Assignments

Participation (15%)

"Dialogue does not exist in a political vacuum. It is not a "free space" where you may do what you want. Dialogue takes place inside some kind of program and context. . . . To achieve the goals of transformation, dialogue implies responsibility, directiveness, determination, discipline, objectives."
--Ira Shor and Paulo Freire, A Pedagogy for Liberation (1987), p.102

Your thoughtful attention and disciplined concentration will benefit you and the class as a whole. Your participation grade will be made up of:

Regular timely attendance;
Completion of the reading prior to each class session;
Thoughtful participation in class discussions and activities, including small group discussions.

In this class, I expect you to be civil with one another and with me, in order to show your respect for the learning process. This means that I am asking you not to disrupt the activity in the class (through the ringing of cell phones, talking to one another, leaving the room in the middle of the period, etc.). This is particularly important given that we are a large class, as your disruption will make it difficult for those around you to hear and pay attention. In class discussions, I request that you be respectful of and listen to one another's contributions, sharing your disagreements publicly rather than privately with your neighbor or friend. If this proves difficult for you, I will request a meeting with you to find strategies by which you can contribute to class appropriately. If I need to make multiple requests for your appropriate participation in class, your participation grade will suffer.

A definition of an excused absence is that 1) I am informed prior to class by phone or email that you will be unable to make it and 2) On the day that you return, you provide me with documentation for your absence. If these two conditions are not met, your absence will be considered unexcused.

Quizzes (10%)

During the course of the semester, about 20 pop quizzes will be given at the beginning of class about the reading assigned for that day. To do well on the quizzes, you will want to do the readings before the class for which they are assigned and come to class on time. If you have an unexcused absence or come late on the day a quiz is given, you will receive a zero on that day's quiz.

If you have done the reading for that day, you should do well on the quiz. These are readings to study and analyze, not simply skim over. Don't be discouraged if you find some readings difficult at first. A second reading will help (and is often necessary). As you read, you will want to be watchful for the main argument, and when you find it, circle or underline it or copy it into your notes. Also, look at the questions that will guide discussion that day; how would you answer these questions on the basis of the reading? The Rutgers course catalog states that students are expected to spend a minimum of two hours of out-of-class coursework for each hour of in-class work. To do well in this course, you will have to meet this minimum standard. Please plan accordingly.

In addition, we will spend a substantial amount of class time analyzing the readings in detail--that is, engaging in textual analysis. It's important therefore to bring whatever text we're working on to class, as well as any questions you may have accumulated. Don't hesitate to bring questions of your own to class or to me during office hours.

If you would like to check your quiz grades online, please go to FAS Gradebook, sign in, and type in the course number.

Group Presentation (15%)

Directions

First Paper: What is the Purpose of Education? (20%)

Directions
Due: Tuesday, October 9th

Second Paper: Education and Social Class (20%)

Directions
Due: Tuesday, November 20th

General Guidelines for Papers

All papers should be typed on a word-processor in 12-point font, double-spaced, with standard one-inch margins and page numbers. Please put your name, date, course name or number, my name, and the title of the paper on the first page. Please avoid using funky fonts or colors other than black: these strain my eyes. I'd recommend Times New Roman, Courier, Arial, or similar fonts. Always print out an additional final copy for your records. In all of your writing, if you have more than five typos, grammatical errors, fragments, or run-on sentences, the grade for your paper will be taken down a grade (e.g., if you were to get a B, you would get a B- if you had more than five typos). As future teachers, it is very important that you learn to write clearly and without errors as you are training and setting an example for young people. Many teachers-to-be have difficulty with the PRAXIS writing portion, and typos and grammatical errors are one reason why. Thus, this is meant to encourage you to be a more careful writer.

All papers should use APA citation format (guidelines are here).

I will not accept papers after their due dates because this is a large class and falling behind in assignments will make you and me hopelessly backlogged . Obsessively back-up all your computer files for this course and keep paper copies of all your work. Stock up on back-up media, paper, and printer ink.

As you will note, I have not taken into account religious holidays. If you have a conflict with any of the dates for the assignments because of your religious background and beliefs, please see me the first week of class and we will arrange something convenient for both of us.

Final Exam (20%)

Monday, December 17th, 2-5pm