Foundations of Education: Unit 1


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Unit 1 opens on Saturday, January 10th and closes on Sunday, January 25th!

Unit 1: Introduction, educational theories, and part II of History of American Education video

As we discussed on Saturday, our first unit will be an open discussion around several issues from the first part of the History of American Education video series and your first two readings assignments - the chapter call Pioneers in Education and the chapter called Philosophical Roots of Education (click on links to download). Try to get through both as quickly as possible. We'll use this first unit as sort of a testing ground to make sure everybody can use WebCT to access the discussions. Be sure to make an appearance in the discussions in the first few days so I know you're "on board!" Good luck and have fun!

Remember to post your initial response to at least one of the questions in the first week of the open unit - in the second week, respond to at least two other peoples' responses during the second week of the unit. The idea is to try to create some discussion of interesting issues, ideas, and sharing of experiences.

Questions (these questions also appear in WebCT so you don't have to remember them now):

After watching the first part of the video series and completing the assigned reading for the week - consider some of the following questions. Respond with your own ideas, experiences, insights, and recollections.

  1. In what ways do you see education's struggles from early in the 20th century still at issue today? What problems do you think we continue to wrestle with? What have been your personal experiences in dealing with these perrennial issues? Are they solvable problems? Why or why not?
  2. What's your opinion on this issue of Americanization that we heard so much about in the video? Was that a useful goal of education at one time in our nation's life? Is it today? At what cost? What should be the goal of education - and the role of our schools in society and American culture?
  3. What was surprising to you from the Pioneers in Education chapter or the Philosophical Roots of Education chapter? Where did your experiences as a high school student connect with ideas/issues from the readings? What's important to you as a teacher and where do these beliefs/values connect with ideas/issues from the readings?
  4. Where are we going as a nation in terms of our educational goals/values? What philosophical ideas or educational theories do you see guiding what happens in our schools today? How will you either interact as a teacher with these current directions or work against the status quo?

After reading through the questions and completing the reading, proceed to the discussion in WebCT.

 

Mark