COURSE SYLLABUS
THEORIES OF INQUIRY
FOUNDS 4726 -8110 – 3 s.h.
Prerequisites Good standing in Educational
Leadership doctoral program and Foundations 6 901 or equivalent
Class
Meetings Spring Semester 2003
Thursdays at
Text/Resources Suskind, Patrick (1985) Perfume.
Lyotard,
Jean-Francois (1979) The Postmodern Condition:
A Report on Knowledge.
McFadyen, Ian (2000) Mind Wars.
Gitlin,
Andrew (Ed.)
(1994) Power and Method.
Miller,
John and Aaron Kennedi
(Eds.) (2000) God’s Breath.
Instructor: Dr. Glorianne M. Leck
Department
of Educational Research and Foundations
Office: 4409
Office
Hours: Thursday 6
– 7:30 and by appointment
Office
phone: 330 941 1935
Home Phone: 330 747 8776
E-mail:
f0036363@cc.ysu.edu
Catalog Description:
This course
investigates historic and contemporary theories of how one comes to or goes
about knowing something. Ways of knowing,
believing, categorizing and arriving at certainty, the development of
statements of validity and truth, and construct validity will be examined.
Knowledge Base Rationale:
Gaining an
appreciation for the diversity of ways that human beings have designed and
sanctioned believability in their public interactions is a primary focus of
this course. It is also intended that
dominant styles of knowing and the major critiques of those styles will be
underscored as a basis for developing research and for understanding the
discourse of educational research. The
readings, discussion and investigations related to these matters will assist in
the preparation of reflective and contributing scholars as illustrated in the
following knowledge bases used in setting the course objectives:
1. Certainty is
not always an epistemological possibility and researchers should recognize
constructions of believability to which professionals might agree. They need also recognize the means and
manners of negotiations within and among discourse styles. (Dewey, 1929;
Greene, 1981; Schwab 1978; Spring, 1993; Evans, 1997; and McFadyen, 2000)
2. Competent
scholars must understand and acknowledge that faith in empirical investigations
and resulting information is but one way of believing about knowing and that
said knowledge needs to be seen in relation to other ways of organizing and
attaining knowledge. (K. Popper, 1963; Belenky,1986;
Spencer, 1859; Capra, 1988; Evans, 1997;
Miller and Kenedi, 2000)
3. Qualified
academic researchers must display an ability to read and use a repertoire of
theories of inquiry and related discourses, especially as those theories
contribute to the practice of schooling. ( Apple,
1993; Freire, 1970; Snow, 1959; Minnich, 1990; Scheffler, 1968; Lyotard 1979; Gardner, 1993: Farnham-Diggory, 1994;
Pallas, 2001; Paul, 2001; Educational Researcher, 2002 )
4. Professional
educators need to demonstrate an understanding of the perspectives on and
processes involved in inquiry as it is grounded in diverse locations in social
structures. (West, 1994
; Bernstein, 1971; Bowles and Gintis, 1976; Britzman, 1986;
Belenky, 1986; Leck, 1987; West, 1994; Gitlin 1995; Scheurich, 1997; and Goode,
2002)
Course Objectives:
A.
Knowledge
The students will
1. understand the interplay of idealist theory in processes of
inquiry and educational decision making
2. understand the interplay of realist theory in processes of
inquiry and educational decision making
3, understand the
interplay of pragmatic theory in processes of inquiry and educational decision
making
4. understand how an existentialist critique of traditional
western rationalist values may interplay with educational decision making
5. understand the interplay of feminist critique with
traditions which have been established through idealist, realist and pragmatic
inquiry
6. understand how
social and economic location as predetermined by race, class, gender, religion,
sexual orientation, ableness, poverty, and aesthetic norms for beauty interplay
with both one’s
own inquiry processes, one’s
access to those inquiry processes associated with the dominant culture, and to
education which is politically
controlled
7. understand an historical place in the sanctions for
rationality in constructs of public belief and knowledge
8. understand aspects and possibilities of multiple
intelligences and especially of non-verbal (spatial, pictorial, musical/aural,
mathematical) ways of knowing
9. understand the role of legitimation and sanctions of types
of inquiry as they are endorsed by systems of formal education and government
10. understand the importance of stating assumptions about
inquiry when doing educational research.
B. Skills
The student
will be able to:
1.identify idealism as a form of inquiry as it is
situated in educational decision making processes.
2.identify realism as a form of inquiry as it is
situated in educational decision making processes
3.
identify pragmatic forms of inquiry as they are
situated in educational decision making processes
4. identify existentialist critiques and the interplay between
said critiques and educational decision making processes
5. identify feminist critiques and the interplay between said
critiques and educational decision making processes
6. identify the perspectives brought to educational decision
making by such birth conditions as race, class gender, abledness, religion,
poverty and aesthetic norms of beauty
7. identify the features of sanctioned theories of inquiry and
interactions between and among social and economic conditions related to birth
rights
8. identify roles and sanctions that accommodate and exclude
types of inquiry processes from public discourse
9. demonstrate an ability to identify relationships between and
among types of intelligences and theories of inquiry
¨
Attitudes/Values
The students
will:
1. envision and value the diversity of processes through which
inquiry
can be and is being conducted
2. appreciate and understand the sources of knowledge as we
have come to know them in formal systems of schooling and government
3. promote research and actively work to increase the
effectiveness of instruction and improve educational settings in order that
they may better serve to educate diverse populations
4. value learning and teaching in ways that allow greater use
of diverse types of inquiry
5. be committed to full disclosure of their assumptions about
ways of knowing when doing educational research
TENTATIVE SYLLABUS
8110 SPRING 2003
WEEK 1 January 16, 2003
Subject:
Week 2 Assignment: Perfume by Suskind
Subject: Sensing as a way of
knowing. Discussion.
Week 3 Assignment: General readings on
learning styles, e.g. Howard Gardner, Belinky, et.al.
****Turn in an annotated bibliography on
three of your readings.
Subject: What does it mean to have
understanding? Deciphering contemporary epistemological
assumptions about learning. Instructor will provide a model for a book
report.
Week 4: Assignment: Reading from God's Breath : xi-91 and 223-305.
Looking for epistemological assumptions.
**** submit a 1-2 page summary of some of
the epistemological assumptions you have combed from the assigned readings.
Subject: Belief and Faith
Week 5 and Week 6: Assignment: Reports and
analysis of epistemological assumptions imbedded in faith groups/cultures.
**** Reports oral and written on assigned
sections from God's Breath, Black Elk, North American Indian Reader, The Black
Goddess and the Unseen Real etc.
Subject:
Faith, tradition, and questions of evidence. A look at the
Old Deluder Satan Act and some of the
history of disputes between and among parochial and public educational
operations.
Week 7: Assignment: Do an internet search
on "empiricism" and "positivism." Peruse the library
shelves and science textbooks to capture (copy to read to us) a few of the BRIEF
explanations and justifications for the truth claims of scientific
evidence. Look at your professional
journals to capture a few of the BRIEF explanations and justifications
for a claim to "objectivity" through the current political use of
National Standards and testing as a basis for policy making.
Subject:
What is scientific reason and what is "it's" claim?
Week 8: Assignment: Read Schwab and
rejoinders (in CRC) on "positivism" and assigned selection from John
Dewey.
Subject: Empiricism and rationalism
as basis for authority.
****Reports on Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn,
Stephen Jay Gould,
John Dewey
SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS MEETING
Week 9: Assignment: "How Culture
Molds Habits of Thought" by Goode. (available on
reserve in CRC) Read Paul and Marfo's "Preparation of Educational
Researchers in Philosophical Foundations of Inquiry"
Subject: Consenting to, adhering
to, and/or resisting sanctioned scientific norms of thought.
****Reports on Berger and Luckman. Social
Construction of Reality and Capra's Uncommon Wisdom
Week 10: Assignment:
**** submit a 1-2 page summary (precis) of
the arguments represented by
and in these readings.
Subject:
Experience, generalization, and issues of relativism.
Week 11: Assignment: Read Lyotard's The Postmodern Condition
Subject: Existentialism, Postmodernism, and evidence
related to context.
Week 12: Assigned readings from Power
and Method.
Subject: Cultural context and
educational knowledge
**** Report on West's Race Matters
and Said’s Orientalism
RESEARCH WEEK NO CLASS MEETING
Week 13: Assigned reading McFadyen's Mind
Wars and Fout's Next of Kin or
Ouinn's Ishmael.
Subject: Constructionism. Symbols and control.
**** submit a 1-2 page summary (precis) of
McFayden's argument.
Week 14: Assigned readings by Pallas,
"Preparing Education Doctoral Students for Epistemological Diversity;" Green and
Bigum's "Governing Chaos: Postmodern Science, Informational Technology and
Educational Administration;" and Robert Slavin's "Evidence-Based
Education Policies."
Subject: Leadership in the face of
uncertainty.
Week 15: Turn in culminating paper;
Subject:
Perspectives on Theories of Knowledge
Grading Policy:
There will be a
total of 100 points available in the course, as distributed below.
¨
Assigned
reviews of literature: 30
This includes assignments of annotated
bibliographies
and short summaries and/or precis of readings.
¨
1
assigned topic: written and oral report 15
¨
1
assigned book: written and oral report 15
¨
Culminating
paper 30
This
paper (10 pages or more) should demonstrate your grasp of the literature
reviewed in this course as well as your ability to consider the assumptions and
implications in an analysis of contemporary schooling issues and policy. .
¨
Contributions
to the seminar 10
Scale 92-100 . . .
. . A
83-91 . .
. . . B
75-82 . .
. . . C
67-74 . .
. . . D
00-66 . .
. . . F
You are expected
to work within the formalized rules of academic life. Honesty and integrity are
required. For information on consequences of improper conduct see the YSU
student handbook and the Graduate Catalog under the topic Academic Dishonesty.
Other Course Policies:
Class Attendance is expected and necessary for success in
development of understandings, skills and attitudes that are evaluated for the
course grade.
Missed Presentations and or Assignment
Deadlines:
Pre-arrangements for absence or tardiness in completing assignments are
required unless a legitimate verifiable excuse is presented and accepted.
References:
Student
Bibliography
Apple, Michael
(1993) Official Knowledge.
Bear, Luther
Standing, et.al. in Frederick W. Turner III (Ed.)(1973)
North American Indian Reader.
Belenky, M.F. et.al. (1986) Women’s Ways of Knowing: The Development of
Self, Voice, and Mind.
Berger, Peter and Luckman
, Thomas(1966) The Social Construction of Reality. Garden City,
N.Y.: Doubleday.
Bothamley,
Jennifer, (Ed.) (1993) Dictionary of Theories.
Kingdom:
Gale Research International.
Capra, Frijhof
(1988) Uncommon wisdom .
Dewey, John
(1929) Quest for certainty.
Educational researcher (2002) Vol.31, No. 8, November . Theme issue on
scientific research in education.
Eichelberger, R. Tony
(1989) Disciplined inquiry understanding and doing educational research.
Elk, Black . In
Joseph Epes Brown (Ed.)(1953) The sacred pipe.
Evans, Arthur (1997) Critique of patriarchal
reason.
Farnham-Diggory,
S.(1994)
Paradigms of knowledge and instruction.
Review
of educational research, Fall 1994, Vol. 64, No. 3, pp. 463-477
Gardner, Eileen
M. (1984) The department of education. In Mandate
for leadership II: Continuing the
conservative revolution.
(49-62)
intelligences.
Giroux
, Henry A. (Ed) (1991)
Post modernism, feminism, and
cultural politics.
Press.
Gitlin, Andrew,
(Ed.) (1994) Power
and method.
Goode, Erica (2002) How
culture molds habits of thought. On http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/health/080800hth-behavior-culture.html.
August 8.
Gould, Stephen J.
(1989) Wonderful
life.
Goodman, Robert F. and Walter R. Fisher,(Eds.) (1995) Rethinking knowledge: Reflections across
disciplines.
Grumet, Madeline R. (1987) The politics of personal knowledge. In Curriculum
Inquiry. Vol. 17, pp. 319-329
Kuhn, Thomas (1962) The
structure of scientific revolutions.
Lyotard, Jean-Francois (1979) The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge.
McFadyen, Ian (2000) Mind
wars.
Mead, Margaret (1958)
Changing teacher in a changing world”. In The education of teachers: New perspectives. official report of the second
Miller, John and Aaron Kennedi, (Eds.)(2000) God’s breath.
Minnich,
Pallas, Aaron M. (2001) Preparing
education doctoral students for epistemological diversity. In
Educational researcher. Vol.30, No.5, pp.6-11.
Paul, James L. and Kofi
Marfo (2001) Preparation of educational researchers in philosophical
foundations of inquiry.
In the Review of Educational Research. Vol.71,
No. 4 pp. 525-547.
Popper, Karl R. (1959) The
logic of scientific discovery.
Popper, Karl R. (1963) Conjectures and
refutations.
Quinn, Daniel (1992) Ishmael.
Redfield, James (1993) The
celestine prophecy.
Redgrove. Peter (1987) The
black goddess and the unseen real.
Said, Edward W. (1978) Orientalism
Scheurich, James Joseph and Michelle D. Young (1997) Coloring
epistemologies: Are our research epistemologies racially biased? In Educational
Researcher . Vol.26, no.4, pp. 4-16.
Schrag Francis, et.al. (1992) In defense of positivist research paradigms. In Educational Researcher,
June-July pp. 5-17.
Scott, Joan W. (1991) The
evidence of experience. In Critical Inquiry, No #17, Summer,
pp. 363-400.
Slavin, Robert E. (2002) Evidence-based
education policies: Transforming education practice and research. In Educational researcher, Vol.31.No. 7, pp. 15-21.
Suskind,
Patrick (1987) Perfume.
West, Cornell
(1994) Race Matters.
Witherell, Carol and Nel Noddings, (Eds.)
(1991) Stories lives tell.
Faculty Bibliography
Anderson, Walter Truett (Ed.) (1995) The truth about truth.
Apple,
Michael (1993) Official knowledge.
Ayers, A.J.
(1936) Language,truth, and logic.
Bateson, Gregory(1972)
Steps to an ecology of mind.
Bowles, S. and H. Gintis (1976) Schooling
in capitalist
Britzman, D. (1986) Cultural Myths in The Making of a Teacher: Biography and Social Structure in
Teacher Education. Harvard
educational review, 56 #4.
Burtt, E.A. (1954) The
metaphysical foundations of modern science. Garden City,
Classen, Constance, David Howes,and Anthony Synott (1994) Aroma: The cultural history of
smell.
Dewey, John
(1929) Quest for certainty.
Feyerabend,
Paul (1975, 1988, 1993) Against method.
Freire, Paulo (1970) Pedagogy of the
oppressed.
Gardner, Howard (1972) The
quest for mind.
Goldberg, Ken (Ed.) (2000) The robot in the garden: Telerobotics and
telepistemology in the age of the internet.
Gross, paul R. Norman Levitt, and Martin
W. Lewis, (Eds.)((1996) The flight from science and reason.New
Heisenberg, Werner (1975) Across the frontiers.
Hofstadter, Richard (1970) Anti-intellectualism
in American life.
Leck, G.M. (1987) Feminist Pedagogy,
Liberation Theory, and The Traditional Schooling
Paradigm. Educational theory, no. 37.
McManus, Chris (2002) Right hand left
hand: The origins of asymmetry in brains, bodies, atoms, and cultures. (
Mc Neil, Daniel and Paul Freiberger (1993)
Fuzzy logic.
Nagel, Ernest (1961) The
structure of science: Problems in the logic of scientific explanation.
Passmore, John
(1985) Recent
philosophies.
Polanyi,
Michael (1958) Personal knowledge.
Reichenbach, Hans (1938) Experience and
prediction:An analysis of the foundations and the
structure of knowledge.
Snow, C.P. (1959)
The two cultures and the scientific
revolution. New
Spencer, Herbert
Spencer (1859) What
Knowledge is of Most Worth?
In The
Spring,
Joel (1993) Conflict of interests.
Swartz, Robert J. (Ed.)
(1965) Perceiving, sensing, and knowing. Garden City,
Wright, Will (1992) Wild knowledge: Science,
language, and social life in a fragile environment.