Awards & Recognition
2013 Faculty of Education Undergraduate Teaching Award
2013 Rutherford Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching
2015 Outstanding Educator in Residence, Academy of Singapore Teachers
Courses I teach:
EDEL 335: Curriculum and Instruction in Elementary Social Studies
Social studies provides opportunities for students to develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge that will enable them to become engaged, active, informed and responsible citizens. Recognition and respect for individual and collective identity is essential in a pluralistic and democratic society. Social Studies helps students develop their sense of self and community, encouraging them to affirm their place as citizens in an inclusive, democratic society.
(Alberta Education, 2005: Program Rationale and Philosophy, Social Studies K-12, p. 1.)
The purpose of this course is to help pre-service teachers develop and articulate their beliefs, understandings and skills in order to plan, teach, and assess Social Studies at the Elementary level. The above quote offers one rationale for Social Studies education. Throughout the course we explore (1) Past and current theory on the meaning and purpose of Social Studies education, with the view to formulating a knowledgeable and informed rationale for our own practice as Social Studies teachers; (2) What we want Social Studies to look like in our classrooms and to our students, and why; and (3) The various ways in which we can make our vision of Social Studies a reality in our practice.
EDEL 561: Processes of Curriculum Development
Curriculum development occurs at all levels of education – from lessons enacted in the classroom to revisions to programs of study. In this course we will explore the field of curriculum development and the tensions and debates that exist within it. It is intended to support your ability to engage critically with curricular issues and support your ability to interpret curricula as it relates to your practice. Through historical and contemporary readings in curriculum development we will examine key questions and issues such as:
- What is the goal of education? Is it to develop basic skills, critical thinking, future workers, or personal growth? What should be the goal of education? How are the goals reflected in research?
- What is taught in schools? What should be taught and how should it be organized? Who should decide?
- What counts as knowledge? What knowledge is of most worth? What forms of knowing are most valued? What forms of knowing should be valued?
- Why do changes in curriculum take place? What influences from society lead to curriculum change?
- How is curriculum change enacted? What are the obstacles to change? What is the role of the teacher as change agent?
EDEL 567: Introduction to Educational Research
This introductory research methodology course is intended to support graduate students’ understanding of the many ways in which educational research is conceptualized and conducted. Students will develop their ability to read educational research critically and with understanding in order to support their work as researchers and practicing professionals. The course addresses both qualitative and quantitative approaches from within a variety of paradigms and perspectives.
EDEL 572: Teaching for Social Justice
In Canada’s vastly changing multicultural society, concepts such as race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and ability shape our understandings of who we are, who our students are, and how we interpret and think about the curricula and resources we use in our teaching. These concepts are historically situated, both personally and socially constructed, and continue to be highly contested and constantly in flux. In this course we will engage in key readings and conversations in order to come to deeper and more nuanced understandings of race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and ability. Together, we will reflect on our taken for granted beliefs and understandings about these concepts, we will examine how our understandings of these concepts shape the ways in which we interpret and convey meaning in curricula and resources used in schools and, importantly, how our understandings of these ideas shape our interactions with students and their families.
EDEL 650: Curriculum Foundations and Inquiry
This course engages students in advanced examination of the historical foundations of the curriculum field, contemporary issues in curriculum, and current influences on curriculum. Through readings, discussions, and assignments, course participants will examine a number of perspectives for inquiring into curricular practice, situating their own research within the wider context of the field of curriculum studies, interpreting the language of curriculum, and considering the role of teachers and other educators in mediating curriculum with their students. The epistemological, ontological, and ideological bases for forms of curriculum theory and inquiry will be studied. Prerequisite: EDEL 561 or consent of the Department. This is a required course for doctoral students in the Department of Elementary Education.
Past Courses:
EDFX 490: Global Citizenship Field Experience in Ghana
Preparing students to become informed and active global citizens aware of their capacity to effect meaningful change in their communities, society and the world is increasingly important in a globalized, interdependent world.
In EDFX 490, students will have the opportunity to develop a deeper, more situated, understanding of some of the key issues teaching and living global citizenship imply: a sense social justice; environmental, social, economic and political responsibility; agency; perspectivity; interrelatedness and an appreciation for cultural diversity. This understanding will have an impact on the self-understandings and professional practices that students in the course bring to their own practice as they become professionals themselves
In our examination of global citizenship, this six-week course will link classroom activities with field experiences designed to provide a bridge between the theory and practice of global citizenship education. The classroom component will consist of seminars, workshops, reflective activities and open dialogue held in Canada and, during Phase Two, in the host institution (the University of Ghana). The formal field component will involve field visits in and around Accra and 7 days spent in Atwima Apemanim, a rural Ashanti community.
Carla L. Peck, PhD 