Description
All assignments will include the following statement: “I certify that this assignment represents my own original work. I have not used any unauthorized or unacknowledged assistance or sources in completing it, including free or commercial systems, AI generative systems (i.e. ChatGPT), or services offered on the internet (i.e. CourseHero, Chegg).”
Purpose
You will complete four (4) Education Battles in the semester, writing an education Blog Post, and writing a modified Education Policy Analysis in the course. Each Battle is designed to help you interact critically with the course content so that you may build your knowledge by examining the past. While the content of each assignment is unique, the writing experiences are similarly positioned to allow you the opportunity to improve your argumentative writing process and your critical analysis skills.
This assignment aims to synthesize historical and educational perspectives/philosophies and relate them to current educational practices/philosophies. You will complete this assignment by completing a 400–500-word letter to the PTA of elementary school ABC in a rural Florida area. The parents have been examining the school’s philosophical ideals, curricular practices, and district policies. They are eager to participate in any conversations about improving the educational opportunities for the children but want to be informed. You will be evaluated on your articulation of your point of view and the comprehensiveness of your response.
Course Objectives
Synthesize fundamental knowledge of the evolution of education in America from the 1600s to the present.
Evaluate the foundation and enterprise of public education from multiple perspectives.
Analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view.
Module Objectives
MO1: Compare educational beliefs of founding fathers and their influence and appearance in current public educational practices. (CO4/CO6)
MO2: Support an informed viewpoint in a response to educational ideology. (CO1/CO6)
MO3: Apply historical knowledge to the formation of public education. (CO4)
UCC Objectives
Students will be able to examine education and society in terms of history, economic, and political issues, trends, and movements.
Students will be able to compare the past and the present in terms of educational theory/philosophy and conduct a philosophical analysis of contemporary issues in education.
Students will use proper organization and grammar in their writing.
Form
You are to watch the embedded ED Battle Video and read the assigned materials in the module. The ED Battle defines educational thought, philosophy, theory, ideology, and education structure. Like Jefferson and Franklin, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois differed on how best to educate freed slaves post-Civil War. Their differences in what that looked like influenced how schools function. Using direct quotes from the readings, and your interpretation of the philosophical viewpoints of each, in a 400-500 word response, you are to
Use the voice of either DuBois or Washington
Write a letter to the other about your viewpoint on education.
Included should be how “you” see the education system expanding in the future, given “your” philosophical ideology.
In other words, you are either taking on the voice of DuBois and writing to Washington or taking on the voice of Washington and writing to DuBois.
Booker T. Washington Delivers the 1895 Atlanta Compromise Speech (gmu.edu)
The Talented Tenth | Teaching American History
BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION, 349 U.S. 294 (1955) (umkc.edu)
