ITSF 4091 Comparative Education -
Teachers College, Columbia University
ITSF 4092
Qualitative
Research Methods: Evaluation of
International Education Programs (mixed
instructional design including distance
learning) - Teachers College, Columbia
University
ITSF 4094
International
Educational Policy Studies (mixed
instructional design including distance
learning) - Teachers College, Columbia
University
ITSF 4094
International
Policy Entrepreneurs and Networks in
Education - Teachers College, Columbia
University
ITSF 5580
Postcolonial
Studies in Education - Teachers College,
Columbia University
ITSF 5691
Colloquium on
International Education and the United
Nations – Goals and Content: Major World
Development and Their Implications for
Education - Teachers College, Columbia
University
ITSF 6581
Advanced Seminar in
Comparative Education - Teachers College,
Columbia University
ITSF 6590
Doctoral Seminar -
Teachers College, Columbia University
ITSF 4091 Comparative Education
This course provides an overview of major concepts, methods and current debates in international and comparative education/development studies in education. It is one of the core courses for students in the international and comparative education programs IED or CIE. Besides an emphasis on comparative policy studies (including studies on globalization and policy borrowing/lending), this year’s course addresses South-South cooperation in international educational development as well as comparative studies that analyze teaching and learning in different national contexts.
Doctoral students in IED/CIE should take the Advanced Seminar: International and Comparative Education, Part 1.
Syllabus of ITSF 4091 (fall 2008)
ITSF 4092
Qualitative Research Methods: Evaluation of
International Education Programs
(mixed
instructional design including distance
learning and field component)
Co-instructors:
Dr. Cathryn Magno, Southern Connecticut
State University
Hugh McLean, Open Society Institute
Education Support Program, Budapest
This course is usually offered during the
spring semester. Students learn relevant
techniques and approaches to evaluate
educational projects. The assignments
prepare the students to produce a
high-quality evaluation report. From
2002-2005 the course was co-sponsored by the
Open Society Institute and was offered in a
mixed composition of class: half TC students
and the other half professional staff of the
Open Society Institute or university
lecturers sponsored by OSI. The course
applies a mixed instructional design with
three components:
-
Face-to-face seminars; two 3-day
seminars for the OSI (Open Society
Institute) section of class; held in
Istanbul and Moscow, and two 3-day
seminars for the TC (Teachers College)
section of class, held in New York.
Distance
learning: 11 course content modules
posted on the web (including a large
data base with relevant texts and
hyperlinks on program evaluation) and
on-line discussions (“discussion board”)
by course instructors and participants
elaborating on the modules. In addition,
two types of “synchronous discussions”
(i.e., participants are on-line for
discussion at the same time) are
scheduled throughout the semester: (a) a
total of 9 1-hour virtual class sessions
(participants: all course participants),
and (b) 12 1-hour group advising
sessions for each of the 7 teams
(participants: evaluation teams).
-
On-site
evaluation: The evaluation teams (half
OSI participants, half TC students)
collaboratively collect data on site
(i.e., conducted interviews, designed
and analyzed data from questionnaire,
conducted participant observation). The
one-week on-site evaluation is scheduled
during the spring break of Teachers
College and the travel and accommodation
expenses for TC students have been fully
funded by OSI.
The students in this class produced
outstanding project evaluations—ranging
from evaluations of early childhood
programs to projects in higher
education—in almost every country of
South East Europe, Eastern Europe,
Caucasus, Central Asia and Mongolia. The
co-instructors have also mentored alumni
of this course, with the support of the
Education Support Program of OSI, to
adapt the syllabus and course design to
specific country needs and to offer
adapted versions of this course at
universities in the post-socialist
region. Alumni of this course are
teaching their own adapted version of
this course in Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Romania,
Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
Photo Gallery of the Classes ITSF 4092
Video-Clip of the Class ITSF 4092 (spring
2002)
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ITSF 4094 International Educational Policy
Studies
(mixed instructional design including
distance learning)
Co-instructors:
Dr. Alexandria Valerio, World Bank (2003,
2004)
Dr. Alexandru Crisan, Center Education
2000+, Bucharest, Romania (2004)
Dr. Iveta Silova, Baku State University,
Azerbaijan (2005)
This course has been co-sponsored by the
Open Society Institute (OSI/Soros
Foundation) and the World Bank, and includes
both TC students and professional staff from
ministries as well as from national OSI
foundations that are based outside the
United States. It applies a mixed
instruction design: (a) 4-day workshop in
October, in New York, and (b) on-line
learning (virtual classes, virtual group
advising sessions, discussion boards, and
modules/materials posted on the class-web).
Throughout the course, the TC students
develop in cooperation with the professional
staff of the OSI national foundations an
education sub-sector review. The policy
teams (mixed TC students and professional
staff) will be closely advised and guided in
their applied research. The
participants/students learn about methods
and current debates in international
education policy studies, education and
development indicators as well as
educational access and quality monitoring
instruments. In developing a sub-sector
review, they will draw from existing sector
reviews as well as from national and
international policy reports,
documentations, and strategic plans.
The course was offered three times with a
mixed instructional design, in a mixed
composition of class and co-sponsored by OSI
and the World Bank. During the period
2003-2005, half of the students included
professional staff from ministries,
universities and NGOs in the following
countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Estonia,
Haiti, Hungary, Kyrgyz Republic, Lithuania,
Malawi, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro,
Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia,
Tajikistan, Ukraine, South Africa.
Photo Gallery of the
Classes ITSF 4094
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ITSF 4094
International Policy Entrepreneurs and
Networks in Education
The seminar uses theories and methods of
social network analysis for analyzing
regional and global policy networks. Besides
reading and discussing sociological texts
and policy study literature, we will conduct
collaborative empirical analyses of policy
networks. Willingness to conduct empirical
research (content and reference analyses) is
condition for participating in this seminar.
The seminar addresses students with a
concentration in international education
policy studies, and will focus on the role
of international organizations in advancing
specific “best practices” (community-based
education, grants for schools program,
child-friendly schools, etc.) or school
reforms (e.g., standards movement,
outcomes-based education, decentralization
of governance, etc.).
Syllabus of ITSF 4094, Fall 2005
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ITSF 5580
Postcolonial Studies in Education
This seminar examines the relationship between donors and ODA-recipient governments (Official Development Assistance), also referred to as “developing countries.” Against this background of donor-recipient relationship and aid dependency, international agreements and indicators on “aid effectiveness” are discussed and scrutinized. This year’s seminar focuses on “donor logic,” as pursued by a variety of donors:
- Northern governments (e.g., USAID, DfID, EU, CIDA, etc.)
- Multilateral organizations (World Bank, IDB, ADB, etc. and UN organizations)
- Northern NGOs (Open Society Institute, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, etc.)
- Businesses (Gates Foundation, Gap, etc.),
- Celebrities (Ophrah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, etc.)
- Universities (Teachers College, Earth Institute, Columbia University, etc.)
that all engage, in one form or the other, in aid. The class also investigates the claim made by South-South cooperation researchers that a stronger collaboration among developing countries is ultimately the only way out from the dependency trap of developing countries.
Active participation of students is indispensable. The students will co-moderate a session in class in which they present their own case study on a donor and also prepare reading (research literature as well as technical reports) on the donor of their choice. Their presentation draws on their case study research in which they analyze the donor logic of a particular type of donor listed above (governments, development banks, UN organizations, NGOs, businesses, celebrities, or universities).
This is a seminar that is both theoretical and applied. Besides reading the literature in the field, we also examine technical reports on donor involvement (produced for ministries of education and typically funded by the development banks or UN organizations) as well as other strategic planning and project documents.
There are no course prerequisites for taking this seminar, but prior knowledge or experience in development work/studies is necessary to benefit from this seminar. Students from other departments are only admitted if they had previously taken a course in the IED/CIE programs or have had prior experience in development work.
Syllabus of the course ITSF 5580 (Fall 2008)
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ITSF 5691 Colloquium on International
Education and the United Nations –
Goals and Content:
Major World Development and Their
Implications for Education
The course presents the history as well as
the current strategies and initiatives of
various international organizations. The
general introduction attempts to highlight,
from a critical perspective, the logic of
donors and the rationale for external
assistance. Five current trends will be
analyzed in greater detail: knowledge banks,
demands for good governance, post Cold War
studies, south-south transfer, and the War
on Terror and U.S. assistance. To enable a
comparative perspective, international
organizations discussed in this course are
not restricted to U.N. organizations
(especially UNESCO and UNICEF) but also
include development banks (World Bank and
regional banks), international NGOs
(non-governmental organizations), bilateral
assistance programs (e.g., USAID, JICA,
etc.) as well as other international
organizations (e.g., IIE/Fulbright). A few
representatives of international
organizations are invited as guest speakers.
Special approval is required and the course
is limited to 15 students. Requirements:
ITSF4090 and/or ITSF4091 (preferably “and”).
Syllabus of the course ITSF 5691 (spring
2006)
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ITSF 6581 Advanced
Seminar in Comparative Education
For doctoral students and advanced Masters
students: The course provides an overview of
methods, major concepts and current trends
in comparative education. It will enable
students to identify strengths and
limitations of international comparative
research, and to learn about relevant
studies and scholars dealing with
methodological and conceptual issues of
comparative education. A special emphasis is
placed on policy borrowing and lending, and
globalization studies. The assignments will
support these learning objectives, and in
addition, help students to develop specific
research skills that are necessary to
develop academic literature reviews and
research papers.
Syllabus of the course
ITSF 6581 (fall 2006)
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ITSF 6590 Doctoral Seminar
This course is reserved for doctoral student
advisees of Professor Gita Steiner-Khamsi
only. The class meets throughout the year
(every second Thursday) and doctoral
students present their work in progress. The
course helps students to find a relevant
dissertation research question, identify
relevant literature and develop a solid
methodological design for their research. It
is tailored for doctoral students who are at
the beginning of their studies, that is,
during the stage in which they reflect on
possible research foci and during their
proposal writing stage. Doctoral students
are expected to enroll in this course twice
over the course of their dissertation
writing process (each time for 1-2 credits).
Enrollment is in the fall semester only, but
participation is throughout the academic
year. In addition, students in this class
should meet regularly with Professor
Steiner-Khamsi to discuss their ideas and
drafts on their dissertation proposal or
dissertation. They are also encouraged to
write research grant proposals, prepare
academic presentations, and/or publish on
topics that are related to their
dissertation research. Guidance and active
support is given for students taking the
doctoral seminar. Finally, doctoral students
in this class are also expected to mutually
support each other in their academic
endeavors and provide peer-support and
advice.
Guidelines on Proposal and Dissertation
Writing (spring 2006)
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