WINTER I 2016 - Educational Theories: Equality, Democracy, and Justice

University of British Columbia - Winter Term I - 2016 EDUCATIONAL THEORIES: EQUALITY, DEMOCRACY, & JUSTICE Course: EDST 597, Section 021 Dates: September 8 - December 1, 2016 Time: Thursdays 4:30 - 7:30 pm Location: Ponderosa Commons 1302 Instructor: Sam Rocha Phone: (604) 822-5295 Office: Ponderosa Commons 3035 Email: sam.rocha@ubc.ca READING You will read 6 books (and 1 article) during this course. A Primer for Philosophy and Education, Samuel D. Rocha (Cascade, 2014); Experience and Education, John Dewey (Free Press, 1997); Between Past and Future, Hannah Arendt (Penguin Classic, 2006); Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire (Bloomsbury Academic, 2000); Deschooling Society, Ivan Illich (Marion Boyers, 2000). Books can be purchased at the UBC bookstore or online. Try to get the listed editions so that we can all be on the same page in class. Select a book from the list below to read for your final paper. Make selection request via email. First come, first served (it is wise to send me your top 2 or 3 selections, in case it is already taken). 1. Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer 2. Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind 3. Judith Butler, The Psychic Life of Power 4. Glen Sean Coulthard, Red Skin, White Masks 5. Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex 6. Jacque Derrida, The Politics of Friendship 7. John Dewey, Democracy and Education 8. Enrique Dussel, Philosophy of Liberation 9. Franz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth 10. Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish 11. Gustavo Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation 12. F.A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom 13. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan 14. bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress 15. John Locke, Two Treatises of Government 16. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party 17. John Stuart Mill, On Liberty 18. Charles Mills, The Racial Contract 19. Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia 20. Martha Nussbaum, Sex and Social Justice 21. Susan Moller Okin, Gender, Justice, and the Family 22. Chantal Mouffe, On the Political 23. Jacques Ranciere, The Ignorant Schoolmaster 24. John Rawls, A Theory of Justice 25. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Essay on the Origin of Inequality 26. Edward Said, Orientalism 27. Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations 28. Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political 29. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women 30. Iris Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference 31. Slavoj Zizek, First as Tragedy, then as Farce 32. Cornel West, Democracy Matters 33. Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy in America 34. Linda Alcoff, Visible Identities: Race, Gender, and the Self WRITING There will be 3 writing assignments and 2 written exams (I will refer to the exams in the next section). All writing in this section should be in English. Primer responses – The first book you will read, A Primer for Philosophy and Education, has 10 questions and exercises that correspond to each of the 10 sections of the book. Respond to all sections and bring your responses collected together as your first paper for class. This assignment will be graded pass/fail: If you turn it in I will mark it for light feedback and will give it full credit for completion. If you do not bring anything or are late you will receive no credit. These are due the second meeting of class. Final paper – You will read a book chosen from the list of eligible texts in the first section and write a 2,000 to 2,500 word expository essay, consisting of a critical summary of a concept in the book and commentary on it. This should be written following the Chicago Manual of Style as closely as possible. Final papers will be read during a mini-conference during the final 2 weeks of class, with prepared responses to follow each paper. You should provide a draft of the paper to your respondent a week in advance, but should not worry too much about changing it afterwards, since time will be a factor at the end of the term. Response paper – The purpose of the response paper is to formulate a concise but thoughtful reply to the expository essays written by your colleagues. A good response begins with a careful and respectful reading of your colleague’s work. First summarize what you took to be the main point(s), then reply to them. In your reply, you can suggest counter-arguments you think the author should explore, you can question and critique the assumptions of the argument or examples provided, but in each case, remember: a good response is neither an uncritical celebration nor a brash dismissal. You will present your response paper at the mini-conference at the end of the term, immediately following the essay you are responding to. You should provide a copy of your response to the author at least 1 day in advance, as a courtesy. The final version should be no more than 500 words in length. EXAMS There will be 2 exams. They are not comprehensive; each exam will cover the content that immediately preceded it. This means that the first exam will focus on Dewey and Arendt and the second will focus on Freire and Illich. The primary place for the content is, naturally, in the books assigned, but these texts will also be elaborated in weekly lectures and discussions. The lectures will be recorded and the audio will be available for review. On the date of each exam, class will not meet. Instead you will be sent 20 short essay questions (10 per author) the day of the exam via email, of which you will choose 10 total, 5 from each author. The exams are due via email the following morning, as a Word doc or PDF, with the subject line EXAM #1 and EXAM #2, respectively, you can write these in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. PARTICIPATION There are obviously 2 separate time-spaces where you will participate in this class: during/in class and outside of class. This simple calculus serves to distinguish the kinds of class participation that are possible and required. In class – The most obvious way to participate during/in class is to be present, which involves more than just showing up on time and staying there until it’s over. “Being there” in a passive way is one thing; “being there” in an active way is another. So, while attendance is required, simply attending class will not be enough. This does not mean that you need to be an extrovert. There is a place for quiet, shy, and even silent active participation. Little things count and add up, things like being attentive and undistracted (especially by not texting or using Facebook), being prepared, asking questions in good faith that clarify or challenge, pointing out something that was missed or seems interesting. Each day will begin with a lecture on the material of the day. Then, after a short break, we will enter a period of more speculative discussion, questions, and disputations. The lectures are meant to contextualize the readings more than anything, and you should feel free to interject with criticism, comments, and so on. Please, do not take anything I say as “given” or “common sense;” everything is questionable and can be disputed. What matters most is the way the questions and disputes are made, the care, thought, and communication. This style of classroom interaction will require an intense civility, but it will also require some wit and a sense of fun and play. Feel very free to eat or drink during class, and excuse yourself as needed. Out of class – As you surely know, to be a “student” is to be a person who studies. Much of this study will happen outside of our class time. Quantitatively, this will be the most important portion of your effort. You will be doing all your reading and writing for the course out of class and I hope you will also feel very free to be in touch with me through e-mail or phone and arrange to meet as needed. I don’t consider any of this to be “extra” work. It is an expected part of your studies. Since your final paper is 2 largely self-directed outside of class time, you need to prepare for it in advance, alongside your week-toweek work. GRADING The coursework will be divided into percentage points. I will not take any late work. Again: No late work will be accepted for credit. Always include your name (but not mine or anything else) and a title. The percentages totals and their corresponding criteria are as follows: Primer responses (5%) – This will be graded pass/fail with light feedback given. The purpose of this assignment is mainly to “prime” you for the rest of the course, not to be too burdensome. Complete the work as best you can, and bring a hard copy to class to turn in. Completed papers receive full credit and incomplete or not turned in paper receive no credit. Exam #1 (25%) – This will be graded for direct and specific replies to the provided questions. By “direct” I mean responding to the exact wording and nuance of the question, not some corollary or alternative version of the question. By “specific” I mean a reply that directly engages the content with detailed and precise analysis. I will also look for economy of expression, which mean that replies should not be too short or too long. I will apply a Likert scale rating from 1 to 10 to each of those criteria to arrive at the grade, with some brief rationale commentary to accompany it. The remaining 5 points will be applied to the form (structure, prose, and verve) of your answers. Exam #2 (25%) – Same as above. Final paper (40%) – This paper will be turned in during finals week and will be assessed based on the following criteria: construction, style, and composition (10%), grasp of the text (10%), grasp of the concept (10%), and originality (10%). The first refers to the mechanics of the prose exclusively, which includes the citation style. The second refers to your ability to use the text with fidelity to what the text says (and does not say). The third refers to your ability to consistently and clearly focus on a concept and make the concept understood in light of the text. The fourth refers to your ability to show independent insight. I will apply a Likert scale rating from 1 to 10 to each of those criteria to arrive at the grade, with some brief rationale commentary to accompany it. Papers of the highest quality will be recommended for possible expansion into conference proposals and even possible publication. Response paper (5%) – An excellent response paper is both generous and critical and should be well written. I will mark your paper according to the same criteria as your Primer responses. The percentages on all 4 assignments will then be aggregated to calculate your final grade. You can review the EDST order of marking standards here: http://edst.educ.ubc.ca/files/2013/05/Order-ofMarkingStandards-2013.pdf If I suspect plagiarism, I am bound to follow the following UBC policy: http://vpacademic.ubc.ca/academic-integrity/ubc-regulation-on-plagiarism/ ACCOMMODATIONS Students will not be penalized because of observances of their religious beliefs. Whenever possible, students will be given reasonable time to make up any class that is missed due to participation in a religious observance. It is the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor of any intended absences for religious observances in advance, when possible. If you require an accommodation in this course—which may include absences for other reasons or alike—please let me know as soon as possible and, if needed, provide me with documentation and recommendations from Access & Diversity. You can find more information about the services provided by Access & Diversity here: www.students.ubc.ca/access/index.cfm 3 SCHEDULE Week Date Reading for the day of class/Lecture topic Assignment due 1 9/8 2 9/15 Syllabus (to be read in advance, we will not discuss it in class) /Genealogy of political philosophy and education, pt. 1 A Primer for Philosophy and Education/ Genealogy of political philosophy and education, pt. 2 Primer responses 3 9/22 Experience and Education/From pragmatism to progressivism 4 9/29 Between Past and Future, chapters 3 and 4/ Authority and culture 5 10/6 6 10/13 Between Past and Future, chapter 5 and TC record article by Duarte, “Educational Thinking and the Conservation of the Revolutionary”/Crisis and education as amor mundi NA – Exam #1 (no meeting on campus) 7 10/20 Pedagogy of the Oppressed, preface and chapter 1/Dialectical radicalism 8 10/27 Pedagogy of the Oppressed, chapters 2 and 3/Word and world 9 11/3 Pedagogy of the Oppressed, chapter 4 and video/Liberation theology and critical pedagogy 10 11/10 Deschooling Society/Epimethian education from Shelley (Frankenstein) to Illich 11 11/17 NA – Exam #2 (no meeting on campus) Exams sent; to be returned the following morning via email 12 11/24 NA Presentations 13 12/1 NA Presentations 14 12/6 NA (no meeting on campus) Final papers and responses 4 Exams sent; to be returned the following morning via email