EDPS - Education - Policy Studies

A study of those views of childhood which have exerted a significant influence on educational theory and practice over the last 200 years.

The changing function and structures of education, with special reference to contemporary Canadian society.

Prerequisite: consent of Department.

Prerequisite: consent of Department.

This course will examine the ethical and legal responsibilities of teachers. Among the topics addressed will be the following: punishment and child abuse; freedom of speech and academic freedom in schools; parents' rights and teachers' professional autonomy; issues of quality such as inclusive education and the problems of racism and sexism; fairness in assessment and evaluation; teachers' private lives and public obligations; indoctrination and the teaching of value. It is recommended that students take EDU 100 (EDU 300 for After Degree students), 210, and 211 prior to taking this course. Restricted to third, and fourth year Education students. May contain alternative delivery sections; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.

This course is an ethnographic study of the interrelatedness of educational and cultural practices and how they affect different social groups in Canadian and global contexts. It considers how cultural politics affect schooling, its outcomes, and the range of educational opportunities for different students in relation to their ethnocultural backgrounds. Examining both the historical and contemporary dynamics of schooling, the course examines how the schooling-larger culture interaction shapes the social, political, and economics dimensions of students' lives.

This course examines key theoretical and pedagogical aspects of multicultural and anti-racism education with a focus on how race, ethnicity, colonialism, and diversity shape issues of equity within school systems and the communities they serve. The course presents various social processes fundamental to shaping constructions of racial and cultural difference historically and in contemporary times, examining how such differences work at various levels, from everyday micro interactions to societal institutions and larger macro social structures.

This course provides an opportunity for pre-service teachers to examine teaching and learning in Aboriginal contexts from an Indigenous paradigm. Topics will include Indigenous pedagogy; educational leadership in Aboriginal contexts; working with community; engaging parents in student learning; and classroom resource development. Students will draw on their own knowledge and experiences as they engage with scholarly work in the field of Aboriginal education in Canada to develop a professional approach to working with and in Aboriginal educational contexts.

This course explores, in theory and practice, contemporary issues related to sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in K-12 schools. It draws upon critical scholarship to explore issues related to the construction and regulation of teacher and student identities, school leadership, bullying, violence, and discrimination. We further consider the implications of policy and other targeted educational interventions to help create welcoming, respectful and safe learning and teaching environments. NOTE: Community Service Learning (CSL) is an integral and required component of this course.

This course examines the interplay of education and international development in diverse contexts of our world. Theoretical analysis and discussions will focus on different types of education, the histories of international development and globalization, as well as citizenship, social justice and human rights education. These topical foci will be complemented by specialized regional perspectives on the state of education and social development in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean region and Oceania.

This course considers how global education facilitates critical understanding concerning the contradictions of capitalist development and globalization for the Global South by addressing: dispossession-displacement-slumization of Indigenous Peoples and peasants; land, water, hunger and food sovereignty; migrant labor; poverty-inequality-debt; environment; conflict-peace; development-racism; educational neocolonialism; human rights, NGOs and social movements.

An historical examination of the formal education provided Indian, Métis, and Inuit peoples with special attention to Aboriginal, missionary, and federal-provincial educational programs.

The course examines a variety of issues and policies affecting Middle Years Education. It focuses on understanding the Middle Years within the structure of the Alberta Education system and identifies contextual variables that affect teaching and learning.

An examination of the philosophical problems that arise in the moral education of students.

An analysis of current issues of debate in Indian, Métis and Inuit education, with special reference to their social origins.

Prerequisite: consent of Department.

Prerequisite: consent of Department.

This course surveys qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis appropriate to the study of educational research problems and issues in field settings. Students will learn and apply basic qualitative data collection and analysis techniques and basic quantitative data collection techniques and inferential univariate data analyses for conducting various types of research. Prerequisite: EDPS 581 or any other introductory research methods course.

This course provides an introduction to leadership theories and concepts that are foundational for understanding the philosophical assumptions that drive leadership practice in schools and higher education contexts. May contain alternative delivery sections; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.

This course provides an introduction to organizational theories that are foundational for understanding the philosophical assumptions that establish the organization of schools and higher education contexts. May contain alternative delivery sections; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.

The intent of this course is to explore and further our understanding of reforms in education over the past two decades in Canada and other selected OECD countries. Through academic readings, we examine how and why particular policy discourses (e.g. school choice, system accountability) have become accepted in recent years. We further consider the implications of policy reforms for practices within educational organizations. The design of this course reflects the view that reforms cannot be comprehended without considering the social, political, economic and historical contexts in which they arise.

This course explores the ways in which constructs of diversity, equity, inclusivity, leadership, and organizations intersect in the practices of administrators in educational settings. The course provides an overview of the ways in which diversity, equity and inclusivity research challenges traditional theories about leadership in educational organizations. Sections may be offered at an increased rate of fee assessment; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations sections of the Calendar.

This course will examine the role and nature of adult education and learning processes in social change initiatives being undertaken by development non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and by popular subaltern social movements of pastoralists, peasants, indigenous peoples, rural women and urban poor (shack dwellers) social groups in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (Global South). These initiatives will be explored in terms of a critical contextual appreciation of the inter/national development project and neoliberal globalization.

In this course we will examine key issues in adult learning and development, using concepts discussed in the literature. Content areas include theories of adult learning and development, and related concepts such as learning styles and orientations, personality, motivation, and intelligence. Students may not receive credit for both EDAE 521 and EDPS 521.

Analyzes the role of education in the development process from a global perspective, with particular attention paid to Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Explores the various explanations for social, political, and economic development put forward by selected writers. Students may not receive credit for both EDFN 523 and EDPS 523.

This graduate seminar introduces students to key feminist contributions to explanations for social phenomena (i.e. theory) and key feminist debates on how we know what we know (i.e. epistemology). Feminists' key contribution to epistemologies has highlighted the power relations that shape the biases which inevitably inform any and all knowledge production. The course draws on Indigenous, Black, Dalit and anti-caste, Third World, and Women of Colour feminist theories to explore the variety of epistemological challenges these pose to canonical feminist theories and considers their implications for a variety of sites of education: from classrooms to policies and activism.

This course will develop a critical understanding of select perspectives on globalization and the associated implications for: (a) formal, non-formal and informal education in local, national, and international contexts; and (b) pedagogical possibilities for critical global education in schools and communities addressing global issues pertaining to international development (poverty and inequality in North-South trajectories), ecology, human rights and improved prospects for peace.

The course examines the concept of race and its manifestations in society and the education system. We engage with the idea of race as philosophy, race as theorized by sociologists and race as a historical discourse. Further, the course highlights how such modes of analyses and conceptual frames are theorized, utilized and legitimized. Students may not receive credit for both EDPS 501 Race, Racialization and Education and EDPS 526.

This course explores the relationship between youth, culture and education particularly with reference to formal schooling. Students will be introduced to various critical cultural studies theories and sociological perspectives in order to understand how youth draw on cultural formations to relate to, resist, or accommodate schooling in contemporary western societies. Students may not receive credit for both EDPS 501 Youth, Culture and Education and EDPS 527.

This course examines the intersection of Indigenous peoples, Indigenous traditional and contemporary knowledge and global transformations in the early 21st century. Central to the course are changes to the conceptualization of education and knowledge and the contested nature and role of Indigenous knowledge and politics. In this context the course has particular regard to what has been designated as the 'triple crisis of sustainability'. This course is open to all graduate students. Credit cannot be received for both EDPS 636 and EDPS 528.

A survey of studies in the history of formal informal educational institutions and their relationship with Canadian society in a global context. Students may not receive credit for both EDFN 530 and EDPS 530.

This course is designed to support participants as they increase their knowledge about historical and contemporary challenges and issues in supporting educator professional growth. Topics covered in the course will be relevant to teachers, school leaders, system administrators, teacher educators, and policy-makers. May contain alternative delivery sections; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.

Students may not receive credit for both EDAL 522 and EDPS 532.

This course examines various approaches, definitions, principles and practices that have been used to frame a discussion of Indigenous research methodologies. The course will provide opportunities for new insight, knowledge, and understanding about indigenous research paradigms and/or research methods, and to consider the relationship and impact of these on Indigenous peoples and communities. Students may not receive credit for both EDPS 601 Indigenous Research Methodologies and EDPS 535.

Course explores contemporary issues in Indigenous education as they are experienced within Indigenous communities in North America and elsewhere. The course prepares students for working in these communities as researchers and/or as practitioners. The course outcomes will inform further research, practice and training in Indigenous education. Students may not receive credit for both EDPS 601 Issues in First Nations Education and EDPS 537.

Course examines orality and literacy as contested concepts that historically and in the present continue to impact perceptions of Indigenous/Aboriginal thought and Indigenous/Aboriginal ways of being by scholars and educators. Students may not receive credit for both EDPS 601 From Oral Language to Written Text and EDPS 538.

Course studies the impact of the loss of Indigenous languages and strategies, policies and practices aimed at the revival and maintenance of Indigenous languages locally and internationally. Students may not receive credit for both EDPS 601 From Oral Language to Written Text and EDPS 538.

Introduces various theoretical and conceptual orientations to organizational learning and organizational change, and involves students in practical projects exploring learning and change in organizational contexts such as workplaces, communities, schools, and post-secondary institutions.

Course instructors and students will engage in processes that examine the roots and structures of Cree words to uncover/discover embedded cultural meaning in the language, expanding this study to include other Indigenous languages. The course will facilitate the movement of participants beyond the veil of surface meanings usually ascribed to physical phenomena of the Cree world, and other worlds within other languages. Critical explorations will highlight the connections between this understanding and common approaches to educational programming for Indigenous languages. A shift in participant awareness and positioning in relation to language learning holds the potential for more complex individual understanding of how Cree and other languages carry the cosmology, ontology, and knowledge system of respective, distinct peoples and cultures. Course objectives will include increased knowledge and related educational praxis with deepened understanding about the integral relationship between a language and the people whose lives and thought are reflected therein.

Examines historical and contemporary perspectives shaping critical and feminist pedagogies, both of which support inclusive and holistic teaching and research practices. Explores how these perspectives can inform research designs and methods for studying policy development, program design, and professional practice. Intent is to have students conduct analysis in relation to their own educational projects and professional interests.

This course will focus on critical analysis of theories, trends, policies, and issues related to informal and formal learning of adults in, for, and through the experiences of labor and work. Topics include critical analysis of theories of labor, human capital, and workplaces, with special focus on experiences of race, gender, and class.

This course takes a leadership and critical praxis approach to understanding how equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization and social justice are experienced in schools, higher education institutions, and their communities. Students will engage with current research and case studies from the perspective of educational leaders working to create institutional change.

This course offers a critical comparative analysis of issues related to the organization and leadership of educational institutions and organizations viewed within a global context. A key focus of the course is on governance and the structures and roles of multilateral and transnational economic, political, social, and environmental organizations, institutions and systems in establishing discursive parameters for educational policy and practice. Students may not receive credit for both EDPS 501 Global Perspectives and Issues in Educational Administration and Leadership and EDPS 548.

Students may not receive credit for both EDAL 551 and EDPS 551. May contain alternative delivery sections; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.

Students may not receive credit for both EDAL 553 and EDPS 553. May contain alternative delivery sections; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.

This 20 hour practicum will provide students enrolled in the Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education with opportunities to apply and reflect on the content provided in EDPS 560. Students must also be enrolled in, or have already received credit for, EDPS 560. Sections offered at an increased rate of fee assessment; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations sections of the Calendar.

This 20 hour practicum will provide students enrolled in the Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education with opportunities to apply and reflect on the content provided in EDPS 561. Students must also be enrolled in, or have already received credit for, EDPS 561. Sections offered at an increased rate of fee assessment; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations sections of the Calendar

This course examines the theoretical, conceptual, philosophical and practical aspects of teaching and learning in adult and higher education.

This course examines the theory, methods and practice of instructional design in adult and higher education.

Students may not receive credit for both EDFN 562 and EDPS 562.

This course provides an introduction to the study of social justice education from a sociological perspective. The course focuses on different theoretical perspectives and empirical studies that illuminate a variety of issues pertaining to educational contexts such as schools, universities, community organizations, social movements, and state policy.

Students may not receive credit for both EDFN 564 and EDPS 564.

Drawing where appropriate from the perspective of sociology, this course focuses on the relationship between education (formal and informal) and the community. In addition to examining sociological theories of community, we will consider strategies for forging better linkages between educational institutions, other social agencies and the wider community. Special focus will be on differing models of community education that offer both organizational and practical guidelines for integrating education and community. Topics and issues are pertinent not only to graduate students in education programs, but also to students in other human service programs. Students may not receive credit for both EDFN 561 and EDPS 567.

Students may not receive credit for both EDAL 571 and EDPS 571.

Prerequisite: EDAL 571 or EDPS 571 or consent of Department. Students may not receive credit for both EDAL 572 and EDPS 572.

The course will examine the relationship between anti-racism (practice and theory) and indigenous knowledge in the context of Indigenous survival and beyond. The course will engage with various perspectives, knowledge and strategies in realizing anti-racism.

This survey course examines the various interpretations and paradigms of adult and higher education. Ways of studying adult and higher education are presented using concepts, analysis, theories, and methodologies from the various foundational disciplines. Students may not receive credit for both EDAE 577 and EDPS 577.

This course deals with historical and contemporary theories and practices of adult education as it is practiced in social movements and social action both locally and internationally. The study of the pedagogical dimension includes theories of experiential learning and emphasizes the role of popular education and theories of conscientization in diverse social movements.

This course provides an overview of the theory and practice of critical and transformative learning and pedagogies within the fields of adult education and higher education. This course is relevant not only for students interested in critical/radical approaches to education, but students who envision themselves teaching in relevant subject areas and wishing to deploy critical pedagogies. Students may not receive credit for both EDPS 501 Transformative Learning and EDPS 579.

Introduces students to foundational approaches to contemporary issues in Canadian and international education contexts. Introduces multidimensional approaches associated with the history, sociology, and philosophy of education to help students understand and critically assess educational policy and practice. May contain alternative delivery sections; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.

Introduces students to a critical interpretation and evaluation of research in the specializations within the Department of Educational Policy Studies, using a wide range of orientations and approaches. Students may not receive credit for both EDPS 508 and EDPS 581. May contain alternative delivery sections; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.

This course will explore the theoretical and practical considerations found in approaches to assessing needs and program planning in adult and higher education contexts, including private and public institutions, and community organizations.

Focuses on a critical examination of Canadian educational issues from philosophical, historical, sociological and cultural perspectives. Themes may include multiculturalism, educational reform and governance, the global economy and new technologies, changing nature of educational goals, and transformations in teaching.

Critically examines the role of education in the problems and prospects of international development. As an inclusive construct, development comprises enhancements in the economic, social, political, cultural and technological well-being of people's lives. Examines contemporary societal issues that influence and/or are influenced by educational policies and programs. Perspectives from regions and groups such as Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Oceania-Pacific, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and communities indigenous to different parts of the world will be included.

Prerequisite: consent of Department. May contain alternative delivery sections; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar. Students may not receive credit for both EDAL 594 and EDPS 594.

Applied activities and academic studies which enable the student to learn skills and knowledge pertinent to the responsibilities of the principal, by disciplined reflection on their performance in simulated administrative situations. Prerequisites: EDAL 501 and 502 or EDPS 511 and 512 or consent of Department. Students may not receive credit for both EDAL 595 and EDPS 595. May contain alternative delivery sections; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.

Students may not receive credit for both EDAL 635 and EDPS 635.

Students may not receive credit for both EDAL 671 and EDPS 671.

This course examines the challenges and opportunities posed by the complex environments in which postsecondary institutions operate. Various theoretical lenses will be used to study such aspects of colleges and universities as the institutional mission, values and societal/cultural role, teaching and research, accessibility, lifelong learning, equity and diversity, changing faculty and student roles, and curriculum. Students may not receive credit for both EDAL 672 and EDPS 672.

Focuses on a critical and disciplined examination of education and policy issues by drawing on a variety of theoretical orientations. Identifies the centrality of policy research within different educational contexts: adult education, K-12, post-secondary, and aboriginal schooling in Canada and internationally. Students will explore a multiplicity of ways to combine the study of policy with the study of practice, politics, culture and power.

This course explores the philosophical/epistemological underpinnings of selected research frameworks as well as relevant qualitative methodologies within the specializations of the Department of Educational Policy Studies. Students may receive credit for only one of EDAL 611, EDPS 611 and EDPS 681.

Extends opportunities for advanced study in adult learning, focusing upon social learning and responsibility. Participants will explore situative and socio-cultural understandings of the learning process from different theoretical perspectives, and apply these to contexts of adult learning in formal settings, community action, and workplace organization. Prerequisite: EDPS 521 or equivalent or consent of program.

May contain alternative delivery sections; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations section of the Calendar.