Education 48NC: Introduction to Education
Merritt College Project 3Rs
Teacher: Kim Bancroft
Spring 2001 Tuesday 5-8 pm 3 units (Course Control #M0931)
Course Syllabus and Outline
Commonly we hear that “Education is power.” But who has access to this power? How is educational
opportunity shaped in our nation? How are different educational systems and methods formed in relation to
various segments of society, such as different races and ethnic groups, socioeconomic classes and genders?
How much of a difference can individual teachers make for the students in their classes and in their school?
How can we make our schools more responsive to the needs of those who attend them and work in them?
This course will provide students a chance to explore these questions. The class will offer a sociological
foundation for analyzing education as an institution embedded in various social structures that impact students,
teachers, schools and families—the principal actors we will study. In particular, we will see how factors of race,
class, and gender interweave with these social structures and actors, affecting educational equity. We will also
study education as a source of democracy and social change in our society.
Through reading in various fields, writing essays, and making presentations, students will become
familiar with the languages of sociology and education, while gaining confidence as critical readers and
thinkers, as well as public speakers.
An important emphasis of the course is writing as a means of deepening our knowledge of what we have
read and discussed. Writing improves by studying examples of articulate written analysis and by practicing
rewriting, learning to see and correct the problems in our essays.
Other important features of the course are student presentations and discussions on reading selections, as
well as peer editing of essays. In many facets of your life, you may already act as teachers, and so what you offer to
other class members is vital in furthering our understanding of the material. We will form a community of learners
and teachers, practicing methods that can help make the classroom into a vital source of growth and transformation.
Required course materials:
Course reader of supplementary articles
Beyond Heroes and Holidays: A Guide to K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and Staff
Development eds. Lee, Menkart, Okazawa-Rey
Completing the required reading and writing assignments on time is mandatory.
Attendance Policy: You are expected to attend class in order to benefit from discussions, presentations, and
feedback on compositions, both from fellow students and myself. More than one absence will show your lack of
commitment to the process, and will surely jeopardize your academic standing in the class.
1
EVALUATION
I will evaluate your work with points matched to grades. An overview of expected assignments and their
point values follows. A 5% "penalty" will be taken off all late papers. Lack of punctuality with assignments not
only shows irresponsibility but also creates problems for teachers. Please turn work in on time. PLAN AHEAD
using a calendar to help you set aside time for homework assignments.
If you have any questions on assignments or need extra help, please see me or give me a call. I am very
accessible.
READING RESPONSES
Points
One response for each of 25 selections, 5 points per response
SUB-TOTAL
MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS
Essay #1
Rewrite of #1
Essay #2
Rewrite of #2
Essay #3
Rewrite of #3
Essay #4
SUB-TOTAL
125 points
Points
100
50
100
50
100
50
150
600
PRESENTATIONS
You will be asked to analyze some of our reading selections and make a presentation on it in class.
Three presentations each, 25 points each
SUB-TOTAL
75 points
COURSE TOTAL
Reading responses:
Major writing assignments:
Presentations:
TOTAL
125
600
75
800 points
Point-Grade Conversion
Typical Standards:
A = 90-100%
B = 80-89%
C = 70-79%
D = 60-69%
F = 59% and below
Of a 50 pt assignment:
50-46 pts = A
45-41 pts = B
40-36 pts = C
35-30 pts = D
29 and below = F
Of a 25 pt assignment:
25-23 pts = A
22-20 pts = B
19-17 pts = C
16-15 pts = D
14 and below = F
All reading assignments are due on the date noted. Be sure you have set aside time to read the
assignments carefully. Make notes in your reader as you go (highlighting significant passages and writing in the
margins). You’ll get more out of what you read this way.
All writing assignments are due at the beginning of class. You will be expected to turn in Reading
Responses for each essay read as of Week 3 (see separate handout on how to do these assignments). Points will
be deducted from late work. Please be punctual in arriving to class and turning in work on time.
2
ED 48 NC: Introduction to Education
Course Outline
Kim Bancroft Merritt College
Assignments are due on the date noted. Written work should be ready to turn in at the
beginning of class.
All essays are from your course reader unless the assignment says Beyond Heroes and Holidays. (The
original source is in parentheses.) Page numbers are noted so that you know how much reading to expect.
Week
1
1/16
Introduction to course
Reading: “Para Teresa” by Ines Hernandez (poem), Beyond Heroes and Holidays, p.224-25
2
1/23
Framing Education in a Social System: An Historical Perspective
Reading:
“Education of Indian Children” by Ohiyesa (Sioux) (2 pages)
“The Schooldays of an Indian Girl” by Zitkala-Sa (Multitude) p.207-214
“Civilize Them with a Stick” by Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdoe,( Common Ground) p.263-274
3
1/30
Framing Education in a Social System: An Historical Perspective
Note: Write 1 Reading Response for each assigned essay, from now on.
Reading:
From Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Ch.6, p.77-79, and Ch.7, p.81-85
“The Library Card” by Richard Wright, (Black Boy, reprinted in Multitude) p.338-345
“Learning to Read” by Malcolm X (The Autobiography of Malcolm X) p.171-173
4
2/6
Framing Education in a Social System: The Contemporary Urban Perspective
“The New Untouchables” Jonathan Kozol (Transforming Urban Education) p.75-78
Essay #1 due: A critique of some aspect of the education system from personal experience
Have 2 copies of your essay ready in class for peer editing (10 points).
Reading:

5
2/13
Class and Educational Opportunity
Reading:
“Withered Hopes, Stillborn Dreams: The Dismal Panorama of Urban Schools” Gene Maeroff
(Transforming Urban Education) p.32-42
“Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” Jean Anyon (Rereading America) p.186-201

6
Essay #1 peer-edited rewrite due (incorporating any comments you received last week in class on
your essay, rewrite it to turn in to Kim this week)
2/20 Class and Educational Opportunity
Reading:
“I Just Wanna Be Average” Mike Rose (Rereading America) p.174-185
“Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education” bell hooks (Talking Back: Thinking Feminist,
Thinking Black) p.73-83
“Education, Inequality and the Meritocracy” Bowles and Gintis (Schooling in Capitalist America)
p.102-124
3
7
2/27
Race and Education
Reading:
“Contexts of Learning for Minority Students” James Vasquez (Transforming Urban Education) p.29130
“Teaching Whites about Racism” by Christine Sleeter, Beyond Heroes and Holidays, p.36-44
“Lies My Textbook Told Me” James Loewen, Beyond Heroes and Holidays, p.118-124

8
Official Rewrite of Essay #1 due (incorporating Kim’s comments on your previous draft, rewrite it
and turn in both Kim’s edited copy and your new version stapled on top)
3/6
Race and Education: A Focus on Language and Literacy
Reading:
“Elderly Refugees and Language Learning” by Allene Guss Grognet (Visions Across the Americas)
p.282-88.
“Language Diversity and Learning” Lisa Delpit, Beyond Heroes and Holidays, p.154-65
“Racism in the English Language” by Robert Moore, Beyond Heroes and Holidays, p.166-169
“Bilingual Education: Talking Points” by David Ramirez, Beyond Heroes and Holidays, p.173-180
9
3/13
Gender and Education
{Happy International Women’s Day!}
Reading:
“Learning Silence” Peggy Orenstein (SchoolGirls) p.3-31
“Fear of Falling: Sluts” Peggy Orenstein (SchoolGirls) p.51-66
“Girlpower” by Berndt, Epsten and Minor, Beyond Heroes and Holidays, p.372-374
10
3/20 Gender and Education
In class film: It’s Elementary

11
Essay #2 due: Analysis of race or class or gender issue in education
Have 2 copies of your essay ready in class for peer editing (10 points).
3/27
Gender and Education: A Focus on Gay and Lesbian Issues
Reading:
“What Do We Say When We Hear Faggot?” L. Gordon (Rethinking Schools) p.40-44
“Trouble over the Rainbow” Stan Karp (Rethinking Schools) p.23-35
“Growing up Gay” by Katherice Whitlock, “Black and Gay” by Steve, Beyond Heroes and Holidays,
p.94-97

12
Essay #2 peer-edited rewrite due (incorporating any comments you received last week in class on
your essay, rewrite it to turn in to Kim this week)
4/3
Family and Education
Reading:
“Improving the School-Home Connection for Poor and Minority Urban Students” Carol Ascher
(Transforming Urban Education) p.360-374
“Do You Know Where the Parents of Your Children Are” by Hugh McKeown, Beyond Heroes and
Holidays, p.88-91
“Beyond Pizza Sales: Parent Involvement in the 1990s,” Editors (Rethinking Schools) p.235-39
“Dear Principal” by Muriel Clarke, Beyond Heroes and Holidays, p.111
4/10
SPRING BREAK! SPRING BREAK! SPRING BREAK!
4
13
4/17
Educational Change: Begin at the Beginning—Early Childhood
Reading:
“Redefining the Norm: Early Childhood Anti-Bias Strategies” Ellen Wolpert, Beyond Heroes and
Holidays, p.193-205
“Activism and Pre-school Children” Louise Derman-Sparks, Beyond Heroes and Holidays, p.188-192

14
Official Rewrite of Essay #2 due (incorporating Kim’s comments on your previous draft, rewrite it
and turn in both Kim’s edited copy and your new version stapled on top)
4/24
Educational Change: School Restructuring
Reading:
“Secondary Schools, Primary Lessons” George Wood (Rereading America_ p.121-134
“Getting Started in Schools” Nel Noddings (The Challenge to Care in Schools) p.173-180

15
Essay #3 due (no peer editing this time, unless you do so on your on time—and I recommend it!)
5/1
Educational Change: The Curriculum
Reading:
“Embracing Change: Teaching in a Multicultural World” bell hooks (Teaching to Transgress) p.35-44
Introduction to Beyond Heroes and Holidays, Lee, Menkart and Okazawa-Rey, p.vii-xii
“Affirmation, Solidarity and Critique” by Sonia Nieto, Beyond Heroes and Holidays, p.7-18
16
5/8
Educational Change: The Teachers
Reading:
“Reinventing Teaching” Deborah Meier ( The Power of Their Ideas) p.139-154
“Culturally Relevant Teaching” Gloria Ladson-Billings (The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of
African American Children) p.102-126
“The Pedagogy of Poverty Versus Good Teaching” Martin Haberman (Transforming Urban
Education) p.305-314
17
5/15
Educational Change: The Teachers
Reading (no reading responses due this week):
Selection from the novel Push by Sapphire, p.36-55
“Looking Through an Anti-Racist Lens” Enid Lee, Beyond Heroes and Holidays, p.402-404

18
Official Rewrite of Essay #3 due
5/22
Final Week: Essay #4 and presentation due
5