|
 Academic Year:
| 2012/3 |
| Owning Department/School:
| Department of Education |
| Credits:
| 0 |
| Level:
| Doctoral (FHEQ level 8) |
| Period: |
Modular (no specific semester) |
| Assessment:
| CW 100% |
| Supplementary Assessment: | Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites:
| |
| Description:
| In the past decade there have been fundamental educational, social and economic changes. In the context of these changes the question of good quality educational policy making has been placed high on the agenda. This unit will provide an introduction to these fundamental changes and the various theories seeking to explain these changes in order to provide a necessary background to understanding the sources and nature of the educational policy making process and the ways in which policy initiatives can be evaluated. One of the increasingly common methods of policy development is that of importation from overseas, therefore this unit will have a comparative dimension to it, in order to explore the question of the legitimacy of policy importation. One of the major justifications for recent changes in educational policy has been that education is intimately related to global competitiveness and that, therefore, education systems need to be restructured to serve economic needs. Hence a key focus of this module will be on the evaluation of this justification and the theories which underpin it. Aims: The unit's aims are to provide students with an understanding of: (i) the relationship between, and recent changes in education, economy, culture and society; (ii) the ideological, cultural, economic and comparative sources of educational policy; (iii) theories which seek to explain the educational policy making process; (iv) the institutional factors e.g. the organisation, culture and politics of relevant state departments and agencies, which shape educational policy; (v) the factors leading to convergence and divergences in different national contexts; in particular, those relating to economic competitiveness; (vi) the role and place of policy importation; (vii) theories concerning the impact of policy at various levels of the educational system. Learning Outcomes: As a result of the development of the above understandings students will be able to: (i) critically examine policy initiatives from a range of theoretical perspectives; (ii) appreciate the cultural and institutional constraints upon policy-making; (iii) evaluate the evidence for, and against, the effectiveness of specific policies; (iv) provide an alternative, feasible policy proposal to one currently in use. Assignment: Students will be expected to complete two written assignments of 4,000 words or one assignment of 8,000 words, If two assignments are written then evidence of the successful mastery of learning outcomes (i) - (iii) will need to be shown in Assignment 1 while evidence of (iv) will also need to be shown in Assignment 2. In the case of one assignment being undertaken evidence of the mastery of all learning outcomes will need to be demonstrated. Content: Section 1: Changes in Education, Economy, Culture and Society (i) The Post-war settlement in western societies. (ii) Post-industrialism and the global economy. Section 2: The Sources of Educational Policy (i) The influence of social change and ideology on educational policy. (ii) A comparative analysis of divergence and convergence in educational policy. (iii) Policy importation: an analysis of the issues. Section 3: Institutions and Policy Development (i) An overview of theories seeking to explain the policy formation process. (ii) The organisational agendas and constraints on the policy formation and delivery process. Section 4: Evaluating Policy Outcomes (i) Theories of policy implementation. (ii) Case studies of the policy implementation process. (iii) Assessing the outcomes. |
| Programme availability: |
ED60273 is Compulsory on the following programmes:Department of Education
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