I.  Course Description

  (1) be an insightful and effective educator in an increasingly diverse complex society, one in which problems associated with cultural differences, immigration, and disparities in wealth, power, and influence heighten the challenges faced by public school educators;

  (2) articulate and address the classwide and schoolwide responsibilities which stem from the four moral dimensions of teaching which provide the foundation for the National Network for Educational Renewal/Coalition of Partner Schools agenda at Cal Poly;

  (3) insightfully and successfully interact with individuals who identify with specific California/ U.S.A. minority groups "of color" in general and Mexican Americans and African Americans in particular; and

  (4) insightfully and successfully interact with "English learners," students who are learning English as a second language.

 Experience with both pre-service candidates and in-service teachers over the past two decades suggests that for most candidates this mission is facilitated by readings, videotapes, field experiences, written assignments, discussions (small and large group), and listserv sharing which provide fresh insight into:

  (a) the various ways multicultural education has been defined, critiqued, and defended in recent decades;

  (b) the wide range of groups (and therefore individuals) who fall under the contemporary multi-cultural education "umbrella of concern";

  (c) the ways in which multicultural education can be operationalized in secondary school classrooms and settings;

  (d) the social construction of knowledge, and in particular the way in which this phenomena has influenced our understanding of educational equity

  (e) the historical and contemporary encounter of African Americans and Mexican Americans in California's schools and social institutions;

  (f) selected meanings of terms such as culture, cultural group, ethnic group, ethnocultural group, racism, and racial identity; and

  (g) one's own cultural and ethnic identity.

 Along with the course readings, the professor will utilize a cooperative group discussion strategy which can be adapted for use in several secondary content areas.   In addition, a major component of the course will be a field assignment which will allow candidates to develop an instructional relationship with one or several secondary school students.   Where possible, these students will be members of groups which have historically been underserved by American public schools.  Where possible, candidates will be placed in settings which will allow them to gain insight into instructional strategies currently used to facilitate the education of second language learners. The seven hour field assignment will consist of a minimum of one hour at the school site and roughly one hour in traveling to and from the site.  Students will visit a school site during seven weeks of the quarter, and during those seven weeks the class will meet one day a week for two hours and one day a week for one hour.

II.  Selected Course Objectives

  (a) accurately perceive (and understand) themselves as cultural/ethnic "actors" or "helpers" who live and work with clients in a society where culture and ethnicity are significant factors, and with that perception/knowledge be better able to respond to their client's needs, strengths, and learning styles;

  (b) identify cultural and contextual factors which may, in certain circumstances, tend to make the learning process more difficult or successful;

  (c) use cultural information about selected ethnic and language minority learners to support the academic learning of these students and communicate more sensitively with these learners and their support system (parents, etc.);

  (d) restructure instructional activities, lessons, lesson sequencing and units of instruction so that their total classroom curriculum will more wisely incorporate a multicultural perspective;

  (e) use cooperative learning (discussion) groups to establish and maintain a positive "group dynamic" in a learning situation; and

  (f) make use of specially designed academic instruction in English (sometimes called "Sheltered Academic Instruction") to facilitate the learning of "English learners";

  (g) speak and write more insightfully about multicultural education as a concept, process, and social reform movement; and

  (h) speak and write more insightfully about the moral dimensions of teaching.

III. Course Documents

  (a) The Multicultural Education Reader, editors:  Leonard & Patricia Davidman (El Corral).

  (b) The ED 302 Resource Notebook (El Corral Publication).

  (c) Teaching with a Multicultural Perspective by Leonard and Patricia Davidman (Longman, 2nd    edition).

  (d) Chicanos in California:  A History of Mexican Americans in California by Albert Camarillo.

 IV. Evaluation Criteria and Procedures

 Area #                                                                   Value (# of points)

   1. Mid-Quarter Quiz (30 Multiple choice items)     60

   2. Reaction Paper #1        75

   3. End-of-Quarter Quiz (20 multiple choice items)     60

   4. Reaction paper #2        75

   5. Field Experience Summary       30

   6. Portfolio of Typewritten Discussion Questions     30

This will consist of five to ten questions from the set you have prepared for your small and large group discussions.  You may have handwritten them initially, but the ones you submit at the middle and at the end of the quarter should be typewritten. All students are required to keep a log of their participation and observation experiences.  It is expected that you will involve yourself professionally in the program you work with, and particularly with the students you tutor, and it is my hope that you experience a degree of self-awareness and professional growth.

   7. Final Essay (Summary of Course Learningsó1000 ­ 1200 words)   50

   8. Attendance and Punctuality        20

The following information regarding the distribution of points in the above areas, as well as the activities themselves, may prove helpful.

 (a) Regarding attendance each session (on and off campus) will count for 3 points.  Points will  be
  taken off for lateness, sessions missed because of illness, etc. in a judicious manner.  Excellent
  (100%) attendance and on-going preparedness is quite important to the course dialogue and the
  clients you will work with.

 (b) Candidates' written assignments and journals will be reviewed on a random basis throughout the quarter, and a packet of written assignments will be collected at the end of the quarter.  I will be trying to model here a practical approach to individual accountability in the context of cooperative learning and teaching.  The goal here is to stimulate and reinforce a heightened sense of responsibility to your discussion group...in a bureaucratic setting.  Journal entries are an optional part of each written assignment.  If you have written a journal entry submit it at the beginning of the session.  Journal entries are not evaluated for points.  They allow students to have private exchanges with the instructor regarding the readings of the course, as well as the overall content of the course.

 (c) The mid-quarter and end-of-quarter quiz will consist of a set of multiple choice and true/false items from based on the Davidman and Multicultural Education Reader documents.  Questions pertaining to other required readings will also be a part of quiz number one and possibly two.

 (d) All students will participate in an observational and quasi-tutorial experience in a secondary school
  setting.  The purpose of this activity is primarily to provide you with a cross-cultural experience in a
  secondary school setting, but the approximately ten hours of field experience should also expand
  your awareness of the range of support and alternative programs that are available to secondary
  school candidates (alternative high schools, ELD and SDAIE programs, Upward Bound, AVID, etc.

  The content of your (hand or typewritten) log should include not only what you did, but how you
   felt and what you observed.  If you observed behavior that "turned you off" or the opposite, please
  say so; this material may be used as the basis for a class discussion.  During specific identified
  sessions I will randomly peruse your logs.  In addition, during session #19 I will collect from each
  student a summary of your field experience.  This summary should be typed (dark print), double
  spaced, and should be between two and three pages in length, and definitely not more than five
  pages.  From this summary I should learn:

  (1) what you did at your site across the quarter;

  (2) what you learned about yourself and/or from working with students from different
 backgrounds than your own;

  (3) what you found rewarding and/or frustrating in the field component of "302";

  (4) how you feel the field component can be improved in the future; and

  (5) if there are other things you would like to include in your summary.

 (e) During the quarter you will write responses for approximately 40 discussion questions, in preparation for small group discussions in "302".  During the last week of the quarter you will submit five to ten of the discussion questions you feel (1) best represented the high level of  thought and preparation you put into these discussion questions, and (2) will be of most interest to your instructor.  The discussion questions you submit should be typewritten.  You can elaborate on any of your initial responses.

 (f) Your reaction papers are intended to raise everyone's level of cross-cultural awareness and multicultural pedagogy.  To help explain this assignment, as well as stimulate dialogue across "generations" of "302" candidates, I will occasionally share reaction papers from one 302 section with future 302 sections.  Students who wish to opt out of this dialogue will have the opportunity to do so.  In addition, after each set of reaction papers are submitted, I will (likely) lecture on one or more of the essays in our collection, and will make use of selected student responses as I attempt to create an illuminating learning experience for all.  What you write in your reaction papers will enrich the dialogue and learning in your small (five to six candidates) cooperative discussion group as well as the larger community of learners.  If you have feelings and thoughts that cannot be openly discussed in the large group, save those for your small group dialogue and/or include them in a journal entry to the instructor.  When you write your reaction papers, the audience you are writing to and for your colleagues in "302", and not the instructor exclusively.

The content and style of your essay will be evaluated using the "Critique Form for Written  Assignments" on page       of the Resource Notebook.  But, please note that you will not lose any points for the content of your reactions to the content of the essay you choose to react to; in this  course candor, as well as the sensitive use of language, is valued.    However, points will be taken  off for incorrect punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, awkward phrasing, lack of clarity, etc. in your reaction papers and other written assignments.   In most cases two points will be taken off per error  the first time the error occurs.   Proofreading errors, lack of pagination, and failure to utilize subheadings will result in the loss of one point.

 (g) Based on a total of 400 points, grades will be assigned as follows:
   A = 375-400    B = 330-344
   A- = 360-374    B- = 315-329
   B+ = 345-359    C+ = 300-314 ... and so on.