Educational
Institutions as Cultural and Social Systems - EDUC 714
Spring 2013 Dr. John Winslade Reflection… Looking at educational institutions as cultural and social systems was literally like adjusting the lenses of my reading glasses. Stimulating discussions of sociological and philosophical topics and the relationship of these to the profession of education and the institute of schools facilitated by Dr. Winslade kept my interest in this course. Theories such as reproduction theory, post-structuralism theory, social constructivism theory were presented in an interesting and engaging manner by Dr. Winslade and my peers. I am thankful to be exposed to these complex theories and the impacts of each of the philosophers have had in the field of education. Exploring concept maps helped to conceptualize complex theories. I particularly enjoyed the book Dropping out, drifting off, being excluded: Becoming somebody without school by Smyth & Hattam (2004). This book helped me to remind myself to advocate the importance of helping educators to ignite the passion of learning which children were exposed in early childhood education programs and to believe in all students from preschool to higher education. As an early childhood administrator, I have been exposed to the social capital and the hidden curriculum its’ affect to families when I was an educator. This course helped me to understand the importance of empowering parents of low socio economic backgrounds to advocate for their children so that they will have equitable opportunities to achieve their potential. |
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Course Description, Course Goals/Objectives and Student Learning
Outcomes were obtained from the Course Syllabus
Course Description
EDUC 714: Educational Institutions as Cultural Social Systems – School relationships: administration, bureaucracies, faculty and student relations, globalization, and competition in the global market. Examines the educational institution and the classroom as social psychological systems.
Course Goals/Objectives
The goals of this course are to conduct an examination of the socio-cultural context of schooling.
The course will be taught largely from, but not restricted to, a social constructionist focus and will draw from academic sources in several fields: the sociology of education; emergent social theory; cultural studies; and social psychology.
Objectives are that students should emerge from the course with:
Knowledge:
Skills to be practiced:
Dispositions to be fostered:
Course Description
EDUC 714: Educational Institutions as Cultural Social Systems – School relationships: administration, bureaucracies, faculty and student relations, globalization, and competition in the global market. Examines the educational institution and the classroom as social psychological systems.
Course Goals/Objectives
The goals of this course are to conduct an examination of the socio-cultural context of schooling.
The course will be taught largely from, but not restricted to, a social constructionist focus and will draw from academic sources in several fields: the sociology of education; emergent social theory; cultural studies; and social psychology.
Objectives are that students should emerge from the course with:
Knowledge:
- a sophisticated critical understanding of the socio-cultural forces at work in the governing and practice of schooling.
- an appreciation of current issues and debates in the institutional culture of schools.
- the problematizing of some dominant discourses of school culture
- the development of personal positions on a selected range of issues in the socio-cultural context of schooling.
Skills to be practiced:
- leadership of discussion at a doctoral level of rigor around specific readings and pragmatic issues
- writing a position paper in response to topics with regard to the socio-cultural context of schooling
Dispositions to be fostered:
- attitudes of openness to diversity and hospitable responses to people who represent cultural difference
- tolerance of different opinions in class discussions and willingness to engage in conversation that disturbs conventional assumptions and provokes creative new practice.
- developing reflective and reflexive responses to complex social issues