EDU 2334 - Education, Culture, and Society

Credits: 3 hrs.

This course is designed to allow education and non-education majors to acquire a basic understanding of the history, purposes, organization, and administration of schools, to examine various influences of society on schools and vice versa, and to explore and evaluate information to increase their understanding of significant issues and controversies in American education. The course available to all majors. It gives students early exposure to schooling society and addresses contemporary issues that will help students understand their own eductaional experiences. This coursse is designed for students at the sophomore level. It provides an interdisciplinary perspective that focuses on the following issues: the purpose of education, who benefits from education, societal conditions that impact student learning, the organization of schooling, the purposes of assessment, and contemporary issues in education. The course is designed to provide students with a clear understanding of the issues and controversies confronting American education today. The course will examine such questions as the following: (a) What is the role of schools relative to social justice and equity, (b) How do facotrs of race, class, gender, abilities, etc., affect the educational experiences of students both within and across schools? (c) What is the ultimate purpose of education, and how can society best achieve this purpose?

The course will introduce education as influenced by multiple facotrs, including self, child, family, community and society. Students will expand their view of society and the civic role they can play as citizens. This course will assist students in reflecting on how they themselves learn and help bring personal coherence to their understanding of educational theories and practices. As students are engaged in the community outside the university, they will develop a broader picture of where schools fit into the complex social and political system.
Note(s): General Education Course that Satisfies SLO: Information Literacy; AK: Social/Behavorial Science; CuT: Diversity.
Pre-requisite(s): Sophomore status.