EDUC 500 - Exploring Connections Between Culture, History, and Education

Credit(s): 3
Lecture: 3
Non-Lecture: 0

While school practices and policies share commonalities across countries, there are also significant differences rooted in culture and history. Careful observation of another country’s schools, along with thoughtful reflection, can both broaden our perspectives on schooling and facilitate critical thought about schools and school practices in the United States. This course is designed to address both of these goals. It will inform students’ understanding of the study abroad country’s culture and history and also students’ understanding of the influences on the care and education of children from preschool through compulsory schooling. Students will visit historical sites, museums, and other sites in the study abroad country to understand the ways the country’s history and culture influence the country’s approaches to education. Students will also visit several schools, including preschools and elementary schools, in order to see how these views, and the policies that are based on them, manifest themselves in schools.

Prerequisite(s): Permission from the Study Abroad office