Favorite 3 Course Concepts

Philosophy of Education- What is Education For? By David Orr (1991)

Orr (1991) greets us with the possibility that our future health and prosperity are uncertain because climate stability, our natural systems, biological diversity, and nature's beauty are in jeopardy (p.1). These issues are largely due to over-education rather than ignorance; Orr (1991) points out, "education is no guarantee of decency, prudence, or wisdom" (p.2). Through works of literature, we have been introduced to characters who use knowledge to dominate nature, laying educational foundations "enshrined in myths" (p.2). Such myths include: the idea that ignorance can be solved, that planet Earth can be managed, human goodness is increasing due to knowledge, we can fix what is broken through education, education is a means to upward mobility and success, and finally the myth that our culture represents the highest point in human triumph (p.2-4). Orr (1991) offers six principles in which we may choose to rethink education in order for continued human survival: all education is environmental education- regardless of the subject being taught, each lesson can be related to the natural world; each lesson is a tool to master ourselves; with knowledge comes the responsibility to use it wisely and that it cannot be truly understood until we realize its effects on others and the world; teach through leading by example; and finally the process of learning is just as important as the lesson content (p.4-6). Orr (1991) finishes with encouragement for campuses to focus on graduating "planetary citizens", examine resource usage, direct endowments toward sustainable efforts, and add "ecological literacy" into all curriculum.

Critical Pedagogy- Critical Pedagogy: A Look at the Major Concepts by Peter McLaren (2003)

McLaren (2003) examines critical pedagogy and the major ideas that surround its framework. Critical Pedagogy inquires "how and why knowledge gets constructed the way it does, how and why some constructions of reality are legitmated and celebrated by the dominant cultures why others are not, and asks how our everyday commonsense understandings get produced and lived out" (p.72). McLaren questions the social functions and power of various forms of knowledge and its impact on class and culture and asks how educators can respond to the "passion for ignorance that has infected our culture" (p.92). Students need encouragement from teachers to use what they are being taught as well as their personal experiences to facilitate their ability of self-reflection to adjust the way they want to see and be seen in this world (p.92-93).

Critical Technology- “I Don’t Mean to Bother U But”: Student Email and a Call for Netiquette by Denise D. Knight and Noralyn Masselink (2008)

According to Knight and Masselink (2008), since the early 90's, email has been the choice communication method for students and their professors, and face-to-face meetings are occurring less frequently. Students are choosing the email medium to air assignment issues as well as their personal problems to their professors whenever they feel like it without realizing its level of inappropriateness. Knight and Massleink (2008) note that we have entered "the culture of informality" by allowing the ease of email communication to blur the accessibility boundary lines that once separated students and faculty (p.1). In addition to providing examples of unacceptable student composed emails to their professors, the authors offer advice to these professors to help them convey to students the importance of limits on the quantity and content of emails.