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Fall 2012 Course Schedule   Master list of Courses in International Education

Fall 2012 Course Descriptions
Click on titles in blue for example syllabus
Most Syllabi are from previous semesters - current ones available in class

Educ 229 Introduction to International Education
(Mosselson) – Tuesday 4-6:30 pm - Location TBA    

Education is emerging as a vital piece of the civil rights movement, both on the local and global levels.  It is a powerful force that spurs national growth and development.  This course attempts to develop and encourage an understanding of educational problems shared through the interconnected and continuously globalizing ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ worlds.  Students are introduced to a variety of environments in which education takes place, and are asked to analyze learning, education and development in non-US and non-Western settings.  The course also provides perspectives on ‘Third World’ history and development as they relate to education and learning.  Topics that you will study in this course include non-Western educational perspectives, traditions and approaches; colonialism and its impact on education and learning; and dilemmas and issues in education and international development.

All students need to sign up for the lecture and a discussion session. Students enrolled for four credits will also participate in a Community Service Learning project working with migrant and immigrant youth in Holyoke or Springfield and will need to sign up for an additional Lab session.

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The purpose of this course is to help participants prepare to manage international development education projects.  The course will cover both theory and practice of managing projects, and participants and instructor will have a chance to talk about their past experiences in project management. By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

1. articulate their philosophy of and approach to management, leadership and implementation of education projects
   
2. explain which management tools they would utilize in managing project implementation, why they would use these tools, and how they would adapt them based on culture, gender and other relevant factors.

Some of the specific topics to be covered will include:

• The difference between management and leadership
• Balancing scope, resource and time for the optimal project quality
• Managing staff and building teams
• Cultural and gender differences in management
• Overseeing budgets and work plans
• Dealing with consultants, stakeholder and advisory groups, and funders
• Tools for facilitating meetings, participatory decision making
• Disseminating information, outcomes and products of the project
• Dealing with corruption in project management
• Technological tools for managing projects

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Current international educational policy in Africa, Asia and Latin America is centered on strategies necessary to achieve the global agenda of Education for All and the broader Millenium Development Goals.  Central to those policies is the establishment of measurable objectives, country strategies, plans of action, and the means to monitor progress.  The course will begin with an overview of the nature of policy formation and implementation at national and international levels, drawing on the theory and practice of policy analysis. 

The course will then introduce and provide practice in applying a series of policy analysis tools ranging from analyisis of policy characteristics, to backward mapping, to mapping strategies to represent the distribution of support and opposition likely for a given policy. Students will apply each of the tools to a specific policy that they choose.

The course will then shift to looking at the network of international agencies and organizations that set the terms of the discourse in education policy for development. We will analyze the procedures and criteria that are used to determine the eligibility of countries for various forms of aid and debt reduction. The course will also review guidelines for the preparation of national polices and their associated M&E frameworks, including various methods for creating and using indicators to measure progress towards goals.

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The purpose of this course is to help you develop the skills you need to design training programs for adult learners in non-formal education, human services, and community development.  The goal is to prepare you to:

• Develop your philosophy of training:  how is training different from teaching?  What is participatory training?
• Consider how to assess the needs of training participants
• Support the rationale for training
• Write training objectives
• Find, read and analyze training activities:  how, when and why would you use particular activities?
• Create and facilitate training activities of your own (peer training)
• Consider the “flow” of training: from individual to small group to large group activities; balancing theory and practice; deciding upon the best training span (training over multiple sessions and time); determining the appropriate reading and handout load; deciding whether or not to give “assignments” to participants
• Observe others’ facilitation skills and provide constructive feedback
• Plan training evaluation activities:  how did the training affect participants’ thinking, feeling and acting?
• Write up training in written form so that others can use your training
• Design training of trainers

The course will be relevant to those interested in designing training for both international and U.S.-based training contexts.

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This is a required introductory seminar for all new masters and doctoral degree candidates in the Center for International Education . The course has two goals. First, it will provide an introduction to CIE. The seminar also will review the structure and procedures for degree programs, resources available for graduate study in the five-college area, planning for personal and professional growth during the degree process, and the various career options available.

Second, it will present a general overview of the highly diversified field of "International Development Education" - what it is, the evolving relationships between theory and practice, the central issues that it confronts, and its importance to International Development. The course will introduce basic readings in the history, theory, and practice of international development education, and will examine selected applied problems. Faculty members in CIE and associated faculty will make presentations on their topics of expertise. All incoming International Education Masters and Doctoral students are are required to take this course. They will be automatically enrolled - you cannot enroll online.

Educ 797J Introduction to Inquiry
(Rossman, Rallis) -- Monday 4-7 pm           Room TBA        Offline - Contact Instructor  

This course is intended to provide a forum to engage in sustained discussion about and reflection on the assumptions, theories, and practice of inquiry relevant for policy and leadership studies. The course will be structured as a seminar in which we explore the assumptions that shape inquiry, discuss the major research genres/theories, and examine examples of practice. We will read and critically examine relevant readings, seeking to uncover how often-tacit notions shape approaches to inquiry. We will also look at various genres of research through readings and presentations, critically analyzing the assumptions embedded in them and examining what they obscure and what they reveal about a topic. Finally, close scrutiny of examples of practice within the three concentrations – Educational Administration, Higher Education, and International Education – will provide a grounding in the real world of research.. Course open ONLY to incoming EPRA Doctoral candidates who must take the course. They will be automatically enrolled - cannot be done online.

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Educational management takes place within cultures around the world and increasingly across cultural groups. The course begins by studying a theoretical perspective that provides key concepts for cultural analysis. Using these concepts, the course then examines elements of culture and how these interact with and shape management practice in educational settings. While the field of business management addresses issues of cross-cultural management, little has been done in the field of educational management. Close examination of the interaction of culture and educational management is important because deeply-held cultural beliefs and values shape both behavior and expectations about the functions and roles of educational managers

Educ 818 Alternative Approaches to Education for Rural Development
(Hartwell) Thursday - 9-12 noon       275 Hills South    

Conventional schooling as a route to human capacity development, especially in developing countries, is the subject of multiple critiques. On one hand it is seen as an imposition of an inappropriate western and post-colonial institution which undermines rather than strengthens indigenous development and well-being. Even some who fervently support formal schooling as the path to Education for All argue that current models are beyond the financial reach of many of the poorest countries. Finally, there are those who believe that conventional schooling does not well foster children’s potential as natural learners, nor does it effectively contribute to the evolution of democratic, diverse and caring communities.

This course will explore theory, research and practice in the development of alternative models of education, focusing particularly on experience in underserved areas of developing countries where some of the most innovative and successful alternatives have been established. We will define the elements of formal and non-formal learning environments, and explore the political, social and economic contexts in which alternatives to conventional schools have emerged – relating this to development theory and work with the empowerment of local communities. We will utilize case studies, in part drawn from the current research of the EQUIP 2 Project, of such alternatives as Egypt’s Community Schools, Escuela Neuva, BRAC, Baluchistan, and School for Life(Ghana), examining factors including: program organization, the role of the community, the organization of teaching and learning, support structures, learning outcomes, costs and financing, and policy implications. Each person in the course will work on a project of analysis and contribute to the development of a specific alternative school model in the world.

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This course will examine methods, major concepts and current trends in comparative education and explore various facets of societies that impact the educational system, including, but not limited to, historical, economic, social, political, ethnic and religious forces as they relate to education. Starting with an overview of cultural and social theories of the purposes, structure and outcomes of education, we will develop our analytical skills in examining our assumptions surrounding schooling and international education. We will then start applying these theories, exploring practical applications and expressions of contemporary problems in international education, examining the remarkable diversity within contemporary educational systems that are subject to global political and economic forces. As a class, we will discuss an overview of the history and methods of the field of comparative education, compare the theoretical perspectives which shape the field, compare the approaches that different disciplines and theoretical orientations take to similar topics. We will also discuss contemporary issues in educational systems across the globe and examine, in this context, prevailing common-sense notions of education and development.

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