Particular attention is given to developing skills that enable students to function effectively in committees, interdepartmental working groups and leadership teams. In all course work, students are encouraged to consider the impact of gender and culture on skill development and practice. A major goal of the course is to insure that students learn about and are able to describe the functions of an institution of higher education. Particular emphasis is given to the effect of current practices and concerns on urban higher education. Running concurrently with the summer Educational Leadership Skills workshop, the seminar also addresses the broader framework and common language within which specific problems must be considered.
Special emphasis is placed on strengthening analytic skills.
This seminar focuses on problems and challenges involved in managing institutions of higher education and on strategies to effect change in underlying educational systems. It considers questions of human development in several domains, current problems and controversies about learning, and responsive curricula and pedagogies. Readings frame issues across age groups and educational contexts, with additional material for each topic focusing on particular age groups and levels of schooling. This course surveys the history of higher education in the United States with a dual focus on mainstream collegiate institutions and non-traditional alternatives. Early class sessions explicate the development of traditional higher education from its liberal arts origins through the growth of the research university.