COURSE:                 ED POL 375-004 Cultural Foundations of Education  3 cr. U.

 

TIME:                        Tuesday 4:30-7:10                      PLACE:           Physics 143

 

INSTRUCTOR:        Dr. Ian Harris                              E-MAIL:          imh@uwm.edu

 

OFFICE:                   Enderis 553                                PHONE:          (414) 229-2326

 

OFFICE HOURS:     Monday    1:30-4:30; Wednesday and Thursday 2:00-4:00 

 

Objectives of the Course:

 

*Study the historical foundations of urban schools in the U.S. and Wisconsin.

 

*Study the impact of technology and societal changes upon urban schools

 

*Learn to analyze philosophical assumptions of differing teaching approaches in urban schools

 

*Learn how American education is affected by societal groupings of race/ethnicity         and socioeconomic class

 

*Understand the structural factors that create and maintain poverty and their effects       upon urban schools

 

*Explore global perspectives about multiculturalism and urban education

 

Requirements of the Course:

 

Students will be expected to attend all classes.  Students who miss four or more courses will fail the course unless they communicate to the instructor why these absences are necessary, and with the instructor's permission make up additional work in the form of a report on one of the books on the supplemental reading list. 

 

Students will be required to do all the assigned readings that will be from the book Foundations of Education by Ornstein and Levine (Eighth edition.)

 

Students will be required to write three papers addressing the objectives of the course.  The papers will be due on October 12, November 23, and December 14. These papers are to be 4-10 pages long (typed/ double spaced) and give you the opportunity to demonstrate your mastery of the reading.  In these papers you are to summarize the readings from the book.  The purpose of these papers is to give you an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the assigned readings.

 

There will be a multiple choice exam on chapters 7, 8, and 9

 

Academic Misconduct

 

The University has a responsibility to promote academic honesty and integrity and to develop procedures to deal effectively with instances of academic dishonesty.  Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect of others' academic endeavors. Students who plagiarize other people’s material are in danger of failing the course.

 

Accommodation for Religious Observances

 

Students will be allowed to complete examinations or other requirements that are missed because of a religious observance.

 

Grade Appeal Procedures

 

A student may appeal a grade on the grounds that it based on a capricious or arbitrary decision of the course instructor. Such an appeal shall follow the established procedures adopted by the department, college, or school in which the course resides.  These procedures are available in writing from the respective department chairperson or the Academic Dean of the College/School.

 

Sexual Harassment

 

Sexual harassment is reprehensible and will not be tolerated by the University. Sexual harassment threatens the careers, educational experience, and well-being of students, faculty, and staff. The University will not tolerate behavior between or among members of the University community which creates an unacceptable working environment.

 

Incompletes

 

A notation of "incomplete" may be given in lieu of a final grade to a student who has completed course assignments successfully until the end of a semester but who, because of illness or other unusual and substantiated cause beyond the student's control, has been unable to complete the final paper.  An incomplete is not given unless you prove to the instructor that you were prevented from completing course requirements for just cause as indicated above.

 

 

Participation by Students with Disabilities

 

If you need special accommodations in order to meet any of the requirements of this course, please contact the instructor as soon as possible.

 

Instructional Activities:

 

Classes will be held in a seminar format with the instructor providing background information and asking leading questions.  Students are to come to class with discussion questions and be prepared to share insights

into the texts.

 

Additional Topics:

                

Cell Phones:  Please do not disrupt class with cell phone usage.  As a courtesy to the class and instructor, please turn off phones and refrain from using cell phones, text messaging, etc while class is in session.

 

Web-based reference material: Please remember to cite material you have downloaded from the internet in order to complete class assignments.

 

Dangerous Minds: If you haven’t already, you are encouraged to see the video, Dangerous Minds, an excellent movie about teaching in an urban school.

 

Grades:

 

Grades will be calculated with the following formula: 1/5 for each paper, 1/5 for the exam and 1/5 for classroom participation.

 

Required Text:

 

Foundations of Education, Ornstein and Levine (Eighth Edition) Houghton and Mifflin, 2003.

 

Supplementary Readings List:

 

Anson, R. Best Intentions: The Education and Killing of Edwin Perry. New York, Random House, 1988.

 

Ayers, William and Patricia Ford. City Kids, City Teachers: Reports from the Front Row, New York: New Press, 1996.

 

Bennett, Kathleen and Margaret LeCompte. The Way Schools Work. (third edition) New York: Longman, 1990.

 

Carter, Forrest. The Education of  Little Tree. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1986.

 

Cohen, Rosetta. A Lifetime of Teaching: Real World Stories from America's Teachers. New York: Walker and Co., 1991.

 

Delpit, Lisa. Other People’s Children. New York: New Press, 1995.

 

Goodlad, John. Teachers for our Nations Schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1990.

 

Goodson, Ivor. Studying Teacher's Lives. New York, NY: Teachers' College Press, 1992.

 

Gutek, Gerald L. Cultural Foundations of Education:A Biographical Introduction. New York: MacMillan and Co., 1991.

 

Kane, Pearl Rock. The First Year of Teaching: Real World Stories from America's Teachers. New York: Walker and Co., 1991.

 

Kotlowitz, Alex. There are no Children Here.  New York: Anchor, 1989.

 

Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities.  New York, Harper Perennial, 1991.

 

McLaren, Peter. Life in Schools: An Introduction to Critical Pedagogy in Foundations of Education. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 2003.

 

Ladson-Billings, Gloria. The Dreamkeepers: Successful teacers of African-American Children. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 

Pai, Young. Cultural Foundations of Education. Columbus, Ohio: Bobbs Merrill, 1990.

 

Paley, Vivian. White Teacher. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989.

 

........Kwanza and Me.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995.

 

Perelman, Lowis. Schools Out. New York: Avon books, 1992.

 

Spring, Joel. American Education (fifth edition). New York: Longman, 1991.

 

Suskind, Ron. Hope in the Unseen. New York: Broadway Books, 1998.

 

Tozer, Steven, Paul Violas, and Guy Senese. School and Society: Historical and Contempory Perspectives. New York: McGraw Hill, 2000.

 

Van Scotter, Richard, John Haas, Richard Kraft, James Schott. Social Foundations of Education. (third edition) New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1991.

 

SUGGESTED COURSE OUTLINE:

 

Sept. 7:     Introductions; review of course outline.

                                  Why do we ant to be teachers?

 

Sept. 16:   Understanding the Teaching Profession

READ: Chapters 1 and 2

 

Sept. 23:    Classical Roots of Education

READ: Chapter 3 & 4

 

Sept. 30:   Main Educational Theorists

READ: Chapter  5

 

Oct: 5:       History of American Education

READ: Chapter 6

Video on early history

 

Oct. 12:    Governing Schools

                                  READ: Chapter 7

PAPER DUE ON HISTORICAL OR PHILOSOPHIC FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. EDUCATION  (If you are interested in writing a history of schooling focus on chapters 3 and 6.  If you are interested in writing a paper about philosophic foundations of education, you should summarize chapters 4 and 5)

Video on Indian education

 

Oct. 19:    Financing Schools in a Hostile Climate

READ: Chapter 8

Video on school finance

 

Oct. 26:    Legal Issues

READ: Chapter 9

Exam on chapters 7, 8, 9

 

Nov.  2:    Impact of Culture upon Schooling

READ: Chapter 10

 

Nov.  9:    Social Class and Race

READ: Chapter 11

                                  Video on racial tracking

 

Nov. 16:   Equal Educational Opportunity

READ: Chapter 12

Video on Frederick Douglas Academy

                                 

Nov. 23:  The purposes of education & curriculum trends

READ: Chapter 13 & 14

Video on special education

PAPER DUE ON HOW AMERICAN EDUCATION IS AFFECTED BY SOCIETAL GROUPINGS OF RACE/ETHNICITY AND SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS. WHAT EFFORTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO ENCOURAGE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES TO ALL CHILDREN ARE THESE EFFORTS WORKING? (Summary of chapters10-12)

 

Nov. 30     Global Issues & school reform

                                  Read: Chapter 15 & 16

                                  Video on Texas Miracle

                

Dec. 7.      Final Class

 

                                  PAPER DUE ON HOW HAVE CHANGING VALUES, ECONOMICS, AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE AFFECTED THE AMERICAN SCHOOLS SINCE THE MIDDLE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY?  WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND POPULATION SHIFTS IN THE MILWAUKEE AREA?  HOW HAS NEW TECHNOLOGY CHANGED THE SCHOOLS? SHOULD SCHOOLS BE DIFFERENT, IN AIMS OR MEANS, BECAUSE OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN SOCIETAL NORMS?  HOW HAVE SCHOOLS ADAPTED TO CHANGING SOCIAL NORMS?  (In answering these questions, refer to the material in chapters 13-16)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please be advised that the School of Education will be holding a forum on urban education this fall that you are invited to.  Details are listed below:

 

URBAN FORUM SCHEDULE

Monday, November 8, 2004

8 - 8:30 a.m.:  Registration

8:30 - 8:45 a.m.: Welcome

8:45 - 9:45 a.m.:  Presentation by Linda Darling-Hammond

9:45 - 10:15 a.m.:  Questions and answers

10:30 a.m. - noon:  Breakout sessions featuring university and

community leader facilitators who will lead discussion on what Brown

means to classrooms today.  Each breakout group will be facilitated by

three individuals who represent one of the following viewpoints:

historical, personal experience, and teacher education.

 

6 - 6:45 p.m.:  Registration

6:45 - 7 p.m.:  Welcome

7 - 8 p.m.:   Presentation by Derrick Bell

8 - 8:30 p.m.:  Reaction panel including William Andrekopoulos, Howard

Fuller and Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton

8:30 - 9 p.m.:  Questions and answers

9 - 9:30 p.m.:  Book sale and signing with Derrick Bell

 

Registration materials and informational flyers for classes and general

distribution will be available mid-September.  Please contact Helaine

Johnson at helaine@uwm.edu or 414-229-4644 with questions.