Denisha Jones

This course surveys the historical, social, cultural, political, economic, and philosophical foundations of education, with an emphasis on the role of American education in an interdependent world and the multicultural character of American classrooms. Implications for addressing the inherent inequities in urban education are stressed. This foundational course will examine urban education from the perspectives of what it means to teach in urban environments, issues that impact urban schools, policies and practices that influence teaching, families and urban communities, and classroom management. It will focus on a broad interdisciplinary view of school as an educational institution and its relationship with urban society and communities. Sociological and philosophical views are used to examine how history, race, class, politics, and media have influenced the structure and function of urban education systems. Students will be challenged to critically reflect on how their schooling experience, sociocultural identity, and philosophical beliefs regarding urban education might impact their success in urban settings and their pedagogical approaches. 

All children in early childhood settings and the elementary grades have strengths and weaknesses. All children have areas in which they excel and areas in which they feel insecure. All children have times when academic learning is difficult for them while, at the same time, all children have the capacity to learn. Understanding the individual differences of an entire class of students is a challenge; and in order to meet the needs of our students, we must observe their differences and individual patterns of behavior. This course will explore the concepts of inclusion; special-needs diagnostic categories; designing curriculum that is responsive to children; and differentiating curriculum to support skill development, keeping in mind that each child is unique. The goals of the course are to integrate our perspectives of children’s individual needs while planning classroom inquiry; to explore ways of working with parents of children who require special support; to understand how to access support and feedback for children that require additional assistance; and to consider implications for teaching in an inclusive classroom and school.

Children must struggle with many issues while making their way toward adulthood. Teachers’ understandings of family culture and the interconnections between development and learning are crucial to children's success in the classroom and central to the content of this course. We will study how families affect the development of children, for no other unit of analysis more richly displays gender, social, and cultural factors and their influence on individual behavior and development. Today, children spend more time than ever before in early childhood programs and grade schools. We will investigate how families and schools provide a framework for the exploration of the social world and socialize children according to cultural norms. Healthy development and learning are intertwined in the context of the child’s social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development. In order for teachers to be equipped to help their students in the areas of social and emotional health, trauma, and toxic stress, we will review research on adverse childhood experiences, and how schools and communities can serve as protective factors. We will also examine racial identity development in young children. As teachers strive to enact anti-racist curriculums and pedagogies, they need a foundational understanding of racial identity development with a focus on the early years. Through readings and case-study analyses, students will explore the importance of teachers’ understanding of the complexities of the lives of children and families in order to better prepare for the challenges of the classroom.

Many factors contribute to the socialization of children. Teachers’ understandings of family culture and the interconnections between identity and learning are crucial to children's success in the classroom and central to the content of this course. We will study how families affect the development of children, for no other unit of analysis more richly displays gender, social, and cultural factors and their influence on individual behavior and development. Today, children spend more time than ever before in early childhood programs and grade schools. We will investigate how families and schools provide a framework for the exploration of the social world and socialize children according to cultural norms. Adverse childhood experiences, trauma, and learning are intertwined in the context of the child’s social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development. In order for teachers to be equipped to help their students in the areas of stress regulation and safety, we will review the impact of toxic stress as well as the range of environmental factors that inhibit children’s development and learning (including poverty and violence). We will also examine racial and gender identity development in young children. Through readings and case-study analyses, students will explore the importance of teachers’ understanding of the complexities of the lives of children and families in order to better prepare for the challenges of the classroom.

Emergent Curriculum is a yearlong course in which children’s interests and approaches to learning are at the forefront. Central to the course is understanding how to create a curriculum that is driven by ideas—striving for wholeness, integration, coherence, meaning—and focused on assisting children in applying knowledge and thinking to real-life problems. Classroom design and organization, media and materials, and approaches to teaching and learning across disciplines will be discussed, with an emphasis on the arts, sciences, and humanities. We will learn how to develop curricula with multiple entry points. We will reflect on ways of knowing in both our own learning and that of the children and explore teaching strategies that expand children’s knowledge and modes of thinking and learning. We will discuss curriculum and teaching strategies for individual subject areas, with an emphasis on the connections among disciplines and building toward an interdisciplinary approach to curriculum and instruction. The roles of the teacher as observer, provisioner, collaborator, and facilitator will be discussed. During the year, we will engage in hands-on inquiry in workshop settings and take multiple local field trips to environmental centers, historical sites, and arts museums—reflecting on our own learning in order to draw implications for classroom practice. We will discuss how children’s interests and questions connect to the large ideas and questions at the core of the subject-matter disciplines. Value will be placed on enabling in-depth inquiry, experimentation, and discovery and on establishing classroom communities based on collaborative learning and rooted in social justice. National and state standards, including the New York State Standards for the Arts, Social Studies, and Sciences, will be critiqued and integrated into our work. By the end of the year, students will create their own multidisciplinary curriculum plan, which will become a resource for colleagues and Art of Teaching alumni.

This course will explore multiple lenses through which we view the concept of education, including theoretical, historical, political, sociological, and cultural perspectives. We will begin by considering the historical roots of contemporary education, with particular emphasis on the history of public education in the United States. Drawing on a variety of readings, films, and in-class projects, we will examine constructs of diversity including race, class, culture, language, ability, gender, and sexual identity and discover ways to create an inclusive learning environment for students and their families. The work of John Dewey and other progressive educators will provide a basis for looking at democratic ideals and “pendulum swings” in American education, including current debates concerning standards, testing practices, and political agendas. Throughout the course, students will be asked to reflect on their own school experiences and fieldwork observations in order to make connections between historical and current educational practices.

This course will place strong emphasis on students’ own understanding of mathematics as directly related to the mathematics that they will be teaching in early-childhood and elementary-school classrooms. The course will focus on core concepts of mathematics teaching and learning: the science of patterns and number relationships. Patterns and functions will serve as the lenses through which students will examine connections to and applications of the topics in the early childhood and childhood school curricula. Students will develop an understanding of the content, concepts, computation, and teaching and learning strategies of mathematics in schools. Emphasis will be placed on constructivist teaching and learning; inquiry-based learning; problem solving; and mathematical reasoning, connections, and communication. Students will be exposed to techniques in differentiating instruction that addresses learning differences and the special needs of English-language learners, as well as ways to identify tasks that challenge and augment mathematical understandings. The use of technology as an integral support for the understanding and application of mathematics will also be a focus of the course. Each class session will provide students with opportunities to engage in authentic mathematical activities, followed by sharing these experiences and ways to implement similar, engaging mathematical tasks in classrooms. As part of their conference work, students will create a concept teaching game and a presentation of the solutions to complex problems.

The field of developmental psychology has been shaped by several different, and often conflicting, visions of childhood experience. These visions have, in turn, influenced early childhood and childhood education practice. In this course, we will study the classical theories—behaviorist, psychoanalytic, and cognitive-developmental—as they were originally formulated and in light of subsequent critiques and revisions. We will focus on the kinds of questions that each theory asks and the “image of the child” that each puts forth. Recent challenges within the field have highlighted specific conceptual problems, which we will address. Are patterns of development universal or culture- specific? Can childhood experiences be thought of as proceeding in a series of stages? How do we construct methods for studying children that will recognize and validate the significance of differing social and cultural experiences? How can we forge a multicultural view of development such that development is understood in terms of how it is experienced within a given cultural context? The goal of the course is to prepare students to integrate theory and practice into their work with children. Required papers will reflect this integration.

This course is open for interviews and registration. Please visit Intensive Semester in Yonkers on MySLC for program information and application.

What benefits should research offer to communities? Can research done on communities produce knowledge or change structures that improve the lived realities of community members? In this course, students will grapple with these and additional questions as they explore community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) and examples of social movements that have turned to CBPAR. We will examine the intersections of policy, global reform efforts on education, immigration, and structural oppression in theory, research, and practice. Based on your understandings of the principles and research methods of CBPAR, you will develop a proposal for a CBPAR project for your internship organization. Through your work in the City of Yonkers, this course invites you to examine the practices of an engaged researcher in service to others seeking to build community. Students may take this course individually or apply to participate in the Intensive Semester in Yonkers.