EDEF Foundations Department

Studies in Educational Foundations focus on important educational policies and issues, using both disciplinary and interdisciplinary applications.

Scholarly inquiry is made lively through the use of a combination of diverse academic perspectives.

Educational Foundations is a broadly conceived field of study whose concepts and theory are drawn from:

• Academic disciplines such as history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, and religion
• Area studies found within the broad frame of comparative, international, global, environmental and multicultural concerns
• Educational policy studies
• Community or social movement activities

The Faculty of the Department are committed to the belief that these sources are among the most powerful methods for understanding and judging educational controversies and issues, and for reconstructing and developing educational practices that respond intelligently and realistically to them.

The specialization in Educational Foundations offers all students the opportunity to examine and analyze educational theory and practice from the perspective of four main areas of emphasis. Such perspectives stand in opposition to the idea that a single intellectual and moral outlook and its associated behavior are compatible with education and schooling in a democracy.