UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA Candidate dispositions for the development and demonstration of     ethical and professional attitudes and beliefs. On-going, active reflection on professional practice. Multiculturalism through educators who value diversity and advocate     for the success of all students within diverse learning communities. Professional growth of pre-service and experienced educators and     other helping professionals. Academic programs that are rigorous, standards-based, and model and     apply innovative and enduring ideas about teaching and learning. Scholarship for advancement of the professional knowledge base. Service to the University, P-12 schools, the profession, and the     community.
EDG 2701-106 Teaching Diverse Populations University of North Florida 3 Credit Hours Fall 2004
Candice C. Carter  Phone 620-1881 Fax 620-1025 E mail: ccarter@unf.edu Peacemaker Site: www.peacemaker.st Amnesty International at UNF: www.unf.edu/groups/amnesty/			Office Hours:  Tuesday, 12:30 - 2:30 Thursday 4:30 - 5:30 Stop by my office at any time.

Required Texts

Recommended Text

Course Description

       In consonance with the conceptual framework of COEHS, this course will provide potential educators who are seeking admission to teacher education programs with knowledge about becoming responsive teachers in culturally diverse, inclusive, and urban classrooms. Diversity topics addressed include culture, ethnicity, race, language, social class, exceptionality, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, and conflict analysis. Implications of the diversity dimensions are identified for educational policy, curriculum, and instruction.

Course Goals

       As indicated within the COEHS Conceptual Framework, a key knowledge base of teaching is one that engages students in active and problem-based learning. This course is designed to engage students in learning from multiple perspectives and responding to human
diversity including conflict analysis and proactive problem solving.

Course Objectives

       As a result of this course, students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of:
       1. the changing history and demographics in U. S. A. and the world regarding ethnicity, race, culture, language, spirituality or religion, and socioeconomic status.
       2. the cultural, ethnic, social class, gender, sexual orientation, emotional, intellectual, and physical aspects of human differences.
        3. the dynamics of bigotry based on race, culture, exceptionality, gender, and sexual orientation.
        4. the distribution of power in U. S. A. society and its effects on diverse student populations including practices such as standardized testing, ability grouping, curriculum tracking, segregated schools, and inequitable school funding.
        5. personal and cultural assumptions and attitudes regarding persons of other races, cultures, gender, sexual orientations, religions and physical/emotional learning capacities.
        6. personal and professional development in responding to human diversity.
        7. approaches to learning about ethnic/cultural groups.
        8. conflict resulting from responses to human diversity
        9. proactive responses to social injustice
       10. introductory level knowledge of the foundations of multicultural education, including key terms, goals, principles, and philosophical tenets, models of curriculum infusion, models of stages of development, theory, and research.

Objective Matrix

Diversity Considerations

       Throughout this course human diversity will be recognized, appreciated, and accommodated. Students will be encouraged to share their different experiences with and perspectives of human diversity. Beyond the classroom, they will be given an opportunity for sharing their knowledge and skills in a college conference focused on human diversity.

Technology Considerations

       Students will use the electronic program Blackboard and the course web site to obtain and post information as well as complete assessments in this course. Students must complete their first assessment on Blackboard in the first week of instruction.

Course Policies and Guidelines

College and University Policies for Undergraduate Students
       Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy. The College of Education and Human Services complies with ADA requirements in making reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. Students desiring reasonable accommodations should contact the UNF Office of Disabled Services (Founders Hall 2120; telephone: 904/620-2769) and are encouraged to inform the instructor as early in the semester as possible regarding desired accommodations.
       College Undergraduate Admission Policy. In order to earn credit toward an undergraduate degree in the College of Education and Human Services, students must be admitted to a COEHS undergraduate program of study. Admission to the University does NOT in and of itself constitute admission to a given program of study. Transfer students cannot take more than 14 UNF hours toward any COEHS undergraduate degree without first having been fully admitted into a program of study. Prior to being considered for full admission into an undergraduate program of study, students must (a) submit acceptable scores on all parts of the College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) and (b) present official transcripts documenting a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.5 or better on a minimum of 60 semester hours from a regionally accredited college or university. Students are encouraged to consult the Undergraduate Catalog and/or contact the College’s Office of Student Services (Schultz Hall 2305; telephone: 904/620-2530) for information regarding admission to a specific undergraduate program of study.
       University Enrollment Policy. Only those students who are admitted to the University are entitled to enroll in classes, and only those students who are enrolled in a given course are permitted to attend class meetings for that course. Sitting through a class without registering does not constitute enrollment. Instructors are authorized to bar students who are not enrolled in a course from attending class sessions until evidence of enrollment is presented to the instructor. Even if unenrolled students are allowed via the instructor’s oversight to remain in a class, university policy prohibits students from being added to a class roster after the reinstatement deadline. The primary responsibility for assuring that a student is enrolled in a course belongs to the student. Students are therefore encouraged to check their enrollment status several times during each semester with an advisor or via the UNF website.
       University Enrollment Policy.Policies Governing Student Conduct. The University of North Florida has adopted a Student Conduct Code in order to promote responsible behavior for all students and to assure a physically, emotionally, and intellectually safe university community. This code addresses issues that may threaten the safety and order of the university environment and provides procedures and remedies for addressing these issues. Specific issues addressed include, but are not limited to, sexual misconduct; endangerment; harassment; hazing; possession/use of weapons, alcohol, and illegal drugs; damage or destruction of property; malicious mischief; computer misuse; and falsification/fraud. Students who are aware of and/or feel they are victims of any activity in violation of the Student Conduct Code should report the activity to the University Police or the appropriate campus administrator. The conduct code is available in its entirety on the University website at www.unf.edu/studentaffairs/handbook/HB2002-2003.pdf

Instructor Policies

       You are expected to submit all assignments on time and to arrive on time to each class. Partial attendance in a class meeting will result with partial to no credit, depending on the amount of your participation.
       Practice considerate communication with all class participants. Ensure that your discourse with a classmate does not disrupt the learning activities of other members of the class. Ensure that cell phone ringers are audibly turned off during class. Inconsiderate disruption of another’s learning opportunity will result with reduced credit for your class investment on the day it occurs.
       For credit, assignments must be complete for submission to the instructor. Use the ratings scale distributed in this class as well as the course syllabus to check for completion of every assignment before you submit it. Ask the instructor for assistance with assignment directions you do not understand. In advance of your planned or unexpected absence, designate at least two classmates to take notes on directions given for class assignments that you miss. Obtain those directions from the classmates and then contact the instructor if you are unclear about work you need to complete due to your absence. Although absences are not excused in this course, work done in class may be completed and submitted to the instructor for credit in the next class meeting, or earlier. Missed assessments must be done before the next class meeting. Contact the instructor in e mail as soon as you know you will miss an assessment and arrangements will be made for its completion within the week. Work that you submit outside of class meetings should be taken to the Office of Curriculum and Instruction (second floor), in Shultz Hall, Building 9 to be placed in the instructor’s mailbox. Work submitted under the instructor’s office door may be mistakenly identified as waste by the cleaning staff and disposed before the instructor see s it.
       Written assignments must be done only by you unless you have been directed by the instructor to collaborate with one or more classmates for its completion. Preliminary permission for collaborative writing must be obtained from the instructor for course credit. Collaborative writing with others that is submitted solely as yours will be not be accepted for credit in this course. Submission of work that is not solely your own and for which you have not obtained permission from the instructor and coauthor for such collaboration will result in a failure grade.
       Papers submitted in any other class for a grade will not be accepted in this class and an attempt to do so will result in a failure grade for this course. Ask the instructor about use of work you have previously completed in another class which might pertain to assignments you must complete for this course.
       Plagiarism is against the law and university rules. Any form or plagiarism by a student will likely result in a failure grade for this course and documentation at this university. If you have any questions regarding definitions of plagiarism, I suggest that you peruse http://www.etsu.edu/philos/classes/hhl/plagiari.htm

Instructions for Written Work

       These instructions apply to all written work including critiques, reviews, reports, research papers, reaction essays, or other papers. All assignments, unless otherwise indicated, must be typed. When using direct quotes and citing references, use the rules of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition (2001). Essays, whether a homework assignment or an assessment done in class, should include an introduction that states a thesis, a body that develops the thesis, and a conclusion. Attention should be given to correct grammar usage and spelling. All essays must be double spaced with only 12-point font size of text and the use of Italics for offsetting headings or titles of published writing. The following depiction illustrates the essay report format you will use in this class, which is APA style.

Course Assignments

Report on a Culture

       Write a report on any culture which is unfamiliar to you. A practical goal is selection of a culture you might encounter in your community or elsewhere. Present the following aspects of the culture that you select:

      Knowledge: patterns of knowledge as well as ways of knowing and learning

      Beliefs: patterns and relevance of belief systems, values, world views, customs, traditions, mores, and spirituality

      History: ancient or modern history causing changes of the culture

      Discourse: languages and communication styles including nonverbal messages

       Similarities: similarities of the culture to norms of one of your cultures

       If possible, interview at least one person of that culture to verify, or provide, the information gathered. Avoid using in your report the tourist approach to learning which focuses on the typical four F’s: food, festivals, fashions, and famous people. Write your report about the five topics above using subheadings to organize each section. List the sources of your information as references that are written in APA style. Post your report on Blackboard and bring to class a print out of it as it is written in a Word document.

       Following is the format for a reference to an interview (formal or informal one) that you may include in your report’s references.
(Name. Date. Interview. Place) Example:
Carter, C. C. (January 7, 2004). Interview. University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida.

Your Different Mirror

        Present on paper the many parts of your personal mirror that represent your background and experiences throughout your life. In the first assignment, you will label each of your identities in a separate component (row) of your mirror. For each identity in column 1, write a current perspective you have in column 2, and others that people may have of you in column 3, as well as a possible antecedent (source) of a conflict from diverse perspectives.

Example of first assignment:

Identity	My Perspective	Outer Perspective	Conflict Antecedent
Vegetarian	Easy to feed	Difficult to feed	Don’t dine together?
Euro-American	Fair to all	Insensitive about discrimination	Perceived as self-centered or racist

      In the second stage of this assignment, you will (a) add the collected categories of identities that we generate together in class, (b) complete every column for each of the collected identities, and (c) add a proactive response one could take to the possible conflict associated with each identity.

Example of expanded assignment:

Identity	My Perspective	Outer Perspective	Conflict Antecedent	Proactive Response
Vegetarian	Easy to feed	Difficult to feed	Don’t dine together?	Bring veggie entree
Euro-American	Fair to all	Insensitive about discrimination	Perceived as self-centered or racist	Increase my awareness and work against discrimination.

      Continue throughout this course to identify and reflect on ways your identities and personal experiences influence your perspectives and actions, particularly as antecedents to conflicts. You will refer to your realizations from this assignment in your personal development paper and final exam.

         Students may complete the video and CD ROM track with either of the following two options:

         Option I requires the student to view 2 of the 6 videos in the Eyes on the Prize I  series and 2 of the 8 videos in the Eyes on the Prize II  series. These videos are housed in the Media Center of the UNF Library.

         Options II requires the student to view 4 videos or CD ROM resources of his or her choice that focus on a wide range of diversity issues and topics. Most of these videos and CD ROMS are located in the Multicultural Instructional Design Studio and cover a wide range of topics which are appropriate selections for Option II. Examples of videos on racism and prejudice include Prejudice:  The Monster Within; Ethnic Notions; The Era of Segregation:  A Personal Perspective; and Beyond Hate. Examples of videos about the role of various ethnic groups in U.S. History include those in the series titles How the West Was Lost, The American Indian Series, and The West.
     Each of your reaction essays should include these three points:

1. What information did you observe or read? In other words, what happened?
2. What is your personal response to the information?
3. Which parts of your personal experiences influence your response?

      Identifying Privilege and Responding to Social Injustice

      Identify the privileges that you experience in any context. Comprehensively describe how they occur. For example, how are you different from someone else who has been, or is, experiencing different rights than you are in your society? Describe the historical background of that type of differential treatment. Is it a new situation? Is it rooted in the social and economic history of your society? Include one or more privileges you experience in school.
      Describe events of injustice you can responded to and work in your family, school, or community to change it. For each type of injustice, thoroughly explain how you could accomplish a proactive action to build peace in the context of social injustice, especially in a school.
      Describe and reflect on one or more actions you took this semester to proactively respond to social injustice. Explain the problem, its root causes including different perceptions people who experience or just observe it have, and how you chose your proactive response to it.
      Finally, explain how this experience might influence your personal life as well as your professional practice. Describe how you might apply the skill of proactive response to social injustice in your future activities at home, school, and your community.
Your essay must include these four points:

      1. Identification of your privileges.
      2. Explanation of social injustice around you and possible responses to it.
      3. Description of one or more of your proactive response to social injustice.
      4. Future applications of your proactive-response skill in different contexts.