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ED20495: Psychology and educational policy: a critical perspective

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2018/9
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: Department of Education
Further information on credits Credits: 6      [equivalent to 12 CATS credits]
Further information on notional study hours Notional Study Hours: 120
Further information on unit levels Level: Intermediate (FHEQ level 5)
Further information on teaching periods Period:
Semester 1
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Summary: CW 100%
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Online web-essay (3000 word) (CW 100%)
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Further information on requisites Requisites:
Further information on descriptions Description: Aims:
The intention of this unit is to:
* Enable students to develop a critical appreciation of the relationship between educational policy and psychology.
* Develop students' awareness of the ways in which educational policy can be seen to shape both people's lives and what happens in the field of psychology.
* Recognise and critique how what happens in the field of psychology shapes educational policy.
* Explore the need for psychology to develop a critical appreciation of the ways in which it interacts with and considers educational policy.

Learning Outcomes:
In completing this unit students would be expected to:
* Critically evaluate the nature of the educational policy landscape in the contemporary western world (e.g., understanding the neoliberal educational turn and the ways in which this has shaped educational policy).
* Be critically aware of key policy movements that form the cornerstones of contemporary western education (e.g. high stakes testing, accountability measures, league tables, quality assurance, the rise of metrics-based concerns, teacher accountability, centralisation, managerialism)
* Utilise psychological knowledge and theory to explore the ways in which contemporary educational policy shapes (and has shaped) people in a psychological sense.
* Critically evaluate psychology's contribution to current trends in educational policy.
* Understand the need for a critical psychological approach to educational policy and the implications of this for future research and practice in educational psychology and policy.

Skills:

* Accommodate new ideas, question concepts and provide conclusions relating to the relationship between psychology and educational policy (T/F/A)
* Use psychological knowledge, theory, and ideas to explore the ways in which particular features of contemporary educational policies are implicitly connected to psychology (T/F/A)
* Construct and communicate arguments to specialist and non-specialist audiences (T/F/A)
* Make effective use of technology (T/F/A)

Content:
The following topics will be included:
* Introduction to contemporary educational policies
* The neoliberal educational landscape
* An introduction to critical psychology
* Taking a critical approach in order to explore contemporary educational policy in relation to psychological knowledge, theory, and research (in key areas such as human motivation, psychological wellbeing, human attachment, and autonomy)
* Critiquing psychological research in these key areas - in relation to its contribution to educational policy.
* Key conclusions.
Further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

ED20495 is Compulsory on the following programmes:

Department of Education
  • UHED-AFB12 : BA(Hons) Education with Psychology (Year 2)
  • UHED-AKB12 : BA(Hons) Education with Psychology with Professional Placement (Year 2)

Notes: