Education Studies Course Descriptions

An introduction to the science of learning and how it applies to educational contexts. Topics include brain structure and development; types of memory and learning processes; approaches to building knowledge, skills, and understanding; and factors that drive more powerful and successful learning. Each student will arrange their own practicum of three hours per week in a school class or similar learning environment.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Internship in a school or district office, museum or arts organization, other non-profit or community organization, social services agency, governmental body, policy or advocacy group, or other education-related setting with prior approval. (Does not count toward teacher certification.) The academic component of the internship includes readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty supervisor, and a written report appropriate to the discipline. Course grades are based on this academic work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

There is a strong human desire to make a meaningful difference in our communities and the larger world. For many that means hearing the call to teach, whether in a school or collegiate classroom or helping profession. In this seminar we explore the call to teach, to make a difference through educational praxis, to be of use, using literature, art, music, and dialogue. Student work includes in-class presentations and projects.

Year after year, Hollywood turns out movies that are set in schools and present images of teachers and teens. Many of these films address typical coming-of-age issues, societal fear of teen crime and delinquency and, of course, the search for romance. A subset of these films provide powerful and culturally enduring images of teachers and teaching. High school movies also provide insight into the fantasies, anxieties, dreams, and assumptions prevalent in American culture. This course will examine the world and worldview found in Hollywood high school movies and the extent to which the stories they tell make us who we are.

In this topics course, students combine practice in the community with academic coursework to examine a contemporary issue in education and society. typically, one-third of the course takes place in community settings. May be repeated when topics are different.

Topic

PREREQUISITES: Sophomore Standing

This seminar explores the complex ways children's literature affect readers of all ages. We will immerse ourselves in reading works from Where the Wild Things Are to Charlotte's Web as we examine what it means to be a reader of children's literature by looking at our own and children's responses to the experience and joy of reading. Discussion, reflective writing and collaborative community projects.

Students will consider childhood and children through a philosophical lens. The first half of the course will focus on the philosophy of childhood; the second half will focus on how children philosophize the world, children's rights, and adult responsibilities. Readings will derive from philosophical texts, fiction and children's literature, and social media. Students may elect to also enroll in EDST 316 for a field experience practicum in elementary classrooms. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing

Field experiences in elementary classrooms encouraging children's wonder through philosophical discussion. This is an optional practicum for the course EDST 315 Philosophy of Children. Students will design philosophy lessons for young children and will conduct these lessons in small cooperative groups. PREREQUISITES: EDST 315 (taken in the past or concurrently).

The new science of the mind treats cognition as a distributed process involving the brain, body, and world. This seminar explores the role of material settings and tools, bodily engagement, social interaction, and cultural processes in human reasoning, problem solving, and learning. Students will write short papers examining aspects of cognitive activity in real-world settings. PREREQUISITES: PHIL 105 recommended

A study of the experience of children and adolescents from different ethnic, cultural, and economic groups. Emphasis on understanding the social consequences of these differences and how such differences affect educational achievement and attainment. The sources and educational effects of individual, institutional, and systemic racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice and discrimination will also be examined. A 20-hour practicum in a K-12 English Learners classroom or similar setting is required. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing

Tutorial studies in the fields of educational policy, environmental education, history of education, comparative education and on various topics related to the social foundations of education. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Internship in a school or district office, museum or arts organization, other non-profit or community organization, social services agency, governmental body, policy or advocacy group, or other education-related setting with prior approval. (Does not count toward teacher certification.) The academic component of the internship includes readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty supervisor, and a written report appropriate to the discipline. Course grades are based on this academic work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

The course will examine the relationship between community-mindedness and the development of ecological literacy. Cultural assumptions about the natural world and our place in it that are implicit within the K-12 and college curriculum, and the manner in which modern forms of education shape our understanding of what it means to “live well in a place we know well” will be explored. Examples of how schools can contribute to environmental and social sustainability (and justice) via community- and place-based education will be presented. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing or consent of instructor

In this course we question conventional understandings of what the good is, what it should be, and what it can be in educational contexts. We discuss common ethical dilemmas central to schooling, including how these intersect with issues of race, class, and gender, and we consider challenges to traditional schooling structures.Papers include case studies and reflections. PREREQUISITES: sophomore standing

Through community experience and lab work the student will examine reading instructional practices and the contemporary issues teachers of language and reading face in a diverse society, and will consider the purposes of learning to read and becoming literate in the world. Students will gain understanding of literacy theories and explore reading development and the acquisition of reading competency. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing

An examination of the social foundations of education in the United States with particular attention paid to the cultural, political, and economic functions of education in modern society. Other topics include the reproductive function of schooling in a society divided along lines of race/ethnicity and class, schools as sites of cultural production, and the historical tension in the U.S. between equity and excellence in education. Practicum of 20 hours required. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing

This seminar explores issues in contemporary education. Topics vary by term and focus on controversies or innovations in educational systems, practices, and policy or in the relations between school and society. May be repeated when topic is different.

Topics TBD

Tutorial studies in the fields of educational policy, environmental education, history of education, comparative education and on various topics related to the social foundations of education. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Internship in a school or district office, museum or arts organization, other non-profit or community organization, social services agency, governmental body, policy or advocacy group, or other education-related setting with prior approval. (Does not count toward teacher certification.) The academic component of the internship includes readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty supervisor, and a written report appropriate to the discipline. Course grades are based on this academic work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Tutorial studies in the fields of educational policy, environmental education, history of education, comparative education and on various topics related to the social foundations of education. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Internship in a school or district office, museum or arts organization, other non-profit or community organization, social services agency, governmental body, policy or advocacy group, or other education-related setting with prior approval. (Does not count toward teacher certification.) The academic component of the internship includes readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty supervisor, and a written report appropriate to the discipline. Course grades are based on this academic work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.