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POL30780

Academic Year 2025/2026

Justice in Education (POL30780)

Subject:
Politics
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Politics & Int Relations
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Dr Alexa Zellentin
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

We analyse moral questions in the context of education and schooling. In particular, we will look at the relevant criteria for evaluating the moral rights and duties of children, parents, and the state with regard to education. Students will be introduced to some of the most important concepts in political theory such as justice, equality, liberty, autonomy, and community. We will discuss the different aims of eduction as well as which agents have which responsibilities with regard to enabling children to acquire the capacities for full membership in society. We will consider which understandings of freedom and equality should inform our thinking about multicultural education and/or demands for equal opportunities for the socially disadvantaged and discuss whether and in how far state schools ought to be neutral with regard to religious and/or cultural norms relating to conceptions of the good life.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this course you should be able to:
• explain some key concerns and debates regarding social justice, power, aims, and diversity in education (LO1)
• distinguish between the normative, conceptual, and empirical background assumptions of claims about justice in education (LO2)
• evaluate claims about the rights of parents and children (LO3)
• identify the strengths and weaknesses of normative political theory arguments (LO4)
• develop informed arguments for taking one or another particular position on controversial issues regarding justice in education (LO5)
Please note that L05 is the most important learning outcome and that the other learning outcomes serve as means to this end.

Indicative Module Content:

Some of the questions we discuss will be
• What do we mean by justice in education?
• Which theories of social justice are most convincing?
• What exactly is bad about unequal chances?
• What are the aims of education?
• When is legitimate for the state to force us to do/not do something?
• Who should have the last word in disputes about education?
• How should we deal with diversity?
• Should teaching be neutral?
• Should teaching be multicultural?
• What exactly do we value about liberty?
• Do children have a right to an open future?
• What kind of equality matters?
• What kind of equality in education do we really want?
• What rights to parents have?
• Are parents allowed to shape their children's worldview?
• Should "ethos" be allowed to make a difference to education?

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Autonomous Student Learning

203
Lectures

22
Total

225

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module is taught as a seminar style class.
Students are expected to contribute actively to the in-class debates on the required readings for each week's topic. The quizzes serve as reading guide, as reminder of key distinctions and claims, and as a way to gather questions and discussion points.
Over the course of the semester three exercises are designed to enable the class to collaborate in identifying and framing suitable essay topics and required readings for this module.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Requirements:

Students should be familiar with the basic argumentative techniques used in normative political theory and/or moral and political philosophy.

Learning Recommendations:

Familiarity with key theories of social justice is highly recommended.
To get a head start for this module, you might want to read: Swift, Adam (2019) Political Philosophy. A Beginners' Guide for Students and Politicians, 4th ed., Cambridge: Polity Press.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Equivalents:
Justice in Education (POL30370)


 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Quizzes/Short Exercises: Three short exercises designed to prepare for the final essay. Week 3, Week 6, Week 10 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
15
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Contribution to in-class discussions and exercises Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
10
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): A normative political theory essay on one of a set of possible topics. The word-count should be 3000 words. Week 14 Graded No
51
 No
Quizzes/Short Exercises: Quiz on required readings via Brightspace. Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12 Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
24
 No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Group/class Feedback, pre-assessment in terms of detailed rubric Feedback individually to students, post-assessment, with reference to rubric Group/class feedback, post-assessment In line with university policy students will be provided with feedback within 20 days of the deadline for submitting the assignment.

Brighouse, Harry, Helen F. Ladd, Susanna Loeb and Adam Swift (2018) Educational Goods - Values, Evidence, and Decision-Making, Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press.
Clayton, Matthew (2012) ‘The Case against the Comprehensive Enrolment of Children’, Journal of Political Philosophy, 20, 3, 353-364 (UCD e-journal).
Feinberg, Joel (2007) ‘The Child's Right to an Open Future’, In: Philosophy of Education. An Anthology edited by R Curren, 112-123, Oxford: Blackwell (370.1 CUR).
Gutmann, Amy (2003) ‘The Authority and Responsibility to Educate’, In: A Companion to the Philosophy of Education edited by R Curren, 397-411, Oxford: Blackwell (UCD ebook).
Gutmann, Amy (1999) Democratic Education, 2nd ed., Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (370.973 GUT).
Jencks, Christopher (1988) ‘Whom Must We Treat Equally for Educational Opportunity to be Equal?’, Ethics, 98, 3, 518-533 (UCD e-journal).
Li, Chenyang (2017) ‘Education as a Human Right: A Confucian Perspective’, Philosophy East and West, 67, 1, 37-46 (UCD e-journal).
MacMullen, Ian (2018) ‘Religious Schools, Civic Education, and Public Policy: A Framework for Evaluation and Decision’, Theory and Research in Education, 16, 2, 141-161 (UCD e-journal).
Merry, Michael S. (2018) ‘Indoctrination, Islamic schools, and the Broader Scope of Harm’, Theory and Research in Education, 16, 2, 162-178 (UCD e-journal).
Moschella, Melissa (2014) ‘Natural Law, Parental Rights and Education Policy’, The American Journal of Jurisprudence, 59, 2, 197-227 (UCD e-journal).
Robeyns, Ingrid (2006) ‘Three Models of Education: Rights, Capabilities and Human Capital’, Theory and Research in Education, 4, 1, 69-84 (UCD e-journals).
Sardoc, Mitja (2018) ‘Democratic Education at 30: An Interview with Dr. Amy Gutmann’, Theory and Research in Education, 16, 2, 244-252 (UCD e-journal).
Satz, Debra (2012) ‘Unequal Chances: Race, Class and Schooling’, Theory and Research in Education, 10, 2, 155-170 (UCD e-journal).
Swift, Adam (2019) Political Philosophy. A Beginners' Guide for Students and Politicians, 4th ed., Cambridge: Polity Press.
Weinstein, Jack Russel (2004) ‘Neutrality, Pluralism, and Education: Civic Education as Learning about the Other’, Studies in Philosophy and Education, 23, 4, 235-263 (UCD e-journal).
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