learn.ed: Fall 2008

This course is an introduction to the changing social and cultural contexts of education. We begin by examining the political and community expectations of schooling in the contemporary era—frequently characterised as the ‘knowledge society’. How are these expectations expressed in the public discourse of politics? What value is accorded to education today, and does the reality match the rhetoric? The course then goes on to investigate the proposition that we are reaching a point where education has a particularly critical social significance. What is this social significance, and what are the dimensions of a ‘New Learning’ which might meet changed and broadened expectations? In order to answer these questions, the course takes an historical journey through three eras and three paradigms in the development of modern, mass-institutional education: didactic education, authentic education and a transformative education that might be characteristic of the New Learning.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course, geared to education non-majors, offers an introduction to ways of thinking about educational theories, concepts, and practices as they relate to philosophical discussions surrounding social justice, especially as pertaining to race, class, gender and disability. This course broadens students’ reflective understanding of the development of educational institutions and practices and, through an emphasis on class discussion, promotes a critical and analytical approach to thinking about and evaluating these institutions and practices.

The goal of this course is to provide students with an overview of development during the second decade of life. Students will gain an understanding of the biological, cognitive, and psychosocial transitions adolescents undergo as well as the various contexts in which development occurs (e.g. school, family, peer groups, and media). The course is designed to prepare education and library science students to both assess and address their future students’ developmental needs. It will also provide students with a broad theoretical and empirical knowledge base. Since race, ethnicity, gender and class take on increased importance in defining adolescents’ social worlds, these aspects of development will be a central focus throughout the course.