Education 902-5
Doctoral Seminar in Contemporary Educational Theory
Monday, 11:00-3:50
Professor S. de Castell--EDB 8545-- 291-3627-- decaste@sfu.ca
What has become of educational theory, under present social and technological conditions? What canonical ideas, texts, discourses are currently circulating across and within educational fields, discipines, specializations? What new understandings of learning, knowledge, education and pedagogy have emerged in contemporary educational scholarship? This course offers a guided tour through some of the most influential recent texts in education pointing out epistemological, curricular and pedagogical implications of emerging post-foundational educational theories..
Of equal concern will be identifying and sharing currently central theoretical work in students' own disciplinary fields, and here educational theory will be deployed as enhancement, and as periphery, to students' own research areas. As background to work in students fields of specialization, we will read about and discuss illustrative work by Dewey, Skinner, Illich, Freire, Bourdieu, Lyotard, Foucault, Habermas, Wertsch, Lave/Wenger, and we will discuss postmodernist, poststructuralist, and feminist contributions to theoretical work in and on education.
Required Readings:
All students are asked to pre-read The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi) a novel by Herman Hesse, and to come to the first class prepared to participate in a discussion of it. (Any library or used bookstore)
Selected Readings:
Each student is responsible for presenting to the class one of the following books:
Readings Across Specializations:
Each student is to select (preferably in consultation with her/his supervsor) ONE text which exemplifies contenporary educational thoery in her/his own field of specialization, to be presented to the class.
Evaluation:
Students will not write essays for this course; rather, each student will prepare an online teaching portfolio: a course proposal, outline and week by week syllabus for teaching "Contemporary Educational Theory" for students in their own area of specialization. Students will specify level and intended audience for their version of the course, and must ensure that their detailed outline adequately represents their own sense of what matters most about the texts we have read, and how they propose that understanding is best imparted to their selected student group.(50%)
Seminar Presentation of one general educational theory text (from list supplied) (25%)
Seminar Presentation of contemporary educational theory text in student's own field of specialization (25%)
Syllabus:
January 8, 2007: Introduction and Overview The Glass Bead Game
January 15, 2007: "The day before yesterday" Skinner, Dewey, Illich
January 22, 2007: Emancipatory Pedagogy Freire
January 29, 2007: TBA
February 5, 2007: Class Cancelled---get portfolio started and ONLINE
February 12, 2007: Symbolic Violence Bourdieu
February 19, 2007: The Ignorant Schoolmaster Ranciere
February 26, 2007: Postmodern Education Lyotard
March 5, 2007: Institutional Violence Foucault
March 12, 2007: Communicative Reason Habermas
March 19, 2007: Dialogicality/Appropriation Wertsch
March 26, 2007: Learning as Participation Lave and Wenger
April 2 , 2007: myspace Presentations of work in progress
April 9, 2005 : Final Project Due
Completed Final Projects