Note: We’ll be using hypothes.is, a tool for collaboratively annotating our course readings. Information about how to use this easy tool can be found on the hypothes.is resources menu above.
Course Gradebook can be found here.
Those enrolled in this course will be invited to consider the tensions inherent in the deep American belief that individuals can reach unlimited potential through success in school. We will look at ways in which the American educational system has been created within American beliefs in equal opportunity based on merit, yet remains an institution that sorts individuals for unequal futures.
Course Goals:
Students enrolled in the class will:
- Locate themselves within sociological ideas of social class and stratification.
- Articulate ways in which their class location has shaped their access to quality schooling and has influenced the formation of their identity and aspirations.
- Become more familiar with the educational and life experiences of poor and working class children, lives that have been relatively hidden in educational and political discourse.
- Examine historical tensions between ideologies of equal educational opportunity and policies that obliged schools to sort children for unequal occupational futures.
- Explore particular school policies and practices that contribute to educational stratification.
Optional Service Learning Link:
Students registered for BEDUC 522 have the option of also registering for an additional two credits of BEDUC 452 Service Learning. Students enrolled in 452 will spend 30 hours in service to an agency, school, or organization in which individuals are seeking better lives through education. See the 452 syllabus for more information on this opportunity.
Texts:
Required:
All required reading (except where noted below) is on electronic reserve at this link. If you haven’t already done it, you’ll need to take a few minutes to set up your account on UW Google Apps. The help desk at UWB IT can help if you have any trouble with this. Then, you’ll need to log in to this site with Google Apps account to access reserve readings.
Readings listed for course meetings below are required. You should have completed the reading by the date it is listed on the syllabus.
Some readings on reserve are optional. See “First Person Representations” below for ways in which we will use these supplemental readings.
Education and the American Dream 