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SPECIAL TOPICS: CRITICAL INCIDENTS IN TEACHING -

THE TEACHER AS DECISION MAKER

Spring, 1989

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Instructor:

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Dr. S. Wassermann

Thursdays, 4:30 - 8:20

Location: MPX 7600

PREREQUISITES:

Educ. 401/402 or equivalent.

This course is offered for pre-service and in-service teachers who wish to examine the

various pressures influencing the decision-making processes of teachers.

One of the important aspects of professional functioning is the autonomy of

professionals to arrive at decisions based upon their sound professional judgement.

The ability to examine and interpret data, to analyze assumptions, and to project

potential consequences is considered a true mark of professional functioning.

In some professions, a variety of pressures -- political, social, emotional, personal --

serve to influence professional judgement and consequently to influence decision-

making. Such influence may have a deep and pervasive effect upon the degrees of

freedom and emotional health of professionals, upon their beliefs and values about

the profession itself, and upon their subsequent professional practice.

This course will use contemporary film and literature to raise levels of awareness

about factors influencing teachers' decision making, vis a vis examinations of critical

incidents in teaching. Students who enroll will engage in film viewing, study of

specific literature and focused group discussion, in order to examine more critically

and become aware of personal decision-making in their own professional educational

context.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1.

To increase understanding of the various and complex factors involved in the

decision-making process.

2.

To increase awareness of factors influencing a teacher's decision making process.

3.

To promote more critical awareness of personal decision making and the

consequences of decisions made upon person-in-the-process.

TEXTS:

No texts will be required, readings will be distributed.

IMPORTANT: Please note that a maximum of 12 semester hours of credit

In Education Special Topics courses may be used toward a