PhD Program in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education

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Curriculum, Instruction, & Teacher Education Ph. D.
Courses for Spring 2012

 

For a full listing of courses, see the university schedule of courses.

 

TE 920: Social Analysis of Educational Policy
Thursday, 4:10 to 7:00 pm, Bessey Hall, 111
Instructor: Jeff Bale

The purpose of this course is to understand in broad terms how education policy has been used to define, explore, resolve and/or reinforce enduring dilemmas in K-12 education in the United States. To do this, we will pursue three distinct, yet interrelated topics:

1. Interdisciplinary approaches to defining and exploring "policy"

We will engage with a variety of theoretical and methodological frameworks for naming "education policy" and how to investigate it, including correspondence theory (Bowles & Gintis); a cultural-ecological framework (Ogbu); cultural capital (Bourdieu); social capital (Coleman); policy as social practice (Levinson & Sutton), and so on.

2. Exemplars of each approach

Alongside readings about various theoretical and/or methodological positions, we will explore specific examples of each approach. These exemplars in general will focus on policy impacting second language/bilingual education and the education of immigrant youth.

3. Your own policy analysis

The culminating project will be your own analysis of a specific education policy. You may choose any topic you like-in other words, although the exemplars we read relate to language and immigration, your own project may take up any aspect of education policy that is of interest to you. The primary requirement is that you ground your analysis in one of the theoretical approaches described in #1 above, or in another approach that you work out with me in advance.

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TE 922: The Context and Micropolitics of Teacher Education
Thursday, 4:00 to 7:00 pm, Erickson Hall, 212
Instructor: Michael W. Sedlak

The Context and Micropolitics of Teacher Education first reconstructs the evolution of teacher learning and education in the United States. We will begin with the early 19th century approaches that included county teacher institutes, female seminaries and academies, and the plethora of manuals published for aspiring teachers. We will examine early examinations and recruiting and hiring practices for teachers. We will then focus on the emergence, functions, internal operation, and political turmoil surrounding the first dedicated teacher education institutions, the normal schools, which came to dominate the movement after the Civil War of the 1860s, including the African-American normal school campaign that lasted well into the 1940s. University-based programs superseded the normal schools during the first third of the 20th century, and have become the dominant mode of preparation, even through the challenge of deregulation through alternative practices during this past generation.

Our historical inquiry will draw quite heavily on an array of primary sources: memoirs, manuals, policy documents, letters, examinations, speeches, and other fugitive materials, in addition to selected secondary interpretive studies.

During the second half of the course, we will turn directly to contemporary teacher education policy and practice. Shaped by the interests of the students in the course, we can expect to explore a number of powerful issues and campaigns, such as the alternative program movement, international comparative teacher preparation, the nature and challenges to modal teacher education programs, the teacher professionalization movement, licensure and accreditation, examinations, and the emerging teacher quality initiatives.

Students will share responsibility for identifying and shaping this segment of the course by preparing a brief vodcast on a relevant topic, identifying essential study materials, and helping to lead seminar discussions. We will also have several guests who have been deeply involved in these matters. The principal assignment will focus on the different aspects of developing and sharing expertise on one of these contemporary topics.

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TE 924: Philosophy of Education: Ideas and Methods
Monday, 4:10 to 7:00 pm, Berkey Hall, 112B
Instructor: Lynn Fendler

TE924 is offered every other spring. This year the course theme is "Teaching, Technology & Truth." We will read classical, postmodern, and contemporary philosophical texts in an exploration of questions like this:

  • What are some ethical and political implications of various roles and definitions for "teaching"?
  • How are various subject positions constructed by and through teaching practices?
  • What new epistemological possibilities for knowledge are made available with social media practices?
  • How do online educational practices shape definitions of community and democracy?
  • What have been some aesthetic implications of the modern search for truth?
  • How has truth been defined in different historical contexts?
  • What are some relationships between truth and power?
  • What does it mean to be "educated"?

Examples of philosophers we will study include: Aristotle, Butler, Descartes, Dewey, Foucault, Hall, Marx, Montessori, Rancière, Rousseau, West. Participants in the class will be invited to design philosophical projects according to their respective interests.

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TE 931: Introduction to Qualitative Methods in Educational Research
Wednesday, 12:40 to 3:30pm, Berkey Hall, 314
Instructor: Kristin Phillips and Susan Florio-Ruane

This course will provide an overview of qualitative methods and methodologies in educational research and other fields. Focusing primarily on interpretive, critical, and poststructuralist theoretical orientations to qualitative research, we will read about and discuss different approaches to qualitative research, examine qualitative research studies, and engage in qualitative research.

After exploring the characteristics of qualitative research, the course will investigate different approaches: ethnography, case study, action and participatory research, phenomenological inquiry, and narrative research. We will also be building a "toolkit" of qualitative methods and skills that will enhance your ability to: design qualitative research projects, conduct participant-observation and interviews, keep fieldnotes, undergo human subjects review, code, write proposals, "write up", and evaluate qualitative research. Questions of epistemology, positionality, reflexivity, purpose, and ethics will be considered throughout the course. Our central goals are 1) to enable you to become a critical reader of qualitative research; (2) to assist you in developing an understanding of the purposes, tools, assumptions, and limitations of qualitative research; and (3) to prepare you for further study and engagement in qualitative research.

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TE 937: Topics in Social, Historical,Philosophical Foundations in Science Education
Thursday, 4:00 to 6:50 pm, Erickson Hall, 224
Instructor: Angela Calabrese-Barton

Course description: This course will provide background in areas that serve as foundations for research in science education. The course is also part of the "science educationc graduate certificate program" CITE. Topics include diversity, social justice, and equity research research, and the role of social, historical, and philosophical perspectives on framing the research questions, methods and claims in these areas. In particular we will examine a range of critical (critical, critical sociocultural, critical race, etc.), feminist, and postmodern/post structural perspectives in science education research. The course will involve discussions of readings, discussions and interactions with renown scholars in the field, and an independent project intended to support your on-going work in the department.

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TE 939: Advanced Qualitative Research Methods in Education: CaseStudy Research
Tuesday, 12:40 to 3:30 pm, Berkey Hall, 218A
Instructor: Dorothea Anagnostopoulos

This seminar is intended for advanced graduate students who have or plan to utilize case study methods in their own research. The course will examine the logic, design, and ethics of case study research in education and the social sciences. The class will explore single, multiple, and mixed-methods designs and methods of data collection, interpretation, and analysis. Students will consider key questions facing case study methods, such as what constitutes a "case" Is case study research generalizable? What are the role of induction and deduction in case study research? What is the relationship between case study and the verification and generation of theory? In addition to assigned readings, students will be expected to identify examples of case study research to "teach" to the class. Depending on students' trajectories, the major course assignment will be a research proposal or research report.

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TE 945: Issues in Adolescent Literature: Reading Difference and Identity in Classrooms and Communities
Wednesday, 4:10 to 7:00 pm, Location: Erickson Hall, 224
Instructor: Django Paris

In this doctoral seminar we will explore and expand what "literature" and "literary" mean to young people and educators inside secondary classrooms and in adolescent communities. We will read both primary texts (e.g., rap lyrics, plays, novels, poetry, spoken word, graphic novels) and research and theory on young adult fiction, Hip Hop as literature, canonical adolescent literature, dramatic performance, and graphic novels (among other textual sources). We will explore how categories of difference and (in)equality (e.g., race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, language) are pursued by authors and explored and learned by adolescent readers. Our emphasis will be on how youth of color, youth from poor communities, LGBTQ youth and other youth marginalized by systems of inequality negotiate and index identities through reading and performing literature. Throughout the course we will maintain a focus on how these issues inform our teaching, our research and our own reading practices and identities. Students will complete a course project on the reading practices of an adolescent and/or on the literature pedagogy or curriculum of a teacher of adolescents. The course project may be completed solely for the class or may be part of a larger research project.

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TE/CEP 959: Acquisition and Development of Language and Literacy - Research on Early and Middle Childhood
Wednesday, 12:40 to 3:30 pm, Erickson Hall, 133D
Instructor: Patricia A. Edwards

The purpose of this course is to study the issues, reports, methods, and scholars central to research in Language and Literacy that focuses on preschool and K-5 students. Using a seminar format, discussions will focus on Language and Literacy during the preschool and K-5 years across time (e.g., historically, developmentally), policies (e.g., advocacy reports, state & federal legislation), institutions (e.g., school, church), and communities (e.g., family, neighborhood, club). Specifically, the students will (1) analyze and evaluate the key areas of research in language and literacy with preschool and K-5 students, (2) synthesize the research in language and literacy with preschool and K-5 students, and (3) produce a scholarly product that advances research on language and literacy with preschool and K-5 students.

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TE 962: Teachers and Teaching in Urban Contexts
Tuesday, 4:10 to 7:00 pm, Wells Hall, C107
Instructor: Terry Flennaugh

This doctoral seminar is designed to explore how individuals involved in the profession of teaching in "urban" communities have responded over time to ever-changing definitions of school "success" and "failure" in the United States. The term urban in the context of this seminar is meant to represent low-income and/or communities of color in the U.S. who still comprise the vast majority of students least likely to receive the types of educational resources enjoyed by peers who belong to dominant groups. Given this context, teachers in these spaces play immensely important roles in both the perpetuation of highly problematic frameworks of teaching and learning in urban communities, in addition to the dissemination of potentially liberating pedagogies among communities most affected by systemic discrimination. What have been some of the historical antecedents that have impacted the way teachers approach their jobs in these contexts? What are some of the prevailing values that either improve or hinder the act of teaching students from urban communities? What are some of promising frameworks and/or practices that effective teachers in these contexts employ to combat systemic inequity?

Emphasizing the sociohistorical and political-economic dimensions of schooling, we will explore the role of teachers in shaping the academic "success" and "failure" of students in urban contexts thorough analysis of theories and studies in multiple areas. Doctoral students in this seminar will be required to complete a mini-project that builds on some of the theoretical or practical components covered throughout the semester. This course is ideal for doctoral students interested in Urban Education, Curriculum, Critical Studies, and related fields that examine the implications of a critical pedagogy in post-industrial urban classrooms.

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TE 963: Examining Critical Race Theory in Education
Monday, 4:10 to 7:00 pm, Erickson Hall, 133D
Instructor: Dorinda Carter Andrews

This course will allow students to explore Critical Race Theory as an analytical framework that provides race-based epistemological, methodological, and pedagogical approaches to the study of everyday inequalities in P-20 education. Key foci of this seminar are to help students understand CRT as a theoretical framework, examine its utility and limitations, and consider its application to students' own research and practice.

We will begin by exploring the historical development of CRT from Critical Legal Studies (CLS) and move through its contemporary nuances. In addition, we will work to expose the ideological construction of race and education in the U.S. As such, we will also work through the oppressive nature of education and boldly confront notions of colorblindness. Throughout this course, we will grapple with the challenges surrounding the inclusion of multiple voices and perspectives in the complex intersections among race, gender, class, and sexual orientation. Other intersecting analytical frameworks discussed include TribalCrit Theory, LatCrit Theory, Critical White Studies, AsianCrit, QueerCrit, and Critical Race Feminism. Specifically, we will critique the strengths and limitations of CRT as theoretical framework for addressing educational inequalities. As to be expected there is a substantial amount of reading assigned in this course. To successfully accomplish and engage with the readings, you will need to manage your time wisely.

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TE 982: Moral and Civic Education
Wednesday, 4:10 to 7:00 pm, Erickson Hall, 128
Instructor: Matt Ferkany

This course will survey classic and contemporary works on a range of major issues surrounding moral and civic education. These include the scope and place of moral learning in education, the major theories of moral education and development, where and how civic and moral learning occur in schools, controversy surrounding the use of publicly funded schools for moral and civic education, theories of citizenship, the connections between civic education and educational equality and social justice, and the pedagogy of civic and moral education. Specific questions we are liable to address include: Is all education in some sense moral education? What is the aim of moral education? Where in the curriculum does moral education fit? How do children develop morally? Are there important differences between the moral development of girls and boys? What sorts of character traits belong to morally well developed persons? What is teaching for social justice? How can the legitimacy of moral and civic education in public schools be established given the diversity of stakeholder views about ethics and justice? What is democratic citizenship and how can schools facilitate it? What is the role of instruction for autonomy and critical thinking skills in moral and civic education? Are dialogic approaches effective ways to teach moral and civic issues? Among classic authors, we will read Plato, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Dewey, and Jean Piaget. Among the more contemporary authors we will read Lawrence Kohlberg, Carol Gilligan, Nel Noddings, Amy Gutmann, and possibly Barbara Stengel, Harry Brighouse, Eamonn Callan, and Diana Hess.

Course work will include contributing to a moral and civic education wiki or blog, frequent short papers reporting on and reacting to readings, and the option of either a longer argumentative final paper, three shorter papers, or the possibility of contributing to a survey article on the current state of moral education scholarship.

 

TE 991: Ethnography, Education & Social Theory
Tuesday, 9:10 am to 12:00 noon, Hubbard Hall, 128
Instructor: Kristin Phillips

In this seminar course we will explore the complexity of the cultural, social, and economic processes that take place in educational settings and the role of ethnographic research in illuminating them. We will turn specifically to the foundational works of anthropologists and other social theorists such as Clifford Geertz, Margaret Mead, Emile Durkheim, Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, Frantz Fanon, Antonio Gramsci, and Paolo Freire to understand how they have conceptualized education through social and cultural theory. By reading these theorists in conjunction with classic and contemporary ethnographies of education, we will ask three questions:

  1. What diverse theories of culture and society have informed our
    understanding of educational processes?

  2. How have ethnographers of
    education engaged such theories to shed light on current themes and
    issues in educational research, such as identity and meaning, racial
    and gendered disparities, class reproduction and performance,
    post/colonialism, poverty, and religion.

  3. And how might we draw on social and cultural theories of education
    to inform our own research?

The course has been designed to provide theoretical foundations for doctoral students in education and the social sciences who are interested in exploring educational themes. It will also provide a more in-depth understanding of ethnography as a genre of educational and qualitative research. Students will be encouraged to incorporate their own research interests into both class discussions and writing assignments.