School Organization and Curriculum Development
Fall 1998 Syllabus
Bernard Badiali, Ph.D.
Department of Educational Leadership
“Culture is an important factor in improving schools. Less obvious is the connection
between culture and theory. The heart and soul of school culture is what people believe,
the assumptions they make about how schools work, and what they consider to be true and
real. These factors in turn provide a theory of acceptability that lets people know how they
should behave. Underneath every school culture is a theory, and every school culture is
driven by its theory. Efforts to change school cultures inevitably involve changing theories
of schooling and school life” (Sergiovanni, 1996, pp. 2-3).
Purposes of the Course:
This course is designed to challenge and shape each student’s conceptions of school
organization, school culture, professional development, teaching, curriculum, and school
leadership. This course will encourage the development of personal and professional
theoretical frameworks and practical tools for enhancing awareness of and action in teacher
roles as decision-maker, curriculum-creator, inquirer, community member/builder,
democratic citizen, and leader. This course is designed to give students of teaching
multiple opportunities to situate themselves as people with personal and professional
identities, growing to meet the demands of a diverse public, a competitive marketplace, and
a complex moral and ethical milieu in the cultures of schools.
Class Meetings:
Class meets every Tuesday and Thursday. Class does not meet during weeks scheduled
for field experiences: Weeks of October 12-22 and Weeks of November 9-20.
Attendance:
Students are expected to attend each class meeting and to be prepared for each day’s
activities, and especially to discuss readings due on due dates. Professional conduct and
development as a teacher requires thoughtful preparation and responsible participation.
Now’s the time to start. Attendance and Participation will constitute 10% of the final
course grade. More than one (1) absence during the course will result in the student
forfeiting the entire 10% allotted for Attendance and Participation in the final course grade.
Three (3) absences will result in the student being dropped from the course.
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Course Readings:
Two books and one course readings packet are required reading for the course.
Sergiovanni, T.S. (1996). Leadership for the Schoolhouse: How Is It Different? Why Is
It Important? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Sizer, T. R. (1996). Horace’s Hope: What Works for the American High School.
Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
418S Readings packet available at the Oxford Copy Shop, Poplar Street.
Course Grades:
Grades are always difficult to assign, but it is my charge and responsibility to do so with
fairness and integrity. By this time in your educational careers, you should be expecting
and expected to produce high quality work throughout the course, both on an individual
basis and in groups. My expectations are high, as are yours. There will be a number of
assignments, with opportunities to grow and improve your abilities to think and to express
ideas throughout the course. Of course, thinking clearly and expressing ideas well are
crucial skills for sound teachers to have. I am always willing to work individually with
students who wish to improve.
Grades on papers will depend on several factors: promptness of submission; clarity,
focus, style, and coherence in written expression; mechanics, usage, and grammar; depth
of thought and attention to the parameters of the assignment. Grades on the final group
integrated curriculum project will include assessments of your contributions by your peers
as well as the teacher’s assessment. The class will determine the rubric for assessing this
activity.
Prompt submission of papers is expected; a full letter grade will be deducted for each day
an assignment is late. It is the teacher’s intention to deliver graded student work back to
students by one week following submission.
Each student will earn a grade on each assignment on the scale of A+ -- F, converted to a
4.0 scale, and weighted according to the following percentages in order to determine the
final grade for the course:
The course assignments are weighted as follows (100% total):
Autobiographical Sketch: 10%
Dialogue Journals and Reading Checks: 15%
Attendance/Participation: 10%
School Culture/Issues Paper: 15%
Case Report Inquiry Projects: 15%
Integrated Curriculum Projects: 20%
Final: Portfolio Draft 15%
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Course Assignments:
All papers, unless otherwise noted, should be typed, double-spaced, 12 font. The
following descriptions are brief; further coaching and delineation of requirements for
assignments will take place throughout the course.
Autobiographical Sketch: 3 pages. This paper lays out your personal, practical
theories of life. In order to get at some honest, legitimate discussion and action on
curriculum, teaching, school organization/culture, and leadership, each of us must first
acknowledge our own personal conceptions of what we know and what we believe/value.
This paper should consist of ideas, facts, stories, and/or experiences that each student feels
comfortable sharing with the teacher and the group.
Dialogue Journals/Notebooks: 2 page minimum each week (approximately 24 pages
total for course), hand-written legibly in a folder with papers attached (no loose leaves) or
word processed and submitted in a folder. Each student will keep a reflective journal that
can be shared with the teacher and the group, with entries focusing on classroom
experiences and reactions to readings. The teacher will supply most prompts. Journals will
be collected and read randomly during the semester. Students will bring the notebooks
each day to class.
School Culture and Organization/Issues Paper: 3 pages. This paper examines a
critical issue in school culture and organization; each student will be asked to write a
critique of an article of their own choosing focusing on school finance, school law, school
labor, or inclusion issues.
Case Report Inquiry Projects: 3 pages, with 1, one-page response by a classmate
attached. Small inquiry groups (4 persons in group) will meet to construct case reports of
actual classroom events and responses to those events.
Integrated Curriculum Design Project: 8 pages, with 1) a clear, precise rationale for
the structure and substance of the course, including course aims and goals; 2) a general
description of an integrated course of study, including a graphic organizer; 3) sample unit
sketches that reflect the rationale and course description; and 4) a description of a clear
means for assessing students and the course. Small groups of 4 students will deliberate on
the curriculum, construct the course design, and present it to the class. More coaching on
the project will be given throughout the course.
Final: Portfolio Draft. Each student will submit a teaching portfolio, upon which
he or she will continue to build through his/her student teaching and professional career.
The portfolio draft will include (at least) a resume; an autobiographical sketch; a philosophy
of education statement; teacher (and student, if available) comments on teaching from field
experiences; examples of curriculum planning and teaching; and teacher inquiry projects.
More coaching on this assignment will be given throughout the course. Begin dumping
data for the portfolio at the beginning of the course.
Pedagogical Approaches in Course:
I will attempt to use multiple strategies for teaching in order to draw out the best ideas in
our shared literature and from you as students. Periodically, I’ll lecture. Most often, we
will discuss materials in large and small groups; work in small groups on class activities
and assignments; use technology to gather resources; engage in case study discussions; et
al. My goal is to model varied and effective approaches to teaching.
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Course Schedule:
***Assignments Due: Prepare for random journal checks throughout semester.
Course Part 1 School Organization, Community, and Leadership
Tu August 25 Course Overview
Readings Due: none. Get books for course.
Tr August 27 Prevalent Organizational Models for Schooling
New Theories for the Schoolhouse
Readings Due: Sergiovanni, pp. 1-43.
Tu September 1 Building Community in Schools
A Moral Voice for Leadership
Readings Due: Sergiovanni, pp. 44-97.
Tr September 3 Shifting Focus to Students and Parents
Readings Due: Sergiovanni, pp. 98-137 .
***Assignment Due: Autobiographical Sketch.
Tu September 8 No Class, Monday Switch Day
Tr September 10 The Prospects for Inquiry
Democratic Concepts for Leadership and Change
Readings Due: Sergiovanni, pp. 138-188.
Course Part 2 The Teacher Inquirer and School Change
Tu September 15 The Rest of the Story
Readings Due: Sizer, Preface, ix-xvii, pp. 1-33; Appendix A, pp. 152-159,
Tr September 17 Words and Work of Reform
Readings Due: Sizer, pp. 34-75.
Tu September 22 What Matters?
Readings Due: Sizer, pp. 76-109; Meier chapter.
Tr September 24 Horace’s Hope? Our Hope?
Readings Due: Sizer, pp. 110-147.
***Assignment Due: By now, each student’s journal will have been read at least
once.
Course Part 3 School Finance, Law, Labor, and Inclusion Issues
Tu September 29 School Finance, Current Dilemmas
Readings Due: TBA Meet in the Rogers Computer Lab, McGuffey #378
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Tr October 1 School Law, Your Responsibilities as Teacher
Readings Due: Newman chapter.
Tu October 6 School Labor, Participating as Colleague
Readings Due: Newman chapter.
Tr October 8 School Inclusion, The Prospects of Reform
Readings Due: Lipsky & Gartner chapters.
***Assignment Due: School Culture/Issues Critique.
Field Experiences October 13-22
Course Part 4 Curriculum Theory, Development, Practice
Tu October 27 Social Concerns in Curriculum
Readings Due: Banks article; Hilliard chapter; Sadker & Sadker chapter; Fashola &
Slavin article.
!!!Group Deliberation Meetings for the final project begin and continue
through rest of class meetings!!!
Tr October 29 Curriculum Deliberation
Readings Due: McCutcheon chapter.
Tu November 3 Examining Means and Ends: Goals and Outcomes
Readings Due: Eisner chapters.
Tr November 5 Integrated Curriculum
Readings Due: Beane chapter.
***Assignment Due: Case Report Inquiry Projects.
Field Experiences November 10-19
Tu December 1 Curriculum Deliberations
Readings Due: None
***Assignment Due: By now each student’s journal will have been read at least
twice.
Tr December 3 Curriculum Deliberations
Tu December 8 Curriculum Deliberations
Tr December 10 Curriculum Presentations to Peers
***Assignment Due: Group Integrated Curriculum Design.
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Week of December 14Final Meeting during Exam Period
***Final Due: Portfolio Draft and presentation to peers.
Reference:
http://www.units.muohio.edu/eduleadership/courses/418/418badialisyll.pdf
