Fall 2024 - EDUC 823 G033

Curriculum and Instruction in an Individual Teaching Speciality (5)

Class Number: 5551

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Location: TBA

  • Instructor:

    Kelly Robinson
    kellyr@sfu.ca
    Office Hours: by arrangement
  • Instructor:

    Sessional

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An intensive examination of developments in a curriculum area selected by the student. In addition the course will deal with major philosophical and historical factors that influence the present state and future directions of curriculum and instruction.

COURSE DETAILS:

To foster an understanding of how Imaginative Education (IE) and place-making can inform their practice, this course explores philosophical, historical, and developmental influences on curriculum and instruction. Selected readings aim to highlight the persistent conflicts that underlie claims about the purpose of education and thus, the most appropriate forms of education. Students will be encouraged to investigate these different perspectives and the educational issues they provoke in relation to their own educational practice or teaching specialty and with reference to the BC curriculum. The course then focuses on IE. Students will consider how the theory of IE relates to the other perspectives they have been discussing as well as what makes it distinct. Students will explore theoretical and practical implications of IE and place-making for curriculum theory in general and in relation to their teaching areas/the BC curriculum specifically.

Meeting Dates:
September 6/7; 20/21
October 4/5; 25/26 (note two weekends in between classes)
November 8/9; 22/23

 

Meeting Times:
Fridays 4:30-9:00 pm
Saturdays 8:30-4:00 pm

Additional Details:
We will endeavour to foster a “knowledge-building community” (Scardamalia, 2002), by demonstrating respect for and of learning time, ideas and concepts, and each other. We will continue to aim for written and oral contributions which consistently demonstrate the following three principles:

  1. Learning is always a process; all ideas are “improvable”. Learning involves continuously working to improve the quality, coherence, and utility of ideas. Reflection and revision are part of learning.
  2. Epistemological diversity is required for a healthy learning ecosystem. Understanding one idea means understanding all of the ideas that relate to it, including opposing ideas. Depth of knowledge comes from understanding how one’s ideas are situated within a larger epistemological context. Members of a knowledge-building community have agency; they continually seek to understand the relationships between their own ideas and those of others. As agents, they acknowledge that points of epistemological harmony and discordance are opportunities for growth and change.
  3. Collaborative knowledge creation is as important as individual knowledge formation. Members of a knowledge-building community are actively involved in working with others, building on others’ ideas, disseminating ideas, and revealing interrelationships in knowledge and understanding.

 

From: Scardamalia, M. (2002) Collective cognitive responsibility for the advancement of knowledge. In B. Smith (Ed.), Liberal education in a knowledge society (pp.67-98). Chicago: Open Court.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Our course has three central objectives: to invite knowledge of important philosophical, historical, and developmental influences on curriculum and instruction; to invite detailed knowledge of Imaginative Education (IE) in theory and in practice; and, to invite knowledge of place-making, the active engagement with the natural and cultural contexts in which we teach and learn.

Grading

  • Group & class work 25%
  • Analytical/praxis writing 25%
  • My place exploration 25%
  • Practical application - IELD project 25%

NOTES:

Group and class work (25%): 

Participate in ongoing activities that relate to assigned readings and course concepts, including two small group assignments:

  1. article analysis & (re)presentation;
  2. seminar on Kinds of Understanding.


Analytical/praxis writing (25%): 

Prepare a short academic paper which offers insight(s) into the presuppositions, assumptions, and values of an educational idea(s), concept(s), or paradigm(s) of an assigned reading (readings to be shared in class), including a discussion of how and why the author’s scholarship informs, relates, and/or reflects your own praxis (or, how/why it does not).

My place exploration (25%):

Apply the principles of Imaginative Ecological Education through an exploration of place using Imaginative Ecological Education (IEE) principles.

Practical application—Imaginative Education Learning Design (IELD) project (25%):  

Apply the principles and practices of IE/IEE to some aspect of the BC curriculum that you teach through a detailed and researched proposal of how you will employ cognitive tools in your practice. 

*learning activities subject to change to meet the emergent needs of the cohort

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Egan, K. (1997). The educated mind: How cognitive tools shape our understanding. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.


ISBN: 0-226-19039-0

Egan, K., & Gillian, J. (2015). Imagination and the engaged learner: Cognitive tools for the classroom. Teachers College Press.

(text is available on-line via SFU Library; select chapters—tba)


ISBN: 978-0-8077-5712-3

**A list of additional readings will be provided


RECOMMENDED READING:

Judson, G. (2015). Engaging imagination in ecological education: practical strategies for teaching. Pacific Educational Press.
ISBN: 978-1926966755 (pbk)

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Graduate Studies Notes:

Important dates and deadlines for graduate students are found here: http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/current/important_dates/guidelines.html. The deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund is the end of week 2. The deadline to drop with no notation on your transcript is the end of week 3.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.