EDU 524 601: Democracy and Social Education

SUNY Cortland

Education Department

Course Information:	Professor Information:

Credit Hours: 3	Instructor:	Lin Lin

Fall 2007	Office Phone: 607-753-4234

Van Hoesen B140	Email: linlin@cortland.edu

4:20–6:50 PM Mondays Office Hours: Mondays before or after class

Or by appointment (716-348-0186 cell)

Suggested Text: (All handouts will be provided for class discussion)

Charney, R.S. (2002). Teaching children to care: Classroom management for ethical and academic growth, K-8. Northeast Foundation for Children.

Hursh, D.W.,& Ross, E.W. (2000). Democratic Social Education: Social Studies for Social Change. New York: Falmer Press.

Ravitch, D. (2003). The language police: How pressure groups restrict what students learn. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Stauber, J. & Rampton, S. (1995). Toxic sludge is good for you! Monroe Maine: Common Courage Press.

Zinn, H., & Macedo, D. (2005). Howard Zinn on democratic education. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.

Excerpts selected from American Teacher (magazine)

Course Description:

This course analyzes and defines democracy and social education in the context of American public schools. The focus of this preparation will be conducted through research-based and self-reflective-oriented inquiry. Students will confront the antidemocratic forces of greed, individualism, and intolerance in today’s society and be challenged to implement the study of social education with the goal of social justice. Students will be exposed to a theoretical and historical analysis of education and society. The course will also provide a practical analysis of classroom pedagogy and school organization.

Professional Dispositions:

This course follows the department’s procedures for continuous positive growth toward strong teaching skills and dispositions as reflected in the Assessment of Candidate’s Professional Dispositions. It is the policy of the Department that positive teaching dispositions are a basic requirement.

Goals/Objectives of the Course:

Students will be able to

understand topics and issues related to the course themes.

write reflection essays based on course reading assignments.

use local historical documents or artifacts.

integrate technology into instruction.

analyze the social studies school curriculum and social studies state standards.

create a lesson plan appropriate to a grade level of your choice, which highlights social democracy and social justice.

Course themes:

Theme I: Social Purposes of Education

Traditional social studies instruction

Multicultural democracy

Tolerance or Acceptance

Neutrality or Objectivity

Theme II: Social Studies Curriculum Defined

Authentic Democracy

Legitimization of knowledge within colleges of education

Transformative pedagogical practice

Theme III: Indoctrination or Democratization

Teach for social change

Role of classroom conservatism

Social activism

How the Themes Reflect Specific Components of Cortland’s Conceptual Framework:

Successful Education 524 students will demonstrate their proficiency in SUNY Cortland Conceptual Framework’s; Knowledge Base, Professional Commitments, Standards, Diversity, and Technology and National Council of Social Studies, Expectations of Excellence, Two: Ten Strands, Civic Ideals and Practices. Students will relate these expectations to the National Professional Teaching Standards.

Course Requirement

Active insightful participation in class discussions and peer small-group interactions

Completion, analysis and reflection of all readings

Satisfactory completion of all assignments

Professionalism (Attendance and Punctuality)

The attendance policy for this course is based on the SUNY Cortland Catalog.

Attendance, punctuality, and active participation in class are considered indicators of your professionalism and dedication. Students who demonstrate professionalism by participating in class, arriving on time, and attending class meetings should expect to receive a higher course grade than those who do not. Arriving more than 30 minutes late and/or leaving early will be counted as an absence.

Please let me know before class if you have to be absent from class. If you miss one class, your final course grade will not be affected. If you miss two classes, you will lose five points out of the 100 points for the course grade. If you miss three classes, you will lose 10 points out of the 100 points for the course grade. If you miss four, a letter grade will be deducted from your final course grade. For example, you will earn a B based on all your assignments, but due to four absences, your final course grade will be a C. Missing more than four classes will result in a grade of F for the course.

PLEASE NOTE: I realize that circumstances beyond your control may at times require that you arrive late, leave early, or miss class. Please write a note to me explaining any such circumstances in case I do not remember verbal explanations. I will not excuse absences, but I will take reasonable conflicts into consideration when calculating final course grades.

It is your responsibility to keep copies of all handouts and other course materials and document your class performance should questions arise. Copies of missed handouts should be secured from fellow students first since multiple copies of old handouts are not carried to class each day by the instructor. As an alternative, you could talk to me directly about missed handouts and get them after class if possible.

This course is a study of social education. Your participation in class discussions is crucial. Readings must be completed before class time except for the first week. Additional reading (outside of the assigned text) is encouraged.

Active Participation:

Reflection essay #1	(10 points) Due September 3, 2007

Presentation on Readings	(10 points) Due September 24, 2007

Reflection essay #2	(10 points) Due October 15, 2007

WebCt submission

Active participation is demonstrated through accurate comprehension and insightful mini-reflections of the reading assignments through whole-class or group discussions and presentations, participation in the class activities, and thoughtful reflections on the reading assignments, websites, and activities through short reflections writing.

Throughout the semester, each student will be expected to write two reflection essays (typed, 2 to 3 pages long, single-spaced, 12-font) and make one presentation (using PPT, posters, or any other forms you deem effective).

Peer-Teaching Lesson Plan Demonstration (30 points) Due November 5

You are going to teach to the class using a lesson plan of your own or a lesson plan you have used or found. The lesson plan you are going to demonstrate in class must teach a democratic civic value/theme in social education for elementary students or students of the grade level you are most likely to teach or want to teach. Please provide references of the lesson plan and give credits to the authors of the lesson plan. This lesson plan could be one of the connected lessons in the final Integrated Mini-Unit Plan. So plan ahead. Please submit your lesson plan on WebCt. Demonstrations will be conducted in class.

Integrated Mini-Unit Plan (40 points)

(Written and Presentation submitted through WebCt) Due December 10

Create ONE unit plan (written lesson/unit plan has 30 points) that highlights themes and concepts such as social democracy and social justice. The Unit Plan should have at least four connected lessons and implement at least four of the following components:

1.	Local Historical Documents or Artifacts

2.	Technology

3. Children’s Literature

3.	Tolerance/Acceptance

4.	Interdisciplinary

5.	Community Service

A lesson plan template will be provided as the semester goes. You are welcome to use any kind of lesson plan template so long as it has the following components in it: the title of your lesson, rationale/overview, grade level, instruction time, New York Learning Standards addressed, objectives/student learning outcomes, assessment/evaluation, differentiated instruction/adaptation/modification, materials/resources, and procedure (detailed with introductory, developmental, and closing activities). References should be in APA style.

Present the unit plan to the whole class as a final exam (PowerPoint, or Poster Presentation) The unit plan presentation has 10 points.

Grading

Grades will be based on participation in class discussions, class activities, the mini-reflections, small group project and the final project.

Reflection Essay #1	10 points

Presentation on Shared Readings	10 points

Reflection Essay #2	10 points

Peer-teaching Lesson Plan Demos	30 points

Integrated Mini-Unit Plan	30 points

Unit Plan Presentation	10 points

TOTAL	100 points

Grading will be based on participation and assignments. Numerical grade equivalents are as follows:

99-100 points	= A+	95 to 98 points = A	90 to 94 points =A-

80 to 83 points	= B-	84 to 87 points = B	88 to 89 points = B+

78 to 79 points	= C+	74 to 77 points	= C	70 to 73 points =C-

68 to 69 points	= D+	64 to 67 points =D	60 to 63 points =D-

0 to 59 points	= F

Academic Integrity

The College is an academic community that values academic integrity and takes seriously its responsibility for upholding academic honesty. All members of the academic community have an obligation to uphold high intellectual and ethical standards. For more information on academic integrity and academic dishonesty, please refer to the College Handbook, the College Catalog and the Code of Student Conduct and Related Policies or ask your instructor.

Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with a disability and wish to request accommodations, please contact the Office of Student Disability Services located in B-40 Van Hoesen Hall or call (607) 753-2066 for an appointment. Information regarding your disability will be treated in a confidential manner. Because many accommodations require early planning, requests for accommodations should be made as early as possible.

Course Schedule and Activities

Date (Mondays)	Readings/Assignments DUE	Major Topics
Session 1 August 27, 2007	Reflection Essay #1	Course Overview Community Building Stereotypes Misconceptions
NO CLASS on September 3 -- Labor Day Reflection Essay #1 through WebCt
Session 2 September 10, 2007	Macedo, D. (2005). “Apparatus of Lies USA: Introduction”, from Zinn, H.’s Howard Zinn on Democratic Education. pp. 1-25. Education for Democracy, from American Educator Fall 2003, (23 pages) available at http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/fall2003/Democracy.pdf Can American history tell us? By Paul Gagnon at http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/summer2005/gagnon.htm	Authentic Democracy Traditional Social Studies Curriculum Democratic Citizenship as core Curriculum
Session 3 September 17, 2007	Introduction & Chapter 1 from Toxic sludge is good for you, pp.1-16 How Free is Higher Education, from Zinn’s Howard Zinn on Democratic Education, chapter 4, pp. 87-95 Susan E. Noffke, “Identify, Community, and Democracy in the “New Social Order” from D.W. Hursh & E. W. Ross (Eds.), Democratic social education: Social studies for social change. pp.73-83	Information & Democracy Legitimization of knowledge within colleges of education
Session 4 September 24, 2007	Shared readings from Toxic sludge is good for you Presentations on Shared Readings Due	Censorship & Democracy
Session 5 October 1, 2007	Chapter 12: Taking back your own back yard, from Toxic sludge is good for you, pp. 197-206
Session 6 October 8, 2007	Chapter 5 Censorship from the right, pp, 62-78 Chapter 6 Censorship from the left, pp. 79-96 from The Language Police	Textbook Censorship Diversity
Session 7 October 15, 2007	Reflection Essay #2 Due	Tolerance & Acceptance
Session 8 October 22, 2007	Lewis, Catherine C. and I. Tsuchida. "A Lesson is Like a Swiftly Flowing River: Research Lessons and the Improvement of Japanese Education." American Educator, Winter, 1998. 14-17 & 50-52. James Hiebert, Ronald Gallimore, and James W. Stigler. “Opening Classroom Doors: Heroes for the good of the profession.” American Educator, Spring 2004, Retrieved on Jan. 11, 2004 at http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/spring2004/doors.html	Democratic practices in classrooms and schools Transformative pedagogical practice
Session 9 October 29, 2007	Meet in TMC of SUNY Cortland Library Or Visit Cortland Historical Society 607-756-6071	Primary Sources
Session 10 November 5, 2007	Peer-Teaching Lesson Plan Demonstration In Class Due Empowering language: Say What you mean and mean what you say, from Charney, R. S. Teaching children to care, pp. 151-160. Stress the deed, not the doer. from Charney, R. S. Teaching children to care, pp. 161-170	Classroom Management Democratic Classroom & School
Session 11 November 12, 2007	Peer-Teaching Lesson Plan Demonstration In Class Continued
Session 12 November 19, 2007	Sharing Observations, Problems, and Best Practices	Deliberation Conflict Resolution
Session 13 November 26, 2007	Unit Plan Outline Due (not graded)	Reflections Assessment
No Class November 29 - December 3 -- NCSS Annual Conference – San Diego, CA
Session 14 December 10, 2007	Written Unit Plans Due Presentations in Class	Assessment Sharing Lesson Plans

*This syllabus is tentative and may be modified at the discretion of the instructor and at the reasonable requests of the students.

Recommended Readings

Counts, G.S. (1978). Dare the school build a new social order? Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

Friere, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.

Giroux, H.A. (1994). Disturbing pleasures: Learning popular culture. New York: Routledge.

Symcox, Linda. (2002). Whose history? The struggle for National Standards in American classrooms. Teachers College, Columbia University. New York.