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SCHOOL & SOCIETY
The Learning Community - North Option

EDU3508

OISE/UT 2000/2001

 

OISE/UT CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

This course will help teacher candidates 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 varities 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.

COURSE FRAMEWORK: SCHOOL & SOCIETY

The delivery of this course is organized around five broad questions which link the organization and work of teachers and students in schools to fundamental social categories and relationships (e.g., gender, race, culture), and to broader social and organizational processes that influence the nature of schools and the lives of teachers and students in schools (e.g., education policy development, education governance, demographic trends, school organization and culture, teacher professionalization), as follows:

  1. What should be the purposes of education and how should they be decided?
  2. How should student diversity be reflected in education policies, practices, and outcomes?
  3. What role should parents and other members of the community play in schools?
  4. What shapes the nature of teachers’ work inside and outside the classroom?
  5. How does educational change relate to trends in the broader social, political, and economic context?

 These open-ended questions are designed to engage teacher candidates in an examination and interpretation of alternative responses and debates associated with the relationship between school and society. It is assumed that a critical awareness and understanding of the evolving relationship between school and society represents an essential part of the professional education of all teachers, beginning and experienced, which prepares them to make informed professional opinions and judgements in this domain. Through classwork and assignments, teacher candidates will investigate the five broad questions in relation to four strands associated with the major focus/topic of the question: theories and ideologies underlying policy alternatives and practices, actual educational policies and practices, past and contemporary changes in theory/policy/practice, and the consequences of those theories/policies/practices for teachers and for students (particularly as it relates to equity in educational opportunities and outcomes). The key questions and strands which provide the organizer for the course are depicted schematically in the following diagram.

KEY QUESTIONS

Theory & Ideology

Policy & Practice

History & Change

Outcomes (equity)

1. What should be the purposes of education and how should they be decided?

 

 

 

 

2. How should student diversity be reflected in education policies, practices, and outcomes?

 

 

 

 

3. What role should parents and other members of the community play in schools?

 

 

 

 

4. What shapes the nature of teachers’ work inside and outside the classroom?

 

 

 

 

5. How does educational change relate to trends in the broader social, political, and economic context?

 

 

 

 

Over the course of the year we will address the key questions and strands through classwork and assignments associated with the major topics listed below. Topics specifically introduced through School and Society may be expanded upon through presentations and class discussions associated with the Teacher Education Seminar.

TOPIC GUIDE & SCHEDULE: SCHOOL & SOCIETY

1. What should be the purposes of education and how should they be decided?

September 14: The Goals of Education

2. How should student diversity be reflected in education policies, practices, and outcomes?

October 19: Student diversity and identity
October 20: Race and Culture in Education Policy and Practice
January 15: Diversity & Inclusion
January 19: Socio-Economic Class in Education
January 19: Gender in Education
January 23: Immigrant Student Experience

3. What role should parents and other members of the community play in schools?

February 16: Parent involvement: communication

April 3: Parent involvment: diversity in families / Parent involvement: participation

4. What shapes the nature of teachers’ work inside and outside the classroom?

September 22: Standards of Practice
February 2: Professional Ethics
April 6: School Culture & Teacher development

5. How does educational change relate to trends in the broader social, political, and economic context?

Mini-Seminars: current educational issues (Dec 1, Dec 15, Jan 29, Feb 9)

COURSE EVALUATION

Each of your major assignments and your mark for Professionalism contributes to your grade in School and Society, as follows:

Portfolio 40%
Mini-Seminar 20%
Diversity among Learners 20%
Professionalism 20%

READINGS

Core readings will be available for purchase at a local copy centre. Additional resource materials will be distributed in class to support the various sessions that are associated with the School and Society Course.