This course explores a range of contemporary issues and trends in community engagement in education. It addresses educational issues in schools and colleges, not only in the United States but in global contexts as well. It explores critically key themes, definitions and approaches to community engagement in education in individuals' lives across the lifespan, and examines how education helps shape social life in urban/rural areas and other settings. It interrogates policy documents used to understand the problems and current debates related to community engagement in education by individual stakeholders and policymakers as well institutions involved with educational development in diverse local, national and global settings, including the UNESCO "Incheon Declaration." This course is designed to provide students with the grounding they need to perform confidently and competently in areas of their professional practice. It is an opportunity for the critical study of community engagement in education that is relevant to students' professional goals. The course provides tools to explore and assess the theories, ideologies and issues of education from multiple perspectives as well as to situate students' thinking about the issues in searching for policy and practice interventions. Students will frame the discussions within the contextual and practical realities of life in schools and other educational institutions through a range of conceptual lenses, exploring the debates over the meaning and nature of social justice in education, debates that intersect with questions about the person, society, education and knowledge as they strive to understand the complex issues in the field of education. Goals and objectives are aligned with SCAE program commitments to developing in students: deep specialized knowledge; intellectual/practical skills in innovation; taking personal/social responsibility for change; applying/integrating knowledge/understanding to problems of practice; understanding/embracing a commitment to equity; active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity.
Credits: 3.0