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    EDUC. 435-4 EDUCATIONAL THEORY AND THEORY CRITICISM
    INTERSESSION 1981
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    INSTRUCTOR: Prof. Suzanne DeCastell
    Tuesday
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    Friday, 12:30 - 4:20
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    LOCATION: Campus
    The central concerns of this course will be (1) the nature of educational
    theory, and (2) the relation between educational theory and practice. Works in
    philosophy, psychology, and sociology which have had a significant impact on
    educational theorizing will be read and discussed. The critique of educational
    theories will be approached from the perspectives of both philosophical analysis
    and sociological theory, with particular attention being paid to the presupposionS
    of the theories examined, about the nature of the child, society and knowledge.j.
    The intended outcome of the course is that students will be able to formulate
    and defend criteria for educational theories, develop a coherent view of the relation
    between theory and practice in education, and will have acquired, as a result of their
    investigations into the major educational theories of the past, the conceptual and
    methodological tools to critically evaluate current-Ay emerging educational theories.
    OUTLINE:
    1. The Nature of Educational Theory
    (1)
    What is "theory"? What is "educational" theory"?
    (2)
    The theory-practice nexus
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    2. The Major Theories
    (1)
    Education as knowledge of the good: Plato
    (2) Educati
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    n and human nature: Rousseau
    (3)
    Progressive education. for "growth": Dewey
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    (4) Liberal edUcational theory: Hirst, Peters, et al.
    3. Empirical Contributions to Educational Practice
    (1)
    Conditioning
    and.learning:
    Skinner
    (2)
    The Importance of Psychoanalytic theory for education: Freud
    (3)
    Learning and Cognitive Development: Piaget
    4. sociological Perspectives on Educational Practice
    (1)
    Education as Socialization: Durkheim
    (2)
    Education as Social Reproduction: Marxist Critiques: Althusser
    (3)
    Educational Theory and Social Change: Young et al.
    5. Return to Practice
    Theory and Practice in Richmond: The Micro Society School and/or
    Freire: Education for Critical Consciousness
    Students will be asked to read extensively and to attend seminars consistently. Each
    session will involve a lecture by the instructor, a student-presented expository paper,
    and short critical paper, to be followed by discussiOn. Each student will be asked to,
    prepare for the group, one short expository paper, and one short critical paper. A full
    length critical essay is to be submitted in, the last week of the term. There.will be
    no examination for this course.

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