Syl - University of Washington



University of Washington

College of Education

Teacher Education Program

Winter 2002

TOPICS AND TENSIONS IN SCHOOL AND SOCIETY

EDTEP 511 A

Monday/Wednesday, 1:00-2:50

Miller 112

Dr. Deborah Kerdeman TA: Mike Kaplan

Office: Miller 303 B Office: M219 Miller

Phone: 221-3436 Phone: 543-4955

email: kerdeman email: mmkaplan

fax: 206-616-6762

If you would like to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, 543-8924 (V/TDD). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to me so we can discuss the accommodations you might need for class.

I. THE COURSE: AIMS AND OVERVIEW

Democracy has to be born anew in each generation, and education is its midwife.

- John Dewey, educator and philosopher (1916)

When we think about education, we usually think about what happens between individual teachers and students in their own classrooms and schools. But education also takes place within a wider social, political, cultural, and historical context that is saturated with values-- ideas people hold about what makes life good and worthwhile. In the United States, schools express, reflect, and perhaps even shape values that have come to be associated with a pluralistic democracy.

The purpose of this course is to explore the value-laden social context of public-school education in the U.S. We will identify key values that characterize life in a pluralistic democracy. We also will discuss the impact that these values have on teaching and learning in public schools.

In particular, we will explore how values in a democracy "clash" or come into tension with one another. What, exactly, is a value-tension? How can the concept of “value-tensions” enhance the way you think about and engage in teaching? We will address these questions from the perspective of individual teachers who deal with children and their parents, both in and out of school. We also will investigate how value-tensions influence five educational policies that currently are having an impact on public-school teachers in Washington State.

II. COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Required Readings. The learning that we aim for in this course depends on your attendance and contributions to class activities and discussions. To contribute in class, it is very important that you complete the readings for each session on time. Beginning on January 9, readings are due on the day they are listed in the Course Calendar (see Course Calendar, Point V).

Two Mid-Term Papers. The ability to communicate ideas clearly in writing is an important pre-requisite for teaching and learning. You will write two short mid-term papers during the quarter. The first paper will give you an opportunity to analyze, synthesize, and respond to the issues and questions we will be exploring during sessions #1-6. It also will give you a chance to reflect on your first field experience. This paper will be graded credit/no credit and is due in class on Monday, February 4. The second paper is a short structured exercise that focuses on the logical reasoning associated with value-tensions. This paper will receive a letter grade. It is due in class on Wednesday, February 20. I will give you detailed instructions for each paper later in the quarter.

Writing well takes practice. You may rewrite either or both of these papers, if you wish. All rewrites must be submitted no later than our last class session on Wednesday, March 13.

Group Project and Presentation. During the last third of the course, we will divide into five groups to investigate five educational policies. You will have time in class to prepare a presentation to teach the rest of your classmates about the particular policy you and your group will be investigating. Later in the quarter, I will give you detailed instructions about this assignment. I also will distribute a set of readings for each of the five policy groups. The group project will be graded credit/no credit. Credit is based on participating in the preparation and presentation of your policy. Note that in your final paper, you will be expected to discuss a policy other than the one you researched and taught.

Final Paper. There will be a take-home graded final paper. I will distribute detailed instructions about this assignment later in the quarter. It is due by 5 p.m. on Monday, March 18.

Summary of Due Dates for Papers

February 4: Paper One

February 20: Paper Two

March 13: Last day to submit rewrites

March 18: Take-home Final Paper

III. GRADING

Your final grade will be determined as follows:

Assignment Desired Outcome Evaluation Criteria Percent

Paper One Analysis & synthesis of Credit/no credit 20%

sessions #1-7

Paper Two Logic of value-tensions Rubric distributed 20%

Group Project Class presentation Credit/no credit 20%

Final Paper Analysis & synthesis of Rubric distributed 40%

course

IV. REQUIRED READINGS

1.) Text: Vivian Paley. (1992). You Can't Say You Can't Play. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. (Available at UW bookstore)

2.) Reading Packet. This packet must first be paid for in the Dean’s Office, Miller 222. See Matthew Wanderski at the main reception desk. After paying Matthew, go up to the fourth floor xerox center (Miller 422). Show your payment receipt to Lonnie and get your packet of course readings. Both of these offices are open Monday through Friday from 8 AM to Noon and 1 PM to 5 PM.

3.) Policy Readings for Group Projects. Each policy group will receive its own set of readings. Distributed in class.

V. COURSE CALENDAR

I. Talking It Out: Values in Teachers' Lives, In and Out of School

“... public education does not serve a public. It creates a public.”

- Neil Postman (1995)

1. Mon. Jan. 7 Introduction. No reading

2. Wed. Jan. 9 Deborah Meier. (1995). "In Defense of Public Education" and "Dear Parents, Students, and Staff." In Deborah Meier, The Power of Their Ideas (pp. 3-11, 39-40). Boston: Beacon Press.

Meet an extra 15 minutes today

3. Mon. Jan. 14 a.) David Mathews. (June 1997). "The Lack of a Public for Public Schools." Phi Delta Kappan, 741-743.

b.) Larry Cuban. (Sept. 13, 1998). "In Search of Good Schools." Seattle Times.

4. Wed. Jan. 15 Vivian Paley. (1992).You Can’t Say You Can’t Play. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. (UW Bookstore)

Mon. Jan. 21 No class: Martin Luther King Holiday

Jan. 22-25 First Field Experience

5. Mon. Jan. 28 Marvin Lazerson, et.al. (1985). The Expectations of Schooling. In Marvin Lazerson, et.al., An Education of Value:The Purposes and Practices of Schools (pp. 3-22, 123-125). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

6. Wed. Jan. 30 Rushworth Kidder. (1995). Overview: The Ethics of Right Versus Right. In Rushworth Kidder, How Good People Make Tough Choices (pp. 13-23, 223). New York: William Morrow.

II. Who Are We? Values in Historical Perspective

“’Completing the great work of the Revolution’” was the way we once described [the] purpose [of public schools].”

-David Mathews (1997)

7. Mon. Feb. 4 a.) Thomas Jefferson. (1776). Declaration of Independence.

b.) Preamble (introduction) to the U.S. Constitution (1787), p. 36.

c.) Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments) to the U.S. Constitution (1791), pp. 45-46.

d.) Clarence L. ver Steeg. (1966). "The Constitution of the United States of America: The Preamble." In Daniel J. Boorstin (Ed.), An American Primer (pp. 83-87). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Paper One Due

8. Wed. Feb. 6 a.) Continue with Preamble to Constitution

b.) Alexis de Toqueville. (1835/1987). Of Individualism in Democratic Countries. (# 27) In Robert N. Bellah, et. al. (Eds.), Individualism and Commitment in American Life (pp. 192-194). New York: Harper Torchbooks.

c.) Daniel J. Boorstin. (1990). Introduction to de Toqueville’s Democracy In America (pp. vii-xiv).

9. Mon. Feb. 11 Alexis de Toqueville. (1835/1987). Equality Suggests to the Americans the Idea of the Indefinite Perfectibility of Man. (#18) In Robert N. Bellah, et. al. (Eds.), Individualism and Commitment in American Life (pp. 156-158). New York: Harper Torchbooks.

10. Wed. Feb. 13 No new reading

Continue with de Toqueville #18, if necessary

Distribute and discuss Paper #2

Policy-group sign-up

Distribute reading-packets for policies

Mon. Feb. 18 No class: President’s Day Holiday

III. Values in Educational Policy

“The answer for all our national problems comes down to one single word: education.”

- Lyndon Johnson, 36th President of the United States

11. Wed. Feb. 20 Group work on policy presentations

Second Paper Due

Feb. 25-Mar. 1 Second Field Experience

12. Mon. Mar. 4 Group work on policy presentations

13. Wed. Mar. 6 Two Policy Presentations

14. Mon. Mar 11 Two Policy Presentations

15. Wed. Mar. 13 One Policy Presentation

Wrap-up and evaluation

Wed. Mar. 13 Re-writes Due

Mon. Mar. 18 Final Paper Due

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