COURSE NUMBER: FNDS6000
SEMESTER: Spring 2007
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: K.Riley
CONTACT INFORMATION
Office Room Number: 318
Phone: 334-244-3881
Email Address: kriley@mail.aum.edu
REQUIRED TEXT: Gutek, G.L. 2004. Philosophical and Ideological
Voices in Education. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Riley, K.L., Ed. 2006. Social Reconstruction: People, Politics,
Perspectives. Connecticut: Information Age Publishing.
Selected Readings:
Check the calendar icon for selected readings and
how to access them (Online class only).
Essential Question/s About the Philosophical and Historical
Foundations of Education:
FNDS 6000 attempts to answer the following
three-part question, "What are our collective philosophical and historical
experiences?" "How have they shaped our beliefs and practices regarding
education?' And, "How have they prepared us to meet the challenges of
new and pressing issues in education?"
In this class, we will explore our philosophical and historical heritage with
the over-arching goal of seeking an understanding of how the study of both
philosophy and history prepares us as future professional educators to
grasp current educational issues and apply our theoretical knowledge for
the purpose of creating excellent learning environments. This knowledge is
largely based upon our understanding that the "culture" of American
education is an amalgam of divisions and sub-divisions of thought and
perspective. The question of what American education should or ought to
be will have a myriad of answers, yours will be among them.
Understanding the AUM School of Education Model and its
relationship to this course:
Each person has a set of beliefs which have
been formed over time from a personal set of life experiences, generated
within a specific historical context or moment. These beliefs determine, in
large part, how individuals approach issues and resolve conflicts. The
individual who learns how to be a reflective learner will most likely enjoy a
greater success in the classroom or boardroom, because the ability to
practice reflection--which ultimately leads to reorganization of thought--is
the key to change, adaptation, or understanding. Hence, the reflective
practitioner examines the basis of his or her own beliefs, approaches
certain issues or conflicts with an informed perspective, concludes that the
success of his or her students or colleagues is based, in large measure, on
how those beliefs assist or impede learning or action, and thus constantly
re-adjusts his or her teaching or administrative style based upon a
reflective-practice model. Within this framework, the AUM School of
Education prepares entry level educators with the ability to work as
collaborative decision makers. The School's total program is designed to
blend content, operative, reflective, and collaborative knowledge with an
eye toward competency in the subject matter of philosophy and history of
education. Additionally, through student engagement with course material
and assignments, students begin their journey toward developing a
commitment to the pursuit of intellectual knowledge..
The following questions will help you begin the journey to
understand your own personal set of beliefs about education and
provide "food" for reflective thought:
"The purpose of schooling is..."
"American education is influenced by..."
"Teaching is..."
"Students need..."
"School Administrators should..."
Learning Goals: (These goals align with State Department of
Education requirements under 3 (d) - Analysis form 290-3-3-.44)
1. To gain an understanding of how philosophy has affected the practice of
schooling, particularly the curriculum.
2. To trace the historical development of American schooling from its
colonial beginnings to the present.
3. To analyze the impact of political considerations on American schooling
practice and organization.
4. To demonstrate knowledge of how socio-economic, cultural, and
religious factors influence our American school system.
5. To demonstrate competency in approaching current educational issues
with an awareness of the fundamental arguments of varying
perspectives.
6. To achieve competency in speaking, writing, and mediation.
7. To examine and articulate your own set of Personal Practice Theories
about Teaching,
Students, Schools, and Subject Matter.
Means and Resources to Achieve Competencies: Not all items are
used each semester.
1. Lecture page (electronic)
2. Textbook readings.
3. Class writing.
4. Observation of educational issues, locally, state-wide, and at the
national level.
5. Analysis of journal articles.
6. Presentation of individual and/or group activities.
7. Completion of classroom examinations.
8. Completion of term project/s.
About Cyberspace (Online class only):
Things happen in cyberspace for which there is little explanation.
Therefore, you must practice patience. If you cannot log on, try again
in a few hours or close out one browser and use another. Also,
sometimes your computer will show a different date than the one on
our WEB CT program. This may bother you especially when you must
turn an assignment by a certain date and/or time. Therefore, you need
to avoid waiting until the last minute to upload. You may have quizzes
or tests this term aside from your midterm and final. Since these will
be available at only certain times, you need to carefully plan your
time.
Evaluation:
Assignments – 25%
Quizzes - 25%
Mid-term - 25%
Final exam - 25%
Quizes/tests:
This term your assignments, midterm and final exams will be uploaded to
turnitin.com. Please logon to turnitin.com and enroll yourself in the
course. The class ID is – 1778969. The password for the class is –
riley. You will find this syllabus also listed in turnitin.com. BE SURE TO
CHECK THE TURNITIN CALENDAR FOR due dates, etc.
WHY TURNITIN.COM? The workload for this class is heavy and
requires a great deal of time reading and writing. Some students
have tried to “cut corners” in the past by “borrowing” the work of
others. This is called plagiarism or academic cheating. The
turnitin.com software is designed to ameliorate this problem. How it
works is as follows: the software searches the web and matches
YOUR essay to known examples from articles, essays, books, etc. It
also stores assignments of other AUM students who have taken this
class before you and therefore searches assignments handed in by
classmates before you. The turnitin software then issues a report that
shows the degree to which your assignment is an exact match to
known work from the web and from the turnitin database. The
likelihood that someone would have the exact same wording on an
essay is extremely small. THEREFORE, when constructing your
essay answers, use your own words, thoughts, and ideas. While you
will naturally read about an event or person, how you relate what you
have learned in writing should be original. If you feel that you need to
quote another author, you must use quotation marks and then give
the citation. Then, at the end of your essay, you must include the
complete bibliographic information that relates to your citations.
SO…….avoid using the work of other students who have taken this
class before you as their answers are stored in the turnitin database
and the software will detect this. IF YOUR REPORT (each assignment
will deliver a “plagiarism” report) shows more than 20% (20% of your
words are from other sources), you will receive a grade of F on that
assignment.
Grading Scale: Students, this scale has been "inflated" to allow more
of an opportunity for students to make an A,B, or C. The customary
scale which we do not use in this class is 94-100=A; 87-93=B; 7886=C, and so forth. Because of this added opportunity, I do not
"bump" up grades. If your grade averages out to 80, then your final
grade is a C. As teachers you will all have to devise an evaluation
plan and set what you consider to be a minimum and maximum level
for grades. If you practice adjusting grades based upon anything
other than grade averages, then grades really have no meaning. As
for effort, class participation, and hard work, all of these are
expectations of a university student. I expect you to put effort into
your class work and exams. I know how hard many of you will work
when you write your exams, and I expect you to participate in your
own learning. As for extra credit, I do not assign such things as extra
work. History and philosophy are about understanding connections
and relationships, no amount of extra work at the end of the
semester-assuming you have worked up to capacity-will help you
understand more, that will come with time, reading, and thinking
about what you have read.
Grading Scale for FNDS6000
A=91-100
B=81-90
C=71-80
D=61-70
F=60 and below
WEB CT: You will consult WebCT each week for calendar
postings and assignments. You will read the brief lectures posted
under the assignment icon and explore ALL buttons which take you
to sites that will enhance your understanding of the material.
Remember: the WebCT address is: www.aum.edu
Computer: you can access WebCT from home or from campus. You
can use computers in the electronic classroom located on the second
floor of the library or those located in the Taylor Center.
READING SCHEDULE
Note: These dates are approximations. You need to pace your reading so
that you stay close to this schedule, but it does not have to be exact.
Weeks 1-2
Gutek, Philosophical & Ideological Voices; Introduction and
chapter 1, Chptrs. 11, 12, 16, 17, & 18 AND Riley, Chapter 6. The reason
that you are reading these chapters "out of order" according to the
textbook is because the history of the U.S. is largely the history of
liberal and conservative thought finding a way to peacefully co-exist
within one nation. These two political streams of thought are rooted
in philosphical thought. The assignments will help to clarify for you
the relationship that exists between political ideology and
philosophy. Following chapters 11 and 12, you will read about
Essentialism, Perennialism, and Progressivism, all modern theories
of education with historical and philosophical roots. Next, we will
"flash back" in time and begin to read the roots to streams of
thoughts we hold today about education, politics, economics, and
government.
Weeks 3-4
Gutek, Phikosophical & Ideological Voices, Chptrs, 2, 3, 4,
and 5; Riley, Chapters 1-4.
Midterm, mid March 2007 (see dates on turnitin.com)
Weeks 5-6
Gutek, Philosophical and Ideological Voices, chptrs 6,7,8,9, &
10; Riley, Stanley Chapter
Weeks 7-8
Gutek, Philosophical & Ideological Voices, chptrs, 13, 14,15 &
19; Riley, Watkins Chapter
Final, End of April (see dates on turnitin.com)
Assignment Instructions (Online Class Only): You are held
accountable for those assignments listed under the assignment icon.
If I cannot pull up one of your files, you may receive a zero.
Remember, WebCT is browser sensitive and you must use Explorer
5.5 or Netscape 4.7 to upload your files. Also, all files should be
saved with a tag that reads .html or .htm. I cannot pull up files with
.wps or other configurations.
1. PERSONAL PRACTICE THEORIES: You will develop a list of personal
practice theories under the following categories: Teaching; Learning;
Students; Teachers; Subject Matter; Classrooms. Under each category,
you will make four statements which contain your personal beliefs
(theories, philosophy, etc) about each category. EXAMPLE:
Teaching (these are my four statements)
1. Teaching is both an art and a science.
2. I believe that teaching requires continual research.
3. Teaching is a profession, not a job.
4. Teaching is one of the most rewarding professions.
Attendance: Students are expected to attend each class. In half-term
classes, students may miss (with a doctor's excuse) one class evening
(class evenings are the equivilent of four classes). More than one class
evening will result in a grade FA in the class. ONLINE classes: Even in
electronic classrooms we have an attendance policy. You are expected to
log on at least twice a week--the same number of times you would attend
class. The instructor's software (mine) lets me know how often you have
logged on and the length of time you have spent during each log on, plus
the pages that you have viewed.
(Online Classes Only): Check the calendar icon several times a week.
That is where I will "speak to you" about assignments or issues, and give
you directions about course requirements.
Failure to log on as required and/or
failure to submit assignments as
required may result in a FA or failure
to attend (online classes).
Special Student Requirements:
You will find a helpful section on the
bottom of your lecture page. It contains links to the MLA (modern language
association) website. There you will find help with writing, including MLA
style sheets.
If you require special assistance in class, or if you require additional
assistance outside of class in order to comprehend the material, please
make an appointment to see me during my office hours. If for some reason
you are unable to meet during office hours, please inform me and we will
work out a mutually acceptable time.
Statement Regarding American Disabilities Act:
Faculty members in
the School of Education make every effort to accommodate unique and
special needs of students with respect to speech, hearing, vision, seating,
or other possible limiting conditions. Please notify the instructor as soon as
possible of any special needs.
INTERNET SITES OF INTEREST FOR EDUCATORS
National Education Associationhttp://www.nea.org/
American Federation of Teachershttp://www.aft.org/
John Lockehttp://swift.eng.ox.ac.uk
Women in Historyhttp://nwhp.org/
Library of Congresshttp://lcweb.loc.gov/
NAACPhttp://www.naacp.org/
Smithsonian Institutehttp://www.si.edu
U.S. Dept. of Educationhttp://www.ed.gov/pubs/TeachersGuide
Jacob Riis Historical Photographshttp://www.mcny.org/m3.htm
Bilingual Ed http:// www.ncbe.gwu.edu/
Head Starthttp://www.latech.edu/tech/rural/
American Philosophical Associationhttp://www.udel.edu/apa/
Summerhillhttp://ourworld.compuserve.COM/
Waldorf
Schoolshttp://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Theory_and_Methods/Waldorf_Me
thod/Schools/
Jewish Day Schoolshttp://ramat-negev.org.il/jwsch.htm
Charter Schoolshttp://edreform.com/charters.htm
Education Commission of the Stateshttp://www.ecs.org
At-Risk Studentshttp://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/At-Risk/
Full Service
Schoolshttp://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/atrisk/at5full.htm
Yale Child Study Centerhttp://info.med.yale.edu/comer/
English as a Second Languagehttp://www.lang.uiuc.edu/r-li5/esl
Multicultural Educationhttp://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/pathwayg.htm
Authentic Assessmentgohper://spinoza.cse.ucla.edu/
U.S. Supreme Courthttp://oyez.at.nwu.edu/oyez.html
Internet policies and practiceshttp://www.erehwon.com/k12aup/
Copyright and
multimediahttp://www.lib.virginia.edu/puboff/copyright/interp.html
Privacy Rightshttp://www.epic.org/privacy/education/ferpa.html
Global SchoolNet Foundationhttp://www.gsn.org/
Working with Parentshttp://ericps.ed.uiuc.edu/npin/npinhome.html
National Library of
Educationhttp://www.ed.gov/NLE/