MIAMI-DADE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

Introduction To Education (EDF 1005)

HOURS CREDIT: Three (3)

INSTRUCTOR: Professor Joseph D. McNair

OFFICE ROOM: 2256-5 Wolfson Hall

OFFICE TELEPHONE: 237-1726

OFFICE HOURS:

My office is in room 2256-5 on the second floor of the Learning Resources Building. My office hours will be posted on my door. Alternative times can be arranged.

TEXTBOOK(s): THOSE WHO CAN TEACH

Kevin Ryan and James M. Cooper

PERSONALTRANSFORMATIONS

The Process of Multicultural Awareness/Consciousness

By Joseph D. McNair

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

EDF 1005 INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATION

Thiscourse covers the philosophical, theoretical, sociological, historical, and legal foundations of public education in the United States of America. Special emphasis is placed on the philosophical, theoretical, and historical foundations as well as the tasks and issues of education, their bases and implications. This course meets teacher certification requirements in the area of sociological foundations of education.

INSTRUCTOR BIOGRAPHY:

Joseph D. McNair is a native of Augusta, Georgia. In a career spanning twenty-seven years, he has taught and/or administered at every level of public education in the United States and in Nigeria. At an earlier stage in his career, Professor McNair held California-based positions of Director of Early Childhood Education, middle school Assistant Principal, elementary/middle school Principal, and district level Manager of Programs and Personnel. Inthe1980's, Professor McNair enacted a mid-career shift to the professorate and obtained a multi-year appointment as Assistant Professor of Education at Ahmadu Bello University in Northern Nigeria, the largest university in Black Africa. Since returning to the United States in 1990, he has continued to work in the postsecondary education sector, holding joint appointments at Florida International University as Adjunct Professor in the College of Education and Director of the James L. and John S. Knight Excellence in Education Project: For Our Children in Urban Settings (F.O.C.U.S.) Professional Development Component. However, his principal appointment from1991 to the present has been that of Associate Professor of Education at Miami-Dade Community College, North Campus, in Miami, Florida. Professor McNair's academic background includes an undergraduate degree in Political Science (Gonzaga University) anda masters degree in Educational Administration (Antioch College), andadditional doctoral level course work taken at the University of San Francisco and Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria. His academic and experience-based expertise has been highly sought by and generously shared with educators in domestic and international settings. In Nigeria, Professor McNair worked closely with a team of consultants assisting the Nigerian Government with its transition to a 6-3-3-4 education system design. In South Florida, he has been the architect of multi-institutional collaborations for the improvement of public education, working in partnership with nine Dade County public schools as well as volunteer and advocacy social service agencies. Professor McNair's service to the educational community has included conducting numerous workshops throughout the state of Florida on issues of diversity, the development of multicultural awareness and consciousness, and the establishment of Professional Development School (PDS) partnerships. Through these varied contributions, he has established a reputation of being an important community resource and a leading advocate for multicultural/antibias/social justice education and increased retention of underrepresented groups in higher education. He has been successful in providing quality training of preservice interns in developmentally appropriate practices, multicultural/atibias/social justice and "understanding" pedagogies. Professor McNair has spent his entire teaching career motivating countless numbers of students to maximize their potential for achievement. He was awarded the 1995 JM (Jim Moran) Family African American Achievement Award in Education and the 1997 Mitchell Wolfson Endowed Teaching Chair for excellence in teaching. He was in addition a 1998 nominee for the The Green Family Foundation’s American Family Values Award and a recipient of the 2000-2001 innovation of the Year Award from the league of Innovation in the Community college

RATIONALE FOR EDF 1005:

There is a great deal being said about what education should or should not be, what a school should or should not do, what a good teacher is or is not. Much of the controversy surrounding education may be said to stem in part from ambiguous, irrelevant or clashing educational values, deficits in the education and training of teachers, ineffective and inefficient administrative practices, poor financial compensation, teacher "burnout" and the pre-eminence of societal problems in the school environment.

It is not enough for the prospective teacher to recognize that controversy exists .If solutions to the manifold problems of education are to be found, it is imperative that the prospective teacher is exposed to the issues that form the bases of the many controversies. And if these controversies are to be resolved, the prospective teacher must understand that this can be done by first taking into consideration the philosophical, sociological, historical and theoretical contexts from which they spring, and secondly, by developing the requisite skills e.g. inquiry and critical thinking skills, to understand them.

To effectively examine the issues of education, it is necessary to consider the nature of man and reality, knowledge and education, the relationship between education, economics, politics and social stratification, and the relationship between education and social change/social dysfunction. Students taking EDF 1005 will be exposed to a wide variety of viewpoints germane to the foregoing. They will recognize that no one single answer can be offered as a solution to educational problems.

THE COURSE WILL COVER:

1. Philosophical bases of education will be explored through exposure to general philosophy, traditional and contemporary philosophical concepts and terminology.

2. Theoretical bases of education will be explored through exposure to classical educational theories, including learning theory, and their leading exponents.

3. Historical bases of education will be explored through an examination of antecedents in western and American education.

4. Teleological bases of education explored through an examination of the purpose(s) of education, major goals and objectives, functions and tasks, innovations and evaluation.

5. School and society covering the areas of culture, diversity, man and the school, the school and social problems, national efforts directed at educational needs.

6. Control, organization and support of American education covering law, organization, administration and financing of education.

7. Professional aspects of teaching including teacher supply and demand, salaries, legal responsibilities, teacher organizations, research and teacher competencies.

OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE:

1.To help prospective and regular professional teachers establish and/or clarify the philosophical positions and values underlying their teaching behaviors/performances.

2. To introduce inquiry skills, critical thinking skills and the scientific method.

3. To introduce/or review basic concepts of learning theory and cognitive development.

4. To introduce and/or review multicultural concepts and/or issues of diversity in education.

5. To introduce and/or review the politics, economics, sociology, and legalistic aspects of public education.

6. To survey the history of public education in America.

BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVES (Cognitive)

1. The student will be able to describe some current research and demonstrate a familiarity with classical educational theory.

2.The student will be able to express verbally and in writing personal philosophical positions/values as they regard various educational issues.

3. The student will be able to express verbally and in writing the basic concepts of cognitive development, learning theory and multicultural/antibias/social justice education which s/he has been exposed.

4. The student will begin to be able to identify significant problems in contemporary American education.

5.The student will demonstrate selected basic inquiry skills and recognize the need to continue inquiry in to all aspects of professional education.

BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVES (Attitudinal)

1. The student will read current educational literature I naddition to required readings in text book.

2. The student will contribute personal opinions/points of view concerning controversial educational issues.

3. The student will begin to develop and/or expand his/herown personal philosophy of education.

4. The student will demonstrate respect for the worth and dignity of fellow students.

ATTENDANCE:

Classroom attendance is required. Final grade will be adversely affected by poor attendance or a pattern of tardiness. Students who miss 25% of classes will fail the course. You must attend 85% of the classes to get an “A.” You must be in class on time. No one will be allowed in class 15 minutes late. If you plan to drop the course, please inform me and follow the official college policy in the Miami-Dade Community College catalog. If you stop attending class and fail to officially drop the course, you will receive a failing grade.

GRADING POLICY:

Students will earn letter grades (A,B,C,D,F,) for all work assigned. Your final grade will be determined by a weighted average of all assignments, tests and papers. All tests will be take home tests. Tests and assignments will either be objective, essay or a combination of the two. There will be a provision for make-up exams by arrangement with the instructor. Late assignments will be penalized by point reduction. It is important that the student understands that course requirements will not be fulfilled until all assignments are turned in. The instructor will accept any late assignment. The grading scale is as follows:

A = 92- 100%

B = 84- 91%

C = 74- 83%

D = 60- 73%

Tests: 30%of final grade

Therewill be at least seven (7), possibly nine (9) on-line tests or quizzes.

Assignments: 30%of final grade

There will be weekly take home assignments including dailyreflections throughout the course.

Portfolio: 20%of final grade

Thestudent will be required to keep a portfolio of his or class performances including tests, assignments, handouts, reflection papers, etc.as mutually agreed upon by the student and the instructor.

Options (Fall and Winter terms only): 20%of final grade

Students will be afforded the opportunity to earn the final 20% of in various ways:

1. While every student must volunteer fifteen (15) hours as a requirement for this course, participation in tutorial programs for 30 hours per term at designated elementary schools can satisfy this requirement and augment one’s performance by ten (10%) per cent of the final EDF 1005 grade.

2.Various special assignments can be used to offset poor performances on tests/assignments as approved by the instructor for up to ten (10%) percent of the grade. Students must understand, however, that an extra credit assignment is not a substitute for failure to complete and hand in a required assignment.