By the very nature of the subject-matter, this can only be a survey course of what is an enormous field.

So, rather than attempt to cover the entire field, the course aims to give you an opportunity to examine and explore a sample of questions and issues in relative depth. That sample, though small, has been selected with an eye to its representative quality.

Through weekly discussions and activities (online and in class), assignments, and readings, you will examine questions relating to the concept or idea of education; learning and the learner; teaching and the teacher; disciplines and discourses of education; and the broader contexts of education in the global village and the postmodern world.

As you attend to fulfilling the goals of the course, you are encouraged to personalize your learning by bringing your life and experiences to it, and you are given every opportunity to pursue, in consultation with your instructor/s, questions and issues of your own choosing. In this way, the course functions not only as a forum for its own agenda but also as a catalyst for your interests as these relate to the goals of the course.

(Some) Course Objectives

• Identify and explore personal and “professional” questions and issues in education
  
• Experiment with different “lenses” (perspectives, heuristics) with which to view educational questions and issues (e.g., philosophical, critical, historical, cross-cultural, research, personal, reflective)
  
• Consider and explore ideas about teaching as a vocation, an art form, and for some, an inevitability.
  
• Consider and explore ideas about learning – your own and others – as an individual/deeply personal and social process.
  
• Become better prepared (through various activities, readings, and writings) to survive and thrive in University.

• To experience a range of instructional strategies and learning experiences. Instructional strategies include: lecture, panel-discussion and workshop; discussion and debate; story; case study, and simulation game. Learning experiences include: reading and response; discussion, problem-solving, and oral presentation; library research and field-work; focused practice of one or more skills, with peer review and feedback; and a range of writing responses including: learning log, personal essay, critical review, and academic paper.