Description
Directions: Please select one book from the list you will find in the Book List. These books were selected to provide a variety of perspectives about the relationship between schools and society as a whole and some opportunities to explore topics of interest in more depth. Most are recent; A few are classic. I would expect that you could get most of these books from any good library. Used or e book editions of most are available inexpensively (many under $10) from Amazon.com and other on-line sellers. You can find more information about each book very easily by visiting Amazon and reading a detailed synopsis and review
After you read the book, write a 1000-1500 word review, emphasizing how the major themes and issues discussed in it connect to our discussion about schooling and society in this course.
A few ideas to get you started (don’t use this list of questions as an outline — they do not apply to every book and would not provide a logical framework for an essay):
Why were you interested in the book and did it answer most of your questions about the major theme, or change your perspective about it?
Did the author or authors conduct research and how did they do it?
If the book focuses on the history of education, how does it compare to the book we read about the history of schools?
If racial or gender inequality is a major theme, what did your book add to what we have already read about that theme?
If the book focuses on a specific issue or problem like violence in schools, how does the author connect the issue to problems in society as a whole, and what does he or she think we should do about it?
If the book provides a broad overview of education reform or the role of schooling in society (i.e. the books on the list by Mike Rose, Wendy Kopp. E.D. Hirsch and several others) how does the author’s perspective compare to The Flat World and Education?
What does this book teach us about schools and society? Consider the roles of policy makers, educators, citizens and parents; diversity and equality; educational reform; the impact of social problems on education; policy issues; the history of American education; global perspectives and whatever seems most important to you.
Does the author identify problems or suggest that we reform the educational system or change the way that we think about it? What does the author base his/her conclusions on?
A good review includes a brief summary of key themes and information, but that should be more than 40% of what you write. Your analysis of the books strengths, limitations and contributions to our understanding of schooling and society should be a major part of your review. Include specific details, cases and examples that you think are especially important and interesting and cite them. I would like to see approximately 5 citations from different parts of your book. Try to include and cite some concepts and ideas discussed in the other material you read and viewed for this course (but do not use course lectures). The author of your book might provide information that gives you a deeper understanding of things you read for the course, or he or she may challenge their validity. I will be looking for approximately 3-5 citations from prior course readings, depending on the theme of your book and you can use more than one reference from the same textbook. This assignment will be worth 15 percent of your grade in total, including 1.5 percent for sharing ideas with your classmates in Discussion 3.
***************BOOK LIST***************
American Association of University Women ( AAUW). How Schools Shortchange Girls: The AAUW Report : A Study of Major Findings on Girls and Education (1995)
Conclusions of a ground breaking study. Includes first person accounts as well as research data.
Au, Wayne and Melissa Bollow Tempel. Pencils Down: Rethinking High Stakes Testing and Accountability in Public Schools 2013 An anthology of articles critical of high stakes standardized testing and its impact on schools and students. It includes ideas about better ways to assess learning too. Available as a paperback and a pdf ( around $20 from Rethinking Schools magazine)
Brick, Michael. Saving the School: One Woman’s Fight for the Kids that Education Reform Left Behind 2013 People who work in schools that are struggling with school reform may relate to this in depth account of a principal , teachers and community working to revitalize a struggling high school in Austin, Texas despite inflexible state standards and the threat that the school could be closed. Available as an inexpensive paperback.
Brock, Rochelle and Goodman, Gary School Sucks : Arguments for Alternative Education (2013) An anthology of articles about alternative approaches to education, with an emphasis on urban education. Part of an Educational Psychology series.
Burkholder. Zoe. Color in the Classroom: How American Schools Taught Race (1900-1954) An anthropologist’s analysis of this aspect of the history of education in the first half of the 20th century as the concept of race shifted from nationality to color and then to culture and educators transitioned from the “melting pot idea” to promoting intercultural understanding.
Chen, Milton. Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in our Schools.
Describes innovations in education, especially those involving technology. The author is the Executive Director of the Lucas Foundation and a former Sesame Street producer.
Darling-Hammond, Linda The Flat World and Education ( 2010) Preparing American students to compete in the global economy by taking a look at the most promising innovations in the US and around the world.
Delpit, Lisa. Multiplication is for White People The title is from a statement made by an 8 year old African American boy whose experiences in school have discouraged him from learning. The author , a veteran educator is concerned about inequality within the educational system and our failure to engage and motivate students. Highly recommended.
Dewey, John. The School and Society
A brief, classic and complex work about the relationship between schools and society and how educators should design curriculum to appeal to children’s interests and desire to learn. Dewey believed that schools not only prepare children for life as members of society, but the time that children spend in schools is a major component of their lives.
Driver, Justin The School House Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court and the Battle for the American Mind (2018)
Emden, Christopher For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood… and the Rest of Y’all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education 2016 Based on the authors experience ” as a young man of color feeling undervalued and ignored in school,teaching and research about urban education. .
Fisher, Emily S. and Kennedy “Responsive School Practices to Support Lesbian. Gay, Transgendered and Questionning Students and Families ( 2012) A research based guide, written by two educational psychologists. It provides resources for school counsellors and others to help to provide a safe environment within schools. Recommended for people who have a strong interest in this issue and those who work or plan to work in schools. A reasonably priced e book that you could read on-line is available from Amazon.
Huntington, Gertrude Enders , Amish Children: Education in the Family, School and Community ( Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology 1991 A scholarly look at Amish schools and education a generation ago. Available as an inexpensive e book through Amazon.
Foote, Donna. Relentless Pursuit: A Year in the Trenches with Teach for America. (2008) The author spent a year at a troubled inner city school in Los Angeles observing and chronicling the experiences of four young Teach for America teachers during their first year at the school as they develop their skills and learn about their students lives.
Galuski, Tracy and Bardsley, Mary Ellen Open Ended Art for Young Chidren 2018 Written by an ESC faculty member. Included because it might interest people who involved in early childhood education. If you read and review it, think about how it connects to what we have read and discussed about different perspectives on education, especially how and whether schools can and should prioritize creativity. exploration and development.and focus on that in your review .
Goleman, Daniel. Eco Literate: How Educators are Cultivating, Emotional, Social and Ecological Intelligence. The author, who popularized the idea of emotional intelligence feels that ecological intelligence, respecting and understanding the environment and the consequences of human activity on the ecosystems that we depend on is a vital component of 21st Century education. The book prevents successful examples in the K-12 and college classroom and in the community. Recommended for readers with a strong interest in environmental issues and/or environmental education.
Harris, Angel. Kids Don’t Want to