EDUC211

This urban education course is designed to explore issues of social justice in education with
particular emphasis on urban education. Issues of empowerment through education are linked
to Paolo Freire’s philosophy and pedagogy. The required fieldwork component will provide the
opportunity for students to do dynamic and transformative work in an urban school setting.
Further, Ramapo College students will learn methods and techniques of teaching reading and
writing skills through experiential learning and the implementation of literacy tutoring in an urban
fieldwork setting. Ramapo students will also learn reading and writing assessment techniques
and instructional strategies. Students will research the education structures and literacy rates in
other countries, viewed through historical, cultural, and political lenses. Students will also
develop critical literacy and critical media literacy skills to analyze representations of identity
using traditional and non-traditional texts, including multicultural, multilingual, and diverse
literature. This course requires 22 hours of clinical experience fieldwork. Elementary Education
majors will be placed in elementary fieldwork classrooms; secondary students will be placed in
high school fieldwork classrooms.