CHS 53: CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION
IN A CHANGING SOCIETY
Description:
Education
is multifaceted and plays a significant role in society and in the development
of the individual. It is the premise of this course that an understanding of the
role of education in contemporary America is basic to an individual’s
participation in a democratic society. This
course examines the social, historical, and political influences on education
and teaching in America today. It views schools as social institutions that
reflect the values and sociocultural dynamics of the society at large. The
issues and foundations of educating a culturally and linguistically diverse
student population are the major foci of the course.
Course
Outcomes:
Upon
completion of this course students should be able to:
1.
Describe the history and foundations of compulsory education in America,
including the issues of accessibility,
equity, and equal opportunity and their influence on specific groups in American
society.
2.
Critique
non-Eurocentric perspectives on the history, philosophies, and practices of
education in America.
3.
Identify the social dynamics and
relationships between families/teachers/schools in the context of a culturally
and linguistically diverse society, and their impact on students’ academic
achievement.
4.
Compare different education programs for English language learners such as
English-only, Structured English Immersion, SDAIE, and bilingual education and
analyze the implications of state and federal legislation on these programs.
5.
Analyze the ethical issues of student
diversity in the classroom and how schools contribute to gender, sexual
orientation, race, culture, language, and ability stereotyping.
6.
Critique current social, political, and
technological trends, issues, and controversies in education and teaching and
their potential impact on multicultural and multilingual students’ academic
achievement.
7.
Enumerate the motivations for choosing teaching as a career and the
responsibilities and professional commitments expected of a classroom teacher.
8.
Demonstrate a critical social
consciousness of teachers’ contributions to social justice in the classroom in
the 21st century
Course
Content:
I.
Introduction
1.
The role of education in society and in the development of the individual
2.
The politics of education
a. Multiple perspectives
3.
Issues in education today
a. The role of schools
b. Student diversity: gender and sexual orientation, social class, race,
ethnicity,
ability, language
c. Alternative schooling
choices
d. Funding for school
e. Teacher shortage and teacher accountability
f. Student assessment
g. Violence in schools
II.
Foundations of Education
1. Basic philosophical
issues and concepts
2. Pluralistic Perspectives: The
experience of being educated in America from multiple perspectives of gender,
sexual orientation, race, culture, nationality, language, social class, and
ability
3. The Eurocentric Perspective:
Comparing & Contrasting the Five Philosophies of Education from Sadker and
the Five Models of Multicultural Education from Sleeter & Grant
III. Major
Historical Figures and Movements Influencing American Education
1. European Roots: J. H.
Pestalozzi, Friedrich Froebel, Johann Herbart,
John Locke
2. Colonial New England
Education: God’s Classroom
3. The American Revolution and Schooling: Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin
Franklin, The Franklin Academy
4. The Common School Movement
5. The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Industrial Age: Frederick Douglas,
W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Mary McLeod Bethune,
Prudence Crandall
6. Bureau of Indian Affairs: Reservation Schools, Leonard Peltier, John
Collier
7. Early School Reform: National Education Association
(NEA- 1892), Cardinal
Principles of Secondary School, John Dewey, Horace Mann, Mother
Jones, Emma
Willard
8. Education in the 20th Century: Jean Piaget, B. F. Skinner, Jerome
Bruner, Ralph Tyler, Sputnik and school
funding,
9. Modern Education Reform: Multicultural and Bilingual Education Movements
Paolo Freire, Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar
Chavez, Delores Huerta, James Banks, John Goodlad, John Holt, Christine
Sleeter, Christine Bennett
IV.
Issues of Student Diversity
1. Patterns and responses to student diversity throughout history
2. Different ways of learning
2.
Racial identity development (including biracial and interracial children and
families) and students’ sense of belonging
3. Cultural differences in
students’ school preparedness and expectations,
classroom behaviors, and academic achievement
4. Mono-lingual and
bilingual students in English only classrooms
5. Socio-economic factors
which affect students’ school attendance,
classroom
performance, and academic achievement
6. Gender and sexual
orientation differences in the school experience
7. Special needs students in
the classroom community
8. Teacher bias and student
interaction
V.
Schools, Teachers, and Curriculum
1. The daily life in schools
2. California Standards for
the Teaching Profession
a. Teaching as a profession
b. Teacher accountability
3. The social responsibility
of teachers
a. The contribution of teachers’ activism to social justice in
the
classroom
b. Developing equitable relationships with parents and
families
from multicultural and multilingual backgrounds
c. Gaining knowledge of the students’ neighborhoods and
communities
4.
Student competency testing
5. Who Controls the
Curriculum?: Curriculum Standards and Decision-making
6.
What Is Really Taught in School?: The Explicit and Implicit Curriculum
7.
Textbook content, choices, and issues of community censorship
8.
Curriculum for Everyone?: Multicultural and Bilingual Curriculum
9.
Controversial Issues: English-only classrooms, religion/classroom prayer,
zero
tolerance policy, sex education, sexual orientation
VI. The
Struggle for Educational Opportunity
1. The Role of Families in
Education: Educating Other People’s Children
2. Women and Education: A
History of Sexism in Education
3. Equity and Excellence in
the Classroom: Can You Have Both?
4. The Educational Divide:
Economic, Social, and Technological
5. Students with mental,
physical, and sensorial disabilities
West Valley College 
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