Course Information

EDUC 412 -Equity, Diversity, and the Foundations of Schooling
Spring 2019

Course Description - EDUC 412

Hours: Three hours lecture per week Prerequisite: Junior Standing and successful completion of Golden Four GE Areas (A1, A2, A3, B4) or Enrolled in Post- baccalaureate Pre-Credential program

Description: Principles for effectively teaching students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Study of diverse students, families, schools and communities, and gender bias. Emphasizes physical, social, emotional, and intellectual safety of all students, and creating equitable classroom communities by recognizing and minimizing bias in the classroom.

This course is a prerequisite for the Credential Program. The goal of this course is for prospective teachers to think critically about all aspects of schooling so that they may help create more inclusive, equitable, just peaceful, and loving classroom and school environments. The course objectives are related to the history of schooling, educational law, multiculturalism and multilingualism, marginalization, and counter-narratives. The hope is that pre-credential students will see the linguistic and cultural backgrounds students bring to school as strengths and will celebrate diversity and work for equity.

Teaching EDUC 412 in Spring 2019 has been a lot of firsts for me! I am currently teaching this course for the first time. It is my first time teaching a course completely online, and this is the first time EDUC 412 is being offered 100% online. In addition, this is the first time I have co-taught a class. And this is the first time (I believe) that EDUC 412 is being offered as text-book free and relies on OERs.

First QLT Objective Showcased - 4.1

Section 4: Student Interaction and Community
- 4.1 At the beginning of the course, instructor provides an opportunity to have students self-introduce to develop the sense of community.

Description of QLT Course Design

In teaching, we know that one of the most important factors for student achievement are the classroom community and the relationships that are built between students and teachers and students and each other. In the face to face classroom, I begin and end each course by sitting in community circle. In community circle, participants share their stories and follow community agreements (Listen from the heart. Speak from the heart. Be spontaneous. Say just enough. Know that I am a mandated reporter.). This community circles are invariably rich conversations during which students build stronger relationships with one another and with me. A challenge for me in teaching online (and a question percolating in my brain) is: How can I create community circles (or a similarly rich experience) for students online?

To humanize the course and build "classroom community," I create 2 icebreaker assignments in the first module that begin to open the door to the types of conversations we have in the class. In the first assignment, My Name, My Identity, students share their names and the history of them. They also discuss the positive and/or negative impacts of people changing one's name. Students used VoiceThread so that we could see each other and put faces with names. This assignment served as an introduction to the importance of not changing students' names (e.g. Francisco to Frank or vice versa) and honoring students' cultures and languages. The second community builder in the first module asked students to individually reflect on their identities (using an identity worksheet) and how sure they are of each (examples include religion, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, etc.). Students were then asked to share one of their identities in which they felt certain and another which they were less certain. Sharing their names and parts of their identity helped create community and set the stage for the types of difficult conversations we explore in this course.

Course Example

Second QLT Objective Showcased - 4.4

Section 4: Student Interaction and Community
- 4.4 Learning activities facilitate and support active learning that encourages frequent and ongoing peer-to-peer engagement.

Description of QLT Course Design

In an effort to decrease student stress, convey course expectations clearly and consistently, and ensure easy course navigation, some modes of engagement are used frequently within the course and guidelines are clearly communicated. Weekly discussions and consistent protocols for engaging with texts are utilized. Discussions, QQTP (see example below), 4 A's protocol, and VoiceThread are all used consistently in the course. The directions for each the task, guidelines for peer interaction, and expectations for success are provided. There are links to Google Docs within the modules. Using consistent means of expression and interaction helps orient student to the content and to each other.

Course Example

Instructor Contact Information

danna.lomax@csuci.edu