Is this program for me?

• Are you an education or training professional who is involved in the development and evaluation of curriculum and wants an in-depth exploration of curriculum issues? If so, consider enrolling in Curriculum and Diversity Studies and taking the Curriculum Studies Option.
  
  
• Are you an education or training professional who wants to ensure that curriculum promotes mutual tolerance among diverse groups and intergroup cooperation? Then consider the Diversity Studies Option in the Curriculum and Diversity Studies specialization.

Curriculum and Diversity Studies Specialization

Our world is getting smaller. Gone are the insular, monocultural communities of the past. Our cities and towns are now diverse, multicultural environments where people with vastly different cultural perspectives and backgrounds have to learn to live and work together. Our schools are the training grounds where students learn the skills they need to function successfully in the world, and curriculum is the driving force for educational practice.

Professional Core

The 21 semester hours in the professional core required for an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction will provide you the foundational knowledge for leading curriculum development and evaluation efforts. You will learn the psychological and philosophical foundations of curriculum and instruction. You will also examine critical issues in education—particularly those surrounding topics such as culture, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, age, sexuality, and disabilities—and learn how to conduct educational research.

Curriculum Studies Option

The Curriculum Studies Option (27 semester hours) focuses on the art and science of teaching, providing advanced study in (a) critical, multicultural, and feminist pedagogical practices; (b) social transformation and change; (c) social and educational politics; (d) reform and activist movements; and (e) curriculum development and delivery strategies. The goal is to produce reflective practitioners who challenge systems of injustice and oppression.

Curriculum Studies Program Objectives

• To become reflective practitioners who articulate and apply assumptions and theories that inform their daily practice.
• To apply social perspectives and theories to educational decisions in institutions and organizations.
• To apply social perspectives and theories when developing and delivering instruction.
• To critically discover and challenge educational trends and issues embedded within political contexts.
• To possess an active voice for transforming educational systems within institutions and organizations to value diversity.

Diversity Studies Option

The Diversity Studies Option (27 semester hours) focuses on (a) social, multicultural, and feminist theories; (b) social issues of diverse groups (ethnic, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, and other groups of difference); (c) intercultural theories and practices; (d) politics of difference; and (e) educational and social science research and evaluation methods. The goal is to produce reflective practitioners who promote social justice and transform institutions and systems to value diversity.

Diversity Studies Program Objectives

• To become reflective practitioners who articulate and apply assumptions and theories that inform individuals’ daily practices.
• To model a critical stance toward educational practices by encouraging students and colleagues to become activists for changing the politics of oppression.
• To design educational curriculum and programs to empower individuals to make social changes which minimize social injustices and support multiculturalism and interculturalism.
• To design educational curriculum and programs that promotes the inclusion of diversity in institutional visions and planning.
• To apply multicultural and social theories to research, writing, and teaching.

Dissertation

The final step in achieving your doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Curriculum and Diversity Studies involves planning, conducting, and documenting a research study focused on an issue related to your specialization for your dissertation. The dissertation process is a major effort involving 18 semester hours, during which time you will work independently under the guidance of your dissertation committee.

How do I get started?

1. Review the information regarding the Ed.D. program and the Curriculum and Diversity Studies specialization in the UWF catalog.
2. Contact Dr. Nichols, Associate Chair of the Department of Professional and Community Leadership, to make an appointment to talk to an advisor.
3. Submit an application to Graduate Admissions.
4. Submit an application to the Ed.D. Program Office.