Education (EDUC)
This course examines the strengths and critiques of various learning theories. As well as examining a variety of individual and sociocultural factors that impact cognitive, socioemotional, identity, and moral development.
Enrollment limited to 1st and 2nd year students only
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Social Science
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
GPA units: 0
In this highly interactive, discussion-based course, students will grapple with fundamental questions about public schools in the US. What is the purpose of public schooling? What role(s) should public schools play in society? What should schools teach? What have schools meant to different groups? What is the difference between schooling and education? Confronting questions like these, students will gain a foundational understanding of key debates in K-12 schooling and the functioning of school systems. Through different disciplinary lenses (e.g., history, sociology, political theory, legal studies, literature), students will examine controversial issues impacting schools such as segregation, academic tracking, high-stakes testing, and curriculum. In the process, students will critically examine their own schooling experiences in light of what they are learning.
Enrollment is limited to 1st and 2nd year students only.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
This course will introduce students to a comprehensive developmental counseling and guidance program in schools. It will examine the ethical and legal practices, as well as, the current framework that is used to address challenges that students and staff face in today's schools. Students will develop the skills necessary to respond to these challenges in a way that will support academic/social growth, relationship building, and college/career readiness while promoting a positive school environment.
Prerequisite: One previous Education course.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually Fall
This course will examine the literacy development of middle and high school students. Students will explore a range of factors that influence the acquisition of literacy skills. Topics such as reading motivation, disciplinary literacy, diversity in student reading profiles, and equitable and inclusive literacy instruction will be explored.
Prerequisite: EDUC 167 or PSYC 100. Enrollment limited to 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
This course examines the impact of families and schools on a range of student outcomes. Drawing from research in psychology and sociology, participants will explore the complexities and promises of fostering home-school partnerships. Students will explore the implications of the current research on family engagement for school policy and practice.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
Focuses on education in large urban school districts, emphasizing both the rich diversity of city schools and the unique challenges faced by them. Participants will consider a range of factors that shape the conditions for teaching and learning in the urban context, and especially the dense concentration of low-income and minority students that tends to characterize urban schooling. Ultimately, students will work to understand the reality of urban education in America, as well as the possibilities for change. Includes a field-based experience.
Prerequisite: One previous education course. Students who have taken EDUC 340 are unable to enroll in this course. Enrollment limited to 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Social Science
Typically Offered: Annually
This course will utilize readings, as well as film and television portrayals in order to examine and explore schooling in the United States. Some of the questions that will be addressed are:How does the media portray schools and those that learn and live within them?Whose stories are being told?What are educational best practices and how do they intersect with media portrayals?What are the impacts of tv and film school portraits on individuals, schools, communities?
Prerequisite: One Previous Education Course
GPA units: 1
Students examine and demonstrate various teaching methods. Students will pursue questions concerning the middle and secondary school curriculum, discipline and motivation, and instructional materials. Secondary and middle school goals and principles are also examined. Methodological and curricular questions specific to the discipline will be illustrated and discussed. Includes a field-based experience.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
GPA units: 0
A 30-hour, on-site period of observation and work in the public schools.
GPA units: 0
Typically Offered: Annually
This course focuses on current theories and their applications related to the teaching and learning of English Learners (ELs). It will expand students' knowledge of how language functions within academic content teaching and learning, and how children and adolescents acquire a second language. Throughout the course, effective research-based strategies for teaching English Learners will be modeled. Teacher Education Program (TEP) students who complete this course will qualify for a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Endorsement.
Prerequisite: EDUC 167 or EDUC 169.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
GPA units: 0
A full-time practicum experience of supervised teaching in the high school, middle school, or upper elementary school. Open only to TEP students. This course fulfills the capstone requirement for the Education minor.
Registration required for EDUC 330. Enrollment is limited to students in the Teacher Education Program.
GPA units: 3
Typically Offered: Annually
A seminar to accompany the Education 320 Practicum. Addresses issues arising in the practicum experience, as well as current topics in education in order to meet the professional standards for teachers. Open only to TEP students.
Enrollment limited to students in the Teacher Education Program.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
This course examines the political, philosophical, and pedagogical foundations of multicultural education. Through the analysis of sociocultural and sociopolitical variables such as race, ethnicity, language, gender and social class the course addresses issues of inequality in structures, policies, and practices in schools.
Prerequisite: EDUC 167 or EDUC 169. Students who have taken EDUC 273 are unable to enroll in this course. Enrollment is limited to 3rd and 4th year students.
GPA units: 1
Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies
Typically Offered: Annually
This seminar focuses on research techniques in education. Students will explore a range of qualitative and quantitative research designs, including interviews and questionnaires. Students will develop skills both to become more critical consumers of educational research and to design and conduct an original research project. This course fulfills the capstone requirement for the Education minor.
Prerequisite: Two previous Education Courses. Enrollment is limited to 3rd and 4th year students.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
This capstone seminar is designed for education minors to apply and integrate their knowledge from previous coursework in a final project and presentation. The seminar will be organized through an essential question related to the education field and will be explored through the perspective of various stakeholders such as parents, unions, school committee members, teachers, and administrators. The beginning of the seminar will be devoted to establishing a context for addressing that question through reading and discussion. While the final two thirds of the seminar is designed to direct this study which will include a field experience consistent with the chosen topic and stakeholders. This course fulfills the capstone requirement for the Education minor.
Prerequisite: Two previous Education courses. Enrollment is limited to 3rd and 4th year students.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Annually
Tutorial projects designed by students and faculty members. Admission determined by evaluation proposal.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Students may undertake an independent research project under the direction of a faculty member. Permission required.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
How authority over the school system is and should be shared via a system of school governance is a vital question in a democracy. Importantly, this isnt just a question about bureaucratic efficiency or test score trends. Rather, questions of school governance are at their heart questions about whose claims deserve being heard and how power is shared. In the words of political scientist Joseph Viteritti, school governance appropriates power, authority, and access, and it apportions these precious political commodities among those who govern and those who are governed. Answering these questions well requires both careful research on how different policies shape educational outcomes as well as ethical reflection and discussion among citizens about what we value. Notably, there have been significant shifts in the policies regulating school governance in the US over the past few decades. From increased federal and state oversight of schools to the adoption of mayoral control over local school boards, authority has over schooling has been significantly redistributed among key education stakeholders. In this module, we will focus our attention on the shifting landscape of educational governance in the US and work to understand the key values and principles at stake in these policy debates. Through readings in philosophy and political science, case study discussions, and simulations, students will: (1) learn the shifting landscape of school governance in the US; (2) come to understand a set of philosophical concepts and frameworks for evaluating normative questions in education policy; and (3) develop in their ability to engage in the ethical analysis of education policy. The work well do together in this course will be guided by three essential questions: (1) What are the relationships between different education stakeholders now? And how have those relationships evolved over time? (2) How do we balance the value of democratic control of schools with other key values realized through schooling? (3) How should authority over schools be shared?
Prerequisite: Two previous Education courses.
GPA units: 1
Typically Offered: Every Third Year