Module overview
You will engage in discussing and analysing contemporary debates in education and heighten your awareness of the relationship between empirical evidence and theoretical arguments in advancing public representations of educational issues. You will develop your skills in evaluating the evidence and arguments related to contemporary debates. Contributions to the module will be made by a number of internationally recognised educational researchers.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Supportively assess and critique the work of your peers and yourself be competent and capable of responding rationally and developmentally to such critiques of your work.
- Use a range of sources to further extend your knowledge and understanding of issues relating to education, and to critically examine contemporary debates and issues in education.
- Evaluate and arbitrate between different positions in some contemporary debates about issues in education.
Syllabus
- Introduction to contemporary debates and issues in education; issues will be derived from compulsory, post-compulsory and higher education sectors;
- The purposes and controversies of educational research;
- The relationship between educational research and the policy context;
- A range of contemporary issues typically including school effectiveness, student academic freedom, educational inequality, social inclusion and exclusion, religion in the education system and curriculum policy
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
A mixture of short lectures, student-led discussion groups, debates, and individual reflection exercises will be used. An emphasis will be placed on active student participation throughout the module. Typically, this module is taught in two hour sessions plus individual tutorials and a session preparing for the assessment.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Independent Study | 128 |
| Teaching | 22 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
Recommended secondary texts. As advised in individual sessions.
Electronic Resources. Websites of political parties, pressure groups, think tanks etc. are invariably useful. I would also recommend social media discussion groups as a source of understanding the state of popular, if not academic, debate on a wide range of educational issues.
Key Journals. This module requires reading across a wide range of academic and professional journals together with the educational press, notably the Times Educational Supplement, the Times Higher Education and University World News which carry the latest news and opinions about topical and controversial educational issues. Key journals include, but are certainly not limited to, the following: British Educational Research Journal. The British Journal of Sociology of Education Higher Education Journal of Education Policy, School Leadership and Management Studies in Higher Education Teaching in Higher Education
Textbooks
Hayes, D. (2004). The Routledge Guide to Key Debates in Education. Oxon: Routledge.
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Assignment | 80% |
| Poster Presentation | 20% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Resubmit assessments | 80% |
| Resubmit assessments | 20% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Resubmit assessments | 80% |
| Resubmit assessments | 20% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External