The Politics of Inequality
Students interested in this area will examine legal and conceptual background and analysis framing public/educational policy with respect to the nation's attempt to make education accessible to all students.
Education and the Moral Life
Students interested in this area will examine various conceptions of what it means to live morally in pluralistic society and what these conceptions suggest for the way we think about education and schooling in particular.
Multicultural / Global Education
Students interested in this area will examine various approaches to multicultural education, the assumptions underlying each, application of each to school classrooms, and the growing nexus between domestic multicultural education and education in and for a global society.
School Reform in a Democratic Society
Students interested in this area will examine various ideas and approaches to school reform, both historically and in the present, the assumptions underlying each, and the role of school reform proposals in schooling for a democracy.
Public Engagement in Education
Students interested in this area will examine the problem of the role of the public in public education, asking such questions as Who is the "public"? What mechanisms are there for public engagement in education? What is the role of the "public" in creating education for a democracy? How best might public engagement in education occur?
Standards-Based Education in a Democratic Society*
Students interested in this area will examine the standards movement in the United States, including its ideas and practices (particularly in Ohio), along with a critique of standards-based education based on arguments from a variety of positions.
* Note: this area of interest has been and is currently offered only to cohort groups of teachers. It is hoped that at least one new cohort group will begin in January, 2008.
Education Generalist
Students interested in this area will adopt broader areas of inquiry such as education and democracy, education and religion, education and social class, education and the economy, education and the family, or education and politics. Coursework will be individually selected to offer students a general overview of one of these topics.
