Education in American Society

A COURSE COMPONENT OF THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION - UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI @ MĀNOA

Instructor - Please see Laulima for information on your instructor.  
Text - Zero Textbook Cost. Online support Components. No required text.
Assessment Submissions - All assessments will be submitted on Laulima. 

Catalog’s Description - This course examines education and schooling’s interrelated historical, philosophical, and sociocultural contexts, emphasizing identifying, analyzing, and deliberating contemporary ethical issues, problems, and applications.

Instructor’s Description - Education is a social process. Teaching and learning take place in a society. Teachers, educators, and citizens are deeply interested and invested in education and schooling. 

Many aspects of society influence students’ lives, including which schools choose to educate which students, how the government and private entities decide to construct the purpose of education and deliver curriculum in schools, how schools choose to organize around what values, how teachers choose to act, and perhaps most importantly, what the student learning and social outcomes as a result of these decisions and processes. 

Understanding the foundations of education, teaching, and learning, including the role history, policy, politics, economics, sociology, and culture play in schools and education and learning in general, SHOULD contribute to how you see and act out your role in society, education, schools, and classrooms. 

Knowledge of the way social structures interact with context is essential to our understanding of the truth and reality, which guides our experiences, decisions, and actions. 

This course has six modules, one for each of the 6 CLOs.  Each module contains various assessments and criteria that you will use to demonstrate learning of these CLOs. Students are expected to examine historical, philosophical, political, economic, and sociocultural issues at the foundations of education in the United States. EDEF 310 expects students to demonstrate the following: 

Module 1 - Respecting Students' Lives & Community (Students) 

CLO 1 - Describe the diversity of students and its impacts on schools.

Module 2 - Purpose of Education & the Learning Environment (Environment)

CLO 2 - Examine various educational models and the role of schools in communities and with government. 

Module 3 - Pedagogical Aims & Classroom Decisions (Curriculum & Instruction)

CLO 3 - Analyze teacher practice and decision-making.

Module 4 - Professionalism, Ethics, & Reflection (Evaluation & Learning)

CLO 4 - Explore the professional and ethical complexities of teaching. 

Module 5 - Expressing An Educational Philosophy (Theory into Practice)

CLO 5 - Synthesize foundational elements of education into a personal philosophy of education and teaching. 

Module 6 - Final Learning & Evaluations (Improvement & Metacognition)

CLO 6 - Evaluate professional learning of pre-service and in-service teachers and educators. 

Course Commitment - This course requires time, focused attention, discipline, and commitment.  Get organized. We want you to succeed, but generally speaking, you must earn it. 

• • • Please plan on committing some routine time to this class each week. 

    • There is one assessment per week throughout the semester. 

    • Generally speaking, assessments are designed to be completed in 60-90 minutes.  

    • I want you to be efficient with your process and work. 

    • Create a routine for yourself.

    • Read the syllabus and figure out what needs to be done.

    • Check the module for introductions, concepts, content, assignments, and instructions.

    • Read the instructions for the assessment.

    • Read the rubric for the assessment.

    • Complete the assessment.

Required Texts and Readings - There are no required texts for this course.

Module 1 - Online Modules, Texts, and Resources (Weeks 1, 2, 3)

Module 2 - Online Modules, Texts, and Resources (Weeks 4, 5, 6)

Module 3 - Online Modules, Texts, and Resources (Weeks 7, 8, 9)

Module 4 - Online Modules, Texts, and Resources (Weeks 10, 11, 12)

Module 5 - Online Modules, Texts, and Resources (Weeks 13, 14, 15)

Module 6 - Online Modules, Texts, and Resources (Finals)