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EDUCATION 221: CONTEMPORARY EDUCATIONAL THEORY
& PRACTICE Professor: Hilton Kelly,
Ph.D. Office: Voice: (704) 894-2704 E-mail: hikelly@davidson.edu Office Hrs: M T Th 1-00-2:00 & By
Appt. COURSE
OVERVIEW What really
constitutes school success?
Is a liberal education the best education? Do teachers treat children from
different backgrounds unfairly? What aspects of society do schools
reproduce? These are some of
the questions that students will examine in this introductory course on
contemporary educational theory and practice. Using theoretical autobiography as
a tool, students will build an understanding of major social theories that
have shaped their thinking about educational problems. In addition, students will
construct and reconstruct their own theoretical perspective to educational
trends and debates in the The course is
structured around four broad theoretical and methodological approaches to
educational studies (functionalism, conflict, interpretivism, and
critical) with the goal of understanding the theory-practice nexus. We will read the primary
works of major social and educational theorists, such as Paulo Freire,
Pierre Bourdieu, bell hooks, and Peter McLaren. We will also read the works of
education scholars whose work has been particularly influenced by one or
more of the theorists assigned.
Every Friday, students will visit a classroom in which they will
write “classroom diaries” based upon the theories and theoretical
frameworks that they have been introduced. The course requires the completion
of a three-part theoretical autobiography, 15 “structured” contact hours
in a classroom (public or private school), and a midterm and final
review.
REQUIRED TEXTS
(4) Feinberg, Walter
and Jonas Soltis.
(2004). School and Society. 4th ed. Fishman, Stephen
and Lucille McCarthy.
(1998). John Dewey and the Challenge of
Classroom Practice.
Freire,
Paulo. (2007). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. McLaren, P. (2007). Life in Schools: An Introduction to Critical
Pedagogy in the Foundations of Education. 5th ed. READING
SCHEDULE August
25 Introduction to the
Course 27
Theory into
Practice “Theory as
Liberatory Practice” (hooks, pp. 59-75) Blackboard 29
Historical and Theoretical
Overview
“Theory and Its
Influences on the Purposes of Schooling” (deMarrais and LeCompte)
Blackboard September
1
Historical and Theoretical
Overview “The Social
Organization of Schooling” (deMarrais and LeCompte)
Blackboard (Part 1 of
theoretical autobiography due) FUNCTIONALISM 3
Reflections on Life in
“Education as a
Social Function” (Dewey) Blackboard “The School and
the Life of the Child” (Dewey) Blackboard 5
Was John Dewey a
Functionalist?
“The
Functionalist Perspective on Schooling” (Feinberg & Soltis, pp.
15-40) “Functional
Theory, Policy, and Problems” (Feinberg & Soltis, pp.
29-40) 8
John Dewey and the
Challenge of Classroom Practice
“Introduction,”
“Dewey’s Educational Philosophy:
Reconciling Nested Dualisms,” & “Nested Dualisms Underlying
Dewey’s Student-Curriculum Integration” (Fishman & McCarthy, pp.
1-45) 10 John Dewey and the Challenge of
Classroom Practice
“Moral Traits of Character and
Dewey’s Student-Curriculum Integration” & “Dewey’s Ideology and His
Classroom Critics” (Fishman & McCarthy, pp.
47-67) 12
School
Visit Resource
Allocation: What are the
priorities of schools? 15
John Dewey and the
Challenge of Classroom Practice “My Own
Schooling Without Student-Curriculum Integration” and “My Own Teaching
Without Student-Curriculum Integration” (Fishman & McCarthy, pp.
69-109)
17
Dewey’s Relevance to
Contemporary Education
Qualitative
Research in a Deweyan Classroom,” Integrating Student and Curriculum
Indirectly” and Dewey’s Relevance to Contemporary Education” (Fishman
& McCarthy, pp. 113-151; pp. 119-125) 19
School
Visit Individual
Differences and Equal Opportunity:
Can “equal” and “different” be resolved? CONFLICT
THEORY 22
Reflections on Life in
“Schooling in
Capitalist Societies” (Bowles & Gintis)
Blackboard “Education,
Socialism, and Revolution” (Bowles & Gintis)
Blackboard 24
Pedagogy of the
Oppressed
Chapter 1
(Freire, pp. 43-69) “Marxist Theory
and Education” (Feinberg & Soltis, pp. 43-58) 26
School
Visit Education for
Work: Is a liberal education
the best education? 29
Pedagogy of the
Oppressed Chapter 2
(Freire, pp. 71-86) “The Hidden
Curriculum Revisited” (Feinberg & Soltis, pp.
59-77) October
1
Pedagogy of the
Oppressed Chapter 3
(Freire, pp. 87-124)
3
School
Visit Class Bias: Do teachers treat children from
different backgrounds unfairly? 6
Pedagogy of the
Oppressed Chapter 4
(Freire, pp. 125-183) 8
Pedagogy of the
Oppressed
“Interview with
Paulo Freire” (Torres) Blackboard 10
Midterm Review (Part 2 of
theoretical autobiography due) 11-14 Fall Break INTERPRETIVISM 15
Reflections on Life in
Black American
Students in an Affluent Suburb (Ogbu) Blackboard 17
School
Visit A 20
What is the Interpretivist
Point of View?
“The
Interpretivist Point of View” (Feinberg & Soltis, pp.
81-97) “Reassessing the
‘Burden of ‘Acting White’’: The Importance of Peer Groups in Managing
Academic Success” (Horvat & Lewis) Blackboard 22
Meanings and
Messages
“Meaning and
Messages: Schooling and
Socialization” (Feinberg & Soltis, pp.98-112) “Notes from the
Back of the Room: Problems
and Paradoxes in the Schooling of Young Black Students” (Tyson)
Blackboard 24
School
Visit The Roots of
School Failure: What really
constitutes school success? 27
Keepin’ It
Real “Keepin’ It
Real: School Success Beyond
Black and White” (Carter) Blackboard 29 American Educational Studies
Association (No Class) 31
School
Visit Interpretation
and Epistemic Relativism: Are
some interpretations better than others? 3
American Educational
Studies Association (No Class) CRITICAL 5
Reflections on Life in
“Reflections on
Life in Schools: Forging a
New Beginning in an Age of Political Deceit and Imperial Grandeur”
(McLaren, pp. 1-60)
7
School
Visit The
Curriculum: What approach
best explains the traditional curriculum? 10 Critical Educational Theory
“The Emergence
of Critical Pedagogy” (McLaren, pp. 183-193) From “Teaching
to Transgress: Education as
the Practice of Freedom” (hooks) Blackboard 12
Critical Educational Theory
Continued “Critical
Pedagogy: A Look at the Major
Concepts” (McLaren, pp. 194-219) “Paulo Freire”
(hooks) Blackboard 14
School
Visit The Hidden
Curriculum: What do school
materials teach? 17
New and Old Myths in
Education
“Race, Class,
and Gender: Why Students
Fail” (McLaren, pp. 226-236) “New and Old
Myths in Education (McLaren, pp. 237-240) “Teachers and
Students” (McLaren, pp. 241-251) 19 Bourdieu
“Social and
Cultural Reproduction” (Bourdieu) Blackboard “BAD BOYS: Public Schools in the Making of
Black Masculinity” ( 21
School
Visit Social
Reproduction: What aspects of
society do schools reproduce? 24
Gramsci “Intellectuals
and Education” (Gramsci) Blackboard “Interview with
Gloria Ladson-Billings” (Torres) Blackboard
26-30 Thanksgiving December
1
Critical Race Theory “Toward a
Critical Race Theory of Education” (Ladson-Billings & Tate)
Blackboard “A Critical Race
Counter-Story of Race, Racism, and Affirmative Action” (Solarzano &
Yosso) Blackboard 3
Critical Race Theory
Continued
“Whose Culture
Has Capital? A Critical Race
Theory Discussion of Community Cultural Wealth” (Yasso)
Blackboard “And We Are
Still Not Saved: Critical Race Theory in Education Ten Years Later”
(Dixson and Rousseau) Blackboard 5
School
Visit “The Suburbs was
supposed to be a nice place” (McLaren, pp. 139-181) 8
Hope in the
Unseen “Looking to
Dewey and Freire for Hope in Dark Times” (Fishman)
Blackboard “Hope and the Struggle Ahead”
(McLaren, pp. 295-317)
10
Final Review (Part 3 of
theoretical biography due) GRADING Class
Participation (10%)
Concomitant Assignments
(20%) Attendance
Reading Quizzes Cooperative
Learning
In-class assignments Classroom
Civility
Cooperative Learning Activities Theoretical
Autobiography (30%)
Reviews (40%)
TA 1
Midterm TA 2
Final TA 3
The readings are
an essential component of this course. They provide additional
information and perspectives, aid in broadening your understanding, and
prepare you for writing assignments.
You will be able to print articles and book chapters from
Blackboard. You will be
expected to complete readings before class. You are required to take
copious notes from the readings as preparation for class discussions, the
theoretical autobiography, and the midterm and final reviews. LATE
PAPERS Unless
you have been given prior approval, no writing assignments will be
accepted late.
ATTENDANCE
Attendance to
all classes is critical. If
you are unable to attend class for any reason, you should provide a
written explanation for your absence. Two points will be deducted from
class participation for each “unexcused” absence. No points will be deducted from
class participation for “excused” absences. I reserve the right to decide
whether an absence is unexcused or excused. (ATTENTION: Job interviews, doctor
appointments, taking a test for another class, leaving early, or coming
back late from vacation are not acceptable reasons for missing
class.) Whether unexcused or
excused, three absences or more may result in
failure. ACADEMIC
INTEGRITY The students and
faculty of DOCUMENTED
DISABILITIES
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal
anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights
protection for persons with disabilities. The Davidson Home Page | Search Davidson | Email the Department of Education © Copyright 2008 Department of Education, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035-7124 |
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