Module overview
This module will provide you with a comprehensive overview of key issues and debates in contemporary education. Through studying this module, you will be introduced to some of the main approaches and concepts for understanding key contemporary education issues and debates. You will explore a range of topical and policy-related themes and you will become familiar with how such issues develop over time.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Conduct a relevant review and research on a chosen topic for assignment purposes
- Use your knowledge and understanding to examine the different perspectives in relation to inequalities in education
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of inequalities in education and key theoretical perspectives
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the key issues and debates in contemporary education
- • Develop awareness of key developments in higher education, health and environmental education and STEM education.
- Examine the application of key concepts and approaches in the sociology of education to specific policy initiatives in education
Syllabus
- An introduction to key issues in education, including the aims and purposes of the education system;
- An overview of key policy developments over the past half a century, the basis for these policies and their impacts on very recent policy developments;
- An exploration of key issues around equality and life chances and the role played by social, class, gender and ethnicity;
- An introduction to changes in post-compulsory and higher education, including their expansion;
- An introduction to key developments in environmental, health, disaster and STEM education.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
You will attend a range of lectures and tutorials and conduct directed reading and suggested additional research. The group tutorials will be based on discussions and presentations, as well as independent reading and research on related topic areas. Tutorials will also involve you in debates stimulated by a range of current print and on-line media coverage. You will be encouraged to develop and defend a position on a range of topical educational issues.
Typically, this module is taught through lectures with and group tutorials that follow the lectures.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Independent Study | 130 |
| Teaching | 20 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Bartlett, S and Burton, D (2020). Introduction to Educational Studies. London: Sage.
Education in Britain: 1944 to present. Cambridge: Polity.
The Education Debate. Bristol: Policy Press.
Rationing Education: Policy, Practice and Reform in Education. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Education in a post-welfare society. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Assignment | 100% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Coursework assignment(s) | 100% |
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 |
|---|---|
| Assignment | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External