SECONDARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, BROOKLYN COLLEGE, CUNY
SEED 1001 CRITICAL ISSUES IN U.S. EDUCATION
Professor Namulundah Florence @NFlorence@brooklyn.cuny.edu
105 WE - West End Building (WEB)
Tuesdays and Thursdays: 11:00-12:15PM
Voicemail: 347-450-2158
Course website, url or web address is https://libguides.brooklyn.cuny.edu/seed1001.
BROOKLYN SCHOOL OF EDUCATION’S CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
COLLABORATION – DIVERSITY – SOCIAL JUSTICE – CRITICAL SELF-REFLECTION
Bulletin description: All levels of public education in the United States today have become the focus for often competing political, economic, social and cultural visions of how and why we should educate the nation’s youth. This course offers students the opportunity to become knowledgeable about critical issues in American education and the controversies surrounding them, while considering the historical, political, sociological and economic dimensions of each. Among the issues the course will address are a) the purpose of public education in a democracy; b) the private/public split in education, with a focus on home schooling, charters, parochial, and private K-20 schools; c) who determines the school curriculum; d) mayoral control, the value of high-stakes testing, and outcomes based approaches to education; e) the way public K-20 public schools are funded; f) technology’s impact on education with a focus on online education; g) the role of unions and tenure in schools and in the teaching profession; h) the challenge to public schools of poverty, diversity, and equity and i) sexuality, gender and sex education. Starting Spring 2018 Satisfies Pathways Flexible Core US Experience in Its Diversity requirement.
Course Essential Questions:
Essential questions about schooling—players, place, and grammar of schooling:
Standard #1: Learner Development. The teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences.
Standard #2: Learning Differences. The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards.
Standard #3: Learning Environments. The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.
Standard #4: Content Knowledge. The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.
Standard #5: Application of Content. The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.
Students will infer the historical timeline in creating the K-12 school system—elementary and high school and describe the four pillars of the teaching/learning process—student, teacher, curriculum, and environment--and the impact on student learning. REMEMBER 20 points Pre-class activities.
Students will identify and discuss the cultural context of schooling—government policies, parental roles, teacher/student relationships, school conventions, expectations, emerging social trends, technological advances, socio-economic factors, and prevailing norms. APPLY 25 points attendance and class participation.
Students collaboratively research, organize and report during class, on select controversial issues in schooling (Metal detectors, English Only Policy, and incarceration of minors, etc.). CREATE 15 points.
Prepare a minimum 5-page paper with at least 5 references and communicate priorities based on transforming schools. Include a standard reference list (APA, MLA, or Chicago styles). CREATE 25 points.
Students will collaboratively identify pros and cons of controversial positions in schooling. EVALUATE @10 points.
Students will create a Meme or log for the paper. CREATE 5 points.
Students know and collaborate with classmates via email and phone/text on class related issues to build a community of scholars. ANALYZE AND EVALUATE 10 points.
The assessments and learning activities in the course are designed to help you meet the learning objectives and demonstrate your progress. Each assessment is directly related to one or more learning objectives, so that in the end your grade will reflect how much you have learned in the course.
Article analysis. During the semester, you will be asked to critique research and popular press papers. Even though each of these assignments will specify its own grading criteria, in general you will be asked to engage reading materials for interpretation and generalizability of the results. This will allow you to become a sophisticated reader of scholarly materials.
Class participation. Multiple perspectives on an issue only enrich our thinking about it. There are two ways in this course to participate: brief responses via chat as well as paired and large-class discussions.
The quality of participation that will be most beneficial to the class will reflect a knowledge of the readings assigned; it will be based on logic and supported by evidence; when appropriate, it should build on previous comments and move the discussion further along by adding a new insight; it might introduce new facts or probe deeper with questions; it might question underlying assumptions or refine the scope of the conversation with precise definitions; most of all, it will be respectful of other people’s comments and positions. The last point is fundamental. I realize that this course might elicit strong reactions due to deeply held personal beliefs, but we all manage our differences civilly, focusing criticism on the intellectual and scientific merit of the position, not on the person expressing it. Disrespect will not be tolerated in this course.
Group Work: Collaborating with others is an important life and career skills as well as an effective way to increase learning. Research also shows that the opportunity to engage in learning activities with peers greatly impacts student success and satisfaction with online courses. Therefore 25%-50% of learning activities in this course will involve communication and collaboration with your peers including weekly discussions in small groups, collaborative assignments, and group projects.
Citations: To correctly acknowledge other scholar’s ideas in class assignments, correct citations are required. Use one of the standard reference styles: MLA, APA format or the University of Chicago Manual. Regardless of the selected citation format, students need to acknowledge the source within the text, using footnotes or endnotes and references at the end of the text. Our Reference Librarian is Matthew Harrick <MHarrick@brooklyn.cuny.edu>
Written and oral Presentation: The letter to your younger 15-year-old self will be reported as a final product at the semester. Remember to address the three essential questions about schooling—players, place, and grammar of schooling: What is an ideal student?; Who are teachers/instructors?; and, What is the common ground in schools? You will have 5 minutes to present findings on the final project with 5 minutes set aside to respond to questions from your classmates.
Required textbook: Although the course holds a heavy load of readings, there is no required course textbook. All reading will be made available to the students through blackboard, on the course website (https://libguides.brooklyn.cuny.edu/seed1001) or as a handout.
Grade point breakdown:
|
Grade Point Breakdown |
||
|
A+ 97-100 |
B- 80-82.9 |
D 63-66.9 |
|
|
C+ 77-79.9 |
D- 60-62.9 |
|
C 73-76.9 |
F 0-59-9
|
|
|
B+ 87-89.9 |
C- 70-72.9 |
|
|
B 83-86.9 |
D+ 67-69.9 |
|
Course Assignment and Readings Schedule
9/3 WEEK ONE: Overview of the course. Education vs. schooling
1. Discussion of course requirements and assignments (Syllabus review)
2. Introductions
3. Purpose of the course
9/10 WEEK TWO: The History of schooling
Reading: Chen, Grace. A Relevant History of Public Education in the United States. Updated December 07, 2018. The discussion on historical foundations of schooling traces the development of the Public School in the Republic. Open Web article on Public School Review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XicYavhRTOk (5.43 minutes)
9/17 WEEK THREE: Public High Schools (K-12)
Readings: Danns, D., & Span, C. M. (2008). 28. History of Schooling. In T. L. Good (Ed.), 21st Century Reference Series. 21st Century Education: A Reference Handbook (Vol. 1, pp. 265-273). SAGE Publications. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3074700043/GVRL?u=cuny_broo39667&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=e7ff8274
Frey, R. J., PhD. (2016). Alternative School. In D. S. Blanchfield (Ed.), The Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy through Adolescence (3rd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 113-116). Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3630900040/GVRL?u=cuny_broo39667&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=fa3ba4de
9/24 WEEK FOUR: School Cultures and Reputation
Readings: Crosnoe, R. (2009). School Culture. In D. Carr (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development (Vol. 1, pp. 399-402). Macmillan Reference USA. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3273000107/GVRL?u=cuny_broo39667&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=94d21d87
10/1 WEEK FIVE: The Community as a Learning Partner
Reading: Domina, T. (2009). Parental Involvement in Education. In D. Carr (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development (Vol. 1, pp. 340-344). Macmillan Reference USA. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3273000092/GVRL?u=cuny_broo39667&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=dc3d6f31
10/8 WEEK SIX: SCHOOL POLICIES Department of Education (DOE) & Policy
Reading: Popkewitz, T. S. (2010). Curriculum, History of. In C. Kridel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies (Vol. 1, pp. 181-188). SAGE Reference. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3021500115/GVRL?u=cuny_broo39667&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=df059ce2
10/22 WEEK SEVEN: Students’ Learning Assessment
Reading and YouTube Video: Bullard, E. C. (2016). Standardized Testing. In D. S. Blanchfield (Ed.), The Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy through Adolescence (3rd ed., Vol. 4, pp. 2517-2521). Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3630900737/GVRL?u=cuny_broo39667&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=353bb793
10/29 WEEK EIGHT: Multicultural Education
Readings: Aufox, Z., & Bullard, E. (2016). Multicultural Education/Curriculum. In D. S. Blanchfield (Ed.), The Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy through Adolescence (3rd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 1810-1812). Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3630900533/GVRL?u=cuny_broo39667&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=0b174499
Faltis, C. (2008). English-Only Movement. In V. N. Parrillo (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Social Problems (Vol. 1, pp. 300-302). SAGE Publications. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3074000185/GVRL?u=cuny_broo39667&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=1241609e
11/5 WEEK NINE: Teacher Preparation and Pedagogy
Readings: Balderrama, M. V. (2008). Teacher Preparation, Then and Now. In J. M. González (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education (Vol. 2, pp. 813-816). SAGE Publications. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3074300281/GVRL?u=cuny_broo39667&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=f86938d4:
Ayers, William. “Beginning: The Challenge of Teaching (Ch. 1); Seeing the Student (Ch. 2).” In To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher. New York: Teachers College Press, 2010. READ ONLY CHAPTER TWO. Password Protected. Open web document with password.
11/12 WEEK TEN: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) & LEARNING
Reading: Conroy, Gemma. “Scientists Used ChatGPT to Generate an Entire Paper from Scratch - but Is It Any Good?” Nature (London), vol. 619, no. 7970, 2023, pp. 443–44.
WHAT EMPLOYERS SEEK.
Communication Equity and Inclusion Leadership
Professionalism Technology Teamwork
Critical thinking
Readings: White, J. T. (2014). School to Career Movement. In Encyclopedia of Business and Finance (3rd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 662-664). Macmillan Reference USA. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3727500277/GVRL?u=cuny_broo39667&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=513e9dfb
Presentation: Career 101 Magner Center Student Orientation - April 2024. Updated (004). https://libguides.brooklyn.cuny.edu/ld.php?content_id=77769324
Gladwell, Malcolm (2009). The New-Boy Network: What Do Job Interviews Really Tell Us?. In What The Dog Saw and Other Adventures (pp. 375-393). New York: Little, Brown and Company. Password Protected: Open web document with Password.
11/26 WEEK TWELVE: Transformational Agents in Education
*****Knowing where to look for information: Ask a Librarian
12/3 WEEK THIRTEEN: Independent Work--Complete Paper & Prepare for Presentations.
Create one billboard phrase or create a meme or logo for your letter on the importance of education. You can also write a poem OR draft a RAP.
12/10 WEEK FOURTEEN: STORY TELLING on Philosophy of education.
Individual response to each group presentation: Write a paragraph that begins with, I was surprised that ... I learned that ... I wonder about .... Students can comment on the presentation by using Chat privately to me.
12/17 WEEK FIFTEEN: Contd. Presentation and conferences and Research papers due to NFlorence@brooklyn.cuny.edu by 5:00PM.
***********Avoid submitting papers as Google links.
***COURSE SCHEDULE CHANGES
I may make changes as necessary-usually because one of you finds an omission or error! - to the course schedule. If changes become necessary during this course, I will notify you by email, course announcements and/or a discussion board announcement. It is your responsibility to look for such communications about the course on a regular basis.
IMPORTANT DATES FOR FALL 2024 SEMESTER
Saturday, October 12-Monday, October 14 College Closed
November 30 and Sunday, December 1 No Classes Scheduled (College Open)
Assignment Exceeds expectations Meets expectations Below expectation
|
Personal Philosophy of Education
ANALYZE 25 points |
Minimum 5-page report on revisioning schools and society integrating personal experiences and secondary literature (at least five sources). Use standard reference styles—MLA, Chicago, APA, etc. Gives credit to most sources for secondary literature. Understands the rules of citation. |
Adequate 5-page report on revisioning schools and society integrating personal experiences and secondary literature (at least five sources). Use standard reference styles—MLA, Chicago, APA, etc. Gives credit to most sources for secondary literature. Understands the rules of citation. |
Late, incomplete, or unsystematic 5-page report on revisioning schools and society integrating personal experiences and secondary literature. Fails to use standard reference styles—MLA, Chicago, APA, etc., give credit to sources for secondary literature. Inconsistency in referencing format. Cheats and plagiarizes. |
|
Pre-class reflection prompts: Students will compare personal views with historical and contemporary scholars and discourses on discussion board forums. UNDERSTAND/EVALUATE. 20 points. |
Detailed and explicit responses to Discussion board prompts that triangulate personal views, assigned reading as well as video clips. Critique a classmate’s response to assigned materials.
|
Adequate responses to Discussion board prompts that triangulate personal views, assigned reading as well as video clips. Critique a classmate’s response to assigned materials.
|
Limited and irregular responses to Discussion board prompts that triangulate personal views, assigned reading as well as video clips. Often fails to critique a classmate’s response to assigned materials. |
|
Building a learning community
10 points CREATE
|
Students consistently engages in email, call or face-to-face interactions with fellow students and the professor outside of class to build a learning community. |
Student occasionally engages in email, call or face-to-face interactions with fellow students and the professor outside of class to build a learning community. |
Student rarely engages in email, call or face-to-face interactions with fellow students and the professor outside of class to build a learning community. |
|
Class participation
Semester long assessment. REMEMBER 20 points
|
Consistent preparation and participation in class discussions based on assigned readings. Correctly recognize multiple interpretations and distinguish fact from opinion and analysis. Actively listens to others in class, supporting their views even if they differ from one’s own. Asks clarifying questions. Allows others to voice their views. Stellar attendance record. |
Frequent preparation and participation in class discussions as well as paired projects based on assigned readings. Generally aware of multiple interpretations and distinguish fact from opinion and analysis. Listens to others in class and/or field settings. Responds appropriately to what others say. Can take in points of view that differ from one’s own. Legitimate if any absences from class. |
Infrequent preparation and participation in class discussions as well as paired projects based on assigned readings. Shows no awareness of multiple interpretations and distinguish fact from opinion and analysis. Does not listen to others in the class and/or field settings. Interrupts others. Dominates conversation. Is unwilling to diverse points of view. More than two legitimate absences and tardiness. |
|
Debates CREATE 10 points |
Preparedness: Student is completely prepared and has obviously rehearsed. Content: Provides handouts that are clear and show key issues. Cites at least three sources related to the target audience. Presents concise. PowerPoint slides. Provides clear reasons why information is relevant. |
Preparedness: Student seems quite prepared but might have needed a couple more rehearsals. Content: Shows a good understanding of the topic. Part of information is presented without rationale. Cites two sources related to the target audience. |
Preparedness: Student does not seem prepared to present. Content: Does not seem to understand the topic very well. No rationale is provided regarding why information presented is relevant. Does not cite sources related to the target audience. |
|
In class group work ANALYZE 10 points |
Takes initiative in researching, organizing, and reporting on findings. Collaborative |
Adequately collaborates with teammates to research, organize, and report on findings. Collaborative |
Fails to collaborate with classmates in researching, organizing, and reporting on findings. |
|
Billboard phrase, log, or meme for a personal vision. CREATE 5 points |
Thoughtful and creative billboard phrase, log, or a create a meme, for youth on schools and social transformation. in general. |
Create a billboard phrase, log or a create a meme, for youth on schools and social transformation. in general.
|
Late, incomplete, or unsubmitted billboard phrase, log or meme, for youth on schools and social transformation. in general. |
