Examination of the federal role in K-12 education policy over the course of the 20th century and its impact on states and districts.
A broad analysis of education using basic sociological concepts, including schools as organizations, socialization, stratification, and ethnic relations.
This course encourages students to think critically about the social, economic and political context of urban education. Topics include housing policies, gentrification, racial and socio-economic segregation, school closures, privatization and school choice
An examination of the link between education and social inequality in Western societies, questioning whether schools are a mechanism of social mobility, enabling poor and disadvantaged children to get ahead in life, or whether schools perpetuate the hardships faced by poor and minority populations. Topics include the importance of quantity and quality of schooling for adult success; the ways in which race/ethnicity, sex, and social class background structure students educational experiences; the role of tracking and ability grouping within schools; and the link between schooling and the economy.
An examination of sociological research on the structure and operation of classrooms. Particular attention to the processes of stratification, socialization, legitimation, and social organization.
Sociologists define the life course of individuals by when, and in what order, people assume key social roles, such as becoming an adult or moving from the workforce to retirement. This course looks at the sociology of the life course. Focusing on how historical and societal factors combine with the personal characteristics of individuals to produce unique life course patterns.
An examination of sociological research on the structure and operation of schools. Particular attention to the processes of socialization, stratification, and legitimation as well as social organization and the sociology of school curriculum.
Introduction to concepts, theories, and research in the sociology of organizations and the related interdisciplinary field of organization studies, as they apply to schools and other organizational settings in education. Topics covered will include internal organizational dynamics, organizations and their environments, organizations as contexts for human identity and agency, and organizational learning and improvement.
This course provides a basic introduction to the sociology of organizations and then places organization theory in conversation with the sociological literature on race, diversity, and equity to address the question of how schools can be organized to be humane, effective, equitable, and just contexts for adults (teachers, administrators, etc.) and students who are diverse, and often marginalized, along characteristics such as race/ethnicity, social class, gender identity and sexual orientation, culture and religion, language, indigenous or immigration status, residential mobility and homelessness, and dis/ability.
Intensive readings and discussions of basic literature in sociology of education, with attention to common issues and research strategies.
Permission required.
Despite the conventional wisdom that teaching and learning are the bread and butter of schooling, neither the meanings of those words nor their main contextualization in schools can be taken as universally obvious. By applying a range of sociological theories to a grounding educational case study, we will work to uncover societal mechanisms behind how we collectively give meaning to the ideas of “learning” and “teaching.” We will then mobilize those understandings to think about a variety of contemporary issues around teaching and learning, and discuss how a sociological perspective on these issues can inform creative paths forward. Alongside the concrete discussion of teaching and learning, this course will provide sociology students (and any others who are interested) with practice in how to meaningfully bring together theoretical frameworks and empirical observations to develop empowering understandings about society.
Relationship between research problem and study design, choice of population, sampling methods, instrument construction, interviewing, data processing, and analysis.
Analysis of local and national education systems through application of sociological perspectives and organization theory, with special attention to problems of equity, effectiveness, and the embeddedness of education systems in their larger contexts.
The sociology of knowledge analyzes the process by which "reality" becomes constructed within a social context. With a focus on education and social welfare policies, this class will explore the "reality" of public policies with real material consequences and how this reality has been constructed around a set of assumptions defining the "problems" that need to be solved. This course helps students step back from a focus on "implementing" educational reform and examine instead how such a reform movement became the focus.
This course examines how racial discrimination in American education intersects with gender norms and stereotypes in ways that shape everyday school life, particularly how educational policies at the school, district, and federal level either perpetuate or transform these dynamic intersections. After exploring personal histories of race, gender, and schooling through memoir, the course begins with a theoretical and conceptual overview of race, gender, and sex, and the history of race and patriarchy in the U.S. context. Popular culture and discourse, as well as key issues and debates in the field are taken up thereafter, with a focus on race and gender equality/access in urban school settings, and gender dynamics in relation to racial bias, class privilege, and sexuality (e.g., LGBTQIA issues). The goal of the course is to reconsider what constitutes effective schooling for all students across social and cultural contexts.
This 3-credit course is designed to introduce students to qualitative inquiry and data analysis. As a class we will aim to better understand the following: When is a qualitative methodology approach appropriate? What types of qualitative methods are out there and under what conditions is one analytic approach optimal over another? What are effective strategies for interview data collection? How do researchers code, analyze, and interpret qualitative data? What ethical dilemmas emerge in qualitative research? How do we know if qualitative research findings are valid, trustworthy, and reliable? Students will be guided to participate in the qualitative research process, encompassing: identification of a research question, development of an interview protocol and participant consent forms, (mock) approval of the Institutional Review Board, interview practice (e.g., conducting interviews and recording the interviews), interview data transcriptions, generation of qualitative codes and themes, synthesis of qualitative research findings, clarification of study significance and contribution to policy, practice, and/or theory.
This class is an introduction to classical sociological theory. The epistemological foundations of sociological inquiry as well as its core concepts and methods will be examined. Problems and concepts to be covered will include alienation, class, legitimation, power, anomie, exploitation, culture, ideology, development, and individuation. The texts to be examined will be mainly from the three ‘founders’ of sociology: Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. In addition, theorists who worked within the classical sociological tradition and who have played a significant role in shaping contemporary social theory will also be studied; such theorists may include: Friedrich Engels, Marcel Mauss, George Simmel, Sigmund Freud, and Norbert Elias.
This class will examine how the classical works of Weber, Durkheim and Marx have been augmented and revised by contemporary social thinkers. The readings will cover the American traditions of functionalism, pragmatism, and behaviorism as well as competing traditions such as neo-Marxism, structuralism, and discourse analysis. The readings will also address substantive issues such as globalization, digitization, consumerism, suburbanization, identity politics, racial formation theory and social control. The class will give students a broad overview of contemporary social theory as well as an understanding of how theory has addressed current social problems.
An introduction to the evaluation of social and educational programs. Topics include evaluation to inform program conceptualization and design; measuring program implementation; impact assessment, including randomized experiments; cost-effectiveness analysis; and the social and political context of program evaluation.
Students wishing to complete a master's integrative project instead of taking the master's exam will design a study, provide a relevant literature review of theory and research, collect and analyze data, and write a comprehensive report of their work.
Permission required.
Individual advisement on doctoral dissertations. Fee to equal 3 points at current tuition rate for each term. For requirements, see section in catalog on Registration for Ed.D./Ph.D. degrees.
Program Director: Professor Aaron Pallas
Box: 011
Teachers College, Columbia University
212 Zankel Bldg, Suite B
Contact Person: Katherine Y. Chung, Program Manager
Phone: (212) 678-3677 Fax: (212) 678-3677
Email: kc2610@tc.columbia.edu