california)state)university,)los)angeles) …...

Mattheis Syllabus EDFN 440-‐01 1

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LOS ANGELES Charter College of Education

Division of Applied and Advanced Studies in Education LAUTR Summer 2015

EDFN 440: Schooling in a Diverse Urban Society Class Location: TBA Time: Monday-‐Friday Instructor: Allison Mattheis, Ph.D. Email: [email protected] Office: KH A2036

Office Hours: by appointment / available during lunch break

Catalog Description EDFN 440 (4 quarter units): Foundational knowledge of education by examination of cultural, historical, political, philosophical, and sociological perspectives of schooling; introducing critical, reflective frameworks for analyzing contemporary American schools; and focusing on issues impacting diverse, urban families and school communities Technology Requirements Participants need MS-‐Word and PowerPoint. Participants also need Internet access and a CSULA NIS account to access the class Moodle and the online library databases. Students must be proficient in using email and sending attachments. Statement on “email as an official form of communication at CSULA” Cal State L.A.’s “official” means of communicating with students is through electronic mail (e-‐mail) using students’ Cal State L.A. assigned email address. E-‐mail provides an environmentally sensitive, timely, and cost-‐effective means of communicating University business and academic information. Students are expected to access their Cal State L.A. e-‐mail account on a regular basis so that official university, college, department and course communications are delivered and received in a timely manner, and students do not miss important communications. Students are considered to have been “officially notified” when information is sent to their Cal State L.A. email address. If you wish, you may forward your Cal State L. A. email to another account. This is easily done by following the instructions that may be found at the following link:

http://www.calstatela.edu/its/docs/pdf/forwarding_emails.pdf Note: Redirecting your email does not relieve you of your responsibilities associated with official communications sent by Cal State L.A.


Vision and Mission of the CCOE The vision of the CCOE states that the Charter College of Education (CCOE) is a learning community of faculty, administrators, staff, CCOE students, and community members that work collaboratively to ensure that all CCOE students receive a high-‐quality education, honor the diversity of all learners, advocate for educational and community reforms, develop reflective practices that promote equity, and facilitate the maximum learning and achievement potential of all children and adults. All programs in the CCOE and Ed.D. program are guided by the following mission: to develop in CCOE students the professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions to promote the academic, social, and psychological development of diverse learners in urban schools and related agencies. CCOE graduates become teachers, special educators, school administrators, educational technologists, researchers, program evaluators, school psychologists, counselors, rehabilitation professionals, higher education faculty, and other educational specialists. Within an environment of shared governance, CCOE professional preparation programs utilize data-‐driven decision-‐making, technology-‐integrated instruction, meaningful curricula, and outcome-‐based assessments to ensure high-‐quality educational opportunities for all CCOE students. The Ed.D program especially emphasizes the preparation of practitioner-‐scholars equipped to lead significant P-‐20 educational reforms.


Statement of Reasonable Accommodation The Charter College of Education faculty members fully support the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The members of the faculty will provide reasonable accommodation to any student with a disability who is registered with the Office of Students with Disabilities (OSD) who needs and requests accommodation. The faculty may wish to contact the OSD to verify the presence of a disability and confirm that accommodation is necessary. The OSD will arrange and provide for the accommodation. Reasonable accommodation may involve allowing a student to use an interpreter, note taker, or reader; accommodation may be needed during class sessions and for administration of examinations. The intent of the ADA in requiring consideration of reasonable accommodation is not to give a particular student an unfair advantage over other students, but simply to allow a student with disability to have an equal opportunity to be successful. Student Conduct Student conduct is viewed as a serious matter by the faculty members of the Charter College of Education. The Charter College faculty members assume that all students will conduct themselves as mature citizens of the campus community and will conduct themselves in a manner congruent with university policies and regulations. Inappropriate conduct is subject to discipline as provided for in Title 5, California Code of Regulations (see student conduct: rights and responsibilities, and student discipline, CSULA General Catalog). Academic Honesty Students are expected to adhere to standards of academic honesty and integrity, as outlined in the CSULA Academic Honesty Policy (http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/senate/handbook/). There are established university reporting procedures if a student is suspected of committing an academically dishonest act.


Content Standards and Student Learning Outcomes

Content Standard # 1: The course will provide an introduction to the historical, cultural, political, and legal foundations of education in the United States. Upon completion of the course, students will have acquired and demonstrated an understanding of these foundations.

Content Standard # 2: The course will provide students with an introduction to major theoretical frameworks (e.g., Functionalism, Conflict Theory, Theories of Reproduction, Critical Theory, Feminist Theory, Post-‐positivist Theory, etc.) and concepts that undergird the sociological conception, analysis, and understanding of schooling in the United States. Upon completion of the course, students will have acquired and demonstrated an understanding of these frameworks and concepts.

Content Standard # 3: The course will provide students with an in-‐depth discussion of the manner culture, class, and gender impact the educational opportunities of different groups of students. Upon completion of the course, students will have acquired and demonstrated an understanding of the effects of race/ethnicity, class, and gender on differing groups of students.

Content Standard # 4 The course will provide students with an introduction to parental involvement, engagement, and presence in schooling. Upon completion of the course, students will have acquired knowledge and understanding of issues related to parental involvement, engagement, and presence in schooling.

Student Learning Outcomes: 1. Students will actively engage readings and class lectures that present a discussion of parental involvement, engagement, and presence in schooling.

2. Students will write Critical Summaries (1 page summaries) that articulate a knowledge and understanding of parental engagement, presence and parenting styles with regards to the schooling of urban students.

3. Students will write Critical Reflections (brief reflective essay) in which they employ said understanding to reflect on their own experience with schooling and their anticipated practice as teachers in socially and culturally diverse contexts of urban Los Angeles.

4. Students will participate in small and whole group discussions that focus on said frameworks and concepts and their own experience with schooling & their anticipated practice as teachers in socially and culturally diverse contexts of urban Los Angeles.


Required Course Materials

1. Canestrari, A.S. & Marlowe, B.A. (2013). Educational foundations—An anthology of critical readings (3rd edition). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

2. Kumashiro, K. (2012). Bad Teacher! How blaming teachers distorts the bigger picture. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. ISBN: 0807753211

3. All other readings or materials will be accessible through the course Moodle site. Citation information for assigned readings: Delpit, L. (1998). What should teachers do? Ebonics and culturally responsive instruction. In A.S. Canestrari & B.A. Marlowe (Eds.) (2013), Educational Foundations—An Anthology of Critical Readings (3rd ed.) (pp. 31-‐39). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. Dewey, J. (1929). My pedagogic creed. In M. Dworkin (Ed.) (1959), Dewey on Education (pp. 19-‐ 32). New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Donnell, K. (2013). Beyond the deficit paradigm: An ecological orientation to thriving urban

schools. In A.S. Canestrari & B.A. Marlowe (Eds.), Educational Foundations—An Anthology of Critical Readings (3rd ed.) (pp. 151-‐158). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

Dudley-‐Marling, C. & Lucas, K. (2009). Pathologizing the language and culture of poor children. Language Arts, 86(5), 362-‐370. Epstein, J.L. (1995). School / family / community partnerships. Phi Delta Kappan, 76(9), 701-‐713. Freire, P. (1973). The banking concept of education. In A.S. Canestrari & B.A. Marlowe (Eds.) (2013), Educational Foundations—An Anthology of Critical Readings (3rd ed.) (pp. 103-‐ 115). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. Fowler, F. (2013). Policy studies for educational leaders (4th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson. Giroux, H. (1985). Teachers as transformative intellectuals. In A.S. Canestrari & B.A. Marlowe (Eds.) (2013), Educational Foundations—An Anthology of Critical Readings (3rd ed.) (pp. 189-‐197). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. Kohl, H. (1976). Why teach? In A.S. Canestrari & B.A. Marlowe (Eds.) (2013), Educational Foundations—An Anthology of Critical Readings (3rd ed.) (pp. 17-‐28). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. Kohn, A. (1994). Grading: The issue is not how but why? In A.S. Canestrari & B.A. Marlowe

(Eds.) (2013), Educational Foundations—An Anthology of Critical Readings (3rd ed.) (pp. 165-‐173). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.


Ladson-‐Billings, G. (2006). It’s not the culture of poverty, it’s the poverty of culture: The problem with teacher education. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 37(2), 104-‐109. Meyer, E. (2010). Gender and sexual diversity in schools. New York, NY: Springer. Moll, L.C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using

a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-‐141.

Nieto, S. (2004). Racism, discrimination, and expectations of students’ achievement. In A.S. Canestrari & B.A. Marlowe (Eds.) (2013), Educational Foundations—An Anthology of Critical Readings (3rd ed.) (pp. 40-‐60). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. Ravitch, D. (2012). How, and how not, to improve the schools. In A.S. Canestrari & B.A. Marlowe (Eds.) (2013), Educational Foundations—An Anthology of Critical Readings (3rd ed.) (pp. 179-‐185). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. Yosso, T.J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 8(1), 69-‐91.


Course Content and Instructional Approach

This course is designed to help you consider how local schools are situated in broader social and political contexts and influenced by historical events and shifting distributions of power. As a class we will examine how individual identities and group affiliations impact our own perspectives as students, teachers, and members of broader communities.

As a researcher, I use critical theory perspectives to guide my inquiry of educational practices and lived experiences. This means that I am particularly focused on issues of power and inequality in institutions of learning and in social interactions. You may find that my stance on certain topics reflects this point of view, and I welcome you to question why I “think I know what I think I know” whenever it will clarify course content or class activities. I also expect that you will provide explanations of your own thinking when we discuss issues about which rational adults can be expected to at times disagree. I encourage respectful challenging of ideas and ask that we all come to class with open minds, but will not tolerate personal attacks that shut down learning or place particular individuals in a tokenized or isolated position. As a teacher, my understandings of constructivist practice mean that I believe we are all works in progress and that our learning is ongoing and mediated by our personal interactions with each other and the course content. I do not assume any previous knowledge of the content we will cover in this class, but respect that you all come to this class with a wide range of other life experiences and forms of expertise. I hope you will share your strengths with the class and will let me know if there are particularly challenging areas in which I can provide more support. You may find that my grading seems strict at first. I believe that learning for mastery requires that as an instructor I provide students multiple opportunities to demonstrate competency and to “try, try again.” You are welcome to re-‐do any assignment as many times as necessary without penalty as long as your efforts reflect genuine attention to feedback I provide on drafts or earlier versions. My goal is that you successfully navigate challenging material and leave this course feeling confident in your abilities to pursue your own goals as teachers and learners.

In order to learn from and with each other and include all voices, attendance at all class meetings is expected. It is your responsibility to contact me directly if you are unable to attend class due to an emergency. The required assignments for this course are described on the next page:


Assignments

1) Responses to Reading (Critical Summaries and Reflections): • Questions or reflection prompts that ask you to critically examine the required readings and

relate them to your own experiences or points of view will be posted on Moodle each day. 2) Educational Biography:

• This assignment explores the ways in which individual identities impact a person’s formal and informal schooling experiences. You may select any person over age 25 who is not a student at CSULA to interview using a set of guiding questions.

• Following your interview, you will write a 3-‐5 page paper that places your participant’s responses in a broader cultural and sociopolitical context. You must incorporate at least 3 class readings in your paper.

• A plan for this assignment is due on June 26 (who you will interview, when you will interview them*, and your writing plan).

• The final version of this paper is due July 5. 3) School Board Project:

• Decision-‐making in a large organization such as the Los Angeles Unified School District is often hard to understand from the outside, and often still seems confusing even to those working within the organization. Teachers in schools often feel removed from the centralized structures, so this assignment encourages you to learn more about how school boards operate in general, and how LAUSD’s Board of Education functions in particular. You may work on this assignment with two or three other people (maximum of 4 people in a group).

• You and your group members will watch live streaming video of a board meeting, or listen to an archived recording. Each group will also be assigned a board member and a board committee to learn more about (following guidelines that will be presented in class).

• Your group will develop a plan to complete this project during class on June 22. • You will develop a multimedia presentation to share with the class on June 30.

*I’m using the singular “their” and “they” to avoid terms like “his/her” that assume identification with a gender binary. Please let me know what pronouns you use as well!


All written assignments should be formatted with 1” margins, 11-‐12 point font, and double-‐spaced. In text citation and references lists should follow APA (6th edition) guidelines. Unless otherwise specified, written assignments should be submitted electronically. All course assignments will be assessed using grading rubrics that will be posted to Moodle. Assignment Percent of Total Course Grade Class Attendance, Preparation, and Participation 20% Responses to Reading 30% Educational Biography Paper 25% School Board Project 25%

Grading Scale 95 – 100 = A 90 – 94 = A-‐ 87 – 89 = B+ 83 – 86 = B 80 – 82 = B-‐ 77 – 79 = C+ 73 – 76 = C 70 – 72 = C-‐ 69 and below = NC (D/F)


Day One: June 22, 2015 Welcome and Introductions Guiding Questions

• Who is here? • What are our collective goals for this course and what do we need to know about each other to

support each other in reaching those goals? In-‐class:

• Introductions and educational histories activity • exploring personal identities (Rose & Potts graphic organizer) • course overview and Moodle orientation • introduction to School Board Project/form groups

Homework • reading for tomorrow (Dewey and Freire) and reading response on Moodle

Day Two: June 23, 2015 Philosophy and Purpose of Education Readings to complete before class:

• (on Moodle): Dewey My pedagogic creed • (course text): Ch. 8, pp. 103-‐115 Freire The banking concept of education

Guiding Questions • How do beliefs about how people learn affect how people teach? • What influential ontological, epistemological, and axiological beliefs about teaching and

learning have shaped contemporary educational practices? In-‐class:

• critical analysis of California Department of Education website • exploring philosophies of education

Homework • reading for tomorrow (Donnell and Yosso) and reading response on Moodle

Day Three: June 24, 2015 Group Identities and Diversity in Communities and Schools Readings to complete before class:

• (course text): Ch. 13, 151-‐158 Donnell Beyond the deficit paradigm • (on Moodle): Yosso 2005 Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of

community cultural wealth Guiding Questions

• How do race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status impact students' school experiences? • What is “culture?”

In-‐class: • Examining local community demographics and cultural practices • time in class to work on school board project

Homework • reading for tomorrow (Meyer and Dudley-‐Marling & Lucas) and reading response on Moodle


Day Four: June 25, 2015 Individual Identities and Diversity in Communities and Schools Readings to complete before class:

• (on Moodle): Meyer 2010 Gender and sexual diversity in schools (Chapter 1) • (on Moodle): Dudley-‐Marling & Lucas 2009 Pathologizing the language and culture of poor

children Guiding Questions

• How do stereotypes about particular groups of people stigmatize individuals in schools? In-‐class:

• exploring anti-‐bullying programs and school-‐wide community building approaches • exploring LGBTQI issues in California schools

Homework • reading for tomorrow (Nieto and Ladson-‐Billings) and reading response on Moodle

Day Five: June 26, 2015 Providing Equal Opportunity in a Context of Social Inequality Readings to complete before class:

• (course text): Ch. 5, pp. 41-‐60 Nieto Racism, discrimination, and expectations of students’ achievement

• (on Moodle): Ladson-‐Billings 2004 It’s not the culture of poverty, it’s the poverty of culture: The problem with teacher education

Guiding Questions • How is equity different from equality? • How can data be used to support particular groups of learners and how can it be used to harm?

In-‐class: • overview of NCLB and contemporary U.S. demographics • exploring the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and IDEA (Individual with Disabilities

Education Act) Homework

• Read Kumashiro Bad Teacher (entire book) and Fowler excerpt, complete reading response on Moodle

• School Board Project Presentations due Tuesday Day Six: June 29, 2015 Social, Political, and Economic Goals of “Schooling” Reading to complete before class:

• Kumashiro 2013 Bad Teacher • (on Moodle): Fowler 2009 Chapter 5 Values and ideology

Guiding Questions • Who are public schools for and what are they designed to do?

In-‐class: • discussion of significant events in U.S. history relative to education • schools and the law activity (review of significant cases)

Homework • reading for tomorrow (Kohl and Kohn) and reading response on Moodle • School Board Project Presentations due tomorrow


Day Seven: June 30, 2015 The Role(s) of Schools and Teachers in Contemporary U.S. Society Reading to complete before class:

• (course text) Kohl Why Teach? • (course text): Ch. 15, pp. 165-‐173 Kohn Grading: The issue is not how but why

Guiding Questions • What does it mean to conceptualize teaching as a personal identity? What does it mean to

conceptualize teaching as a professional responsibility? • What messages do teachers receive about their roles and the role of public education in the

U.S.? • Who makes decisions about educational policy?

In-‐class: • School Board Project Presentations

Homework • reading for tomorrow (Delpit and Moll) and reading response on Moodle

Day Eight: July 1, 2015 Culturally Inclusive and Responsive Education Readings to complete before class:

• (course text): Ch. 4, pp. 31-‐40 Delpit What should teachers do? Ebonics and culturally responsive instruction

• (on Moodle): Moll 1992 Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms

Guiding Questions • How can understanding social group dynamics and individual experiences help teachers create

supportive and humanizing educational spaces? In-‐class:

• identifying particular student needs-‐ case study activity Homework

• reading for tomorrow (Ravitch and Giroux) and reading response on Moodle Day Nine: July 2, 2015 Teachers as Change Leaders and Advocates for Students and Communities Readings to complete before class:

• (course text): Ch. 17, pp. 179-‐185 Ravitch How, and how not, to improve the schools • (course text): Ch. 18, pp. 189-‐197 Giroux Teachers as transformative intellectuals • (on Moodle): Epstein 1995 School / Family / Community Partnerships

Guiding Questions • What influence can teachers have in their classrooms, schools, and communities to improve

students’ educational experiences? In-‐class:

• closing activities Homework

• Educational Biography Paper due July 5


Day Ten: July 3, 2015 • Complete selected LACOE Modules (TBA) online

***Educational Biography Paper Due (uploaded to Moodle) by midnight July 5, 2015***

NOTE: I reserve the right to revise, add to, or delete from this syllabus-‐ AM

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