Contemporary Debates and Issues in Education

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.

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.

Study time
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.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Poster Presentation	20%
Assignment	80%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Resubmit assessments	20%
Resubmit assessments	80%

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.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Resubmit assessments	80%
Resubmit assessments	20%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External