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Education 240-3
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Social Issues in Education
Instructor: A. Luke
Location: On Campus
Spring Semester 1984
Monday/Wednesday 8:30-9:20
(plus 1 hour tutorial per week)
OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this course are: 1) to provide a broad base of
information about schooling as a social institution, with specific focus on
B.C. and Canada; 2) to outline background information and points of view on
contemporary public and professional controversies about the aims and practices
of public schools; and 3) to provide foundational perspectives on these issues.
The primary aim of the course is the development by each student of a coherent
and justifiable critical perspective with which to identify and analyze debates
on edüëàtional issues.
FORMAT: The course combines lectures, film and videotape presentations, guest
speakers, with weekly seminars.
TOPICS include:
An introduction to the educational field' in British Columbia.
What is a "social issue"? Consensus and conflict over the aims
and practices of public schooling.
Schooling as a social institution: ritual, socialization, cultural
reproduction, and the "hidden cur'i'culum".
Schooling in Multicultural society: ihstitutionalraism.
Academic and occupational equality for Womei.
Social class, social justice and the provision of "school knowledge".
Curricular form and content: the issue of Canadian control.
Standardized Testing: minimum competence, accountability, centralization.
Teacher rights and politics.
Radical alternative: Freirian pedagogy.
The aims and structures of post-secondary education.
REQUIRED TEXTS: Cusick, Phillip. Inside High School. Holt Rinehart, Winston, 1973.
Freire, Paulo. Education for Critical Consciousness. Seabury, 1978.
Selected articles from journals.
RECOMMENDED: ?
Apple, Michael. Ideology and Curriulum. Routledge, 1979.
Wilson, J. D. Canadian Education in the 1980's. Detselig, 1981.
In addition to the two required texts, there will be a charge for articles handed out
in class. Weekly readings will also be available on reserve.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Students will be expected to complete assigned readings and to
participate in seminar discussions. Three major assignments will be required: a short
mid-term paper (5-7 pages); a short research paper (5-7 pages); and a take-home final
essay examination.
NO PREREQUISITE COURSES ARE REQUIRED.