This course introduces students to ongoing debates regarding the purposes of education. We will interrogate issues of power and control as we consider multiple visions of schooling. We will evaluate educational policies that are central to understanding the U.S. educational system, such as school choice. We will learn about various school designs and pedagogical approaches, including how to create culturally-sustaining and identity-confirming learning environments. By engaging with the system from historical, philosophical, and critical perspectives, we will gain a deeper understanding of schools as social and political institutions.

Course readings showcase a diversity of opinions. To engage with the course objectives meaningfully, students are expected to read all assigned texts thoroughly before each class. During class, students will interact with the assigned texts through in-class writing assignments, partner dialogue, small group activities, and whole group discussions. See subsequent pages for more details on course policies, readings, assignments, and a week-by-week course timeline.

• Interrogate divergent answers to the following questions:

  • Who are schools designed to serve? / Who do schools serve today?

  • Why are schools structured in a particular way? / Who chooses this structure?

  • What does it mean to be “educated”? / How do you “measure” learning?

  • What is educational “equity”? / What are differing visions of “equity”?

  • How might we reimagine schools to meet the needs of all students?

• Evaluate a range of opinions about the purpose of education in the U.S.

• Develop analytic tools for understanding schools as social and political institutions.

• Make connections between educational policies and broader social, economic, and political contexts and ideologies.

• Establish your own positions about educational issues in the U.S.

• Strengthen your ability to express your positions verbally and in writing.

• Deepen your ability to collaborate with others who may have different views.