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6-1

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Social Issues in Education

Spring Semester, 1990 ?

Instructor: ?

Murray Ross

Monday & Wednesday,

3:30 - 4:20 p.m. & Tutorials

Location: AQ 3159

PREREQUISITES:

None

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is concerned with the role and function of schools in society. Some

of the major theories for explaining the place of educational institutions in

society will be examined and applied to a variety of controversies in education.

For the most part the issues to be considered are aspects of the more general

problem of "ineffective" teachers and "ineffective" schools. Special attention

will be paid to the idea of problems in education and the various suggestions

which have been offered as solutions to these problems. Among the problems

to be considered are declining standards of achievement, teacher incompetence

and accountability, ineffective schools for the poor, the phenomena of racism,

sexism, and social class bias in education.

OBJECTIVES:

The central goal of this course is to engage students in an informed critical

discussion of the purposes, processes and outcomes of public schooling.

Students will be introduced to the multiplicity of perspectives which various

stakeholders (parents, teachers, citizens, policy analysts, etc.) have brought to

bear on issues in education.

OUTLINE OF TOPICS:

The aims of education, justification for education, education and social justice,

effective teaching, sexism, racism, school reform in the 1980s, the proposed

curriculum and assessment framework for B.C. schools.

Evaluation will be based on two papers and a final exam. Details concerning

these will be made available during the first week of classes.

REQUIRED TEXT

W. Feinberg and J.S. Soltis. (1985). School and Society. Teachers College

Press.

Jane Gaskell, Arlene McLaren, & Myra Novogrodsky. (1989). Claiming an

Education: Feminism and Canadian Schools. Our Schools/Ourselves

Education Foundation.

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (1989). Year 2000: A Curriculum

and Assessment Framework for the Future.

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Centre for Distance

Edun ?

Faculty of Education

Simon Fraser University

MPX 8548 ?

EDUCATION 240-3

SOCIAL ISSUES IN EDUCATION

This course introduces students to the study of public education as a social institution

in terms of its origins, character, consequences, and possible future. Students are

encouraged to explore, analyze and raise questions concerning issues such as the

aims and practices of public schooling, education and socialization, streaming and

testing, school knowledge and social class, racism and sexism in education.

PREREQUISITE:

None.

REQUIRED TEXT:

There is no required text. All required readings are contained in the Course Reader,

which is available from the Centre for Distance Education.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Five essay assignments are required and will be graded as follows:

Three five-page essays

?

60% (20% each)

One ten page essay

?

30%

One 3-5 page summary

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10%