PUBLIC EDUCATION
Bill Arney, Lab II, Room 2268, ext. 6097
Rita Pougiales, Lab II, Room 3268, ext. 6387
The focus of this two-quarter, intermediate program is public education. During the fall quarter students will read histories and philosophies of education. Topics will include the common schools and higher education. Winter quarter will be devoted to studies of teaching practices and criticisms of public schools. We will consider both criticisms that come from the schools and those that arise outside the schools. Students should expect to follow state and national legislative proposals concerning education, read contemporary education policy debates, and study scholarly commentary on school practices. We will do this work through a combination of reading and writing, lectures, seminars, research, and workshops. This program is appropriate for students planning careers in public education and for people who like to work with young people.
Schedule
"Public Education" runs on a two-week cycle. The first week is devoted primarily to common program texts. The second is devoted primarily to individual and group work. We meet on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the first week of each cycle and on Monday and Tuesday of the second week.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Odd Weeks
9-11 am 10 am-1 pm 9-11 am
Lecture Workshop Critique
L 3500 LC 1007 B L 2116, 2118*
12:30-2:30 pm 1-3 pm 12:30-2:30 pm
Seminar Faculty Seminar
L2503-Arney Sem.
L2101-Pougiales Lab II 2270
Even Weeks
10 am- noon 9-11 am
Research Group
Groups reports
L2116, 2118 L 3500
1-3 pm 12 am - 2 pm
Seminar: Seminar
Text L2503-Arney
& Research L2101-Pougiales
L2116-Arney
L2118-Pougiale
s
* Pougiales meets with Arney's seminar in L 2116. Arney meets with Pougiales's seminar in L 2118.
Books for Fall Quarter
Plato, Republic
Plato, "Meno"
Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile, or On Education
Joel Spring, The American School, 1642-1993
Carl Rogers, Freedom to Learn
John Dewey, Democracy and Education
Eleanor Duckworth, "The Having of Wonderful Ideas"
Maxine Greene, The Dialectic of Freedom
Sylvia Ashton Warner, Teacher
Topics and Research
Students in "Public Education" will do a lot of independent reading and research. The program texts for fall provide a general grounding in basic history and philosophy of education. The winter quarter will be devoted to the ways in which public education is anchored by and woven into the public domain. Students' reading and research, both individual and in groups, will flesh out this general material and provide the basis for topical investigations and discussion.
Topics: The relationship between business and education, the education of minorities, the education of teachers, the differential roles of women and men in public education, the expansion of the mandate of public education, busing, school architecture, textbooks, physical education, school choice, vocational education, public funding of education, students and free speech, bilingual education, curriculum, school lunch and breakfast programs, testing, psychology and education, homeschooling, dance, penmanship, student discipline, religious faith and schooling.... We have not left these topics out of the program. They are the topics (from the Greek topos, place) where the history and philosophy of education take shape. Students will find their own topics of interest early, will research those topics carefully and systematically, and will contribute to the overall curriculum of the program based on their work on their topics.
Outside reading: Faculty will provide an extensive reserve list. Students will be expected to be conversant with reserve materials as appropriate. Students should plan to subscribe to "Education Week" or "Rethinking Education" to keep current on educational issues and debates, especially in their areas of topical interest. In addition, students should become familiar with scholarly and popular material in the periodical literature and, if appropriate, with discussions and material on the Internet.
Writing
Individual Writing
"Critique" sessions on the first Thursday of each cycle are organized around individual presentations. Everyone should prepare a thoughtful, substantive response to the reading in light of the modern educational scene. Everyone will turn in this piece to her or his seminar leader. (Seminar leaders will review but will not write comments in response to this draft.) In addition, seek substantive, critical (and better if it is written) commentary from at least three people. After receiving comments from colleagues, revise the essay and submit it for faculty comment on Monday of the second week of the cycle. Put a copy of this final draft in your section of the program notebook.
Examination: We will hand out an examination on Tuesday of the eighth week of class. It will be due on Friday of the eighth week. Students should plan to spend full time between Tuesday and Friday on the examination.
Letters: Beginning with the second week of class, students will write two letters per week in response to their colleagues' writing. Read individual or research group papers in the program notebook and write a thoughtful, critical, substantive commentary addressed to the author(s). Put one copy in the author's(s') section of the notebook and give one copy to your seminar leader.
Research Groups
The "Research Groups" session on Mondays of even-numbered weeks depends on everyone making a substantial, individual contribution, in writing, to the work of the group. By Wednesday of the second week of each cycle, each research group should prepare a single substantive, group contribution to its research program. Put the paper in the group's section of the program notebook and give a copy to the faculty member supervising your group.
By the end of the ninth week of class, each group should have a single research paper containing three sections: History of the Problem, Description of the Current Discourse About the Problem, Current Range of Practice Regarding the Problem. Most of the paper should be devoted to history; less space should be devoted to the current scene.
Final Assignment (Winter Quarter)
Students should keep in mind the final assignment of the program. Each research group will write a historically informed, philosophically thoughtful, programmatically oriented paper regarding some topic of contemporary interest. The paper should be addressed to the newly elected Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Washington. As such, the paper may propose new or revised state statutes, regulations, or policies. It should take into account the political position of the new Superintendent as she or he articulated it during the fall campaign.