructor will add one point to the final average for perfect attendance.
GRADING SCALE: The official scale of the Department of Education is:
A = 95-100 B+ = 91-92 C+ = 83-84 D+ = 75-76
A- = 93-94 B = 87-90 C = 79-82 D = 72-74
B- = 85-86 C- = 77-78 D- = 70-71
F = 0-69
METHOD OF COMPUTING COURSE GRADE:
I. Final Exam (2 parts; 200 points each)
(take home essay and objective in-class): 400 points
II. Announced Quizzes (the average, less the
lowest grade or any missed quiz) 100 points
III. Journal reactions in notebook: 100 points
IV. Class participation is encouraged but not required for a grade.
Frequent and meaningful participation, however, will improve
your final course grade 1 point up to a maximum of 5 points,
at the discretion of the instructor.
CLASS METHODOLOGY: (1) Nine chapters of the Johnson textbook reading for background; (2) supplementary handouts by instructor with explanation and discussion;
(3) class group work; (4) journal reactions (in a bound notebook reserved exclusively for this single purpose) on philosophical questions and various solutions to “cases in conflict” from the casebook: Teacher as Decision Maker.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. After reading the assigned handouts, (“The Singular Society of Loscho”), and chapters 3-5 of the text and part one of the casebook, the student will be able to discuss the school as a social institution, and discuss the relevance of societal cultural diversity to the public schools.
2. After reading chapters 9 and 10 of the text and attending class, the student will be able to identify and discuss major events and trends in the history of public education in the United States.
3. After reading chapters 11-13 of the text and several assigned handouts, as well as attending class, the student will be able to discuss in writing four educational philosophies in terms of how they deal with such practical, classroom concerns as:
a) teaching methodology preferred
b) evaluative techniques preferred
c) preferred classroom seating arrangements
d) classroom control techniques
e) preferred classroom materials
The five educational philosophies are:
a) Essentialism
b) Progressivism
c) Perennialism
d) Reconstructionism
e) Existentialism (optional, if time permits)
4. After completing the assigned textbook and casebook readings, the student will be able to (a) react to, (b) write about, and (c) discuss several controversial educational/philosophical issues dealing with K-12 schools.
5. After attending class, the student will be able to discuss several roles of the teacher as a decision maker such as: (a) instructor; (b) facilitator; (c) manager; (d) mentor; (e) evaluator; and (f) professional.
6. (Optional) After attending class, the student will be able to explain how teacher expectations can affect student performance.
7. After attending class, the student will be able to analyze, solve, write about, and discuss certain cases of public school “interpersonal conflict.” He/She will be able to defend his/her decision. The goal is to develop one’s own philosophically-based style of conflict resolution as it relates to (a) student-teacher conflict; (b) teacher-teacher conflict; (c) administrator-teacher conflict; (d) parent-teacher conflict; (e) interviewer-teacher conflict. The cases are drawn from required book Teacher As Decision Maker: Real Life Cases to Hone Your People Skills.
8. After attending class and reading the assigned handouts, the student will be able to explain eight specific disciplinary techniques (applications of behavioral conditioning).
9. After doing all the assigned reading and attending class, the student will be able to articulate his/her own personal educational philosophy. This will be done in a written assignment at the end of the course and will count 50% of the final examination (take-home portion, 200 points).
10. After reading Chapter 7 on the legal foundations of education, and attending class, the student will understand important case law concepts relating to teachers’ rights and responsibilities, as well as students’ rights and responsibilities.
11. The student will prepare an annotated bibliography, based on an electronic search of the Internet and E.R.I.C., on one of the following current issues in education. The student will be assigned a topic by lottery by the instructor, so as to cover all topics. The multiple-entry annotated bibliography will be one of the entries in the course journal. Each annotation will give the web-site or E.R.I.C. citation. Following the former, write an annotation or brief note for each web-site or citation. The annotation should be a brief paragraph that describes the content of the site in a manner that briefly explains the issue you have been assigned. This should be your last journal entry. It is due at the end of the course when you turn in your journal. Issues:
(a) year-round schools
(b) charter schools
(c) magnet schools
(d) for-profit schools
(e) sex and AIDS education
(f) school vouchers/parental choice of schools
(g) a national curriculum
(h) bilingual education
(i) collective bargaining/professional negotiations
(j) inclusion/mainstreaming
(k) home schooling
(l) Comer model
(m) teacher unions
(n) alcohol and drug education
(o) national teacher licensure/certification
(p) service learning
(q) multicultural education
(r) teacher tenure
(s) hidden curriculum
(t) educational malpractice
(u) school reform
The student should be prepared to give a brief oral synopsis of the issue to the class in the last week of the course, if class time permits.