According to the Council for Social Foundations of Education , “The purpose of foundations study is to bring…disciplinary resources to bear in developing interpretive, normative, and critical perspectives on education, both inside and outside of schools.” The Foundations of Education program within the Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology, and Foundations at NIU includes four areas of disciplinary study to fulfill this purpose: History of Education, Philosophy of Education, Sociology of Education, and Comparative & International Education.
History is who we are. It is our understanding and interpretation of the people, events, ideas, and institutions that have shaped us. The history of education, then, considers the ways in which the past has influenced and continues to shape educational debates, policies, and practices. As historians of education, we might focus specifically on schools and ask a broad set of questions: why do schools exist, why do some students excel in school; and do schools provide equal opportunities for all students, or do they provide advantages for a few? Or, we might look beyond schools to focus broadly on educational processes: what is education; what does it mean to be an educated person; where do people learn; and who has access to education? To answer these questions, we sort through the primary sources that remain (newspapers, diaries, official school records and documents, letters, and reports). By sifting through this evidence and studying the past, we gain a greater sense of who we are and what it means to be an educated person.
For more information about history of education in the Foundations of Education program, please view the following faculty profiles: Lucy Townsend, Marc Van Overbeke.
Philosophy of education entails the love of wisdom and the art of questioning. It encourages educators to recover these philosophical dimensions of education, to enhance their vocational identities and to enrich their classroom environments. Studies in philosophy of education encompass a wide range of philosophical traditions from the classical to the contemporary. Philosophy challenges educators to critically question ideologies, policies and practices as well as assumptions about human nature, knowledge, and values. As a practice, then, philosophy of education assists educators in forming and reforming their educational commitments. It encourages educators to remain active, reflective and authentic throughout their careers.
For more information about philosophy of education in the Foundations of Education program, please view the following faculty profiles: Leslie A. Sassone, Kerry Burch, Linda O’Neill, Charles Howell, Wilma Miranda (emerita).
In this foundational area, we use the disciplinary perspective of sociology—both its theoretical orientations and empirical research—to analyze the structure, context, practices, and outcomes of schooling. On an institutional macro-level, this sociological analysis includes an examination of the political, economic, and social forces influencing education; the relationship between schooling, social inequality, and social mobility; the social organization and design of schools; the sociological study of educational policy and reform; and the production of learning and other outcomes in schools. We also take a more micro- and school-level approach to the sociological study of education, investigating the school climate and culture; classroom practices, policies, and pedagogies; the construction and distribution of school knowledge; interpersonal relationships in classrooms and schools; teachers’ work and instructional processes; and the ways in which racial, ethnic, gender, social class and sexual orientation identities are formed and enacted in schools, and influence educational processes and outcomes. The sociological study of education further considers the intersection between the macro and micro levels of schooling and employs both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate core questions.
For more information about sociology of education in the Foundations of Education program, please view the following faculty profiles: Carolyn Vander Schee, Cynthia Taines, Diann Musial (emerita).
Comparative and International Education is an interdisciplinary field of study that examines education in one or more countrie(s) by using data and insights drawn from the theories, practises and situation in another country, or countries. Its goal is to foster cross-cultural understanding, scholarship, academic achievement and societal development, which are built on cross-disciplinary interests and expertise of historians, sociologists, economists, psychologists, anthropologists, and educators. Together, we strive to: “1) promote understanding of the many roles that education plays in the shaping and perpetuation of cultures, the development of nations, and in influencing the lives of individuals; 2) improve opportunities for the citizens of the world by fostering an understanding of how education policies and programs enhance social and economic development; 3) increase cross-cultural and cross-national understanding through educational processes and by the study and critique of educational theories, policies and practices that affect individual and social well being” (source: Comparative and International Education Society [CIES] official webpage).
For more information about comparative and international education in the Foundations of Education program, please view the following faculty profile: Hidetada Shimizu.