Public Education in the United States. A Modularized Course. Elementary Education 3010. Secondary Education 3040.

Overview & Synopsis

This modularized, self-paced study program in Elementary and Secondary Education for K-12 majors is an evolving course of study designed for responsible students. The course is organized into six modules: Trends and Issues in Contemporary Education, Philosophical and Historical Foundations of Education, Administrative Structure and Financing of Public Education, Curriculum/Instruction, Students with Special Needs, and Legal Aspects of Public Education. Module One examines current writers and crucial questions in American education. Options for study within this module also include examination of these questions: What could evaluation be? Is education a profession? What's "in"? Whose values? How can we foster creativity? Module Two is an overview of the development of education in the United States and how major schools of educational thought have affected it. Module Three examines patterns of organization and ways of financing the educational process. Module Four is an overview of organizational concepts in today's schools including alternatives to traditional schooling. Module Five is an opportunity to become acquainted with problems faced by students of various cultures and by students designated "exceptional" as they experience public schooling. Module Six is an introduction to crucial components of current North Carolina law about which all prospective teachers should be knowledgeable. (Author/JM)