Course Syllabus

University of Oklahoma

Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education

Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum
EDUC 4023
Global Education: Northern Uganda Service-Learning Program

Summer 2024

 

Instructor: Dr. Julianna Kershen jkershen@ou.edu

In-person, Study Abroad June 6 – June 26, 2024

 

• Predeparture meetings May 27^th 2-5 pm & May 26^th 5-8 pm
• Entebbe, Uganda arrival June 7, 2024
• Gulu, Uganda arrival June 8, 2024
• Entebbe, Uganda departure June 26, 2024

 

Student Support/Office Hours Dr. Julianna Kershen is available in Collings Hall, room 333 on campus. Before, during, and after this course Dr. Kershen can be reached at jkershen@ou.edu

 

Learning Management System/website https://canvas.ou.edu/courses/393851

 

Course Prerequisite   Approval from OU Education Abroad.

Course Description    Designed to give real-world experience in global education through a multi-disciplinary service-learning program. Lecture component will take place on the OU Norman campus and experiential component in Gulu, Uganda. Students will learn about global education in developing countries, impact of conflict on women's educational trajectories, a postcolonial view of working with educators, and active teaching and learning in diverse settings

 

The Gulu course will be offered in three segments:  

1. Pre-readings and discussion posts in preparation for the Ugandan experience.
2. Activities and reflections in Uganda during June 2024.
3. Reflections, final paper assignments due July 10, 2024.

Some course activities in Uganda overlap with IAS 4813 and will be conducted in part with interdisciplinary teams where the learning experiences focus on the overarching goals of the OU-Uganda program.  Other projects and activities for EDUC 4023/5023 will involve only the students from this course for discipline specific learning and outcomes.  

 

Overarching Learning Objectives

• Develop an understanding of and an appreciation for different cultural settings.
• Acquire professional and personal tools to interpret nuanced contextual differences in economic, cultural, and political conditions and to use those tools in an applied project.
• Develop multidisciplinary teamwork skills necessary to address complicated global and local problems.

 

 

 

Overarching Service-Learning Goals

• To work in a multidisciplinary team to help St. Monica's reach its goals, with each of us considering the nuances of local community and culture.
• To work collaboratively with the directors, faculty, staff, and community partners of St. Monica’s Tailoring School for Girls in assessing possibilities for positive change for the campus and the community.
• To give OU students the chance to reflect on the importance of culture and contextual differences in professional education work through journals and iterative group discussions.

 

Discipline Specific Goals for Education Students

• To gain a broad understanding of education in Uganda and some of the ways in which education differs globally.
• To demonstrate understanding of how to adapt assessment, instruction, and curriculum to a variety of learners in ways that are both developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive.
• To understand and reflect on working effectively across cultural boundaries to assist St. Monica’s teachers in in the use of active teaching and learning strategies in classroom.
• To collaborate with OU peers to find ways to support St. Monica’s teachers and learners meet their educational needs, as they identify and pursue them.

 

Texts and Materials

1. Sewing Hope. Course text, paperback. Purchase and read as predeparture assignment.
2. All other course readings are available on Canvas. Be sure to download materials so that you can access them without wifi access while in Uganda.
3. [EDUC 5023] Graduate students will have additional assignments noted in this red font. They also have additional

 

Learning Activities, Assignments, and Assessments

This course requires:

• Multimodal creative reflections
• A final personal reflection paper
• Notetaking and the creation of a typed report connected to in country service project related to the Women’s Peace Conference
• NOTE:  Assignments occur before, during, and after the trip.
• At 3 specified points in time you will reflect on specific questions. You must write your reflections at the times specified because we wish to track how/if your answers change over the course of the program. 
• This an S/U graded course.  
• Minimum requirements for an S: complete readings, participate in online discussion, attend pre-departure meetings, thoughtfully complete requirements for the daily journal and final reflection, actively participate in all activities as assigned. 
• Graduate students: Complete the Teaching and Learning paper in a scholarly and thoughtful manner.

 

Course Policies

 

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism There is no expectation that students will need to use generative AI (G-AI) built-ins (e.g., chatbots), apps (e.g., Grammarly), or platforms (e.g., Claude AI, ChatGPT) on any assignments. If students choose to use any form of writing or other creative support from G-AI then Dr. Kershen expects full written disclosure in the submitted assignment. Please use the following statement:

“In completing  this assignment, I used ---- name the built-in, app, or platform ----- to --- name exactly what you did with the G-AI interface---.”

For example, “In completing this assignment I used Claude AI to create an outline for how to organize the body paragraphs.”

 

Late Work Policy  Work for this course should be submitted as completed, with the expectation that all work will be submitted for the close of the course July 10, 2024. If there are specific due dates, students are expected to meet those deadlines. Talk to Dr. Kershen if you miss a deadline.

 

Attendance Policy All students are expected to participate in all cultural activities as a part of the Study Abroad program. If for some reason a student is unable to participate, that student MUST contact Dr. Kershen ASAP to notify her that they will not be participating and for what reasons.

 

Technology     There are limited wifi and technology services at St. Monica’s in Gulu. Please plan accordingly.

 

Group Work Policies Much of the work we will do is of a collaborative nature. Respectful discourse, friendly and convivial nature, flexibility, and adaptability are all aspects of leadership and successful, effective group activities. You will be expected to work together. You will also need to take time for yourself to recharge, refresh, and prepare. To bring your best self to group projects you will need to read materials, sleep, rest, and get to know one another.

 

Other University Policies

 

Mental Health Support Services

Support is available for any student experiencing mental health issues that are impacting their academic success.  Students can either been seen at the University Counseling Center (UCC) located on the second floor of Goddard Health Center or receive 24/7/365 crisis support from a licensed mental health provider through TELUS Health.  To schedule an appointment or receive more information about mental health resources at OU please call the UCC at 405-325-2911 or visit  University Counseling Center. The UCC is located at 620 Elm Ave., Room 201, Norman, OK 73019.

 

Title IX Resources and Reporting Requirement

The University of Oklahoma faculty are committed to creating a safe learning environment for all members of our community, free from gender and sex-based discrimination, including sexual harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, in accordance with Title IX. There are resources available to those impacted, including: speaking with someone confidentially about your options, medical attention, counseling, reporting, academic support, and safety plans. If you have (or someone you know has) experienced any form of sex or gender-based discrimination or violence and wish to speak with someone confidentially, please contact OU Advocates (available 24/7 at 405-615-0013) or University Counseling Center (M-F 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 405-325-2911) 

Because the University of Oklahoma is committed to the safety of you and other students, and because of our Title IX obligations, I, as well as other faculty, Graduate Assistants, and Teaching Assistants, are mandatory reporters. This means that we are obligated to report gender-based violence that has been disclosed to us to the Institutional Equity Office. This means that we are obligated to report gender-based violence that has been disclosed to us to the Institutional Equity Office. This includes disclosures that occur in: class discussion, writing assignments, discussion boards, emails and during Student/Office Hours. You may also choose to report directly to the Institutional Equity Office. After a report is filed, the Title IX Coordinator will reach out to provide resources, support, and information and the reported information will remain private. For more information regarding the University’s Title IX Grievance procedures, reporting, or support measures, please visit Institutional Equity Office at 405-325-3546.

Reasonable Accommodation Policy

The University of Oklahoma (OU) is committed to the goal of achieving equal educational opportunity and full educational participation for students with disabilities. If you have already established reasonable accommodations with the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center (ADRC), please submit your semester accommodation request through the ADRC as soon as possible and contact me privately, so that we have adequate time to arrange your approved academic accommodations.

If you have not yet established services through ADRC, but have a documented disability and require accommodations, please complete ADRC’s pre-registration form to begin the registration process.  ADRC facilitates the interactive process that establishes reasonable accommodations for students at OU.  For more information on ADRC registration procedures, please review their Register with the ADRC web page.  You may also contact them at (405)325-3852 or adrc@ou.edu, or visit www.ou.edu/adrc for more information.  

Note: disabilities may include, but are not limited to, mental health, chronic health, physical, vision, hearing, learning and attention disabilities, pregnancy-related. ADRC can also support students experiencing temporary medical conditions.

 

Religious Observance

It is the policy of the University to excuse the absences of students that result from religious observances and to reschedule examinations and additional required classwork that may fall on religious holidays, without penalty.

 

Adjustments for Pregnancy/Childbirth Related Issues

Should you need modifications or adjustments to your course requirements because of documented pregnancy-related or childbirth-related issues, please contact the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center at 405/325-3852 and/or the Institutional Equity Office at 405/325-3546 as soon as possible. Also, see the Institutional Equity Office FAQ on Pregnant and Parenting Students’ Rights for answers to commonly asked questions.

 

Final Exam Preparation Period There is no final exam for this course. All assignments, including final reflection, should be submitted to the course canvas page by July 10, 2024, or otherwise scheduled with Dr. Kershen.

 

Emergency Protocol

During an emergency, there are official university procedures that will maximize your safety.

Severe Weather: If you receive an OU Alert to seek refuge or hear a tornado siren that signals severe weather.

Look for severe weather refuge location maps located inside most OU buildings near the entrances.

Seek refuge inside a building. Do not leave one building to seek shelter in another building that you deem safer. If outside, get into the nearest building.

Go to the building’s severe weather refuge location. If you do not know where that is, go to the lowest level possible and seek refuge in an innermost room. Avoid outside doors and windows.

Get in, Get Down, Cover Up

Wait for official notice to resume normal activities.

Additional Weather Safety Information is available through the Department of Campus Safety.

 

Armed Subject/Campus Intruder

If you receive an OU Alert to shelter-in-place due to an active shooter or armed intruder situation or you hear what you perceive to be gunshots:

Run: If you believe you can get out of the area WITHOUT encountering the armed individual, move quickly towards the nearest building exit, move away from the building, and call 911.

Hide: If you cannot flee, move to an area that can be locked or barricaded, turn off lights, silence devices, spread out, and formulate a plan of attack if the shooter enters the room.

Fight: As a last resort fight to defend yourself.

For more information, visit OU's Active Shooter page.

Shots Fired on Campus Procedure – Video

 

Fire Alarm/General Emergency

If you receive an OU Alert that there is danger inside or near the building, or the fire alarm inside the building activates:

LEAVE the building. Do not use the elevators.

KNOW at least two building exits

ASSIST those that may need help

PROCEED to the emergency assembly area

ONCE safely outside, NOTIFY first responders of anyone that may still be inside building due to mobility issues.

WAIT for official notice before attempting to re-enter the building.

OU Fire Safety on Campus

 

Office of Access and Opportunity’s Belonging Statement

Why You Belong at the University of Oklahoma: The University of Oklahoma fosters an inclusive culture of respect and civility, belonging, and access, which are essential to our collective pursuit of excellence and our determination to change lives. The unique talents, perspectives, and experiences of our community enrich the learning, and working environment at OU, inspiring us to harness our innovation, creativity, and collaboration for the advancement of people everywhere.

 

Course Reflection Survey

You’ll receive a Course Reflection Survey at the end of each semester for each course that you are enrolled in. I strongly encourage you to complete this survey. Your feedback can help me adjust my class for future semesters to help other students be successful. Your feedback is confidential, and I will only receive it after final grades are due. Course Reflection Survey results may also factor into teaching evaluations and annual performance reviews and are shared with department and program chairs.

 

Copyright Statement, for in-person or online courses

Sessions of this course may be recorded or live-streamed. These recordings are the intellectual property of the individual faculty member and may not be shared or reproduced without the explicit, written consent of the faculty member. In addition, privacy rights of others such as students, guest lecturers, and providers of copyrighted material displayed in the recording may be of concern. Students may not share any course recordings with individuals not enrolled in the class or upload them to any other online environment.

 

 

 

 

Tentative Schedule (Subject to Change)

Pre-Travel/Prior to June 3 

Meet twice (after the contract is signed) with the instructor of the Education track for discussions of readings, peer review of assigned activities, and team building activities. Participate in the online discussion of the readings before each class meeting. 

• These meetings are scheduled for May 27, 2-5 pm and May 28, 5-8 pm. 
• These sessions will be co-led by Kershen and IAS Instructor Kelli Alvarez.
• Students must read/review the Active Teaching and Learning Resource book (available on Canvas).
• Complete the 4 predeparture preparatory assignments.
• Reading Discussion Questions #1

 

In Uganda 

Daily multi-modal journal of your activities. Once we arrive at St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring School, our base of operations, you will keep a daily journal. This journal should utilize images, sounds, words/text in order to describe:

• What you did that day on the interdisciplinary project and/or for the school
• Reflection of what you learned about the culture of Uganda, living in a different culture, education, yourself, etc., and
• Questions that you have that you would like to discuss with the group or things that you are wondering about.

 

Consider the following prompts for writing reflections

• How is the cultural context of a school important? How did the first week or so of the project change your understanding of culture and its impact on education?
• What is the role of educators (outsiders) in school?
• How do educators “listen” to other educators? Is it possible to build knowledge and solutions together with those educators? What insights did you gain in your first week?
• How did the first week or so of the project impact your view of social justice? Have you had an experience in this week that relates to social justice? Describe it and how you responded to it.
• “Multimodal” means… you may record images, sounds, voiceover and video and upload those to the text you write. Use may use your phone and ipad applications.
• Former students have created imovies, google slides for each day, used Canva and other apps.
• You will submit daily journal entries as often as possible, and the collection of entries at the end.

Support readings specific to creating journal entries for observation and reflection: 

Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). “Fieldnote Tales.” From Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. P. 89-107. 

Frank, C. (1999). “An Ethnographic Perspective.” From Ethnographic Eyes. P. 1-14. 

 

 

 

 

 

In Uganda (continued)

Participation in the following interdisciplinary activities: 

• The Grassroots Women’s Peace Conference
• Writing up notes of your participation in recording/notetaking for the report
• It is important to remember that we are guests in someone’s home

Participation in St. Monica’s School of Basic Learning for Women, helping where and when needed which could include (but is not limited to) tutoring basic literacy lessons, taking dictation, teaching English to small groups of women, tutoring basic mathematics, preparing materials for teachers. These activities could occur either in Gulu or Atiak. 

School visits in Adjumani, Moyo, or Atiak. School visits are an opportunity to listen and learn foremost. Give the students the opportunity to teach you about their school, their lives, and their indigenous ways of being and knowing. While you may be invited to teach in a classroom, your primary goal is as learner.

Readings Discussion Questions There will be 3 sets of reading discussion questions to complete while we are in Uganda. You may do these by hand, on paper, or online. While these assignments have a due date posted, you may submit them for review by July 10. However, you should be ready to discuss the course readings discussion questions by the due date.

Discussion questions #1 due by June 3

Discussion questions #2 due by June 10

Discussion questions #3 due by June 23

 

Post-Travel/By July 10: 

Post-Travel Assignments

1. All daily reflections should be submitted.
2. A final reflection should be submitted that considers all that you have learned on this experience.
3. Final report on any notetaking for the Women’s Peace Conference (WPC). Details on this report will be defined at the WPC.

 

[all students] Final Reflection on the entire experience:  

• Reflect on the entire experience of this project, from the beginning introduction through your time in Uganda. Include in your reflection, using headers to separate each section:
  1. how you have grown in your understanding of yourself as a person and as a teacher,
  2. what you have learned about living in a different culture,
  3. what you have learned about education (including the role of education in civic engagement and social justice),
  4. what you learned about Uganda,
  5. and how this experience has impacted your views of living in a global society.
• You will also need to address how you will share this experience with others in the University and JRCOE as well as with your students in future classrooms.  Please make this reflection thoughtful and be as honest as you can. This 4- 5 page reflection will be due no later than July 10. 
• We will discuss final reflection questions as a group before we leave Uganda on June 26.

[all students] Final Report on WPC:

This document will summarize the notes you took into a 1-2 page Executive Summary. You will append all notes to this document as evidence. You should include PDFs of handwritten notes.

 

 

[Graduate students only] Teaching and Learning paper (8-10 pages):

Using the Active Learning and Teaching Guide and Teacher Resource book, and the readings for the course, reflect on your Ugandan experience. Tie the ideas in the course materials to theories of teaching and learning that you have studied as part of your graduate work.  

• How did your lessons or experiences in Ugandan schools tie to those theories?  
• Consider, how did you support Indigenous ways of knowing and help to decolonize education?  
• What did you learn about the culture(s) of teaching and learning in Ugandan schools?
• What did you learn about the successes and challenges teachers and learners face in multilingual, dynamic education systems?

 

Paper due by July 12, 2024. Include a bibliography with at least 5 sources. 

 

Course Readings

 

Poetry for the Course 

“Dearth of Dictionary Learning”        K. M. Durica 

“I’m Partially Proficient”                   K. M. Durica 

“Death, Mother and Child”                K. Powers 

“Scavenger”                                        C. Muhoho

“My Mother Taught Me”                   P. Kahenya

“See how the withered leaves”           M. Borden

“Testimony”                                       L. Apol

“Language Lessons”                           L. Apol

“The Fire People”                               M. Barya https://poets.org/poem/fire-people

 

Course Readings 

 

[Graduate students] Asiimwe, A., & Ssentanda, M. (2020). Challenges to the acquisition of literacy in rural primary schools in Northern Uganda. Language Matters: Studies in the Languages of Southern Africa, 51(1), 38-62.  

  

Beach, S. A. (Ed.). Active Teaching and Learning Across the Curriculum. Published by the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, University of Oklahoma. 

 

Bamber, P. M., & Pike, M. A. (2013). Towards an ethical ecology of international service learning. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(4), 535-559.  

  

Cariou, W. (2020). On critical humility. Studies in American Indian Literatures, 32(3-4), 1-12. 

 

(all optional) Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). “Fieldnote Tales.” From Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. P. 89-107. 

 

Frank, C. (1999). “An Ethnographic Perspective.” From Ethnographic Eyes. P. 1-14. 

 

Levine, R. A., Levine, S., Schenell-Anzola, B., Rowe, M. L., & Dexter, E. (2012). Redefining Literacy, p. 45-57. Literacy and Mothering. Oxford University Press. 

 

Moll, L. C. (2019). Elaborating funds of knowledge: Community-oriented practices in international contexts. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 68(1), 130-138.  

  

[Graduate students] Sianturi, M., Lee, J. S., & Cumming, T. M. (2023). Shifting the belief of the “hard-to-reach parents” to “reachable parents”: Parent-teacher collaboration within schools in a post-colonial country. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 97, 101892.  

  

Sloan, C. (2013). Transforming Multicultural Classrooms through Creative Place-Based Learning. Multicultural Education, 21(1), 26-32.  

  

Ssentanda, M. E. (2022). Which language(s) matter(s) the most? Exploring the ‘schoolscapes’ of rural primary schools in Uganda. South African Journal of African Languages, 42(1), 17–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/02572117.2022.2039441  

  

Stroud, A., Kershen, J. L., Raymond, K., Williams, L., & Beach, S. A. (2017). Transformative Peacebuilding Efforts in Northern Uganda: The Development of St. Monica’s School of Basic Learning for Women. International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education, 8(4), 3254-3262.  

  

Van Manen, M. (1991). Reflectivity and the pedagogical moment: The normativity of pedagogical thinking and acting. J. Curriculum Studies, 23(6), 507-536.  

Northern Uganda Collaborative Learning Partnership: A Commitment to Common Principles

 

Pre-Travel
Date	Preparation	Due
Due May 26	Sewing Hope *** Cariou (2020) *** A Commitment to Common Principles***   *** Read before the first predeparture meeting	(will work in class)  Predeparture reflective journals
Due May 27	Read before the second meeting ***Beach (2016). Active Teaching and Learning Resource.  ***Frank (1999)    Emerson, Fretz, & Shaw (1995) *optional reference*
Due June 3	Moll (2019)  van Manen (1991)  Sianturi, Lee, & Cumming (2023)	Reading discussion questions 1 (canvas upload)
In Uganda
By June 10	Read  Bamber & Pike (2013)  Levine, et al., (2012)  Stroud, Kershen, Raymond, Williams, & Beach (2017)	Multimodal Journal (on-going)    Reading discussion questions 2 (canvas upload)
By June 12	Peace Conference prep  https://sdgs.un.org/goals	Multimodal Journal (on-going)
By June 23	Teaching Experiences  Read/Review  Sloan (2013)  Asiimwe & Ssentanda (2020)  Sewing Hope  Ssentanda, M. E. (2022)	Reading discussion questions 3 (canvas upload)    Multimodal Journal (on-going)
By June 30	Teaching Experiences  Read/Review	Multimodal Journal (on-going)

(will work in class) Predeparture reflective journalsPost-Travel Goal: Complete by Wednesday July 10, 2024.  Final day to submit, Friday July 12.  Final Reflection  Final Multimodal journal entries  Teaching and Learning Paper (graduate)