tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post116534622341542892..comments2024-01-04T05:57:26.735-06:00Comments on Education Policy Blog: Hosted by the Forum on the Future of Public Education: No More Foundations Courses in Virginia?Craig A. Cunninghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18160288758906798678noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165953987712165962006-12-12T14:06:00.000-06:002006-12-12T14:06:00.000-06:00I agree with Kathleen that democracy is still a co...I agree with Kathleen that democracy is still a compelling ideal for most students in America, and can be used as a kind of framework for discussing social and cultural foundations. My students really "get" the differences between "education for capitalism" and "education for democracy." What's troubling to me, though, is that they do not seem to have any hope that democracy will prevail, and they seem resigned to being teachers for capitalism while trying to do democratic education (or education for democracy) on the sly.Craig A. Cunninghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18160288758906798678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165889556141782582006-12-11T20:12:00.000-06:002006-12-11T20:12:00.000-06:00So Kathleen, walk across the hall and tell Dennis ...So Kathleen, walk across the hall and tell Dennis (Carlson, that is, President-elect of AESA) to log onto this site and decide whether we can have an all-AESA discussion about this at the next AESA business meeting. Or heck, I'll just email the AESA executive council. Or am I just making a mountain out of a molehill?<BR/><BR/>p.s., and even more important, tell him to vote for us. Quickly. And often.Dan W. Butinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08543447769350980289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165875068173653832006-12-11T16:11:00.000-06:002006-12-11T16:11:00.000-06:00I deeply appreciate this discussion. I am probabl...I deeply appreciate this discussion. I am probably most sympathetic to Aaron's take that what we do in foundations likely makes little sense to those who can only think of education in technocratic ways, though we should not underestimate the political backlash against schools of education and their "liberal agenda" among the political right.<BR/><BR/>Here in Ohio, Foundations has suffered a different, and less overt kind of attack. In order to help students at two-year colleges matriculate into 4-year universities, the state has mandated that all state universities create an "Intro to Education" course (or designate it's equivalent among its current offerings.) This is a course whose objectives and content matter have been pretty much dictated. The six "prescribed themes" for this course are 1) standards-based education 2) Professionalization, 3) Diversity, 4) Democratic Issues/social justice, 5) Curriculum and Instruction 6) Legal and Organizational issues. <BR/><BR/>What's interesting is that in a sense the state has mandated that foundations be part of this "intro to education" course, but in a way that meshes the content with standards and professionalization and all the rest. It constrains those at state Universities who are offering a Foundations class because it dictates that you cover all these areas (the state is reviewing syllabi from all the universities and are seemingly towing the line on full coverage of all six areas, if our example was any indication).<BR/><BR/>In my department (which is foundations-friendly), we found a way to designate another one of our courses as the mandated "intro to Ed" class, so we have escaped this round. But I'd like to add one more thing here related to making foundations "speak" to students -- related to Dan's points about what our value is as a field to undergraduates. One of the things Dan mentions in this regard is the link between foundations and democracy. We've recently re-vamped our undergraduate 200-level foundations syllabus to be much more tightly focused on the question, "what does it mean to educate for democracy?" Most undergraduate teacher candidates have thought very little about the questions of democracy and what they mean, and I think that's one of the real contributions our field makes -- it has sustained an inquiry around this question for a century and more in the United States and longer if you think globally. And our students, while they may not get the democracy connection at first, seem convinced that this question of "democracy" is worth engaging....no matter what their political/ideological bent.Kathleen Knight-Abowitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13675307829340902045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165696746174082502006-12-09T14:39:00.000-06:002006-12-09T14:39:00.000-06:00That's an interesting way to state the case, Aaron...That's an interesting way to state the case, Aaron, about knowing 'empirically' which view is 'right.' I have heard from students for nearly two decades that the social foundations course was where they learned to plant their feet deep in the riverbed of their own lives as currents rose and fell about them, sometimes fast and assaulting (like NCLB and bullying policies) and sometimes hauntingly absent (low wages and poor resources). How can we collect the evidence better? How do we shape these politics into what Berry would call an ecozoic rather than a technozoic future?Mary Ann Doylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17561774385313551066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165692944769067022006-12-09T13:35:00.000-06:002006-12-09T13:35:00.000-06:00I wish I could agree with Craig that people don't ...I wish I could agree with Craig that people don't want us because they are uncomfortable with our potential to promote resistance. But I doubt that is usually the case. In a technocratic system, I think it is more likely that critical thought and historical/sociological knowledge just doesn't "make sense" to most of these people. Maybe foundations seems like like empty calories to them, the aspartame of the teacher ed curriculum. However, I don't know empirically which is right. Or what the balance is between discomfort (fear?) and efforts simply to clean out useless furniture that is taking up space that would (to them) be better used by a course on standardized assesement or yet another course on methods for doing something useful.Aaron Schutzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10667097977144954236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165688956417553742006-12-09T12:29:00.000-06:002006-12-09T12:29:00.000-06:00There is a similar sentiment circulating in the st...There is a similar sentiment circulating in the state teacher education department in Connecticut. It hasn't come to pass, as many of the state's deans of colleges of education reacted strongly against the suggestion that foundations be dropped.<BR/><BR/>However, I suspect that it will continue to be pressed as a way to accomodate more courses that are going to be needed to meet a lawsuit mandating inclusive education in teacher preparation.<BR/><BR/>I'll keep you posted, but for now we still have foundations courses on the books in Connecticut. I was impressed with the vehement response from the deans in the state who think that foundations courses are essential to a quality preparation program. <BR/><BR/>Regards, Wendy Kohli<BR/>Fairfield University<BR/>p.s. at Fairfield, we have the luxury of the Jesuit imprimatur, so that there is a required philosophical foundations course and a required social foundations course. That's one reason I chose Fairfield!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165688734736655212006-12-09T12:25:00.000-06:002006-12-09T12:25:00.000-06:00I am not sure that Foundations are being undermine...I am not sure that Foundations are being undermined because "others" don't perceive their latent value (or effect). Rather, my guess is that "others" know that the latent effect is *opposition* to the "technocratic" and alienating tendencies of contemporary educational policy. Foundations courses, when effective, provide a kind of simmering resistance to ALL of the trends of such policy, making teachers harder and harder to "train" into their mindless roles in such a system. If social foundations courses had a neutral effect with regard to such policies, there wouldn't be as much opposition to them. Thus it isn't the latency that works against foundations; it's the direction of said latency. So we might call it a "democratizing latency," or a "humanizing latency." Or, better, "latent humanism"?Craig A. Cunninghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18160288758906798678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165686538257379102006-12-09T11:48:00.000-06:002006-12-09T11:48:00.000-06:00Alan, thank you for your comments, as someone heav...Alan, thank you for your comments, as someone heavily involved in these issues over the years. Why did CSFE drop its formal membership in NCATE? We need our voice at the table, and with TEAC too.A. G. Rudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065737458510256119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165686187653493852006-12-09T11:43:00.000-06:002006-12-09T11:43:00.000-06:00What is happening in Virginia is just one more sta...What is happening in Virginia is just one more state-level example of the attacks and restrictions on various aspects of teacher education, most particularly the social foundations of education, that date back to the passage of the Ryan Act in California in 1970. The Ryan Act restricted all study in education, other than student teaching, to nine units. While this was an attack on all aspects of professional educational study, the result was a major reduction in study in the foundations of education. In the four decades since, many colleges and universities in California have found ways to maintain some foundational study, both because of a professional commitment in that direction and because of national accreditation standards (NCATE) that require foundational study. If the new legislation in Virginia simply drops a requirement for foundations, but does not limit or prohibit such study, then the onus will fall on the colleges and universities to maintain what we know to be an important part of teacher education. As Dan Butin notes, we can't expect much help from other segments of the education community, since the "latent" value of foundations (Dan's term, which I like) is not that apparent to others. All of this, of course, is part of the reason that I have been a strong advocate for the past several decades for the involvement of foundations organizations and individual scholars in NCATE, because the NCATE standards that call for foundational study serve as a safety net against individual state actions such as that now afoot in Virginia. Hopefully NCATE will maintain those foundational standards even though the Council for the Social Foundations of Education has dropped its formal membership in NCATE.<BR/>--Alan H. Jones, Caddo Gap Press,<BR/>caddogap@aol.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165627217857275052006-12-08T19:20:00.000-06:002006-12-08T19:20:00.000-06:00As a teacher of a social foundations course at a u...As a teacher of a social foundations course at a university in Florida,I am troubled to hear that the state of Virginia would even consider doing away with social foundation courses. Social foundation courses expose students to a wide range of issues that they would otherwise not be privy to in other classes they are required to take. In an era when young teachers are entering the workforce dominated by the accountability movement and shaped by sweeping demographic changes, it become ever more critical that pre-service teachers understand and conceptualize not only the the types of students they will teach but also the environmentthey will teach in.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165602262265940892006-12-08T12:24:00.000-06:002006-12-08T12:24:00.000-06:00I am going to revise my syllabi over break to incl...I am going to revise my syllabi over break to include the CSFE standards and link those to specific readings, assignments, projects in order to give myself some support for the types of thinking and writing experiences planned for graduate students in curriculum and instruction in the spring. Yes, the organization needs to step up its up-front presence in the face of louder and more demanding official educational agencies. Dan's idea for the online database of an online database of teaching resources for new scholars and graduate students (syllabi, review of textbooks, experiential activities, etc.)is on target.Kathryn M. Bensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09144622337472566242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165600210461463202006-12-08T11:50:00.000-06:002006-12-08T11:50:00.000-06:00Almost as striking as the removal of Foundations i...Almost as striking as the removal of Foundations is what is being added in its place, as noted in the May 2005 Motion you listed: <BR/>"Add 3 semester hours in Instructional Design Based on Assessment Data and 3 semester hours in Classroom Management).”<BR/><BR/>This combination speaks volumes about the current climate of high stakes testing. I do see the value of using assessment to revise instruction and the importance of creating safe, productive classroom environments. However, if students do not have a broader foundational perspective to engage critically in these 2 courses (e.g., "does student performance on my assessments vary by ethnicity, class, or gender?" or "what do we mean by 'managing students'?"), then the enterprise of education will grow only more technocratic and alienating.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165585577324945802006-12-08T07:46:00.000-06:002006-12-08T07:46:00.000-06:00Sherman, That’s a great idea. I have been arguing ...Sherman, <BR/><BR/>That’s a great idea. I have been arguing for several years now that CSFE needs to be the driving force behind securing foundations nationally and state-by-state. Steve and I brainstormed an idea of a kind of rapid-response toolkit for social foundations departments who are under pressure or who need to prove their worth in front of NCATE or other accrediting agencies. I have always wanted to see CSFE develop an online database of teaching resources for new scholars and graduate students (syllabi, review of textbooks, experiential activities, etc.). And raise the national profile of the foundations field. Steve likes to talk about how AESA was a direct outgrowth of Maxine Greene and several other scholars’ concern over the marginalization of foundations in the 1970s. A grading schema, which has become extremely popular with think tanks, is great. I think we need a new compact and vision. Sigh…Dan W. Butinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08543447769350980289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165500764578372082006-12-07T08:12:00.000-06:002006-12-07T08:12:00.000-06:00I like Sherman's idea and think that his contact w...I like Sherman's idea and think that his contact with Steve Tozer will open up a discussion of perhaps doing this. It would certainly get attention.A. G. Rudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065737458510256119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165494172406791112006-12-07T06:22:00.000-06:002006-12-07T06:22:00.000-06:00AESA is one member of the Council for Social Found...AESA is one member of the <A HREF="http://www.uic.edu/educ/csfe/index.htm" REL="nofollow">Council for Social Foundations of Education</A>. In the past few years, I know that Joe Watras has been concerned with NCATE's dropping CSFE from the Board of Visitors, but I wonder if CSFE might be more effective by taking a definitely non-humanities approach by "grading" the accrediting groups, states, alternative certification programs, and major institutions for how well they incorporate social foundations into educator preparation (including school counselor, school psychologist, and administration programs as well as teacher education). Because CSFE has <A HREF="http://www.uic.edu/educ/csfe/standard.htm" REL="nofollow">written standards</A>, it wouldn't be making things up out of whole cloth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165376200063436592006-12-05T21:36:00.000-06:002006-12-05T21:36:00.000-06:00Thanks Mary for your support. As an outsider to wh...Thanks Mary for your support. As an outsider to what is happening in Virginia, it is hard for me to guess as to the outcome. But I dare say it is probably sympotmatic of what is happening in many other places as well.Dan W. Butinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08543447769350980289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1165366928024061212006-12-05T19:02:00.000-06:002006-12-05T19:02:00.000-06:00The very essence of the name Foundations of Educat...The very essence of the name Foundations of Education speaks volumes. If the Virginia BOE removes the Foundations requirement what will future teachers build upon? It is absolutely true that early in a teacher's career the overwhelming issue is just getting through the lesson plans, grading, and paperwork. It is only after the first five or six years has passed that teachers can objectively assess exactly what they do and why they do it. It is at this juncture that the Foundations of Education coursework comes into play. Foundations creates the perspective for educational decisions. Laws like NCLB can be taken with the proverbial grain of salt. Educational programs swing back and forth like a pendulum throughout time. The Foundations Program provides an avenue of understanding and comprehension that helps educators cope with the bureaucracy. We can "see" what certain mandates can and cannot accomplish and are able to continue educating children based upon sound research as we've learned from the Foundations Program. We cannot lose this valuable tool for new teachers. They would be unduly handicapped and unable to cope in the face of insurmountable legislation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com