FORM 1051 Reimagining School and Society
As products of schooling, we find it natural, invisible, inevitable. And yet, modern mass schooling is a relatively recent and-with a little distance-rather strange invention. To defamiliarize this peculiar institution, this course weighs the affordances and limitations of formal and informal education, considers the historical forces that led to the rise of compulsory schooling, and explores the felt experience of being schooled. Through reading and discussion of primary texts in the social sciences and humanities, we examine the official purposes and hidden curriculum of schools, asking questions such as: Does schooling aim to socialize or to individualize? How can it serve both liberal and vocational aims? How do schools shape character and social interaction? What sort of knowledge is valorized in school? Who sets the curriculum in pluralistic society? and, Is schooling a force for social change or social reproduction? We will consider how schools might be reimagined to deal with the great educational challenges of the day. What civic education is needed to deal with entrenched inequality, surging xenophobia, fraying democracy, and the post-truth condition? How does the heedless embrace of deformative technologies set new challenges and tasks for schooling? How must education evolve in light of the climate emergency? As students, you need to understand the institution that shaped you. As citizens, you need to think about how we can reimagine school and society.
Course overview
- Department
- Formative Education
- School
- Lynch
- Credits
- 3
- Level
- Undergraduate
- Offered
- Every Fall, Every Spring
Catalog details
- Satisfies core
- Social Science,Cultural Diversity
Requirements fulfilled
- Lynch Core Path: Social Science & Cultural Diversity Core path (Current undergraduate curriculum)
- Elementary Education: Core course: Family, School, and Society or Reimagining School and Society (one course) (Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year)
- Transformative Educational Studies: Core courses (choose three of four; 9 credits) (Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year)
- Secondary Education: Foundations: Family, School, and Society or Reimagining School and Society (one course) (Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year)
- University Core: Cultural Diversity (All undergraduates)
- University Core: Social Science (All undergraduates)
Course evaluations
- Course rating
- 4.41 / 5 · Very Good
- Instructor rating
- 4.60 / 5 · Excellent
- Terms evaluated
- 8
| Term | Instructor | Course overall | Instructor overall | Well organized | Clear learning objectives | Intellectually challenging | Helpful assignments | Applicable beyond course | Attendance necessary | Weekly effort | Responses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2026 | Garo Saraydarian | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4–6 hrs/week | 43 of 47 |
| Spring 2026 | Jeremy Alexander | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 1–3 hrs/week | 19 of 24 |
| Fall 2025 | Jeremy Alexander | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 1–3 hrs/week | 17 of 22 |
| Fall 2025 | Jieun Sung | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 1–3 hrs/week | 17 of 21 |
| Spring 2025 | Garo Saraydarian | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.8 | — | 20 of 24 |
| Spring 2025 | Jeremy Alexander | 4.4 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4–6 hrs/week | 22 of 25 |
| Spring 2025 | Ksenia Filatov | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 1–3 hrs/week | 17 of 24 |
| Spring 2025 | Whitney Hegseth | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 1–3 hrs/week | 19 of 23 |
| Fall 2024 | Garo Saraydarian | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 1–3 hrs/week | 22 of 25 |
| Fall 2024 | Rebecca Sullivan | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 1–3 hrs/week | 14 of 24 |
| Spring 2024 | Garo Saraydarian | 5.0 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 1–3 hrs/week | 20 of 26 |
| Spring 2024 | Jeremy Alexander | 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.4 | — | 37 of 51 |
| Spring 2024 | Kirubahari Murugaiah | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 1–3 hrs/week | 22 of 26 |
| Spring 2024 | Samantha Deane | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 1–3 hrs/week | 21 of 25 |
| Fall 2023 | Garo Saraydarian | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 23 of 26 |
| Fall 2023 | Samantha Deane | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14 of 25 |
| Spring 2023 | Christopher Higgins | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 1–3 hrs/week | 18 of 24 |
| Spring 2023 | Garo Saraydarian | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 1–3 hrs/week | 20 of 25 |
| Spring 2023 | Kirubahari Murugaiah | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 3.9 | — | 16 of 23 |
| Spring 2023 | Samantha Deane | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 1–3 hrs/week | 16 of 25 |
| Fall 2022 | Gilda Morelli | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 4–6 hrs/week | 15 of 24 |
Data freshness
Instructors
Sections
- Section 02
- Section 03
- Section 04
- Section 01
- Section 02