Learning Experience

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.

Throughout the semester, we will engage in many small group discussions and a variety other types of learning experiences. While I will lead many, so you will have opportunities to design and lead learning experiences as well. The Learning Experience assignment was designed to scaffold student engagement with the assigned readings. 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.

For learning experiences, 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 learning experience. The learning experience takes place on Thursday in class.

For the Learning Experience assignment, LCs are responsible for planning and teaching a lesson for the whole class (~20 minutes). On three (3) occasions across the semester, your LC will take on this responsibility. Following the in-class lesson they teach, individual LC members post a self-reflection essay to their blogs (˜500 words) (Details below).

Readings have already been assigned to LCs from the selection of the eReadings. Assigned readings are also posted on the course calendar week by week: Click on Calendar & Agendas. The Schedule for when your LC is teaching a learning experience is available on the <– left sidebar of the website.

This project has three phases. Your responsibilities include

  1. prior to class | prepare the reading
  2. during class on Tuesday |
    • discuss the assigned reading.
    • plan and develop your lesson.
  3. during class on Thursday | engage our class in the lesson you developed.
  4. after class | write a brief essay (~ 500 words) and post it to your blog
    • about the assigned reading,
    • about the lesson.

Learning Experience (Lx) BlogPost

Learning Experience Blog Post essays are due at midnight on the Friday following your classroom learning experience. (~ 500 words)

Elements to address in your Learning Experience BlogPost in four (4) parts

Following the learning experience (lesson) you taught with your LC, and to earn credit for your work, each LC member writes a first person narrative essay (~500 words).

Part 1 | About the lesson that your LC planned and taught, please discuss

  1. Themes from the reading your LC chose to emphasize in the lesson and why,
  2. Student learning goals or objectives for the lesson,
  3. Intention to actively involve your students in your lesson,

Part 2 | Self-Reflection

  1. What you learned about the topic
  2. Why the topic matters to you
  3. Your contributions to planning the lesson,
  4. Your responsibilities teaching the lesson.

Part 3 | References consulted for the lesson and/or blog post.

Your contribution to the development and staging of your class lessons will be assessed using the Learning Experience Assessment Rubrics. 

Designing & Leading Learning Experiences

Follow the link above to identify a few websites with pedagogical ideas and tools to consider as you design and plan your learning experiences.