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Module

EDU1001 : Education, Children and Society

  • Offered for Year: 2024/25
  • Module Leader(s): Mr Fred Clark
  • Lecturer: Professor Heather Smith, Dr Maria Mroz, Dr Gail Edwards
  • Owning School: Education, Communication & Language Sci
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Semester 2 Credit Value: 20
ECTS Credits: 10.0
European Credit Transfer System

Aims

This introductory education module aims to develop student’s knowledge and understanding of:
• The contested nature of education and education systems in the modern world;
• how theories of learning and society relate to the historical development of competing traditions of education and how these affect policy and practice today in Britain and the wider world;
• the wider historical and political context of educational ideas, provision and change;
• how to analyse primary and secondary sources in order to answer questions about education and education policy;
• education beyond formal institutional settings and their relationship to formal schooling;
• how the representation of education reflects, is shaped by, and may be understood in terms of particular contemporary discourses in their historical and cultural context;
• The meaning and making of inequality in education.

Outline Of Syllabus

What is meant by ‘education’ and what is its purpose? What form should it take? Who should decide? How and where does learning take place and how far is achievement based on social or cultural factors? How does the portrayal of ‘education’ in popular culture help shape national, social and cultural identities? Such questions as these form the core of this inter-disciplinary module which aims to equip students with a knowledge and understanding of the contested nature of education, particularly schooling. We will look at different frameworks for explaining education – social, cultural, historical, pedagogical – in which you will be encouraged to question key educational issues including the social issues surrounding learning, what children learn, and potential barriers to learning - through which you will learn to engage in topics both in groups and independently.

This module will appeal to those students who are interested in a rigorous and academic study of education within a range of different contexts as well as those who may be considering a career in teaching, possibly going on to undertake a PGCE. It allows students to gain an in-depth knowledge of the field of education which they can then apply more widely.

The module will include 11 weeks of teaching in total. The module will cover the following perspectives on Education:

Learning and knowledge;
Education and society;
The historically contested nature of education;
Education in informal settings;
Education and Inequality;
Children and Learning.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Guided Independent StudyAssessment preparation and completion130:0030:00N/A
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture112:0022:00N/A
Guided Independent StudyDirected research and reading117:0077:00Specific reading tasks related to lectures and seminars. Non-synchronous online
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesSmall group teaching111:0011:00Seminars
Guided Independent StudyIndependent study156:0056:00N/A
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesModule talk22:004:00Synchronous online
Total200:00
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

This module aims to help students develop their understanding of the contested nature of education. Lectures allow the introduction to a range of perspectives that will be developed in more depth during the degree programme in later phases. There will be opportunities for students to work in small groups to discuss and compare the meaning of these perspectives, particularly in relation to contemporary understandings, attitudes and concerns about teachers and teaching. Student-led seminar sessions are intended to reinforce and assess key skills and knowledge outcomes listed above. Time for module talk is provided where the content matter is particularly complex and activities are more diverse.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment
Description Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Reflective log2M401,500 word reflective journal, based on the ideological frameworks covered in the module.
Essay2M602000 words.
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Submitted work tests intended knowledge and skills and develops key skills in research. It allows the student to apply knowledge and understanding of relevant theoretical frameworks and written and visual texts in order to identify, explain and compare educational perspectives. The essay allows the evaluation of students’ understanding in depth. This provides a preliminary preparation for the more detailed work for the major assessments to follow in the degree programme.

Reading Lists

Timetable