Current Connections

Introduction

ED2110 School and Society centers on the well-being of all children in the context of education and thus concerns matters of social justice. As an institution of society, education, conditions and is conditioned by the discursive practices of so many other institutions, such as the criminal justice system, the family, local, state and federal governments, the media, and the field of psychology. The themes and issues guiding ED2110, School & Society, are curated within weekly assigned readings. These readings place emphasis on matters of social justice at the intersection of the field of education with one or more of these institutions.

For current connections, students learn collaboratively in learning circles (LCs) of three to five students, lead learning experiences during class and write reflective essays relating course themes to their lived experiences as students. With their learning circles, students attend an overview lecture, engage in a synchronous in person co-study and planning experience (during-class) on Tuesday. Following the during-class, students may meet again with their LC to complete planning of their current connections. The current connections takes place on Thursday in class.

The Current Connections assignment was designed to scaffold student engagement with the assigned readings. For the assignment, on three (3) occasions across the semester, LC members are responsible for identifying an issue from the assigned reading and researching a recent article that considers this issue or theme in the current moment. Students prepare a discussion with the class and, following the discussion, individual LC members post a self-reflection essay to their blogs.

Readings are selected from the field of educational studies. This sub discipline of the field of education concerns the historical, political, economic, philosophical, legal, socio-cultural study of the field of education. Readings provide students with encounters with central themes and topics that relate issues in social justice to practices of schooling and the field of education in the United States.

Current Connections Assigned Readings

Current Connections Procedures

Write a brief essay to synthesize the week’s assigned reading with your selection of a recently published (within the past two years) newspaper or magazine article. (~ 500 words plus the citation of the article).

  1. prior to class | prepare the reading
  2. during class on Tuesday |
    • discuss the assigned reading.
    • plan and develop your discussion.
  3. during class on Thursday | engage our class in the current connection you developed.
  4. after class | write a brief essay (~ 500 words) and post it to your blog. (Please consult the Current Connections Blogpost Guide).
    • about the assigned reading.

 Current Connections Assessment Rubric

OhioLink Databases

Newspaper Source This opens a pop-up window to share the URL for this databaseProvides full text for 245 regional U.S. newspapers, eighteen international newspapers, six newswires, and nine newspaper columns, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Los Angeles Times (for a total of 194 full text newspapers and other sources).