School and Society

 

“A Tapestry”

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Harry Hunkin
Room 11 239
Phone Number: (416) 923-6641 Ext. 6035
Email Address: hhunkin @ oise.utoronto.ca

“Standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before.”

Goals

To provide opportunities for the development of future teachers and potential leaders who can effectively demonstrate that their teaching, learning, and leadership styles are consistent with current thought, and with the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession as outlined by the Ontario College of Teachers, 1999.

To provide opportunities for pre-service teacher candidates to develop and to demonstrate in a variety of situations a personal philosophy of teaching and a belief system that engenders a dynamic, humanistic and democratic environment for all learners.


Professionalism

It is very important before embarking on the reading of this syllabus that it is understood by all that this course as part of our professional learning program in the OISE/UT Toronto East Option is guided by and will reflect the standards of practice outlined in Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession, Ontario College of Teachers, 1999.

Engaging in ongoing professional learning is recognized in the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession as part of “what it means to be a teacher” in Ontario. The College of Teachers, through the accreditation process for Ontario faculties of education, ensures that pre-service programs are designed to support the standards of practice. Pre-service candidates are required to engage in professional learning defined through the standards of practice.

Professional learning is at the heart of teacher professionalism. The content of the professional learning may vary. The rationale and resources for learning may vary. The way in which members of the College engage in learning may vary. The constant will be that the programs included in the professional learning framework are directly linked to the Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession. Through this framework, the Ontario College of Teachers meets its legislated mandate to “provide for the ongoing education of members of the College.” (Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996, Part II Subsection 3. (1) paragraph 6)

 


“If I have been able to see more clearly; it is because I was standing on the shoulders of those giants who have gone before!”
- Bernard of Chartres 1161 A.D.


School and Society EDU3508: The Course

This course will help teacher candidates to develop a critical awareness of the intersections among schools, classrooms, communities, and society within the changing context of the learning environment. The course addresses the varieties of students who enter the classroom in terms of their diverse social origins, cultures, identities, and social status. The course helps new teachers understand the ways in which their professional work (inside and beyond the classroom) helps prepare these diverse students to be active participants in a changing society. It engages participants in an examination of the purposes of education, education policy, and of teachers’ responsibility to work productively with school colleagues and other adults to achieve equitable access, experiences, and outcomes for all students.

Although this course has a body of knowledge to be “covered”, the order of presentation will flow from the perceived and expressed needs of the collective student body. A major aspect of this course is to develop skills and attitudes that will guide us as teachers, learners and leaders. Through personal and group activity we will enhance our skills as questioners, investigators, summarizers and reporters to co-create a body of knowledge that exceeds the expertise of any one individual. It will be our challenge to find ways to impart this knowledge to our group and to others. To guide us we will examine and use the “image of the learner” implicit in classrooms today and first introduced by the Ontario Ministry of Education in Issues and Directions, June 1980.


The Image of the Learner

“Recognizing the diversity of individual abilities and interests, the Ministry views the learner as an active participant in education, who gains satisfaction from the dynamics of learning. The concept of the learner as a mere processor of information has been replaced by the image of a self-motivated , self-directed problem-solver, aware of both the processes and uses of learning and deriving a sense of self-worth and confidence from a variety of accomplishments. This learner is guided by values consistent with personal religious-ethical beliefs, cultural traditions and the common welfare of society.

The image also reveals a methodical thinker who is capable of inquiry, analysis, synthesis and evaluation, as well as a perceptive discoverer capable of resourcefulness, intuition and creativity.


Lest it be thought that this image of the learner is too idealistic or valid only for students in advanced stages of cognitive development, it should be noted that in the educational system of this province even young children and older ones with learning disabilities are perceived as moving towards this image; in other words, it applies to all learners potentially. The point is that the kind of education provided for the learner envisaged here is quite different from what would be provided for a learner who was envisaged, for example, as requiring a strictly regimented program comprised largely of information to be assimilated or a reluctant learner who had to be coerced and directed at each step towards the acquisition of knowledge. Thus, the very goals of education flow from the image of the learner for whom the education is being provided.

This image of the learner relies as much on the process as the content of learning because it is through the process that young people become lifelong learners who have, as C.P. Snow says, “the future in their bones” as well as the past in their heads. The inquiring mind and the contemplative spirit can carry them into the uncertain and possibly threatening future with confidence, resourcefulness and integrity.” (Issues & Directions, June 1980, page 3).


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“Stop asking me if we’re almost there !
We’re nomads, for crying out loud ! ”

Course Description

Content and concepts that will be covered in the course:

 

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“Your mother and I thought you understood, Billy, that our love for you was highly conditional on your doing well in school.”

 

Reading List


Required:

What’s Worth Fighting For Out There? Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan, OPSTF Toronto, 1998.

The Quality School: Managing Students Without Coercion. William Glasser, M.D. , Harper Collins, 1992.

Suggested:

In Search of Understanding: The Case For Constructivist Classrooms, Jacqueline Grennon Brooks and Martin G. Brooks, ASCD, 1993.

Affirming Diversity Through Democratic Conversations. Victoria R. Fu and Andrew J. Stremmel, Prentice Hall New Jersey, 1999.

Change Forces: The Sequel. Michael Fullan, Falmer Press, 1999.

The Disciplined Mind: What All Students Should Understand. Howard Gardner, Simon and Schuster, 1999.

The Abilene Paradox and Other Meditations on Management. Jerry B. Harvey, Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1996.

Assignments

Portfolio
(Please see East Option Cross-Course Assignments)

Personal Creativity Project

You will develop and present a creative work of art around a given theme. This work will be presented in class.
Presentation date: December 7,8, 2000.
10% of your final grade.

Collaborative Creativity Project

You will participate in an Inquiry (Research Project) that will inform both pre- service and in-service teachers about the creative process. This assignment will involve the use of technology in its preparation and dissemination.
Due Date: TBA
10% of your final grade.

Inquiry Projects

These projects will be investigative in nature, on topics as assigned and in those that you would like to pursue for your own professional growth.
It will involve the use of technology to complete the sharing of your knowledge with your colleagues.
Due Dates: TBA
10% of your final grade.

Professional Participation
(Please see East Option Cross-Course Assignments)

Reflective Journal
(Please see East Option Cross-Course Assignments)


“I
wish
you
to
be
free
from
mobs
as
well
as
Kings...”

Lord Byron

 

“The Tone of Teaching.”

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The above areas will give form to our studies and will provide us with insights and understandings in what I refer to as the "tone of teaching."

 

Questions

One of the purposes of this course is to assist you to wisely reflect upon questions and challenges that you will face as a teacher. Another is to begin to construct a personal body of knowledge around such questions and to develop ways that this information can be shared with others. Questions such as:

“In here life is beautiful...”
-Cabaret-

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