Fall 2000 Lisa Smulyan
Thursday 1:15 lsmulya1@swarthmore.edu
Pearson 204; ext. 8343
Office hours Wed. 1:30-4:30
Education 131
Social and Cultural Perspectives on Education
Overview
When we study schools, we sometimes forget that they operate within a larger social and cultural context. In the United States, historically and in the present, schools are clearly expected to contribute to the ongoing growth and development of the existing social structure. At the same time, however, schools have always served as arenas for social and cultural conflict and have been seen as possible incubators for social change. In this seminar, we will examine some of the intersections between schools and the larger contexts within which they function, focusing on the ways in which schools both support and challenge the dominant culture of which they are a part.
Key questions, or themes, across the semester include the following:
In what ways do schools contribute to the maintenance of the status quo and serve as sites of social unrest and change?
What are the multiple influences on the school experience of any individual child? How do the parts of the system within which that child lives interact? Are some interactions and intersections more beneficial for learning and growth than others?
How do school and community structures affect the individual and that same individual as a member of multiple identity groups?
How do approaches to school change, such as parent/school partnerships, criticial pedagogy, multicultural education, and school-based change fit into and challenge existing institutional structures and processes?
(Note: Readings marked with an * are on ereserve)
Week I: (September 7) The Context of Schooling
Reading:
Carger, Chris L. (1996) Of Borders and Dreams: A Mexican-American Experience of Urban Education. NY: Teachers College Press.
*Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (1994) ÒIntroduction: Entering the field of qualitative
research.Ó In N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage.
*Richardson, L. (1997) Fields of Play. NJ: Rutgers University Press, pp. 9-22.
Movie: I am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School
Week II: (September 14) The Qualitative Study of Schooling
Readings:
Read one, skim another:
Personal narrative:
Everyone read:
Woods, Peter (1986) Inside Schools. London: Routledge. Chapters 1 and 2.
Readings:
*Carnoy, Martin and Levin, Henry (1993) "Contradictions in education," in Shapiro, H., and Purpel, D. (eds) Critical Social Issues in American Education. NY: Longman.
*Martin, Jane Roland (1993) "Becoming educated: A journey of alienation or integration?" in Shapiro, H., and Purpel, D. (eds) Critical Social Issues in American Education. NY: Longman.
Rodriguez, Richard (1988) Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez. NY: Bantam Books.
*Dewey, John (1916) Democracy and Education. NY: Free Press. Chapters 1 and
7.
*Freire, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. NY: Herder and Herder. Chapter 2.
*Hirsh, E. D. (1987) Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know.
Boston: Houghton Mifflen. Chapters 1, 4, 5.
*Greene, Maxine (1993) The passions of pluralism: Multiculturalism and the expanding community. In Perry, T. and Fraser, J. Freedom's Plow. NY: Routledge.
Woods, Peter (1986) Inside Schools. London: Routledge, Chapter 3 and 4.
Week IV: (September 28) Education and Culture: Different Perspectives
Reading:
*Bruner, Jerome (1996) The Culture of Education. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press. Preface, Chapters 1 (optional) and 3 (required).
Ladson-Billings, Gloria (1994) The Dreamkeepers. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
*Deyhle, D. and Margonis, F. (1995) "Navajo mothers and daughters: Schools, jobs and the family." Anthropology and Education Quarterly 26(2), 135-167.
OR
*Pweewardy, C. (1994) "Culturally responsible pedagagy in action: An American Indian Magnet School, in Hollins, King and Hayman (eds) Teaching Diverse Populations. SUNY Press, pp. 77-92.
*hooks, bell (1989) "Keeping close to home: Class and education." In Talking Back, Boston, MA: South End Press.
*Ellsworth, E. (1999) ÒMulticulture in the making.Ó In C. Grant (ed.) Multicultural
Research. London: Falmer Press.
Woods, Peter (1986) Inside Schools. London: Routledge. Chapter 5.
Week V: (October 5) The Culture of School
Readings:
*Sarasen, S. (1971) The Culture of the School and the Problem of Change, Boston:
Allyn and Bacon. Chapters 1, 2, and 6. pp. 1-14, 62-87.
Olsen, L. (1997) Made in America. NY: New Press.
*Erickson, F. (1993) ÒTransformation and school success: The politics and culture of educational achievement.Ó In E. Jacob and C. Jordan (eds.) Minority Education: Anthropological Perspectives. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Woods, P. (1986) Inside Schools, Chapter 6.
Week VI (October 12) School, Home and Community
Reading:
Heath, Shirley Brice (1983) Ways With Words. NY: Cambridge Press. Part I.
Lareau, A. (1989) Home Advantage: Social Class and Parental Intervention in Elementary Education. London: Falmer Press.
Woods, P. (1986) Inside Schools. Chapter 7
Week VII (October 26) School, Home and Community
Chavkin, N. (ed.) (1993) Families and Schools in a Pluralistic Society. SUNY Press. Chapter 1 (Moles), pp. 21-52, one chapter from Part II (Current Research) and one chapter from Part II (Practice Perspectives).
Valdes, G. (1996) Con Respeto. NY: Teachers College Press.
Week VIII: (November 2) Working in Schools
Readings:
Grant, G. and Murray, C. Teaching in America. Boston: Harvard University Press. Chapters 2-4, pp. 10-75.
Ellsworth, E. (1997) Teaching Positions. NY: Teachers College Press. Introduction, Chapters 1-3, 8, 9.
Britzman, D. (1991) Practice Makes Practice. Albany: State University of New York Press. Chapters 1 and 2, 3 or 4.
Week IX: (November 9) Working in Schools Ð II
Readings:
Teaching:
Kissen, R. (1996) The Last Closet: The Real Lives of Lesbian and Gay Teachers. Portsmouth, NH: Heineman.
Biklen, S. (1995) School Work: Gender and the Cultural Construction of Teaching. Teachers College Press. Chapters 1, 2, (3 optional) 7, 8
OR
Administration:
Everyone read:
*Richardson, L. (1997) Fields of Play. NJ: Rutgers University Press, pp. 131-153.
Woods, Peter (1986) Inside Schools. London: Routledge. Chapter 8.
Week X: (November 16) Race, Class and Gender in Secondary School: The Construction of Self in a Social Context
Readings:
Eder, Donna (1995) School Talk. NJ: Rutgers Press.
Brantlinger, Ellen (1993) The Politics of Social Class in Secondary School. NY: Teachers College Press.
(Martin, Danny (2000) Mathematics Success and Failure Among African American Youth. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.)
Week XI: (November 30) Race, Class and Gender in Schools: The Construction of Self in a Social Context
Readings:
Valenzuela, A. (1999) Subtractive Schooling. Albany: State University of New
York Press.
Lee, Stacey (1996) Unraveling the "Model Minority" Stereotype: Listening to Asian American Youth. NY: Teachers College Press.
Week XII: (December 7) Reconstructing Classroom and School Culture
Readings:
Shor, I. (1992) Critical Teaching for Social Change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
*Ellsworth, E. (1989) "Why doesn't this feel empowering? Working through the
repressive myths of critical pedagogy." Harvard Education Review, 59(3) pp. 297-324.
*Sleeter, Christine and McLaren, P. (eds) (1995) Multicultural Education, Critical
Pedagogy and the Politics of Difference. NY: SUNY Press. Introduction, chapters
5 and 13.
Examples:
*Athanases, Steven (1996) "A gay-themed lesson in an ethnic literature curriculum: Tenth graders' responses to 'Dear Anita'" Harvard Educational Review, 66(2). pp. 231-256
*Sylvester, S. (1994) "Elementary school curricula and urban transformation." Harvard Education Review, 64(3), pp. 309-331.
Zaslavsky, Claudia (1996) The Multicultural Math Classroom. NH: Heinemann.
*Banks, James (1994) Multiethnic Education, 3rd edition. Chapters 8 and 11.
Davidman, Leonard (1994) Teaching with a Multicultural Perspective: A Practical Guide. NY: Longman. Chapters 3 and 4.
*Sleeter, C. (1996) Multicultural Education as Social Activism. Albany: SUNY Press. Chapter 9.
Week XIII: (December 12) Reconstructing Classroom and School Culture
Readings:
Lieberman, A., ed. (1995) The Work of Restructuring Schools: Building from the Ground Up. Teachers College Press. Chapters 1 and 8, then choose 2 cases (Chapters 2-7).
Seminar Process and Products
1. Each week, two people will write seminar papers based on that week's reading (and any relevent work from previous weeks). Specific topics or approaches are up to the individual; Lisa will be happy to meet with you to consult about this. Papers must be completed and available in Lisa's box and on the class server by Wednesday evening for others to read. These papers will form the basis for a good part of our class discussion. An alternative is to come up with an activity, case study, or some other way of helping the group examine key ideas or issues.
2. Over the course of the semester, you will choose two of the papers you write for class discussion, revise them, and turn them in for a grade. If you have chosen to do an activity of some kind, you can write a paper reflecting on the issues raised. These papers should be completed within two weeks of the presentation to the group.
3. Fieldwork Ð projects to be discussed. You will write a paper that uses your fieldwork journal and examines the experience using both methodological and other materials from the course.
4. Education Week. Each week, one member of the seminar will be responsible for leading a 30 minute discussion on a piece in Education Week. You will need to let us know by Tuesday which piece.
5. Take home final.