This is the "home" for our course on The Politics of Education (ADMS 707), a doctoral-level course in the Department of Educational Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University.  COURSE FRAMEWORK Politics is constituted by the meeting of power and justice, thus delineating the limits and possibilities of social action. So defined, the political structure of public education in our nation determines the nature of schooling. Further, the political structure of schools determines the political content of instruction. Therefore, there is a strong relationship between the political structure of education, broadly speaking, and the political education of future citizens. The study of the politics of education can, therefore, provide insight into the political quality of American society. [IMAGE SOURCE: Tyack, David (1974). The One Best System. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Page 286] HOW WE WILL LEARN As the designated "instructor" for this course, I intend to do very little instruction. In fact, the time you spend engaged in learning with me and the other doctoral students registered for this course is almost entirely about knowledge construction. The challenge for me, then, is to cultivate engagement through active, meaningful learning. Active learning, according to Bonwell and Eison (1991), is defined as “...activities involving students in doing things and thinking about what they are doing“ (p. 2). Furthermore, active learning requires that students “read, write, discuss, or be engaged in solving problems,” (Bonwell & Eison, 1991, p. 2). To that end, you will be doing lots of reading, writing and discussing. I cannot promise that you will truly solve any of the real-world problems that plague public education, but I can assure you that you will have to problem-solve as you learn. The learning you do this semester will be characterized as:
For some specificity on the learning design I have in mind for this semester, check out the syllabus page. |
The Politics of Education (ADMS 707) |