EDUC_269

Instructor: Dr. Lisa S. Goldstein

Email: lsgoldstein@scu.edu (Note! It’s lsgoldstein, not just lgoldstein!)

Office/Telephone: 256 Guadalupe Hall, 408-551-1611

Lisa’s Cell (for text messages and urgent phone calls): 512-762-6549

Office Hours: 12:00-1:30 on Tuesdays and by appointment

Mission and Goals of the Department of Education

Rooted in the Jesuit tradition at Santa Clara University, the mission of the Department of Education is to prepare professionals of competence, conscience, and compassion who will promote the common good as they transform lives, schools, and communities. Our core values of reflective practice, scholarship, diversity, ethical conduct, social justice, and collaboration guide both theory and practice.

Faculty, staff, and students in the Department of Education:

• • Make student learning our central focus

  • Engage continuously in reflective and scholarly practice

  • Value diversity

  • Become leaders who model ethical conduct and a commitment to social justice

  • Seek collaboration with others in reaching these goals

Course Description

Building on the foundational work completed in EDUC 250/275-Ethics, Diversity, and Reflection (REDS) and EDUC 254/279- Teaching Diverse Learners in Inclusive Classrooms, this 3-course sequence is designed to sustain and deepen preservice teacher candidates’ engagement in the moral work of teaching (MWT). The ethical dilemma “critical incident reports” and self-assessments each candidate completes in the first two quarters in this course will be used in Spring quarter to craft case studies of ethical teaching dilemmas. The case studies and case study responses form the central core of your Master of Arts in Teaching Capstone Project.

Required Text Readings and Materials

1. MATTC Ethical Teaching Practices Annual Casebook, 2016. Download this document from the ETP file in the MATTC Documents folder on Google Drive.

2. Any additional readings, handouts, forms, documents, or other course materials will be posted on Camino. Supplemental readings or other materials not currently included on the syllabus may be added in response to your interests, needs or for some other reason at the discretion of the instructor.

MS/SS Teaching Credential Program Learning Goals (PLGs)

The PLGs represent our commitment to the individuals who earn their MS/SS credential at Santa Clara University. (A fully elaborated version of the MS/SS PLGs can be found on pages 8-9 of the MATTC Candidate Handbook.) The MS/SS faculty focus on ensuring that each of you will begin your teaching career ready to

• 1. Maximize learning for every student.

• 1. Teach for student understanding.

• 1. Make evidence-based instructional decisions informed by student assessment data.

• 1. Improve your practice through critical reflection and collaboration.

• 1. Create productive, supportive learning environments.

• 1. Apply ethical principles in your professional practices.

The PLGs guide our program. Therefore, all MS/SS teaching credential program course objectives are cross-referenced with the PLGs.

Course Objectives (COs)

(COs cross-reference the PLGs)

In this course you will have the opportunity to

1. Reflect on the moral and ethical core of your teaching practices and the relationship between your moral/ethical core and your identity and life experiences (PLG 4, 6)

2. Develop the ability to identify and understand ethical teaching dilemmas and to manage them effectively (PLGs 1-6)

3. Collaborate with classmates in professional learning communities (PLCs) to analyze and evaluate the complexities of ethical classroom teaching in culturally and linguistically diverse school settings (PLG 4)

Student Learning Outcomes

(SLOs cross-reference the PLGs)

As a result of participating fully in this course, teacher candidates will be able to

1. Recognize and understand the ethical teaching dilemmas that arise in their practice.

2. Interpret ethical dilemmas in teaching using appropriate and relevant theoretical principles in combination with their own contextual knowledge and professional judgment.

3. Manage the ethical dilemmas the encounter in their teaching in ways that are effective, responsible, culturally responsive, and supportive of students’ learning and moral development.

Course Requirements

(Course requirements cross-reference the COs and SLOs)

Professional conduct (CO #1-3)

(40 points, 40% of course grade)

The professional conduct requirement includes the dimensions described below.

1. Personal responsibility. Your success in this final quarter of the course depends entirely on your commitment to maintaining a high “quality of life” within your PLCs. All of you will become intimately involved in the success of the other members of your PLC—if you drop the ball, slack off, or are unprepared to do the assigned work or task and fail to meet a given deadline, everyone in the PLC suffers the consequences of your irresponsible conduct.

2. Communication. You can minimize the impact of those inevitable missteps, errors, and oversights by maintaining continuous, open, honest communication with your PLC members. Everyone messes up sometimes and it can be very embarrassing—but contacting your PLC members to give them a heads up about the problem and to ask for suggestions about how best to manage the situation keeps one person’s problem from turning into a nuclear meltdown for the entire PLC. If you are experiencing lapses in personal responsibility and/or communication within your PLC, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me right away.

3. Attendance. Regular attendance at all class meetings is a requirement of this course. For each class session you miss, 10 points will be deducted from your final grade for the course. Each of you will be granted one Emergency Release (ER) for the course: you may use it in Fall, Winter, or Spring. Your ER excuses you from one class session with half the grade penalty (loss of 5 points instead of 10). To use your ER you must notify me by email or phone BEFORE the class session you will be missing. I recommend that you save your ER for medical issues, family demands, car trouble, etc.

Students will not be penalized for absences due to the observance of religious holidays that fall on our scheduled class day; please give me advance notice of these absences so I can make the necessary accommodations. All other absences are unexcused and will affect your grade.

4. Punctuality. Coming to class on time and ready to learn is another course requirement. However, if your teaching schedule leaves you with just enough time to get from school to class, I would prefer that you drive safely and arrive to class a little late than speeding or getting to an accident. If you find yourself short on time, please call/text/email your PLC members and me.

5. Preparation. All materials for this course are available on Camino. The quality of our class sessions depends directly on your preparation. You must complete every assigned case reading and arrive in class with a hard copy of a fully developed critical incident report in order to be properly prepared. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough. Teachers should not be unprepared for class. If you need further clarification of this expectation, please re-read requirements #1 & #2.

6. Participation. This requirement encompasses engaging actively in all discussions and activities in class and in your Professional Learning Communities (this includes making contributions, listening actively, and withholding contributions to leave space to allow other classmates to participate) and checking your SCU email for class-related communication each day. I expect each of you to demonstrate a commitment to expressing your thoughts and listening to those of others, to engage in respectful dialogue with classmates, and to be willing to challenge and to be challenged by the important ideas in this course.

6. Responsible use of technology. During class time, laptops/blackberries/cell phones/iPads, etc. must be used only at appropriate times and in appropriate ways. While our class is in session, you should not engage in any activity not directly related to what is taking place in our classroom.

I reserve the right to ask you to close your laptop or put away some other form of technology at my discretion; when/if this occurs, please respond quickly and without protest to avoid further disruption of the class’s learning.

I also reserve the right to ignore your inappropriate use of technology in class and simply deduct points from your final grade.

I strongly encourage all of you to assist each other in meeting these technology expectations. If someone in your PLC is using technology in an inappropriate manner during class, you are responsible for reminding that classmate to stop.

If you would like more detailed clarification about the expectations regarding appropriate and inappropriate in-class technology use, please feel free to contact me for further information.

7. Maintaining classmate and student confidentiality. This course involves in-depth conversations about sensitive topics, personal issues, and the challenging behavior of students and colleagues. You are expected to respect the privacy of every MATTC candidate, the candidates’ students and the students’ families, and your candidates’ colleagues. The information discussed in this course should never be discussed casually, nor should it be shared with anyone who is not enrolled in the course. (This excludes situations in which you must act as a mandated reporter or are otherwise legally bound to share what you know.)

Please note: It is possible to fail this course by demonstrating chronic unprofessional behavior.

If you demonstrate chronic unprofessional behavior, your course instructor will (1) inform you of your “at-risk” status and the possibility that you will not pass this course; (2) develop an improvement plan for you, and (3) provide you with support implementing your plan. You cannot earn your preliminary teaching credential or Master of Arts in Teaching degree without passing this course.

Critical Incident Reports (Crit-ins) (CO #1-3)

(10 points each, 40% of course grade)

Teachers (and teacher candidates) frequently encounter complex professional problems that have no obvious right or wrong solutions. The research literature on teachers’ ethical decision making often refers to these challenging situations as “critical incidents.” A critical incident does not have to be dramatic or confrontational—something as routine as deciding which student to call on when there are 6 hands raised is an ethical dilemma that warrants consideration.

You will begin to notice and to experience critical incidents as soon as you enter your placement classroom and interact in a professional capacity with your master teacher(s) and students. You will need to become increasingly be aware of the moral and ethical implications of the activities and interactions that occur in your placement classroom. This assignment is designed to assist you in developing the skills needed for the efficient identification and effective management of critical incidents and the ethical dilemmas embedded within them.

Beginning with Class #2 and continuing into the middle of spring quarter, you will be required to bring a completed a Critical Incident Report to each class session. This form should be used to document a critical incident that you experienced in the two-week period since the class last met. (A copy of this form can be found at the back of this syllabus along with the rubric that will be used to evaluate your Critical Incident Reports. A blank Critical Incident Report form and an electronic copy of the rubric are available in the ETP folder in MATTC Documents file on Google Docs.) These completed Critical Incident Reports will be analyzed and discussed in each class session. They will also comprise the bulk of the raw material for your Capstone Project.

Please type your crit-in and complete each part of the crit-in graphic organizer to the best of your ability.

You will have the opportunity to write a practice Critical Incident Report in the first class and to evaluate your Crit-in using the assignment rubric before you tackle the task on your own. More information will be provided in Class #1.

Self-assessment: Update on your development as an ethical teacher (CO# 1-3)

(20 points, 20% of course grade)

This assignment requires you to craft a detailed and thoughtful assessment of your learning in our class and in your placement this quarter. In your self-assessment, please focus specifically on issues related to the moral work of teaching (MWT) and/or the ethical dimensions of being a teacher.

1. Provide a detailed discussion of your current understanding of the MWT. Support your descriptions with specific examples drawn from your teaching practice, experiences in your placement, experiences in your SCU classes, and/or from interactions with friends, family, classmates, and professional colleagues.

2. Discuss the impact of your increasing awareness of and engagement in the MWT on your

• • Teaching practices—please be specific about which aspects (planning? assessment? differentiation? discipline? procedures and routines?...?)

• • Interactions with/thinking about your students

If you would like, you may also include consideration of

• • Interactions with/understandings of the teachers at your school site

• • Interactions with/understandings of other adults at your school site (administrators, parents, classified staff)

• • Your life outside of your placement classroom/school

3. What are your goals for growth as an ethical practitioner over the next 10-12 weeks? What is your plan for reaching those goals? How can your work in this course help move you forward? How would you like your classmates, course instructors, field supervisor, and master teacher(s) to support your work toward your ethical practice goals?

An assignment rubric is provided in this syllabus to guide you in crafting your response to these prompts. The quality of your work on this assignment will have a significant impact on your success with your Capstone Project, so we will discuss this assignment in class.

Course policies and procedures

Grading Criteria: Grade conversion guidelines