The College Catalogue

First-Year Seminars

For a full description of first-year seminars, see the First-Year Seminar section.

[20 {1020} c. The Educational Crusade.]

Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced Courses

101 {1101} c - ESD. Contemporary American Education. Fall 2012. Casey Meehan. Spring 2013. The Department.

Examines current educational issues in the United States and the role schools play in society. Topics include the purpose of schooling; school funding and governance; issues of race, class, and gender; school choice; and the reform movements of the 1990s. The role of schools and colleges in society’s pursuit of equality and excellence forms the backdrop of this study.

203 {2203} c - ESD. Educating All Students. Fall 2012 and Spring 2013. Doris Santoro.

An examination of the economic, social, political, and pedagogical implications of universal education in American classrooms. Focuses on the right of every child, including physically handicapped, learning disabled, and gifted, to equal educational opportunity. Requires a minimum of twenty-four hours of observation in a local elementary school.

Prerequisite: Education 20 or 101.

211 {2211} c. Education and the Human Condition. Fall 2013. Doris Santoro.

Explores the relationship between education and being/becoming human. Topics may be guided by the questions: What does it mean to be an educated person? How can education lead to emancipation? How might teaching and learning lead to the good life? What is our responsibility to teach the next generation? Readings may include works by Hannah Arendt, John Dewey, W. E. B. Du Bois, Plato, Jacques Rancière, among others.

212 {2212} c. Gender, Sexuality, and Schooling. Fall 2012. Doris Santoro.

Schools are sites where young people learn to “do” gender and sexuality through direct instruction, the hidden curriculum, and peer-to-peer learning. In schools, gender and sexuality are challenged, constrained, constructed, normalized, and performed. Explores instructional and curricular reforms that have attempted to address students’ and teachers’ sexual identities and behavior. Examines the effects of gender and sexual identity on students’ experience of school, their academic achievement, and the work of teaching. Topics may include Compulsory Heterosexuality in the Curriculum; The Gender of the Good Student and Good Teacher; Sex Ed in an Age of Abstinence. (Same as Gay and Lesbian Studies 212 {2120} and Gender and Women’s Studies 282 {2282}.)

Prerequisite: Education 101, Gay and Lesbian Studies 201, or Gender and Women’s Studies 101.

221c. Democracy’s Citadel: Education and Citizenship in America. Fall 2014. Charles Dorn.

Examines the relationship between education, citizenship, and democracy in America. Questions explored include: What does “public” mean and how necessary is a “public” to democracy? Is there something “democratic” about how Americans choose to govern their schools? What does “citizenship” mean? Is education a public good with a collective economic and civic benefit, a private good with benefits to individuals whose future earnings depend on the quality of their education, or some combination of the two? What type of curriculum is most important for civic education and how should it be taught? What policies are necessary to prevent economic inequality from undermining education’s role in fostering democratic citizenship? To what extent are the concepts of “education for democracy” and “democratic education” related?

Prerequisite: Education 20 or 101.

[250 {2250} c. Education and Law. (Same as Government 219 {2940}.)]

251 {2251} c. Teaching Writing: Theory and Practice. Fall 2012. Kathleen O’Connor.

Explores theories and methods of teaching writing, emphasizing collaborative learning and peer tutoring. Examines relationships between the writing process and the written product, writing and learning, and language and communities. Investigates disciplinary writing conventions, influences of gender and culture on language and learning, and concerns of ESL and learning disabled writers. Students practice and reflect on revising, responding to others’ writing, and conducting conferences. Prepares students to serve as writing assistants for the Writing Project.

Prerequisite: Selection during the previous spring semester by application to the Writing Project.

291–294 {2970–2973} c. Intermediate Independent Study in Education. The Department.

299 {2999} c. Intermediate Collaborative Study in Education. The Department.

301 {3301} c. Teaching and Learning. Fall 2012. Kathryn Byrnes and Nancy Jennings.

A study of what takes place in classrooms: the methods and purposes of teachers, the response of students, and the organizational context. Readings and discussions help inform students’ direct observations and written accounts of local classrooms. Peer teaching is an integral part of the course experience. Requires a minimum of thirty-six hours of observation in a local secondary school. Education 303 must be taken concurrently with this course.

Prerequisite: Education 20 or 101, and 203; junior or senior standing; a concentration in a core secondary school subject area (English, foreign language, life science, mathematics, physical science, or social studies); and permission of the instructor.

302 {3303} c. Student Teaching Practicum. Spring 2013. The Department.

Required of all students who seek secondary public school certification, this final course in the student teaching sequence requires that students work full time in a local secondary school from early January to late April. Grading is Credit/D/Fail. Education 304 must be taken concurrently. Students must complete an application and interview.

Prerequisite: Education 203, 301, and 303; senior standing; a cumulative 3.0 grade point average; a 3.0 grade point average in Education 301 and 303; a major in a subject area that enables them to be certified by the State of Maine; and permission of the instructor.

303 {3302} c. Curriculum. Fall 2012. Kathryn Byrnes and Nancy Jennings.

A study of the knowledge taught in schools; its selection and the rationale by which one course of study rather than another is included; its adaptation for different disciplines and for different categories of students; its cognitive and social purposes; the organization and integration of its various components. Education 301 must be taken concurrently with this course.

Prerequisite: Education 20 or 101, and 203; junior or senior standing; a concentration in a core secondary school subject area (mathematics, life science, physical science, English, foreign language, or social studies); and permission of the instructor.

304 {3304} c. Bowdoin Teacher Scholars Seminar. Spring 2013. The Department.

Taken concurrently with Education 302, Student Teaching Practicum. Considers theoretical and practical issues related to effective classroom instruction.

Prerequisite: Education 203, 301, and 303; junior or senior standing; a cumulative 3.0 grade point average; a 3.0 grade point average in Education 301 and 303; a major in a subject area that enables them to be certified by the State of Maine; and permission of the instructor.

325 {3325} b. Mindfulness in Education. Spring 2013. Kathryn Byrnes.

An exploration of the educational techniques/methods that human beings have found, across cultures and time, to concentrate, broaden, and deepen awareness of thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations. Holistic and interdisciplinary lens on the theory and processes of how people learn. Focus on educational models that encourage and foster mindful learning such as Montessori and Waldorf. Seminar-style dialogue on course readings complemented by contemplative practices such as yoga, meditation, tai chi.

Prerequisite: Education 20 or 101, and 203.

333 {3333} c. Education Studies Capstone. Spring 2013. The Department.

Provides students with the opportunity to synthesize issues in educational studies addressed in previous coursework. Through an experiential project, students deepen their understanding of how schools both mirror and change the societies that create them. One-half credit. Grading is Credit/D/Fail.

Prerequisite: Education 101 and three of the following: 211, 212, 221, 250, or 325; or permission of the instructor.

401–404 {4000–4003} c. Advanced Independent Study in Education. The Department.

405 {4029} c. Advanced Collaborative Study in Education. The Department.