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September 26, 2007
Readings for the next few days
Thursday, September 27th: "Teaching Themes of Care" & "A Tale of Two Schools" from the reader CD-ROM.
Tuesday, October 2nd: "Experience and Education"
Wow, October already!
Posted by Nakia at 11:39 AM
It's never too early to get started on your paper
Your big paper for the course is due November 13th. I suggest you get started soon, however, so here is the description of the assignment.
On your syllabus, it says if you want to turn in your thesis (for some participation grade points and to get feedback) it needs to be turned in by October 4th. That's next week! Since I am just now making the assignment available to you, you can ask me to look at the thesis anytime until October 11th..
Since I am pushing back the due date for the thesis, I'll push back the date for the outline until October 30th. This gives you an extra week and a half.
Remember you don't have to turn in a thesis or outline, but your paper will be better for it if you do.
Posted by Nakia at 11:32 AM
September 20, 2007
Resegregation in Alabama?
We've talked about school choice and we will discuss segregation and it's effect on educational inequality.
This article in the NY Times shows that these issues are front and center in Tuscaloosa.
Posted by Nakia at 12:56 PM
September 19, 2007
Philosophy powerpoint
Here is the philosophy of education powerpoint for Thursday
Posted by Nakia at 10:42 AM
September 18, 2007
Reading for Thursday, September 20th
We will be beginning the Philosophy of Education section of the course Thursday (my favorite!), which is found in chapter six of your textbook. We're going to start at the end of the chapter, then come back to the beginning, so there is only a short assignment for Thursday:
Pages 217-224
For next Tuesday, read the rest of the chapter:
196-217.
I'll have a powerpoint up soon.
Posted by Nakia at 09:06 AM
September 14, 2007
Idiocy Powerpoint
Note I had to remove the pictures to make the file small enough to upload.
Posted by Nakia at 01:26 PM
On essay questions
Thanks to everyone for turning in your sample essay questions. There is some good stuff there; it demonstrates you are thinking about the material. In this post I will discuss what makes a good essay question, what those questions require from students, and give some suggestions for how to answer essay questions.
1. Good essay questions:
Good essay questions are designed to test "higher order thinking skills". These skills go beyond memorization of material. They are the skills you use when you evaluate alternatives, state preferences and reasons for those preferences, and give examples of concepts.
Since good essay questions ask for more than just a restatement of material covered in class, these are NOT particularly good essay questions (all of these are taken from student cards):
-- List and describe the four goals of schooling.
-- List and describe the versions of school choice. What are the issues/problems with these versions?
-- What are the similarities and differences between the conservative and reconstructive purposes of education?
All of the above simply ask you to remember stuff we talked about in class. Multiple choice questions do that just fine.
These are examples of good essay questions:
-- Is teaching a profession? Why or why not?
-- Given the four purposes of schooling, which one do you see as taking precedence in schools today? What evidence is there for this emphasis? Do you agree with this emphasis? Why or why not?
-- Parker contrasts the concepts of "idiot" and "citizen". Do schools do a good job of producing citizens instead of idiots? How could schools change to better meet Parker's goals?
2. Good essay questions require the student to use what they have read and/or discussed in class as evidence to support a position. Notice how all of the above good questions do require you to remember some of what we have talked about in class. But you don't just spit it back out; you use it to construct an argument or position about the material. In that construction, you go above and beyond what was discussed in class, applying the material in a new way. The third question, for example, would require you to know what Parker means by "idiot" and "citizen". It also asks you to consider his ideas about how schools can produce citizens. From those things, which come straight from Parker, you construct your argument about whether or not schools do a good job of producing citizens and how they could improve to meet that goal.
3. The key in answering an essay question is the same as writing a good essay -- have a strong thesis that gives the essay direction, then use your knowledge to provide evidence that supports your thesis. Before you plunge into answering the essay, take a minute to make some notes in the margins that will help you write it. Go ahead and write out your thesis as well, even before you actually begin answering the essay question (although in an essay question it's generally fine to begin the answer with your thesis. With the question about Parker above, you would make some notes about what idiot and citizen mean for Parker, some notes about how Parker thinks schools can produce citizens, then some notes about how you think schools should change to better fit Parker's goals. You could then come up with a thesis like "Given Parker's definition of "idiot" and "citizen", current schools do not do a good job of promoting the deliberation required to be a citizen. Having smaller classes and fewer standardized tests would help schools to meet Parker's goals." Then, in the essay, you will briefly define those two key terms, discuss why deliberation is important for a citizen, talk about how schools don't promote deliberation, then present your two ways in which schools could change and how they would promote deliberation. It sounds like a lot, but you could do it in 15-20 sentences. Remember that your time is limited, so get to the point. Also remember that I know your time is limited, so I am not expecting tons of exposition. Figure out they key things you need to talk about to express your argument, then concentrate on those.
I hope this is helpful! Good luck studying.
Posted by Nakia at 11:58 AM
September 13, 2007
Tuesday's Exam
The format of next Tuesday's exam will be:
25 multiple choice questions @ two points each
Six "three sentence answer" questions that vary from five to eight points each
One essay worth 15 points
How would I study for the exam? Well, the exam tests both your knowledge of the content and concepts we've examined as well as your ability to compare, contrast, analyze, and evaluate them. To prepare for the content knowledge aspect, go over the powerpoints and the readings. The list of key terms and questions at the end of each chapter will be helpful as well. Then, building on that content knowledge, begin to see how the things we've discussed relate to each other. Ask yourself what the positive and negative aspects of some of the issues (the purposes of schooling, school choice, teacher's professional status) we've discussed are. Figure out where you stand on those things and then figure out how you can articulate and defend your position given what we've discussed. Studying in groups is particularly helpful, I think, because you're forced to restate what you've learned so your classmates can understand you. You also have to think about how these things that seem far apart are actually related, and you have to figure out how you relate to those things.
Good luck on the exam!
Posted by Nakia at 02:56 PM
September 11, 2007
RHSD volunteer form
Ms. Sanders has asked me to communicate to everyone that the Volunteer forms from Rock Hill School District be sent directly back to the district rather than returned to her. You can email it back using the email address provided at the bottom of the form.
Posted by Nakia at 08:39 AM
September 10, 2007
School Choice Powerpoint
Here's the Powerpoint for tomorrow's class:
Posted by Nakia at 01:00 PM
September 07, 2007
A couple of reasons NOT to go home this weekend
For all of you who are considering going home because there is nothing to do here on the weekends, there are TWO musical acts coming to Winthrop this weekend. Both sound pretty cool -- acts that I would check out if we didn't have to find a babysitter.
On Friday night, Mellogroove is playing in Dinkins. A current Winthrop student plays with four alumni in an R&B/soul band.
Saturday night, Tillman will feature Black Violin. I had never heard of these guys before, but classical music + hip hop sounds interesting enough to check out.
So stick around and check out one or both of these acts!
Posted by Nakia at 10:24 AM
September 06, 2007
Schooling vs. Education
It's easy to confuse the two, but one way to think about it is schooling is a subset of education. Education is an activity undertaken by a group to make sure the group survives past the lifetime of it's present members. Each group has it's own methods of educating. If you join a fraternity or sorority, for example, you are taught about the group's history, goals, traditions, etc so that after all the current members have graduated you can continue the life of the group. Some of this education takes place explicitly, while other aspects of it are more hidden.
You can think of "society" as being one big mega-group. It tries to educate its members in a variety of ways -- the family educates, the church educates, the media educates, and schools educate.
Schools are the explicit educational arm of society -- the social institution charged with educating the young so that society can continue. Those other members of society that educate do so as part of their other functions, but education is the explicit function of school.
The four goals of schooling apply, well, to schooling. Schools have an academic goal, a personal goal, etc. All of these are subsets of the larger educational goal of schooling. When we talk about the conservative and reconstructive goals of education, however, they can be seen as broadly applying to any social group that educates. They apply particularly well to schools because schools are the social institution that has education as its primary and explicit goal.
Posted by Nakia at 03:14 PM
Readings for next week
For Tuesday the 11th, make sure you have read pages 322-337 AND the article in your reader "Teaching Against Idiocy".
We'll cover all the school choice material and begin to discuss the article.
Posted by Nakia at 03:12 PM
September 05, 2007
Reading for September 6th
Tomorrow, we will still be talking about the purposes of schooling, so if you have read through page 321, you are good to go!
Posted by Nakia at 03:42 PM
September 04, 2007
Office Hours for Wednesday, September 5th
Again due to some child care issues, I won't be in the office tomorrow morning. I'll be in by 1:00 and there until 3:30. I'll be checking my email in the morning, however, if you need anything.
Posted by Nakia at 11:50 PM