Education
Overview
The education department fuses Bowdoin College's spirit of inquiry and commitment to the common good by connecting the history of schooling, educational theories, and pedagogical approaches to contemporary educational dilemmas. Students are able to coordinate studies in education with the liberal arts curriculum in a variety of ways—including research, community-engaged study, and teacher preparation.
Core Values
The following core values guide all aspects of the education department's curriculum, teaching, and scholarship:
- Be aware of the big picture. The study of education sheds light on one of the fundamental public institutions of the United States. Such study also reveals the humanistic dimensions of teaching and learning that are vital to constructing a meaningful life. Responsible teaching and informed dialogue about education depend upon a solid background in the social foundations of education.
- Embrace theory and practice. Theoretical and text-based inquiries, as well as empirical studies of all kinds, provide a basis for understanding the purpose and practice of education. For teachers, effective practice depends upon a strong foundation of content knowledge and thoughtful application of curricular and pedagogical theory to practice. Teachers and students at all levels of education gain expertise by listening, observing, doing, and reflecting.
- Model and live in the spirit of inquiry. Students and instructors in the education department position themselves first as learners about those they teach and about the communities in which they teach. They recognize the limitations of their own perspectives and the need to draw on multiple sources of knowledge. Students and instructors in the department believe that teachers, especially, cannot assume that others will learn as they did and do. Therefore, teachers cannot teach only as they were taught. Teaching is an intellectually challenging practice that requires ongoing learning, self-assessment, collaboration, and research.
Learning Goals
The following learning goals emerge from the education department's core values and inform the development of individual courses:
- Students draw on disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives to analyze education and schooling, including how power and inequity shape policies, dilemmas, and debates.
- Students draw on disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives to analyze educational practices, teaching, and learning, including how power and inequity shape learning experiences and outcomes.
- Students demonstrate their understanding of the diverse ways individuals and groups make meaning and interpret their experiences of education.
- Students create well-reasoned and research-based arguments to support their beliefs about equitable and quality educational practices, learning environments, and schooling.
Academic Program
Students may choose to coordinate their study of education with any department/program at Bowdoin that offers a major or they may minor in education.
Course selection for the coordinate major is completed in close consultation with an education department advisor. Students who choose to major in sociology, for instance, might construct a course of study that explores “schooling and social difference” and take courses in educational philosophy, sociology of education, student exceptionality, education and citizenship, and gender, sexuality, and schooling. Students who choose to major in government and legal studies might construct a course of study in “school reform” and take courses in educational policy, education and law, school privatization, urban education, and educational history. Students who choose to major in biology and are considering becoming life science teachers might construct a course of study around “science teaching and learning” and take courses in student exceptionality, science education, teaching and learning, curriculum development, and urban education.
Options for Majoring or Minoring in the Department
Students may elect to coordinate a major in education with any other department/program major, or to elect either the mathematics and education or physics and education interdisciplinary major. Students pursuing a coordinate or interdisciplinary major may not normally elect a second major. Non-majors may elect to minor in education.
Doris A. Santoro, Department Chair
Lynn A. Brettler, Department Coordinator
Professors: Charles Dorn, Doris A. Santoro Associate Professor: Alison Riley Miller‡
Visiting faculty: Scott Storm
Lecturer: Kathryn Byrnes
Education Coordinate Major
Students coordinate their study of education with any department/program at Bowdoin that offers a major. To satisfy the requirements for the coordinate major in education, students must complete the six credits detailed below as well as the major requirements within their coordinated department/program.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| EDUC 1101 | Contemporary American Education | 1 |
| Select one first-year writing seminar in education (1000-1049) or one education course at the 2000 level or higher. | 1 | |
| Select four courses at the 2000 level or higher. | 4 | |
- Students may count one intermediate independent study and one advanced independent study toward the major.
- With departmental approval, one study away course or course that is not cross-listed with the education department may be used to fulfill the major requirements.
- Majors may count up to two courses cross-listed with education towards the major.
- All majors are encouraged to take a course at the 3000 level.
Education Minor
A minor in education requires four courses:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| EDUC 1101 | Contemporary American Education | 1 |
| Select one first-year writing seminar in education (1000-1049) or one course in education at the 2000 level or higher. | 1 | |
| Select two courses in education at the 2000 level or higher. | 2 | |
- Students may count one intermediate independent study or one advanced independent study toward the minor.
- With departmental approval, one study away course or course that is not cross-listed with the education department may be used to fulfill the minor requirements.
- Minors may count up to two courses cross-listed with education towards the minor.
- All minors are encouraged to take a course at the 3000 level.
Interdisciplinary Majors
The education department participates in interdisciplinary programs in education and mathematics and in education and physics. See the Interdisciplinary Majors area for more information.
Additional Information and Department Policies
- Students may count one intermediate independent study and one advanced independent study toward the major.
- Students may count one intermediate independent study or one advanced independent study toward the minor.
- Students may count up to two courses cross-listed with education toward the coordinate major.
- All majors and minors are encouraged to take an education course at the 3000 level.
- Courses that count toward the coordinate major or minor must be taken for regular letter grades.
- Students must earn a grade of C- or better in order to have a course count toward the coordinate major or minor or serve as a prerequisite.
Bowdoin Teacher Scholars Program
The Bowdoin Teacher Scholars are a select group of Bowdoin undergraduates and graduates who embrace the College’s commitment to the common good by becoming teachers through a rigorous scholarly and classroom-based program. For the most current information about the Bowdoin Teacher Scholars program, please visit the website here.
- Students interested in the Bowdoin Teacher Scholars teacher certification program may complete the program’s four prerequisite courses in the context of the coordinate major or the minor, or they may choose to do so outside of either the coordinate major or the minor.
- Courses in the teaching pathway must be taken at Bowdoin.
- Courses must be taken for regular letter grades to apply to Bowdoin Teacher Scholars eligibility.
- Students must earn a grade of C- or better in order to have a course count as a content area requirement.
- Students should be aware that EDUC 3301 Teaching and Learning and EDUC 3302 Curriculum Development have “content area” prerequisite courses that are taken outside of the education department. These are:
- Social Studies: Two courses in history and two additional courses in government, anthropology, economics, history, sociology, or psychology.
- English: Four courses in English.
- Mathematics: Four courses in mathematics.
- World Languages: Four courses in a language.
- Life Science: Four courses in biology.
- Physical Science: Three courses in one of the following: earth and oceanographic science, chemistry, or physics, and one course in one of the other departments.
Information for Incoming Students
Students who have an interest in studying education (including those who hope to become certified secondary school teachers) should take EDUC 1101 Contemporary American Education either their first or second semester (the course is offered every semester).
The Bowdoin Education Department offers a no-cost opportunity to become a certified public school teacher. Students who complete the Bowdoin Teacher Scholars program are eligible for loan reimbursement. This program can be completed as an undergraduate or within two years of graduation. Please see a member of the Education Department to discuss your eligibility and plan your pathway.
EDUC 1015 (c, FYS) Urban Education and Community Organizing
Approaches urban schools and communities as sites of promise and innovation as well as sites for social and political struggle. Examines the significance of community organizing as a form of education and the role of community organizing to improve urban schools. Readings include an examination of organizing tactics from historical figures such as Saul Alinsky, Ella Baker, Myles Horton, and Dolores Huerta. Topics may include "grow your own" teacher initiatives, parent trigger laws, and culturally-sustaining educational programming. (Same as: URBS 1015)
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Spring 2020.
EDUC 1020 (c) The Educational Crusade
Why do you go to school? What is the central purpose of public education in the United States? Should public schools prepare students for college? The workforce? Competent citizenship? Who makes these decisions and through what policy process are they implemented? Explores the ways that public school reformers have answered such questions, from the Common School Crusaders of the early nineteenth century to present advocates of No Child Left Behind. Examining public education as both a product of social, political, and economic change and as a force in molding American society, highlights enduring tensions in the development and practice of public schooling in a democratic republic.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2020.
EDUC 1028 (b) Sociology of Campus Life: Race, Class, and Inequality at Elite Colleges
Explores higher education in the contemporary United States through a sociological lens, highlighting the ways that elite colleges and universities both promote social mobility and perpetuate inequality. Examines the functions of higher education for students and society; issues of inequality in college access, financing, campus experiences, and outcomes later in life; the history and consequences of affirmative action; how and why historically white colleges and universities have diversified their student bodies; the challenges and benefits of diversity and inclusion on campus; and other topics. Emphasis on writing sociologically for public and academic audiences (Same as: SOC 1028)
Previous terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020.
EDUC 1101 (c, DPI) Contemporary American Education
Every Semester. Fall 2023; Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 48.
What are the purposes of public education and what makes it public? Do schools serve an individual good or a collective good? Is Americas system of public education organized to serve these purposes? What is the public’s responsibility towards public education? How do current school reforms affect various stakeholders? The primary objective is to examine the cultural, social, economic, and institutional dilemmas confronting public schooling in the United States today. By approaching these dilemmas as unsolved puzzles instead of systematic failures, important insights are gained into the challenges confronting a democratic society historically committed to the public provision of education. Considers which theories and purposes of education motivate current reform efforts. Likewise, examines who shapes public discourse about public education and by what strategies. Employs a mixed approach of reading, discussion, and class-based activities to explore important educational issues including school reform and finance, charter schools, busing, vouchers, unequal educational opportunities and outcomes; and accountability, standardization, and testing.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019.
EDUC 2049 (c) Learning from Nature: A History of Environmental Education in America
Non-Standard Rotation. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 35.
Species Extinction. Deforestation. Acid Rain. Climate Change. For a century and a half Americans have quarreled ardently over the causes and consequences of environmental decline. The frequency of these debates—and their ferocity—compels the question of how Americans came to know and believe, what they thought they knew and believed, about the natural world. This course investigates how educators and entrepreneurs, politicians and policy makers, used environmental education as a vehicle for promoting a wide array of cultural, political, and economic beliefs alongside, if not often in place of, fostering students’ understanding of the natural world. It examines many different forms of environmental education put into practice over the course of the long-twentieth century and demonstrates how teaching about nature was often harnessed to influence young people’s identities, behaviors, and beliefs.
Prerequisites: EDUC 1020 or EDUC 1101 or HIST 1000 - 2969 or HIST 3000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.
EDUC 2203 (c) Educating All Students
Every Fall. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 25.
An examination of the economic, social, political, and pedagogical implications of universal education in American classrooms. Focuses on the right of every student, including students with physical and/or learning differences, and those who have been identified as gifted, to an equitable education. Requires a minimum of twenty-four hours of observation in a local secondary school.
Prerequisites: EDUC 1101.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019.
EDUC 2204 (c) Educational Policy
An examination of educational policy-making and implementation at the federal, state, and local levels. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between policy and school practice and the role practitioners play in policy-making. Policies explored include school choice, standards and accountability, No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, the Common Core, and Proficiency-Based Instruction.
Prerequisites: EDUC 1020 or EDUC 1101.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2019.
EDUC 2206 (b, DPI) Sociology of Education
Non-Standard Rotation. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 35.
Examines the ways that formal schooling influences individuals and the ways that social structures and processes affect educational institutions. Explores the manifest and latent functions of education in modern society; the role education plays in stratification and social reproduction; the relationship between education and cultural capital; the dynamics of race, class, and gender in education; and other topics. (Same as: SOC 2206)
Prerequisites: Two of: SOC 1101 and SOC 2000 - 2969.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2022, Fall 2020.
EDUC 2211 (c) Education and the Human Condition
Explores the relationship between education and being/becoming human. Topics may be guided by the questions: What does it mean to be an educated person? How can education lead to emancipation? How might teaching and learning lead to the good life? What is our responsibility to teach the next generation? Readings may include works by Hannah Arendt, John Dewey, W. E. B. Du Bois, Plato, Jacques Rancière, among others.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.
EDUC 2222 (b) Educational Psychology
Non-Standard Rotation. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 35.
This course introduces the foundations of adolescent development and educational psychology. We examine topics such as identity development, cognitive development, social and cultural approaches to learning, risk taking, resilience, and positive youth development for young people ages 10-19. Course concepts and theories will be grounded in empirical research and will be applied to understanding contemporary opportunities and challenges faced by adolescent learning in both school and out-of-school environments. Insights for the ways in which educators can design learning experiences to better serve students’ needs from a variety of backgrounds will be cultivated through a field placement working with students. (Same as: PSYC 2012)
Prerequisites: EDUC 1101 or PSYC 1101 or Placement in above PSYC 1101.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.
EDUC 2248 (c) Getting In: Merit, Equity, and Educational Admissions
What does it take to get admitted to a school, class, or program? From the time students enter the educational system, they encounter judgments about their worthiness for countless opportunities. What factors weigh in their favor? Who decides whether they deserve a spot? What does a fair admissions system look like? In this course, students will be introduced to the theory and practice of educational admissions in multiple contexts. While providing a broad overview, this course will also engage students in a deep exploration of contemporary and controversial topics that have a profound influence on the field, including: access and equity; bias and discrimination; standardized tests and “non-cognitive” variables; race and ethnicity in selective admission; academic tracking; and giftedness. By the end of the course, students will have a deeper understanding of the competing interests, ethical considerations, and social implications that factor into educational admissions.
Prerequisites: EDUC 1101.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2020.
EDUC 2250 (b) Education and Law
A study of the impact of the American legal system on the functioning of schools in the United States through an examination of Supreme Court decisions and federal legislation. Analyzes the public policy considerations that underlie court decisions in the field of education and considers how those judicial interests may differ from the concerns of school boards, administrators, and teachers. Issues to be discussed include constitutional and statutory developments affecting schools in such areas as free speech, sex discrimination, religious objections to compulsory education, race relations, teachers’ rights, school financing, and the education of those with disabilities. (Same as: GOV 2024)
Previous terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020.
EDUC 2260 (c) Science Education: Purpose, Policy, and Potential
Why do all Americans need to learn science and what are we doing to improve science education in our schools? With the release of the Next Generation Science Standards and in response to America’s poor standing on international assessments of math and science, there has been a shift in public interest and dialogue around why and how we teach science that is reminiscent of the late 1950s after the Soviet launch of Sputnik. Considers the goals of science education in the United States and explores research and policy related to science curriculum, teaching practice, and student learning.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2020.
EDUC 2272 (c) Urban Education and Community Organizing
Approaches urban schools and communities as sites of promise and innovation as well as social and political struggle. Examines the significance of community organizing as a form of education and the role of community organizing to improve, defend, and transform urban schools. Engages in major debates around urban education through readings and films. Features the perspectives of leading education researchers, policymakers, community organizers, and teacher scholars. Includes discussions of popular education, parent trigger laws, privatization, social movement unionism, and culturally-sustaining educational programming. (Same as: URBS 2272)
Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.
EDUC 2279 (b) Diversity in Higher Education
Explores higher education in the contemporary United States through a sociological lens, highlighting the ways that colleges and universities both promote social mobility and perpetuate inequality. Examines the functions of higher education for students and society; issues of inequality in college access, financing, campus experiences, and outcomes later in life; the challenges and benefits of diversity and inclusion; and other topics, with special attention across all topics to the case of African Americans. (Same as: SOC 2330, AFRS 2330)
Prerequisites: SOC 1101.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2021.
EDUC 2285 (c) The Ivory Tower: Higher Education in American History
Non-Standard Rotation. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 16.
What roles have colleges and universities in the United States played over time? This course examines the social, political, and economic tensions that transformed higher education from a collection of small, narrowly defined, postsecondary institutions in the eighteenth century into a vast, multipurpose educational enterprise in contemporary society. The course emphasizes writing as a process and incorporates instruction in research-driven writing leading to students completing a major research project. (IRBW)
Prerequisites: EDUC 1020 or EDUC 1101 or HIST 1000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2022, Spring 2021.
EDUC 2325 (b, DPI) Adolescent Literacies: Schooling, Society, and Power
Non-Standard Rotation. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 35.
Explores how adolescents’ literacies intersect with social identities, discourses, and power. Examines youths’ literacy practices including reading in schools, digital composing on social media platforms, and embodied performances through table-top roleplaying games. Particular attention is paid to how literacies are intertwined with systems of race, class, gender, and sexuality in schools and across communities. Draws on a range of analytic tools including those from education, anthropology, sociology, literary studies, linguistics, and computational studies as well as theories of aesthetics, semiotics, and criticality.
Prerequisites: EDUC 1015 (same as URBS 1015) or EDUC 1020 or EDUC 1101.
EDUC 3301 (c) Teaching and Learning
Every Fall. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 18.
A study of what takes place in classrooms: the methods and purposes of teachers, the response of students, and the organizational context. Readings and discussions help inform students’ direct observations and written accounts of local classrooms. Peer teaching is an integral part of the course experience. Requires a minimum of thirty-six hours of observation in a local secondary school. Education 3302 must be taken concurrently with this course. In order to qualify for this course students must have Education 1101 and 2203; junior or senior standing; a concentration in a core secondary school subject area (English: four courses in English; foreign language: four courses in the language; life science: four courses in biology; mathematics: four courses in mathematics; physical science: three courses in chemistry, earth and oceanographic science, or physics and one course in one of the other departments listed; or social studies: two courses in history and two courses in anthropology, economics, government, history, psychology or sociology. Permission of the instructor.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019.
EDUC 3302 (c) Curriculum Development
Every Fall. Fall 2023. Enrollment limit: 18.
A study of the knowledge taught in schools; its selection and the rationale by which one course of study rather than another is included; its adaptation for different disciplines and for different categories of students; its cognitive and social purposes; the organization and integration of its various components. Education 3301 must be taken concurrently with this course. In order to qualify for this course, students must have Education 1101 and 2203; junior or senior standing; and a concentration in a core secondary school subject area (English: four courses in English; foreign language: four courses in the language; life science: four courses in biology; mathematics: four courses in mathematics; physical science: three courses in chemistry, earth and oceanographic science, or physics and one course in one of the other departments listed; or social studies: two courses in history and two courses in anthropology, economics, government, history, psychology, or sociology). Permission of the instructor.
Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019.
EDUC 3303 (c) Student Teaching Practicum
Every Spring. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18. Credit/D/F Only.
Required of all students who seek secondary public school certification, this final course in the student teaching sequence requires that students work full time in a local secondary school from early January to late April. Grading is Credit/D/Fail. Education 3304 must be taken concurrently. Students must complete an application and interview. Students with the following are eligible for this course: Education 2203, 3301 , and 3302; junior or senior standing; a cumulative 3.0 grade point average; a 3.0 grade point average in Education 3301 and 3302; and eight courses in a subject area that enables them to be certified by the State of Maine (English: eight courses in English; world language: eight courses in the language; life science: six courses in biology and two additional courses in biology, biochemistry, or neuroscience; mathematics: eight courses in mathematics; physical science: six courses in chemistry, earth and oceanographic science, or physics, and one course in each of the other departments listed; or social studies: six courses in history (at least two must be non-United States history) and one course each in two of the following departments: anthropology, economics, government, psychology, or sociology).
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.
EDUC 3304 (c) Bowdoin Teacher Scholar Seminar: Analysis of Teaching and Learning
Every Spring. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 18.
Taken concurrently with Education 3303, Student Teaching Practicum. Considers theoretical and practical issues related to effective classroom instruction. Students with the following are eligible for this course: Education 2203, 3301, and 3302; junior or senior standing; a cumulative 3.0 grade point average; a 3.0 grade point average in Education 3301 and 3302; and eight courses in a subject area that enables them to be certified by the State of Maine (English: eight courses in English; world language: eight courses in the language; life science: six courses in biology and two additional courses in biology, biochemistry, or neuroscience; mathematics: eight courses in mathematics; physical science: six courses in chemistry, earth and oceanographic science, or physics, and one course in each of the other departments listed; or social studies: six courses in history (at least two must be non-United States history) and one course each in two of the following departments: anthropology, economics, government, psychology, or sociology).
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.
EDUC 3333 (c) Contemporary Research in Education Studies
Every Year. Spring 2024. Enrollment limit: 16.
Draws together different theoretical, policy, and practice perspectives in education in the United States around a specific topic of inquiry determined by the instructor. Examines methodological perspectives in the field, e.g., quantitative, qualitative, and humanistic research. Students read original, contemporary research and develop skills to communicate with various educational stakeholders.
Prerequisites: Three of: EDUC 1101 and EDUC 2000 - 2969 or either EDUC 3000 or higher and either EDUC 2000 - 2969 or EDUC 3000 or higher.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2019.
EDUC 3535 (b) Economics of Education
Seminar. Examines the theoretical and empirical analysis of education decision-making and the consequences of educational choices using an economic lens. Begins with the basic human capital model and expands on it to consider signaling, the interplay between ability and human capital, modeling expectations, and the many challenges of measuring the rate of return to educational investment. Educational policies from preschool to graduate studies are also considered, including the public funding of education, class size, and outcome testing. Examples are drawn from both developed and developing countries. (Same as: ECON 3535)
Prerequisites: Two of: ECON 2555 and ECON 2557 or MATH 2606.
Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2021, Spring 2020.