Graduate Seminar I
Theory and Philosophy

Fall 2001

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Department of Art Education and Art Therapy

Instructor: Craig A. Cunningham, Ph.D.

 

 

Syllabus

Please check the web site at http://cuip.uchicago.edu/~cac/arted for updates to this syllabus. UPDATED 10/11/01

Instructor

Craig A. Cunningham, Ph. D.

Home phone: 773-528-6128
Day job: Research Associate
Center for School Improvement
University of Chicago
Daytime phone: 773-702-4885
Email: c-cunningham@uchicago.edu
Home page: http://craigcunningham.com
Office hours by appointment

Readings

Book: Cahn, Steven M. 1997. Classic and Contemporary Readings in the Philosophy of Education. New York: McGraw Hill, Inc. (available at Utrecht)

Course packet: available from instructor

Course goals and outcomes

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Critically read writings about education generally and about art education more specifically by: summarizing an author's point of view, evaluating the evidence used to support the point of view, drawing conclusions from the theories/ideologies of education and the evidence presented, and identifying the implications of various philosophical and historical ideas on educational development and teaching practices.
  • Analyze and present educational ideas and ideas about art education in a historical context, e.g. considering moral, social, and political influences on the shaping of classrooms, teaching, and elementary, middle, and high schools.
  • Articulate theories about how the institutional, cultural, historical, and political relationships among schools, museums, arts organizations, artists, art education teacher training programs have influenced and continue to influence art education practices in American schools.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which cultural differences in values, expectations, attitudes toward education, and differing beliefs about the importance of social conformity versus individual creativity influence schooling cultures and processes, especially in art education.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of how contemporary issues in art education represent recurring themes in the history and philosophy of education, by articulating various perspectives on these issues.
  • Compare and contrast "traditional" and "progressive" educational orientations by analyzing the ideas of at least two proponents of educational ideas and the implications of their beliefs on schooling and classroom practice in elementary, middle, and high schools, especially in art education programs.
  • Articulate and defend personal beliefs on: the purposes of education generally and more specifically the purposes of art education, the nature of virtue/excellence, what should be taught in school, the nature of the learner and the teacher/student relationships, focusing on elementary, middle, and high schools.
  • Complete a project or paper in which the student applies historical, philosophical, and sociological analysis and synthesis to a contemporary issue or position concerning art education in elementary, middle, or high schools.

Learning experiences and instructional strategies

This course includes a variety of experiences oriented around a set of philosophical issues related to education and designed to help the students to meet the outcomes. These experiences will include reading, research, lecture, guided discussion, small group discussion, student presentations, and directed writing assignments. It is hoped that students will take the opportunity to relate these issues and experiences to the events in their own educational history and begin to develop an informed and reflective professional understanding of these events, so that they will help rather than hinder their own professional growth.

The course will evolve from the beginning of the semester, which will be primarily instructor-driven, toward the end, when it will become primarily student-driven.

Course Requirements

  • Attendance at all sessions. Please inform the instructor in advance if you are going to miss a session. Students who miss more than three sessions will not pass the course.

  • Regular and voluntary participation in discussions. This is a graduate seminar, and it depends upon each participant for its energy and vitality. You should make a point of contributing at least once during each class session. This constitutes 25% of the final grade in the course.

  • Reading assignments as posted here and announced in class.

  • One five-minute reading summary to be presented to the class at the start of a session. Students will sign up for the date of their reading summary during the second class session. This constitutes 5% of the final grade.

  • One paper presentation to be given to the class in late November or early December. Students will sign up on November 5 for a slot to present. The presentation will be on the topic of the third paper. You will present for 15 minutes and lead a discussion for 5 to 10 minutes. This constitutes 20% of the final grade.

  • Three papers. The first paper (5 to 7 pages) will be on an assigned question related to Plato's Meno, will be due October 8, and will constitute 10% of the final grade. The second paper (6 to 8 pages) will relate to one of the readings by Dewey but will be on a question or topic of the students' choice, will be due November 12, and will constitute 15% of the final grade. The third paper (10 to 14 pages) will be on readings and/or topics selected by the student but related to issues discussed in the class. A brief outline of the third paper is due by November 26, and the paper itself is due on the last day of class, December 17. The final paper constitutes 25% of the final grade in the course.

Schedule of Topics and Assignments (tentative)

Assignments are listed on the day they are DUE. These assignments may change as the semester proceeds. Please check the web site for the latest version.

September 10: Introduction to the course, students, texts, teacher. In-class readings: Broudy, Kaelin.

September 17: Cahn, "Preface, " "Introduction" and Plato, Meno. Sign-up for reading summaries.

September 24: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (selections)

October 1: Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education (selections)

October 8: Rousseau, Emile (selections); Cahn: readings by Neill and Egan; First paper due.

October 15: Dewey, "The Child and the Curriculum." Presentation by Arnold Aprill, director, Chicago Arts Partnerships for Education.

October 22: Dewey, Experience and Education. Cahn: reading by Freire.

October 29: Reading packet: Ansbacher (two articles), Geertz, Danto.

November 5: Cahn, readings by Noddings and Martin; Reading packet: Noddings. Sign-up for paper presenations.

November 12: Reading packet: Delacruz and Dunn; Clark, Day & Greer; Second paper due.

November 19: Presentation by Anna Rochester, Shedd Aquairum (formerly Oriental Institute). Reading packet: Vallance.

November 26: Presentation by Julia Borst. Reading packet: Mayer; Student presentations; Outline of third paper due.

December 3: Cahn: readings by Greene and Searle; Reading packet: Stone; Student presentations.

December 10: Student presentations

December 17: Student presentations. Third paper due.

 

 

 

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