As world populations become more urbanized by the movement of rural dwellers, and immigrant and refugee groups seek more advantageous life opportunities in cities, migration trends introduce an unprecedented multilingual and multicultural dimension to North American societies and our systems of formal schooling, with linguistic and cultural diversity now defining a majority of North American urban areas
~ Schecter & Cummins, 2003
The Graduate Diploma in Education in Urban Environments is designed to provide opportunities for graduate level study of theories and research in urban education. Included in the Diploma programming are enriched experiences for teachers to continue to develop their expertise to meet the ongoing challenges of education in a cosmopolitan city. Diversities include class, race, citizenship status, sexual orientation, religion and language, among others. Course work within the program may explore current theories and practices about urban spaces, issues in urban community education, and the development of group and individual identities within landscapes.
The diploma takes up urban education as an area of study and: provides students with the critical analytic skills needed for teaching and learning in urban environments; develops students’ expertise for teaching and learning in a cosmopolitan city marked by multiple aspects of diversity; deepens students’ analytic ability to theorize the experiences of living and teaching in urban environments.
The diploma is offered in two ways:
- Type 2 (Concurrent): The Type 2 Graduate Diploma in Education in Urban Environments is awarded in conjunction with a Master's or Doctoral degree.
- Type 4 (Direct Entry): The Type 4 Graduate Diploma in Education in Urban Environments is a direct entry, stand-alone diploma. It does not include the provision of a degree upon completion of the program.
Both Type 2 and Type 4 Graduate Diploma candidates must apply to and be accepted as graduate students in the Faculty of Education Graduate Program in Language, Culture and Teaching. The requirements for admission to the MEd and PhD in Education are outlined in the York University calendar and under How to Apply.
Type 2 Option (Concurrent)
If you are enrolled in the MEd or the PhD Program, you must successfully complete the regular course and research requirements in your respective program, plus the core course, EDUC 5440.03 Urban Education. Four of the courses which you complete for your Master’s or Doctoral requirements must be drawn from an approved list of courses linked to the study of Urban Education.
With the permission of the Program Coordinator, you may substitute up to two half-courses relevant to Urban Education offered in programs outside Education in the Faculty of Graduate Studies at York University or in graduate programs at other universities.
You must write your major research project, thesis or dissertation on a topic in urban education as approved by the Coordinator of the Graduate Diploma in Education in Urban Environments.
Type 4 Option (Direct Entry)
This option is offered as a direct-entry diploma in the Graduate Program in Education. Admission requirements are the same as the requirements for entry into the Master’s or Doctoral Program in the Graduate Program in Education which are outlined in the York University calendar and under How to Apply.
You must successfully complete the core course EDUC 5440.03 Urban Education plus four half-courses from the approved list of courses linked to the study of post-secondary education. You must complete research requirements for all of the courses in which you are enrolled.
Course Electives
Both Type 2 and Type 4 students must take four courses from the list below.
Suggested courses from Faculty of Education’s listing
EDUC 5225.03 – (de)Colonizing Research Methodologies
EDUC 5250.03 – Practitioner Research
EDUC 5310.03 – Literacy and Social Context
EDUC 5311.03 – Language in the Cosmopolis
EDUC 5383.03 – Multilingual Education
EDUC 5402.03 – Gender, Race and Class Relations in the History of Canadian Schooling
EDUC 5420.03 – Race, Culture and Schooling
EDUC 5421.03 – Discourses of Race and Racist Discourses
EDUC 5430.03 – Social Deviance, Resistance and Schooling
EDUC 5435.03 – Studies of Adolescents and Cultural Experience
EDUC 5436.03 – Transitions, Access and the Education of New Canadians
EDUC 5449.03 – Adult and Community Education
EDUC 5460.03 – Sociology of Education
EDUC 5462.03 – Current Policy Issues in Ontario Schooling
EDUC 5480.03 – Families and Schools
EDUC 5720.03 – Disability in Society