Because there are so many books out about school reform it would be impossible for us to read them all. One to examine more of these titles than we could otherwise is through book clubs. I have selected 6 additional texts on school reform that I think many of you will find to be quite interesting. I would like to have 5 groups of approximately 2-3 people to work together on reading assignments related to these texts.
Each group will be responsible for a text and will work together to read and discuss the work and to also design and execute an informative presentation on the book and your opinions of it for the rest of the class.
Possible text choices include:
(Bibliographical information is included on the “Texts” page.)
I have set aside two class periods throughout the semester for your to have group planning and discussion time. However, to be successful, your group will need to also meet outside of class which might require you to coordinate your actions through a Facebook group or Google Plus or something else like that.
As a group, I would like you to develop a reading schedule so that you will finish the book in time to develop a strong presentation at the end of the course. You should have your reading schedule together by mid-semester (Fall Break).
During your group meetings/discussions it will be important for you to think about the following questions:
1. What is the author’s main argument? What does the author think has happened to public education in the past? What problems does the author highlight that he/she believes needs to be addressed? How does the author propose to address those problems?
2. Now that you understand what the author is saying, think about how this fits with the other materials you have read for this course. Who’s thinking is most similar to that of the author? Who might the author agree or disagree with and why?
3. Beyond the materials we have read for this course, how has the book been received and what have others said about it? For this you will need to find reviews of the book. Google might be a good place to start, but you must try to find more scholarly works as well. A list of suggested resources and links are included below. Everyone in the group should read the review or other scholarly commentary that is available.
4. Identify the basic assumptions at work in the argument put forward by your author and try to evaluate the validity of those assumptions. Are these assumptions supported by evidence or are their more ideological in their function? What truth claims are made and how are they made? If one were to take the argument seriously, what changes might we have to make to fix the problems identified. Finally, how has the book changed your perspective or opinion on the issues raised? Have you shifted your position? Strengthened your earlier convictions? How has thinking about this book changed your thinking about school reform?
5. Prepare a collaborative presentation using the PechaKucha 20×20 format. Watch of few of the presentations on the Pecha Kucha website to get a sense of how your presentation should flow. Remember to use images but to make sure that the images you choose are free to use or modify (we will discuss ways to find these kinds of images in class). Your presentation to discuss central assumptions of the text, the reaction of other scholars to the work, and how the work has influenced your own thinking on the topic. Everyone needs to participate as equally as possible in the creation and execution of the presentation. The rubric I will use to judge the quality of the presentations is included here. In order to deal with potential “free rider” problem that accompanies group work, there is also an independent element associated with book group (see below).The presentation and accompanying paper are 20% of your overall grade in the course (10% each).
6. Each individual is also expected to submit a 4-5 page paper in which you talk about your contributions to the group’s discussions and presentation. For example, did you come to discussions prepared? Did you participate? What was your contribution to the presentation? In addition, please talk about what you learned by connecting the book to the general themes we have discussed in class. Will the book influence your thinking with respect to educational reform? If so why? If not, why not? This paper should include references in APA style and is also worth 10% of your overall grade. The criteria that will be used to grade this paper is included here.