U.S. K-12 Schools: Assumptions, Binaries, and Controversies
GENED 1189
Subject & Catalog Number
Course Information
Description
What if schools were for learning instead of education?
You will be involved in education your whole life. As a taxpayer, voter, or parent, you will be connected with formal schooling. You will almost certainly be in the role of teacher at various points in your life, whether in a classroom, in another professional setting, or guiding someone in something you love to do. Leaders in any field are teachers and coaches--they develop the people around them to bring their full potential to some shared ambition. You will also be in the role of learner throughout your life in a variety of forms and contexts. Precisely because we are all learners and teachers and we’ve all had some direct experience with K-12 schools, everyone has interests and opinions about schools. Yet, U.S. K-12 schools are consistently failing to serve all children well. This course will prepare you to recognize the assumptions, binaries, and controversies that drive much of the sound and substance of U.S. K-12 education, and replace those with a different ABCs: awareness, both-and thinking, and context. Learning can get lost in all the noise of education. What would it look like to make schools less about achievement and attainment and more about learning--and what can be your contribution, no matter your future pathways?
Class Notes
This course is part of the Gen Ed lottery and has an enrollment cap. To participate in the lottery, you must request permission to enroll by submitting a petition and ranking your choices through my.harvard by 11:59 p.m. EST Monday, November 9, 2026.
- Note: You must rank your course choices to participate in the lottery--even if you choose only one course.
The Gen Ed lottery will run Tuesday, November 10. If you are successful in the lottery, it will say “Petition Approved” in green above the course in your Crimson Cart. You will have until 11:59 p.m. EST Thursday, November 12, to select “enroll” and claim your seat. After that time, enrollment will open up to non-lottery petitioners.
For instructions on how to participate in the lottery, please visit: https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=kb_article&sys_id=c3e857c9db7d4bc4a752f1a51d96190e
For more information on the Gen Ed lottery specifically, please visit: https://gened.college.harvard.edu/courses/registration-and-lottery/
Not Available for Cross Registration
NOTE: This course requires additional sections; you will be prompted to choose secondary components during the Add to Cart process
