Northern Arizona University
College of Education

ECI 710 - CONTEXTS OF SCHOOLING
Fall Semester, 2003
Wednesday, 4:00 – 6:30, Rm 155
_______________________________________________________________________
Professor: Dr. Peggy A. Raines Office: EEC 207E - Hours: As posted Phone: 523-7124 Fax: 523-1929 E-mail: Peggy.Raines@nau.edu

Required Texts:
Fine, M. (1995). Habits of Mind: Struggling Over Values in America’s Classrooms. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass. (ISBN: 0787900613)

Lipman, P. (1998). Race, class, and power in school restructuring. New York: State University of New
York. (ISBN: 0791437701)

Lortie, D. C. (1975). School teacher: A sociological study. University of Chicago. (ISBN: 0226493547)=

Rosenholtz, S. J. (1989). Teachers’ workplace: The organizational context of schooling. New York:
Teachers’ College Press. (ISBN: 0807731498)

Wink, J. (2000). Critical pedagogy: Notes from the real world. New York: Longman. (ISBN: 0801332575)

All other readings are on electronic reserve. Go to library homepage and then to left hand column to "Course Resources". Click on this, then search for our list.

Course Description: This course provides an introduction to the multiple contexts that influence curricular and instructional decision-making that shape teaching, learning, and the environment of schools. The contexts that serve as the focus of the course include the socio-cultural, political, historical, organizational, and personal. The course will be organized into two contextual frameworks; the first will serve to help examine contexts of schooling that are external to school districts and the contexts in which schooling takes place and the second will deal with contexts that more immediately surround teaching and learning within schools.

Course Objectives:
1. To develop a broad-based understanding of the meaning of "contexts" in relationship to schooling
2. To examine the impact of socio-cultural and organizational contexts on educational practices and reforms
3. To examine competing interpretations of the same contexts
4. To explore the implications of contextual understanding for curriculum leadership
5. To hone research and writing skills

Course Expectations:
1. Attend all classes and complete all assignments on time, including being prepared to discuss assigned reading.
2. Be supportive/respectful of all colleagues in the class.
3. Be coachable and open to feedback for improvement
4. Be open to challenging assumptions and committed to creating value for oneself.
Note: Failure to fulfill expectations will jeopardize your grade.

Assignments:
1. You will write a literature review of relevant literature related to your research question.
a. You will carefully construct a research question (if you do not already have one), preferably one associated with a future dissertation topic. To assist you in selecting your topic, you will find it useful to browse through various journals related to your area of interest. This may help you limit your question to areas for which the library has resources. When formulating your question you should address the following criteria:
1) Your question should be stated as a question.
2) The question should suggest a relationship to be examined.
3) The question should imply the possibility of empirical testing. That is to say that it should be possible to make observations in the real world that would help to answer the question.
Your question should be submitted for approval at the beginning of the class on.
b. You will use the library to find refereed articles, books, or chapters (20- 50) on your topic.
c. You will write an annotated bibliography that points out the argument, strengths, weaknesses and implications of the research. An annotated bibliography is a standard bibliography with a paragraph added that describes the information presented in the article. Your annotations should address the following questions:
1. What type of reference is it, i.e. is the article reporting research or is it an opinion piece?
2. If it is an opinion piece, you should answer the following questions:
a. What are the credentials of the author? In other words, what expertise does the author possess that indicates that her/his opinion should be valued more highly than a person of average experience?
b. What is the gist of the author’s message?
3. If the reference reports on research, your annotation should answer the following questions:
a. What is the sample being studied, i.e. describe the people studied.
b. What was the research question for the article?
c. What are the dependent/independent variables?
d. What were the results of the study?
e. What did the author(s) conclude from the results?
4. How does this reference relate to your question?
d. You will write an outline and final draft of your literature review. Papers should be well written (publication level) and employ APA style.

2. Each person will conduct class discussions on assigned readings. People will sign up for topics during the first week. The number of facilitated class discussions per person will be based on the number of students in the class.

3. Each person will present with a group either Rosenholtz or Lortie's views on various contexts of teaching. This presentation will be professional, as if presenting at a conference. You should have handouts and visual aids. Each group will receive 45 minutes for their presentations.

Grading:
Students will be graded based on their attendance, participation in class, completion of readings, quality of literature review, and annotated bibliography. Attendance and participation (50%). Literature reviews and annotated bibliography (50%).

Overview of Assignments and Facilitators