Students may focus on any of a variety of fields defining higher education, including sociohistorical and critical analysis, theory and development in curriculum and pedagogy, measurement and evaluation, and organization and leadership. This program prepares people for service in such higher education careers as educational foundations, college teaching, and administration. Concentration in Social Foundations of Education Social foundations is a broadly conceived field of educational study that derives its character from a number of academic disciplines and interdisciplinary studies. The purpose of social foundations study is to bring the intellectual resources derived from these areas to bear in developing interpretive, normative, and critical perspectives of education, both inside of and outside of schools. This concentration prepares graduates to investigate research methodologies, to conduct research related to schools, and to conduct and critique research in educational practice, policy, and administration.
Students develop knowledge and skills in research methods, statistics, and measurement.
The purpose of the major area is to increase the doctoral student's knowledge base in his or her chosen field of concentration. There are two required courses in the major area, and they must be completed sequentially during the student's first year of enrollment in the program. Students examine historical and contemporary interrelationships of hegemony, domination, and power undergirding sociocultural viewpoints, institutional forces, and policy discourses in education. Focus is on the study of theory and praxis for equity and justice. Students examine issues of leadership and policy in both formal and informal settings.