Foundations of Education

Welcome to the 2023 - 2024 course website for EDUC 1F95: Introduction to the Foundations of Education. EDUC 1F95 is the full-year introductory education course in Brock University's concurrent teacher education program. Over 600 students are enrolled in the course.

EDUC 1F95 explores elementary and secondary (I.e., K-12) education through the lens of a number of foundational disciplines. Per the Undergraduate Calendar course description, the course examines the historical, sociological, psychological, and philosophical dimensions of K-12 schooling within an Ontario, Canada context.

History and sociology are the focus of the Fall term, which also addresses comparative education, educational economics, educational equity, educational finance, educational governance, educational reform, labour studies, and the intersection of social change and education. Psychology and philosophy are the focus of the Winter term.

The weekly lessons at this website, in conjunction with other course components, including Brock University's learning management system (LMS) (I.e., D2L Brightspace), feature a selection of the following:

• focused content presentations
• readings
• curated multimedia content, including academic research, images, videos, and timelines
• links to external educational resources
• plenary sessions with the instructor, course coordinator, and guest speakers
• live seminars with TAs and other students
• online forum discussions which address key concepts and educational debates
• polls which aggregate student opinions about educational issues

Throughout the course, there are numerous opportunities for students to share and reflect on one another's viewpoints and educational experiences. Participative learning, reflective practice, and critical thinking within a holistic context are emphasized and supported.

Students will:

• develop a deeper and broader understanding of the foundations of Canadian education as viewed through the lens of multiple scholarly disciplines;
• embody in their own developing practice the principles of the Ontario College of Teachers’ Standards of Practice and the Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession;
• become conversant with the major ideas of leading theorists in the field of education;
• engage in opportunities to discuss and debate educational issues from multiple points of view;
• become familiar with the sequence of education courses they will complete in Brock University’s P/J, J/I, or I/S concurrent teacher education program;
• enhance their academic research and writing skills with the goal of transferring the skills they develop to the K-12 students they will soon teach.

The textbook for the Fall term (Weeks 1 - 12) is:

Robson, Karen L. (2019). Sociology of Education in Canada. Toronto: Open Library Press Books.

Originally published by Pearson Canada Inc. in 2013, the textbook is now licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

The textbook for the first half of the Winter term (Weeks 13 - 18) is:

Seifert, Kelvin and Sutton, Rosemary. (2022). Educational Psychology: Open Education Resource LibreTexts.

Online: https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Education_and_Professional_Development/Book%3A_Educational_Psychology_(Seifert_and_Sutton)

PDF:
https://batch.libretexts.org/print/Letter/Finished/socialsci-10811/Full.pdf

The textbook is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, except where otherwise noted.

There is no textbook for the second half of the Winter term (Weeks 19 - 24).

To view the course content for the current week, click on the week number in the menu bar at the top of the page. In the sub-menu which appears, choose the topic page you wish to review.

An overview of each page's topic is provided at left. Below the overview (on some pages) is a list of key concepts that are introduced on the page. Each key concept is bolded when it is first introduced.

Below the key concepts (on some pages) is a list of the graded tasks that are associated with the page's topic. These tasks are explained in detail on the page. Tasks include online forum questions, seminar questions that students should prepare for, and the course's formal assignments. Graded tasks are assessed according to the grading criteria detailed in the course outline which is available on the LMS.

A progress indicator at the very top of each page displays the amount of page content that has been reviewed thus far.

Links to optional content that expand on a topic are marked with a (♾).

Every other week, students will contribute to the online forums for the course. The forum questions are listed in the LMS and also explained in-context in the course website for that week. Each question is tagged with specific requirements.

For more details about contributing to the online forums, refer to the course outline which is available on the LMS.

Every other week, students will participate in live seminars with their TA and other students. Potential seminar questions are explained in-context in the course website for that week. Each question is tagged with specific requirements, including number of words and format (I.e., full sentences or point form).

Students are expected to prepare answers for each question in advance of their seminar. During a seminar, TAs will call on individual students to verbally share all or part of the written answers they have prepared, either to the full seminar class, a small group, or a partner. (Students will not be required to submit their written answers to seminar questions.)

For more details about participating in seminars, refer to the course outline which is available on the LMS.

The original content at this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. If you incorporate the original materials at this website into your course, please inform the course developer.

This website does not collect any personal information. For weekly tasks which require progress to be tracked, students will be connected directly to the relevant page on Brock University's secure learning management system (LMS).

The EDUC 1F95 course website is under continual development. Feedback from students and visitors is invited, including content suggestions and corrections.