Teaching
 

I will be teaching EDFN 749 in the summer and autumn (and, no doubt, spring 2008).
In 2001, members of our program area were asked to identify our core values. We each prepared a statement that, ultimately, was reduced to four platform statements (and these were later reduced to 6 terms for a set of college-wide core values). The following was my original statement. These random thoughts provide the foundation for my courses.

Meanderings on core values:

I define my professional role at the university with three basic concepts that engulf many educational beliefs and traits. One concept is the importance of community in education. I engage in building communities that permits discourse, the exchange of ideas, and an opportunity for a more thoughtful way of life. "Community building for social agency and action" is my ultimate goal and, this conception, does not call merely for the reflection of society but, instead, calls for schools to draw the best of society and for individuals to act for the good of the society. Secondly, I immerse myself in experience. I see the concept of experience not as a mere activity but as an opportunity to reflect upon actions. Thus, "reflection upon experience" becomes a key motif and a way of life for me. Finally, I engage in the "adventure of ideas." This involves inquiry, imagination, wide-awakeness, exploration, and open-ended curiosity. Such adventures, however, do not remain in the hypothetical. Ideas are knowledge only when applied. This explains my decision to devote my career to education, an applied social science. These three concepts–"Community building for social agency and action"; "reflection upon experience"; "adventure of ideas"–may lead to outcomes. I have faith that they lead to a love for learning and a compassion for others.
 

Visitors and prospective students may be interested in the current orientation of these courses. The following brief vignettes describe those classes I teach at USC and represent current instructional directions and assigned texts.

General Overview of Courses

 

EDFN 300; Schools in Communities

Bulletin description: "Social, political, and historical aspects of diverse educational institutions in American culture with an emphasis on families, schools, and communities."

This course is constantly changing according to current developments.

 

 

EDFN 592  Historical Foundations of American Educational Thought

last offered Spring 2002

Bulletin description: "A survey of the history, philosophy, administration, and legal bases of American education."

Course Description: EDFN 592 will survey those books that have been identified as education "books of the century," a listing of works that have influenced the course of American education. Students will have the opportunity to focus on certain publications and to engage in historical and biographical research pertaining to the educational context of the work and author. From this research, class discussion will address pressing educational issues of today.

 

COLA 704: Readings in Museum Management: Museums, Schools, and Education

Course Description: an examination of foundational issues in museum education with emphasis upon the school-community relationships

Course Objectives: Upon completion of COLA 704, students should be able to:

  • address fundamental issues in the foundations of education and the relation of school-to-society
  • identify fundamental issues in the field of museum education and aesthetic education;
  • demonstrate mastery of skills in programming museum education activities;

Required Reading:

  • Roberts, Lisa C. (1997). From Knowledge to Narrative: Educators and the Changing Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  • Falk, John H. & Lynn D. Dierking. (1992). The Museum Experience. Washington: Whalesback Books.
  • Greene, Maxine. (1995). Releasing the Imagination: Essays on Education, the Arts, and Social Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

EDRM 842: Educational Biography

Bulletin description: The examination of educational biography as a form of educational research and scholarship.

Course Description: Educational Biography presents a survey of seminal writings pertaining to the area of biography, educational biography, and educational narrative. The purpose of EDRM 842 is to provide doctoral candidates with knowledge and skills in biographical, non-empirical research and to portray biography–autobiographical narrative as a form of research and scholarship.

Course Objectives: 

Upon completion of EDRM 842, students will be able to:

  • identify fundamental characteristics of historical, non-empirical research and scholarship;
  • identify examples and methods of educational biography;
  • identify classic methodological issues and concerns of educational biography;
  • demonstrate certain archival techniques for the preparation of an educational biograph

Required Reading: 

  • Kridel, C. (Ed.) (1998). Writing Educational Biography. New York: Garland.
  • Oates, S.B. (Ed.) (1986). Biography as High Adventure. Amherst, MA: The University of Massachusetts Press.
  • Oates, S. B. (1982). Let the Trumpet Sound. New York: Mentor Books.

Optional Reading:

  • DeSalvo, L. (1996). Vertigo. New York: Dutton.
  • Williams, J. (1991). Style. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Barzun, J. & Graff, H.F. (1977). The Modern Researcher. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

 

 

Copyright 2000. Board of Trustees, the University of South Carolina.
The views expressed are strictly those of the page author. The contents have not been reviewed by the University of South Carolina.

Last modified Tuesday, August 20, 2002