Foundations: School and Society

As a foundational course in the College of Education and Social Services, this course investigates the interplay between schooling and society. We examine how children and youth are situated within the context of systems, including their families, communities, and the larger society, that influence their development and learning. We will explore the sociological purposes of schools, their historical development in the US, and the resulting inequitable impact of school organization and policy.

Open to Degree and PACE students.

As a foundations of education course in the College of Education and Social Services, this course investigates the interplay between schooling and society. Foundations of education is a field that has combined philosophical, historical, and social science inquiry into the aims and impact of education. This course examines how children and youth are situated within the context of systems, including their families, communities, and the larger society, that influence their development and learning. We will explore the sociological purposes of schools, their historical development in the US, the philosophical aims and values underpinning public education, and the resulting inequitable impact of school organization and policy on the individuals and communities they are intended to serve. Students will learn how to distinguish the research and inquiry tools used by humanities-based work in education and social science research in education, with the aim of learning how to use both approaches in their own continued studies on education practice and impact. Students will apply their understanding of the sociopolitical, ethical, and historical development of schools to analyze contemporary issues, with a focus on equity, in K-12 public education. Students will begin to envision their own role as an agent of change for children and youth able to use research-based information as well as historical and contemporary understanding of the educational contexts and aims. This course is open to all majors and is recommended for those exploring the fields of teaching and other school-based professions, educational policy, or other areas that intersect with education. There are no prerequisites/corequisites for this course.

S1: Social Science (This course has Catamount Core Status under this category) The social sciences focus on how individuals, groups, and institutions affect and interact with each other. Through systematic investigation, social scientists generate explanatory frameworks for understanding human behavior, action, and social practices. Studying social science prepares students to examine past and present social problems; to think critically about individual, local, regional, and global contexts; and to improve societal well-being. Course Objectives Connected to S1 Students will be able to analyze educational experiences in relationship to social systems, including an understanding of how education is related to communities, families, individual aspirations and abilities, political movements and institutions. Students will understand how to interpret and analyze educational research and data, including research questions, methodology, and implications for practice Students will understand how the relationship between education, movements for justice, and social progress has been helped and hindered by education as an institution Students will be able to study educational problems and use qualitative, quantitative, and humanities-based research approaches to help improve practice Students will learn how diverse groups of students and other members of the educational community have been impacted by educational efforts differently and be able to identify how these inequalities continue, including racism, classism, sexism, ableism, transphobia, homophobia, and other intersectional complexities. - The above objectives follow the four criteria for inclusion in S1: Students develop an understanding of how individuals, groups, or institutions affect and interact with each other. Students explore theories of human behavior, experience, institutions, or social systems. Students learn about systematic investigation in social science through the methods and processes of research, such as identifying research questions, data collection, analysis, and representation of findings. Students apply social science approaches to the study of individual, group or institutional interactions to their understanding of specific cases, such as in a field study or similar applied contexts. - Course Objectives Connected to Learning in the Humanities but due to the S1 designation, this course cannot count for humanities Catamount Core status Students will understand cultural constructs and past events and the vocabulary in which humanities scholars describe and characterize them. Students will learn how to do critical analyses of primary sources with an emphasis on how they illuminate broader contexts in which they were constructed. Students will develop skills in the critical analysis of secondary sources to strengthen an understanding and appreciation of humanistic modes of inquiry, including appropriate research questions and use and citation of evidence. - These objectives conform to foundations of education approaches: Students will develop an understanding of how to recall and apply basic information and scholarly vocabulary about the cultural constructs or past events that have shaped public education Students will read primary sources for a basic understanding of their contents, how their ideas shaped public education when they were written, and how (or if) their ideas continue to impact public education Students will read secondary sources sources in the humanities for basic comprehension of their contents and their application to key themes in U. S. public education.

Grade Criteria and Components: Active, Engaged, Critical Participation -10% Weekly Analysis of Readings - 10% Humanities Book Project - 20% My Schooling Experience Project - 20% Social Science Article Project - 20% Advocacy for Educational Equity Project - 20%