EDHE 6510 Notes, 02/01/2008

(first F2F class meeting)

• introductions ("what's your favorite ringtone?")
• went over syllabus, assignments

Assignments

• journal postings
  • will put discussion Q's up on Tuesday; respond by Monday
  • respond in a couple of paragraphs
• impact timeline
  • will be a thread on WebCT; will try to be able to arrange chronologically
  • probably be up within the next week or so
  • make 4 entries over the course of the semester
• historical significance paper
  • due March 7th
  • see reading list (handout, feb. 1)
  • the suggested reading textbook might also be helpful
  • no required length--as long as it needs to be; generally btwn. 4 - 7 pages
• future directions paper
  • due ...
  • something related to your job, experience; something you're interested in (can adjust to relate more directly to your dissertation if you wish)
  • no required length--as long as it needs to be; generally btwn. 4 - 7 pages

Lecture: Ancient Learning

(see handout with Powerpoint slide notes)

• why do scholars go to libraries?
  • central location for information
  • purpose for people to learn there, research
• Christian Rome
  • more governmental/religious involvement in education
  • training in crafts through guilds
  • education not limited to the wealthy
  • core training for clergy provided consistency in their teaching
• change in educational emphasis from ancient to modern day
  • used to be vocational training
  • now it's training in critical thinking; your job can train you for the vocation
• monastery schools
  • remote locations, not well-known
  • educators had to go out and promote schools, seek students
  • later schools became formal settings (cathedral schools)
• language of most schools: Latin
• pope gives university ability to make its own rules (church still has oversight)
• Paris was far more restricted than England (broader authority, even to the town--civil and sometimes criminal authority)
  • could restrict you from taking exams or attending school
    • at this time, students about 14 - 17 years old
  • teachers could be restricted from teaching
  • townspeople not affiliated with the school could be banished from the town
    • this caused some bad relations between townspeople and the university
    • one mayor refused to have the streets of the university cleaned
  • made sense for this authority, because the university's authority was grounded in moral teachings of the church
• prerequisities for university admissions (sometimes waived)
• students didn't always graduate or intend to
  • recommendation letter from a professor was credible for getting a job
• start seeing donations to universities
• typical student schedule (see slide)
  • residence hall was the center of social activity
    • also like a Union or Rec Center
    • professors lived with students in these halls
    • tried to enforce only Latin spoken in residences, but unsuccessful
• Oxford & Cambridge
  • education begins to be related to status
  • model for higher ed in the US (because England dominated the colonies in many ways)

(end of lecture)

Lecture: Colonial Colleges, 1636 - 1789

(see handout with Powerpoint slide notes)

• teaching purpose: to give the young culture
• tensions between the colonies
• recite from memory
• purpose of education:
  • cultural background, "educated"
  • fit for public employment; giving back to the community
  • study Christian faith (and propagate it)
• college names, then/now
  • College of New Jersey: now Princeton
  • King's College: Columbia
  • College of Rhode Island: Brown
  • Dartmouth (same)
  • Queen's College: Rutger's
• primarily operate from tuition -- not fees, not funding from gov./church -- student-funded
• "may not exclude any person of any religious denomination whatever..."
  • probably still assumption that "any denomination" is Christian
• core curriculum -- courses are now different, but their purpose is very similar to what they originally were
• master's degree--distinguishing themselves from bachelor's, more specialized
• faculty had limited authority; power resided with the president
• Thomas Jefferson, on board of overseers of Wm. & Mary, suggested doing away with the Divinity program

Discussion

discussion of the Journal posting responses:

• farmer desiring to send biological son, daughter, and adopted Native American son to a colonial college
  • extremely recent, even to 1960's, 1970's that women were first admitted to certain colleges
  • tribal colleges, Bureau of Indian Affairs advocating education for Native Americans
  • "historical trauma" = impact of historic events on current generations
• who do you invite to a town meeting about whether or not to form an institution there?
  • looking for ways to keep town running
  • want prestige for the town
  • better access for local students
  • grow the ideals of the town--let the institution influence the town positively
  • produce teachers and doctors that will hopefully stay in the area
  • why were colonial colleges so similar to European?
    • their leaders/teachers were taught there
    • resistance to (or unaware of ways to) change
• what are things taken from the European model?
  • housing
  • curriculum (Greek, Latin, etc.)
  • concept of gentlemen/civilization

Next Week:

• assigned reading (51 - 96)
• journal entry Q will be posted on Tuesday; respond by following Monday
• following week, Historical Paper work session (no work due)
• bring Historical Paper on to class on March 7