ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN
FIRST YEAR COLLOQUIUM
FALL SEMESTER 2005

Location: Cambridge 1200
Time: Wednesday 2-3:20PM

Instructor: Brenda Jones Harden
E-mail: bjharden@umd.edu
Phone: 301-405-2580
Office Hours: by appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to Advocates for Children! While you are making the transition to college life - taking multiple new courses, negotiating the maze of your dormitories, enjoying the independence and social experiences that come with being on campus, you will also be participating in this important College Park Scholars Program that will prepare you to be an Advocate for Children. No matter what your ultimate career (or careers) will be, there will be opportunities for you to be a child advocate. We hope that, as professionals, parents, or just public citizens, you will take seriously the charge of this program to continue to advocate for children throughout your lives.

The Advocates for Children program is designed to increase your skills and knowledge as a child advocate over a four-semester period. This first-semester colloquium is an introductory one-credit course, with a goal of exposing you to some of the experiences of children, and how these experiences relate to your role as an advocate. Thus, a big part of your work this semester will be to reflect on how what you are learning about children can inform what and how you speak for children among your peers, in larger social contexts, and in various public forums. The first-semester colloquium is NOT designed to be a child development course; it will not survey nor cover in detail different aspects of child development. Each colloquium topic will expose you to a general area of childhood, but will only address a particular segment of that area.

There will be three sections to the colloquium. The first section will introduce Advocates to the ages and stages of childhood. Different facets of what children do, learn, and experience during infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence will be considered. The second section will address the distinct domains through which we can observe the development of children. Advocates will be introduced to the concept of the "whole child", briefly examining the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional domains of children. The final section will peer into some of the worlds in the orbits of children, specifically families, schools, health institutions, social-economic institutions and experiences.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The overarching question that should guide your learning in this first semester Advocates for Children colloquium is Why is it important for me as an individual to give voice to the rights and needs of America's children? Some scholars suggest that the American culture has historically undervalued and under-nurtured children. Further, children do not vote. They are not considered important constituencies by many policy-makers at the national and local levels. To be an advocate for children, you have to be aware of the unique characteristics of childhood, and of the environmental conditions that promote children's optimal development. To move you forward in this direction, the colloquium has the following objectives:

• To introduce you to the ages and stages of childhood.
• To inform you of the various developmental domains of the child and how these relate to advocacy issues.
• To expose you to the various environmental conditions that affect children's development.
• To enable you to select a particular group of children for whom to advocate (e.g. age group, developmental arena, contextual issue).
• To facilitate your reflection on your own and others' childhoods as a means of internalizing how and why children's needs should be met.
• To engage you in activities which allow for a broader understanding of the needs of children in various contexts.

REQUIRED READING:

• Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary by Juan Williams (first year book)
• Kids Count

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS:

There are four assignments required for this course. Each is designed for you to reflect on why advocacy is important for America's children. For every assignment, it is expected that you integrate what you have learned from colloquium lectures, activities, discussions, as well as from service experiences and extra-curricular events. There is no expectation that you use any reference outside of the required text and class notes. Each assignment must be submitted in word processing format, and should be about 5 pages long. Grading will be based on content and style of presentation. For students who need assistance with writing, please contact the University Writing Center. Following is a more detailed description of each assignment.

1. Service Day Essay (DUE 9/21): This assignment is designed for you to reflect upon your contribution to the community that occurred on the CPS Service Day (8/29). Please consider how what you did may or may not have had an impact on children directly or indirectly, and more specifically how your experiences benefited the agency or program where you went. Also identify what general child issue your service activity addressed (e.g. education, child maltreatment), and ponder how you could advocate for children in this particular arena.

2. Autobiographical Essay (DUE 10/20): Please write a brief summary of your childhood and adolescent experiences. Do NOT include any material that you are uncomfortable sharing with a professor and teaching assistant. Reflect on any times in your own childhood in which you may have or could have benefited from an advocate for children. Consider how your own childhood may be different from or similar to our nation's vulnerable children, who need constant advocacy from child-centered individuals and agencies.

3. Photo Essay (DUE 11/17): Use the library or internet to identify pictures of children from books, newspapers, magazines or other media that you consider particularly poignant. Select a picture that is compelling to you and write a description of why you selected it. Discuss how this picture may depict a particular child issue (e.g. child hunger, children in war, etc.), and how it might be used in advocacy efforts around this issue.

4. First Year Book Essay (DUE 12/8): As you know, every year the University selects a book to be read by its incoming first-year undergraduate class. This year's book is a biography of Thurgood Marshall, Supreme Court Justice, civil rights attorney, and son of Maryland. For this assignment, please focus on the aspects of the book that relate to Justice Marshall's childhood. Consider how his childhood experiences shaped his future accomplishments. Identify any persons or events that could be considered advocates or advocacy for him as a child. Finally, discuss what types of advocacy he deserved or could have benefited from as a child.

GRADING PROCEDURE:
Each of the four assignments outlined above are worth 20% of your grade. Assignments will be grade regarding integration of course material, original thinking, and presentation. The remaining 20% of your grade will come from class participation (i.e. engagement in class discussion and group work, involvement in extra-curricular activities, etc.).

COURSE OUTLINE/SCHEDULE:

8/31 Introduction to Advocates for Children

THE AGES AND STAGES OF CHILDHOOD

9/7 Infancy

9/14 Early childhood

9/21 Middle childhood
SERVICE DAY ESSAY DUE

9/28 Adolescence

THE DOMAINS OF THE WHOLE CHILD

10/5 Physical domain

10/8 Scholars on the Hill

10/12 Cognitive domain

10/19 Social domain
AUTOBIOGRAPHY DUE

10/26 Emotional domain

THE WORLDS OF CHILDREN

11/2 Families

11/9 Schools

11/16 Socio-economic institutions
PHOTO ESSAY DUE

11/23 NO CLASS
Happy Thanksgiving!

11/30 Social-economic institutions

12/7 Closing
FIRST YEAR BOOK ESSAY DUE

COURSE POLICIES AND REMINDERS:

PARTICIPATION:
Being an advocate for children requires commitment, energy, and collaboration. Therefore, all students are expected to participate fully in the in-class and extra-curricular activities that are components of this course. This includes arriving on time and prepared for class, listening actively when others are speaking, contributing to class discussion, and being an active participant in small-group work. Also, please turn off all cell-phones, beepers, and other electronic devices during class.

ATTENDANCE:
Attendance in Colloquium is mandatory and will be taken during each session. University policy excuses the absence of students for illness, religious observances, participation in University activities at the request of University authorities, and compelling circumstances beyond student's control. Please inform the professor in advance and provide written documentation for these excused absences.

LATE ASSIGNMENTS:
Meeting deadlines is essential in the world of child advocacy. Late assignments will not be accepted unless there is a documented circumstance beyond the student's control. Computer and printing difficulties are not considered a justifiable excuse for a late assignment.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
University students have the responsibility to engage in the academic enterprise in an honorable manner. The University takes seriously this student responsibility and has an honor code in place. Please peruse the University's Academic Integrity website for further information (www.jpo.umd.edu, studentconduct.umd.edu). For this course, it is expected that students submit original papers that are independently conceptualized and written. For each paper, include the following signed statement at the end:

"I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment."

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITES:
Students with disabilities are encouraged to speak to the professor as soon as possible. Special accommodations should be arranged with the professor at the start of the semester. Please contact the Campus Disability Support Services for further information (301-314-7682).

COLLEGE PARK SCHOLARSHIP:
As a College Park Scholar, you have a unique opportunity to become involved in a range of learning experiences, service activities, and extra-curricular events. Please take advantage of all these opportunities as a way to engage fully in campus life, and have an academic and interpersonal niche for yourself in this large University community. Participation in these activities can only facilitate your development as an individual, and will be invaluable as you seek professional opportunities after college.