Universität Wien

190103 SE School and Education Research (2018W)

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

  • Monday 01.10. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 6 Sensengasse 3a 2.OG
  • Monday 15.10. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 6 Sensengasse 3a 2.OG
  • Monday 29.10. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 6 Sensengasse 3a 2.OG
  • Monday 12.11. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 6 Sensengasse 3a 2.OG
  • Monday 19.11. 16:45 - 20:00 Seminarraum 6 Sensengasse 3a 2.OG
  • Monday 03.12. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 7 Sensengasse 3a 2.OG
  • Monday 10.12. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 6 Sensengasse 3a 2.OG
  • Monday 07.01. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 6 Sensengasse 3a 2.OG
  • Monday 21.01. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum 6 Sensengasse 3a 2.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 internationally. This course will enable students to analyze 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

Assignments: Students are expected to submit assignments based on class-work. These assignments may take place inside and outside the classroom. It is recognized, however, that personal responsibilities may sometimes require students to miss a class. In such case, it is your responsibility to contact your classmates and make sure that you bring in the required assignment for the following week.
- 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.
- Article Review: You are expected to write a 500-700 word critical review of a current events article relevant to one of the topics we have covered in class, and present this article in class.
- 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 the 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. 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