Course Description
Examination of childhood in the study-abroad program host nation and the United States to understand differences and similarities in early childhood education and schooling; emphases vary by host nation.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
In addition to work expected of undergraduate students, graduate
students will read at least two more books and at least four
more scholarly articles (selected from a list prepared
particularly for them of sources with greater depth and
theoretical substance). They will write an additional paper
(minimum fifteen pages) that integrates their observations of
schools and patterns of childhood in the host nation with the
readings; the paper will constitute a critical appraisal of
early childhood education in the host nation or in the United
States, or will constitute a critical comparison of the two.
Athena Title
CHILD ABROAD & US
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in ESSE 4510/6510
Non-Traditional Format
The course will include both seminar meetings and multiple visits to schools, day-care centers, and other venues for early childhood learning in the study-abroad host nation. Undergraduate students will read four books or the equivalent in other scholarly literature, write journal entries related to their observations and reflections, and prepare a final seminar paper of five to eight pages that integrates their seminar work and their immersion in the culture and educational institutions of the host nation. Graduate students will read six books or the equivalent in other scholarly literature and write a ten to fifteen page final research-based seminar paper on a topic related to the seminar work.
Semester Course Offered
Offered summer semester every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
a. Students will understand the educational system of the country in which they are studying b. Students will be able to compare and contrast the host country’s educational system with the US system c. Students will understand the contrasting historical experiences of childhood in the host country and the US and be able to describe the relationship between those histories and the educational institutions that have developed d. Students will analyze and assess the influence of history, culture, society, and politics on the two systems
Topical Outline
a. The history of childhood in the host country and in the US from the beginning of modernization to the present b. The history of educational institutions in the two countries with an emphasis on the national curriculum system abroad in contrast to the state-centered US system c. Central features of the host country’s schools, e.g., Montessorian schools in Italy, forms of secondary education in other European countries d. Comparative analysis of key features of education in the two countries e. Multiple and on-going visits to, and work in, classrooms in the host country f. Attention to cultural and political influences on schooling g. Reflection on national goals for education and societal support for education