My goal in this course is to get students to think further about education as something that all human beings, ubiquitously and continually, do, practically, to themselves and to each other.

• For students in professional tracks (MA and EdD), this means that I ask them to ponder the fact that schools, and all other forms of professional educational practice, are only one setting or set of voices that will be heard within a chorus of other voices in other settings.
• For students in research tracks (EdD and PhD), this means that I ask them to (re-)phrase their research projects, even if focused on schools and other settings for expert practice, and even if only in a temporary fashion, in a way that acknowledges the partial character of these institutions.

To get a sense of how students in the course are thinking about these isssues (and to get credit for the course) there will three main activities:

1. From weeks 3 to 13, one half of the class (either students in Groups "A" or "B") are expected to write questions and/or comments on Canvas under the "Discussion" tab for the day. This activity will not be graded, but participation will be considered in the final assessment.
2. All students must hand in two texts. Both of these will be graded. Specifically:
   1. a short paper (5 to 10 pages) directly related to the readings for the first half of the course.
      1. For some students (perhaps most), this will take the form of an essay-style, take-home, "mid-term exam."
      2. For others it will take the form of the write-up of an in-class presentation.
   2. a longer paper (15 to 20 pages) exploring in some detail an issue of particular interest to the student

PRACTICALLY

1. Brief comments can take the form of questions or comments. They should be about 100 words long.
2. First paper
   1. Mid-term exam to be distributed on .   It is due on
      
      OR
   2. In class presentation of one of the "alternate ethnographies" listed in the syllabus. Students choosing this are asked to make a 10 to 15 minutes presentation of the ethnography including placing it within the history of the ethnography of education, and summarizing the method, location, modes of interpretation and contribution to the debates in the field. The students will be expected
      1. to post on Canvas a 300 word summary of the presentation for other students to see.
      2. to turn in a 5-10 page paper based on this presentation a week after they have made it.
      Since there are about eight slots for this, the determination of who will do what will be made on a "first-come/first-served" basis. If you are interested, look at the syllabus and contact me within the first three weeks of the semester. More guidelines about the presentations can be found here.
3. Final paper
   1. Come and visit me during my office hours with an outline of your proposed paper and your initial list of references you expect to use. Do this no later than
   2. This paper is due on
      

See the note on my grading practices