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Course Descriptions

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Education Courses

EDUC 500-549 | EDUC 550-599 | EDUC 600-699 | EDUC 800-849
EDUC 850-899 | EDUC 900-999 | Other Courses

Courses are listed in the following format:

Course Title
Course number--# of credits (terms offered)

Please use the following key to the codes used to indicate terms offered*:

(A) - All terms (Fall, Spring, Summer I, Summer II)
(F) - Fall term
(S) - Spring term
(Jan) - January term
(S1) - Summer I term
(S2) - Summer II term
(S1-S2) - Across Summer I and Summer II terms
(2/S) - Every other Spring term
(2/F) - Every other Fall term
(2/S2) - Every other Summer II term
(3/S2) - Every third Summer II term

*Every effort is made to offer courses as listed. Offerings are subject to change.

The Social Worlds of Childhood
EDUC 800--3 credits (F)
This course is designed as a forum for thinking about what it means to care for children at the beginning of the 21st century. Consideration will be given to how issues such as poverty, changing family structures, substance abuse, community violence, and HIV/AIDS affect children, teachers and the curriculum. Students will critically examine the traditional knowledge base of childhood education and child development - and explore alternative lenses for viewing children. History, literature, philosophy and feminist theory will be used to reflect upon taken-for-granted assumptions about childhood. Students will learn how reading, writing and interpreting narrative can become an invaluable source for understanding themselves and the children in their care. Prerequisite: EDUC 500 or EDUC 501 or by permission of the instructor. Approved for Human Relations credit by the New York City Department of Education.

The World of the Infant: The First Year of Life
EDUC 801--3 credits (F)
This course is about infants, parents and the first year of life. The primary goal of the course is for students to internalize a solid and accessible grasp of infant development across individual differences and contexts. There will be a strong emphasis on using theory to facilitate one's understanding and development and to articulate a point of view about these extraordinary first months. Research, theory, and our own observations of infants both during and outside of class, will be brought together to understand the cognitive, perceptual, sensorimotor movement and social-emotional changes which occur through interaction with the world. We attend to the specific contributions of familial and cultural contexts as well as the contributions of infants themselves, as we strive to achieve a fair balance between the "expected" global shifts in development and the profound individual differences that each human being presents. This is not a "how to" course. Rather, the course provides knowledge of the basic developmental systems that can be seen in developing children with a range of abilities and disabilities. Students work on articulating their knowledge of development and of new findings in the field, and they practice communicating such knowledge clearly to parents. The course is organized around a semester-long study of an individual infant in a family. This study, along with on-going electronic journal discussions, provides an opportunity for a rich integration of developmental theory with real babies. Prerequisite: EDUC 500 or EDUC 800.

The World of Toddlers and Twos: The Second and Third Years of Life
EDUC 802--3 credits (S)
This course offers a developmental interactional view of toddlers, two-year-olds and their families. The primary goal of the course is for students to internalize a solid and accessible grasp of development in the second and third years of life, and across individual differences and contexts. Students examine how separation-individuation, attachment and mutual recognition are achieved through a focus on the interactive affective and cognitive contributions of toddlers and caregivers. Research, theory and student observations will be utilized to better understand the toddler's developing symbolization and language; changes in motor and movement patterns; and social-emotional aspects of development, such as play, peer relationships and the range of toddler conflicts and fears. The class members attempt to reconceptualize traditional theories in light of the real issues faced by toddlers today in the context of the wide range of family structures, group care settings, and cultures, sub-cultures and degrees of ability/disability. A great deal of attention is paid to the specific contributions of familial and cultural contexts as well as the contributions of toddlers themselves. Students strive to achieve a fair balance between the "expected " global shifts in development and the profound individual differences that each human being presents. The course is organized around a developmental history of a toddler or a two-year-old in the context of his or her family and often a group setting. This study, along with on-going electronic journal discussions, provides rich opportunities for students to integrate their knowledge of developmental theory with real toddlers and twos and to practice articulating their knowledge with peers and parents. Prerequisite: EDUC 500 or EDUC 800.

Developmental Variations
EDUC 803--2 credits (A)
This course is designed to increase participants' awareness and understanding of the educational, social, cultural and developmental implications of disability. A range of specific disabilities will be discussed, with an emphasis on their impact on typical developmental expectations and educational progress. One of the main objectives of the course is to prepare all teachers to recognize, comprehend, accept and meet the needs of students with disabilities who are in their classrooms. Within this context, they will examine their legal and ethical responsibilities and the ways in which educators need to collaborate in inclusive and regular settings to maximize the learning of all children. Prerequisite: EDUC 500 or 501 or 800; or permission of instructor.

Developmental Variations II: Emotional and Behavioral Issues
EDUC 805--2 credits (S)
This course focuses on understanding, teaching, and meeting the needs of adolescents with severe learning and behavioral disorders in upper elementary and secondary school settings. Familiarity with basic adolescent developmental framework is applied to the assessment and understanding of individual students within the contexts of their schools, families and communities. The course is practically focused and includes discussions of managing specific classroom incidents, resolving conflict, focusing curriculum, fostering adolescent growth and learning, and considering and involving families. Live Space Intervention, based on the work or Redl, Long, and others, is considered in depth. Case material and guest speakers present in areas of their specific expertise in working with an adolescent population. Special topics such as adolescent depression and suicide, violence, foster care placement, and sexual orientation are explored in depth, according to student interest. Prerequisites: EDUC 500 or EDUC 501 or EDUC 800; and EDUC 803.

Communication Disorders in School-Age Children
EDUC 807--2 credits (F, S, S2)
This course is designed to deepen graduate students' understanding of language development, diversity and disorders, and to examine aspects of atypical language acquisition and development in monolingual and multilingual children. Using current brain research, this course will explore neurological development and its relationship to language functioning. Participants will explore the impact of language delay and disorder on academic performance and social and emotional interactions. In addition, students will learn to use the information gathered from formal and informal assessments to develop instruction that enhances learners' strengths and supports their needs. Throughout the course, students will consider how collaborations with other professionals can support learners with language/communication disorders. Prerequisites: EDUC 505; or EDUC 561 and EDUC 870.

The Study of Children in Diverse and Inclusive Educational Settings through Observation and Recording
EDUC 808--3 credits (F, S)
Students learn to use a variety of observational approaches and recording techniques as basic assessment tools to increase their understanding of and skill in planning for children who are developing normally, as well as for children with disabilities and special needs. Through observing cognitive functioning (stage and style), social-emotional behaviors, motor ability, and the interplay between the individual child and the group, as well as the individual child and adults, students become aware of how specific behaviors yield insight into the overall life of the child. Students will use their observations to reflect on possible curriculum and classroom adaptations that would allow the children to build on their strengths and better meet their challenges. An additional goal is to help students, as participant observers, to develop greater sensitivity to their own feelings and interactions with children, and to consider how these affect the selection, omission and interpretation of observable data. Emphasis is placed on a growing sensitivity to what is "subjective" and what attempts to be "objective" observation. Each student conducts an in-depth study of a child. Prerequisite: EDUC 500 or EDUC 800; or permission of the instructor. The New York City Department of Education and the New York State Division of Teacher Certification accept one (1) credit of this course as teaching special education credit.

The Study of Children in Diverse and Inclusive Educational Settings through Observation and Recording with a Focus on the Upper Elementary and Middle School Child
EDUC 809--3 credits (F)
This course aims to increase students' awareness of individual differences, the meaning of specific and long-term behavior, and implications for learning. Observations of children focus on cognitive styles, social-emotional behaviors, gender identification, cultural variation, and position in the group. Children with special needs and disabilities in mainstreamed groups or in special classes are also examined. As participant-observers, students develop greater sensitivity to their feelings about and interactions with normal and special needs children. Prerequisite: EDUC 501 or EDUC 800 or permission of the instructor. The New York City Department of Education and the New York State Division of Teacher Certification accept one (1) credit of this course as teaching special education credit.

Seminar in Museum Education II
EDUC 815--2 credits (S)
This course is a continuation of the Seminar in Museum Education I. Students study the people who comprise museums: the staff, audiences, and communities. Through readings, visits to museums, discussions with staff, and investigations in their museum internship settings, students consider the mission, organizational structure, and staff roles in museums, and explore current museum-related issues, including collections, governance, funding, professionalism, and technology. Emphasis is placed on working more sensitively with and broadening museum audiences with attention to issues of culture, language, socio-economic status, and educational level. Students study the characteristics and needs particular audiences: adolescents, adults, families, and visitors with a range of disabilities. To develop their professional skills, students prepare an audience study project and write a grant proposal. Throughout the semester, students engage in online conversations and use Internet resources related to course issues. Prerequisite: EDUC 533.

Group Processes for Child Life Students
EDUC 820--1 credit (S2)
The purpose of this course is to increase students' appreciation of, knowledge about, and skill in using groupwork as a psychosocial modality. This course introduces child life specialists to the theoretical concepts and fundamental skills that form the foundations of 'groupwork' as an academic field and a psychosocial practice. Prerequisite: EDUC 500.

Child Life in the Health Care Setting: A Family-Centered Care Approach
EDUC 821--3 credits (F)
When facing acute and chronic illness, today's infants, children and adolescents pose a unique challenge to health care professionals. This course provides an overview of the theory, practice, and programming of the child life profession, with an emphasis on family-centered care. This course is designed for, but not limited to, students interested in a career as a child life specialist. A developmental perspective is used to examine the child's perception and understanding of hospitalization and related health care experiences within the context of a diverse culture. Through carefully sequenced didactic and clinical components, case studies, small group discussions, guest speakers, clinical observations and assignments, students are exposed to the competencies of the child life specialist as developed by the Child Life Council. Appropriate interventions and practical strategies designed to mitigate the painful, invasive and frightening aspects of medical treatment are covered. Prerequisite: EDUC 500.

Children with Special Health Care Needs: In the Hospital, At Home, and In School
EDUC 822--3 credits (S)
This course will explore the personal, educational, social, and familial dimensions of childhood health conditions, including a focus on the educational law and how it applies to children with special health care needs. Children with severe or chronic illnesses often spend more time in school and at home than in the hospital. We will address the impact of these transitions on cognitive, social, and emotional development. This course will address the ways in which workers in health care, school and community settings can help the children themselves, their siblings, and their peers adapt successfully to the stressors they all encounter. Prerequisite: EDUC 821.

Play Therapy
EDUC 823--1 credit (F, S)
Students explore the use of play in therapy with children of different ages and degrees of pathology, clarifying the role of the therapist in collaboration with the teacher. Students consider the different meanings of play, including play as communication, as a means of mastery, and as a symbolic process. Students analyze play sequences and their implications for understanding interpsychic processes. Prerequisite: EDUC 803.

Medical Aspects of Illness: A Child Life Perspective
EDUC 826--3 credits (F)
This course provides students with an understanding of the pathological of a wide range of medical conditions that most frequently affect children and youth. Fundamental to understanding disability and illness is the necessity of having knowledge about the physical, neurological, and chemical roots of medical conditions that are alternately congenital, acquired, or genetic in their origin. Students will be introduced to research findings and standard practices of medical interventions and preparations for conditions highlighted in the course. Prerequisite: EDUC 500.

Weaving Creative Arts Modalities into Child Life Practice
EDUC 827--3 credits (F)
The therapeutic uses of play and creative arts modalities are at the heart of child life practice. In this course, students explore the use of a wide range of specific arts and play modalities to address the psychosocial needs of children, adolescents, and families in health care environments. Students engage actively in experiential processes, lectures, and clinical case discussions to develop skills and knowledge related to developmentally grounded creative arts interventions. Prerequisites: EDUC 821 and EDUC 824.

Loss in Children's Lives: Implications for Schools, Hospitals, and Home
EDUC 828--3 credits (S)
A developmental perspective is utilized to examine the child's perception and understanding of levels of loss outside the walls of a health care setting. Topics to be addressed include separation and divorce, adoption, foster care, hospitalization and/or death of a parent, and domestic and media-induced violence. The essential roles of the child life specialist, health care provider and family members will be discussed, underscoring the trans-disciplinary collaboration that must exist between these caregivers. Prerequisite: EDUC 500.

Therapeutic Play Techniques for Child Life Specialists
EDUC 829--3 credits (F)
In this course, students will explore the meanings and purposes of play and how play develops as a child develops. Various theories of play therapy will be introduced, and the roles of child life specialist and play therapist will be delineated. Students will learn how child life specialists can create the optimal environment to encourage learning, development, and healing through play in hospitals and other healthcare settings. The course also covers directive and non-directive therapeutic play techniques for use in playrooms, clinical settings, and at the bedside, both with the individual child and for groups. Prerequisite: EDUC 500.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU): An Introduction to Supporting Infants and Their Families and Working with the Healthcare Team
EDUC 831--1 credit (S1)
The NICU is a specialized care nursery for premature and full-term babies who are sick. The staff's goal is to help the babies grow and become healthy enough to go home. This course will introduce students to understanding this culturally diverse setting and how to respectfully engage in a hierarchical medical community. Getting acquainted with the equipment, the environment, and the medical terminology will be included. Learning about the physical, developmental, and neurological growth of these infants and how to support their development will be primary foci of the course. During the course we will discuss how research has proven that by providing developmentally supportive, family-centered care, and encouraging parents to become actively involved with their babies, the NICU will promote better medical outcomes for these tiny newborns. We will also explore collaboration with the healthcare team and the various cultures within the NICU, an introduction to drug and alcohol prenatal exposure, and other variables that impact the growth of the newborn. A greater understanding of how parents feel when they expereince deep loss, and how to approach parents during very difficult times, will be addressed, as well as bereavement issues during and after the death of an infant. Child Life services such as how to involve parents in the care of their newborns, sibling visitation and support, the use of creative arts, the development of child-friendly spaces for siblings, family-friendly waiting areas, parent support groups, bereavement interventions, family resource centers, and the creation of family advisory boards will be discussed. Prerequisite: EDUC 500 or permission of instructor or program director.