Course Syllabus
Course Number:
Course Title:
EDG 6931
The Role of Education in a Democratic Society
Credit Hours:
3
Course Prerequisites:
NA
Course Meets:
Wednesday, 6:00-8:50, Coq 232
Instructor:
Larry Johnson
727-873-4052
ljohnso2@mail.usf.edu
(Please include course number in Subject line.)
Office Hours:
Tuesday, 11am to noon or by appointment
The College of Education seeks to prepare exemplary teachers and other
educational personnel for roles in a diverse and changing society. It promotes
lifelong learning, is committed to stewardship that reflects the ethics of community
responsibility, and continually strives to meet the educational needs of all learners.
Three major themes summarize candidate outcomes and dispositions:
Knowledgeable Professionalism, Reflective Teaching, and Collaborative Leadership.
The philosophy of the College of Education comprises five core values, which frame
the curriculum and align the unit’s instruction, clinical practice, field experiences,
assessment, and evaluation. They are: diversity, collaboration with our professional
partners, a culture of inquiry, ethical behavior and high academic standards.
This course is part of the core of classes in the Masters of Liberal Arts degree program.
This course will focus on the common conceptions of democracy, equality, freedom,
liberty, and equity and what these conceptions imply for educational aims and practice.
ALC Student Learning Outcome
a. The primary outcome will be item 1.a. Students demonstrate knowledge of
disciplinary area(s) of study—major concepts, movements, historical periods, or
other relevant categories in their major field(s).
The critical assignment will be a paper of approximately 20 pages that shows mastery of
course material, develops an argument, addresses counter arguments, and places the
argument in appropriate context, for example historical, philosophical, or sociological
context. Other assignments may include student presentations, book reviews, or other
activities appropriate in a graduate seminar.
Course Requirements for Spring 2011
1. Read James Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South; Ira Katznelson, When
Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold Story of Racial Inequality in TwentiethCentury America; Linda McNeil, Contradictions of School Reform: Educational
Costs of Standardized Testing; Jonathan Kozol, The Shame of the Nation: The
Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America; and articles available in
Blackboard. The four books are available at Barnes & Noble.
2. In-class work, contributing thoughtful questions and comments.
3. Presentations on readings
4. Final paper, one medium length paper (20 pp.).
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Attend class and demonstrate that you have read each assignment carefully by
asking and answering questions and participating in class activities
Communicate your ideas in class discussions, presentations, and written
assignments
Students with disabilities are responsible for registering with the Office of Student
Disabilities Services in order to receive special accommodations and services. Please
notify the instructor within the first week of classes if a reasonable accommodation for a
disability is needed for this course. A letter from the USF Disability Services Office must
accompany the request.
Discussing the readings will be a significant part of this class. You will each be
responsible to present a portion of the reading assignments and lead discussion of them.
For your presentation, you will need to provide 1) A brief outline of the major arguments
and ideas in the assigned reading, including what you consider to be key passages
(remember to cite page numbers). 2) A brief written analysis of those arguments. The
following questions may be useful in thinking through your analysis. What is each author
for or against and why? How are the arguments in different readings related to one
another? Why are the arguments significant? From the author’s perspective? From your
perspective? 3) A ten- to 15-minute presentation on the material in the reading. In
discussions, make sure you draw on the knowledge and experience of the group members
to assess the significance of the arguments and ideas presented in the readings. Feel free to
bring in related outside materials.
The final paper is your chance to work in more depth with the subject matter. Your
paper should demonstrate mastery of course material and make interesting claims and
arguments about important issues. You’ll need to support your position using social,
economic, historical, and philosophical analyses of the foundations of education. You’ll
need to address counter arguments. Please post a brief, one- or two-page, proposal to
Blackboard and bring a copy to class on the date below. Post a draft of your final paper to
Blackboard and bring two copies on the last day of class.
Grading
In-class work 15%; presentations 35%; final paper 50%
A+ 97%; A 93%; A- 90%; B+ 87%; B 83%; B- 80%; and so on.
Schedule of Topics and Readings
1 12-Jan
Introduction to Class: Inequality & Democratic Education
2 19-Jan
The Common School and Early Industrial Capitalism
Katz, Doucet, and Stern, "Early Industrial Capitalism"
Lerner, "The Lady and the Mill Girl"
Mann, 10th Annual Report
Mann, 12th Annual Report
Brownson, "Decentralization: Alternative to Bureaucracy"
Background Material
PowerPoint: “The Birth of the US Public School System”
3 26-Jan
The First Common Schools For Blacks
Anderson, Brief Lecture and Q & A (Requires RealPlayer® Free Download)
(Open the web site and Search (CNTRL-F) for Anderson)
Anderson, Education of Blacks in the South, pp. 1-78.
Introduction
Chapter 1: Ex-Slaves and the Rise of Universal Education, 1860-1880
Chapter 2: The Hampton Model of Normal School Industrial
Education, 1868-1915
4 2-Feb
Disfranchisement and Blacks’ Response
Anderson, Education of Blacks in the South, pp. 79-147
Chapter 3: Education and the Race Problem in the New South: The
Struggle for Ideological Hegemony
Chapter 4: Normal Schools and County Training Schools: Educating
the South’s Black Teaching Force, 1900-1935
Common Schools for Black Children: The Second Crusade, 1900-1935
Background Readings
Woodward, The Mississippi Model
Tyack, “Centralization and the Corporate Model: Contests for Control
of Urban Schools”
Violas, "Progressive Social Philosophy"
Eliot, "The Function of Education in Democratic Society"
Butler, “An Address to the Merchants’ Club of Chicago”
Haley, “Why Teachers Should Organize”
Gove, “Limitations of the Superintendents’ Authority and of the
Teacher’s Independence”
5 9-Feb
Struggle Over the Curriculum
Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, pp. 148-237
Chapter 6: The Black Public High School and the Reproduction of
Caste in the Urban South, 1880-1935
Chapter 7: Training the Apostles of Liberal Culture: Black Higher
Education, 1900-1935
Epilogue: Black Education in Southern History
Background Readings
Violas, “Manual Training”
Rury, "Vocationalism for Home and Work"
Ehrenreich, "Women and White Sauce"
Rose, Selections from Lives on the Boundary
6 16-Feb
Du Bois’s Paradox
Katznelson, When Affirmative Action Was White, pp. ix-79
Preface: Du Bois’s Paradox
Doctor of Laws
Welfare in Black and White
Rules for Work
7 23-Feb
Education, Work, and War: The Creation of the White Middle Class
Katznelson, When Affirmative Action Was White, pp. 80-181
Divisions in War
White Veterans Only
Johnson’s Ambitions, Powell’s Principles: Thoughts on Renewing
Affirmative Action
Appendix: “To Fulfill These Rights”
8 2-Mar
Women and Schooling
Grumet, "Pedagogy for Patriarchy"
Nicholson, "Women and Schooling"
Haley, “Why Teachers Should Organize”
Murphy, “Centralization and Professionalization”
Houston, "Gender Freedom and the Subtleties of Sexist Education"
Anyon, “Intersections of Gender and Class”
9 9-Mar
Legislated “Excellence” & Its Effect on Good Schools
McNeil, Contradictions of School Reform
Front matter and Part I and Part II
Background Readings
National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk
Bracey, “April Foolishness: The 20th Anniversary of A Nation at Risk”
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0304bra.htm
Overview of No Child Left Behind
(http://www.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/execsumm.html)
No Child Left Behind Act, debate (audio:
http://www.justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=428)
Blowing the Whistle on The Texas Miracle
(http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/19_01/tex191.shtml)
Shannon, “Why Teachers Use Commercial Reading Materials”
Kozol, “Still Separate, Still Unequal”
Wood, Schools That Work, Part I
Kliebard, "Scientific Curriculum Making and the Rise of Social
Efficiency"
Murphy, “Centralization & Professionalization”
16-Mar
10 23-Mar
11 30-Mar
12 6-Apr
Spring Break
“We’ve Got to Nuke This Educational System”
McNeil, Part III
The Ordering Regime: Race, Class, & Culture
Kozol, The Shame of the Nation, pp. 1-108
Background Reading
Anderson, “How We Learn about Race through History”
Anyon, "Social Class and School Knowledge"
Ogbu, "Class Stratification, Racial Stratification, and Schooling"
Deyhle, "Break Dancing and Breaking Out"
Anderson, “Crosses to Bear and Promises to Keep: The Jubilee
Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education”
Anderson, “The Historical Context for Understanding the Test Score
Gap”
Villenas, “Racism in a Small Town”
Proposal for Final Paper Due Post to Blackboard and bring copy to class
13 13-Apr
False Promises
Kozol, The Shame of the Nation, pp. 109-214
14 20-Apr
Resistance
Kozol, The Shame of the Nation, pp. 215-321 plus end matter
15 27-Apr
4-May
Drafts of Papers Due & Presentation of Papers in Class
Papers Due. Submit in Assignment Section of Blackboard