Universität Wien

190102 SE School and Education Research (2018S)

Current issues in schooling with an international perspective

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 19 - Bildungswissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Achtung: 1. Termin am 5.3.2018 - Zeitverschiebung!
Neu: 16.45 - 20.00 Uhr im Seminarraum 7

  • Monday 05.03. 16:45 - 20:00 Seminarraum 7 Sensengasse 3a 2.OG
  • Monday 16.04. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 4 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Monday 30.04. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 4 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Monday 14.05. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 4 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Monday 28.05. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 4 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Monday 11.06. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 4 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG
  • Monday 25.06. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 4 Sensengasse 3a 1.OG

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

This is a 5 ECTS credits seminar that addresses the currents issues and trends in education at the national and international level. An understanding of contemporary issues that influence education is important to keep up to date with the scientific developments both nationally and internationalyy. This course will enable students to analyse the situation of education as a whole and to develop analytical, research, and reflective skills. Following questions will guide the course:
1) What are the prevailing trends and issues in education nationally and internationally?
2) What are the various social and political issues that have an influence on educational processes and outcomes?
3) What does the research tell us about these issues?
4) What are the cross-national differences in education and educational systems regarding these issues?

By the end of this course students will be able to:
- understand the forces and factors with the power and/or influence to affect schools and schooling and education in general
- apply critical thinking skills to their comprehension of education in relation to significant areas of research.
- gain a cross-national perspective
- read, evaluate and reflect on scholarly research on education
- engage in related literature in order to answer their own questions as well as this course’s essential questions
- write a scholarly paper examining one of the questions of the course

Main themes of the course will be as follows
--Politics of schooling
-- Internationalization/ Europeanization
--Role of international organizations on education
--Market economy, privatization, globalization and education
--School Choice
--Quality issues/Accountability
--School reform
--Multicultural education
--Testing and standardization (PISA/TiMMS)

Assessment and permitted materials

The weighting for the final course grade will be as follows:
- Attendance/participation 10%
- Assignments 20%
- Presentation 30%
- Seminar Paper 40%

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

COURSE ASSESSMENT
Multimedia Assignments: (You can choose one)
- Movie on the issue you choose: You are expected to prepare a 10 mins movie on the inequalities in schooling and society. You can use copy-right free material or shoot your own movie. It should have a main theme and a main argument. It should reflect a critical perspective.
- International Comparison Poster: You will research the educational system of two countries: primary, secondary and tertiary. I expect your poster to include basic demographic information about the educational system (approximately what proportion of the population is enrolled at the different levels? Is the system stratified by gender, ethnicity, religion or some other factor? How widely available is public education, and how do the expectations of who goes to school and what is covered there differ from each other?). Especially try to look at these systems from the critical perspective.
- Critical Essay: Each student will be expected to prepare one critical essay, based on the primary sections of the class which should be 3 pages long, 1.5 spaced. The review essay should identify a point of view or perspective that students take away from the readings in that section. The essay should develop this theme with appropriate cited references to the text and other resources that support your point of view; it should not become a summary of the readings.
- Leading class discussions: Each class member will be assigned to a theme based on the course calendar. You will be responsible for initiating and leading class discussion for that day. The preparation of a single sheet of discussion questions or some other visual aid to engage the class (Power Point, poster, etc.) is encouraged. Presentations should help engage the class in a lively discussion of the readings.
- Seminar Paper: You are expected to write a 15 pages long paper examining a related research topic. Your paper will be evaluated on cohesiveness, clarity, rational lines of argument, evenhandedness (both sides of issue) and appropriate use of the English language. You will be given a rubric regarding the expectations and scoring.

Examination topics

This course will mainly base on scientific articles, books and book chapters. You are also required to conduct a literature review on your thematic subject. Readings will be uploaded on Moodle.

Reading list

Ball, S. (Ed.) (2004). The Routledge Falmer Reader in Sociology of Education. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Ballantine, H. & Hammack, F. M. (Eds.) (2009). The Sociology of Education: A Systematic Analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Brint, S. G. (2006). Schools and Societies. California: Stanford University Press.
Bryk, A. S., & Schneider, B. (2002). Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Bourdieu, Pierre. "Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction." In The Structure of Schooling: Readings in the Sociology of Education, edited by Richard Arum and Irene R. Beattie, 55-68. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing, 2000.
Hallinan, M. T. (Ed.) (2000). Handbook of the Sociology of Education. NY: Springer.

Hopmann, S.T., Brinek, G. & Retzl, M. (Eds.). (2007). PISA zufolge PISA. Hält PISA, was es verspricht? Wien: Lit.
Lipman, P. (2004) High stakes education: inequality, globalization, and urban school reform. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
Oakes, J., Rogers, J., & Lipton, M. (2006). Learning Power: Organizing for Education and Justice. New York: Teachers College Press
Sadovnik, A. R. (Ed.) (2007). Sociology of Education: A critical reader. New York: Routledge.
Sykes, G., Schneider, B., & Plank, D. (2009). Handbook of Education Policy Research. New York: Routledge

Association in the course directory

M5.1

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:37