POL30780 Justice in Education

Academic Year 2020/2021

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.

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Curricular information is subject to change

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 LA5 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
Small Group

12
Seminar (or Webinar)

12
Autonomous Student Learning

184
Total

208
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The overall goal is for each student to develop and pursue their own question of justice in education and compile their findings in an essay in support (or objection) to a particular policy proposal. To do this students need to develop a comprehensive understanding of the normatively significant features of education, a firm familiarity with relevant theories of justice, and knowledge of the relevant scholarly debate on their particular area of interest.
The only way to develop the necessary knowledge is to spend considerable time working through the required readings as well as finding further specialised readings on their topic. Short introductory video lectures will be made available on the VLE, while both online and face to face class time is devoted to discuss students' observations and questions on the readings. A considerable amount of the class-time will be devoted to group work where students are expected to collaborate in applying relevant theories and arguments from the literature to particular questions of justice in eduction. This practices the application of theories and arguments encountered in readings to other questions and allows students to discuss the pros and cons of different ways among themselves.
In assessments CA1 and CA2 the student will start preparing for their final project by engaging with the relevant literature and analytical categories for their final normative political theory essay. Feedback on these exercises is meant to provide guidance for CA4. CA3 tests students' knowledge of the key theories and arguments. 
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 Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Multiple Choice Questionnaire (Short): Students answer questions on the theories and arguments discussed in the required readings and classroom discussions for this module. Varies over the Trimester n/a Pass/Fail Grade Scale Yes

20
Assignment: Students identify a suitable text and analyse it according to the criteria set out in Template 1. Week 4 n/a Graded No

10
Essay: Student present a clearly developed argument on a normative puzzle relating to justice in education with reference to the relevant debates in the literature. Week 12 n/a Graded No

50
Assignment: Students identify a suitable normative puzzle relating to justice in education and explain the relevant reasoning for and against a possible solution in view of the relevant literature. Week 7 n/a Graded No

20

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Remediation Type Remediation Timing
In-Module Resit Prior to relevant Programme Exam Board
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?

Students will receive individual feedback on A1 and A2 based on the relevant rubrics as well as general in class feedback on common areas for improvement. It is expected that students consider this feedback when preparing for A4. A3 will consist over a series of multiple choice exercises on each thematic section, feedback will be provided through the VLE. Feedback for A4 will be based on the relevant rubric and send out to students individually.