The summative assessment for the unit will be on a 4,000 word essay in which students will be required to critically explore and examine issues of inequality in education. This assignment will demand that students apply key concepts and theoretical approaches learnt through the course of this unit as well as consider practical strategies for overcoming inequalities in education.
Topic With reference to the theoretical and empirical literature, critically discuss education’s role in reproducing and potentially overcoming inequality based on the following:
- Race
- Disability
In responding to this question, take an intersectional approach when doing so.
Plan
Introduction (about 400 words) In your introduction it is important to briefly outline to the reader the area you have selected to critically examine, how this is relevant to the current educational climate in the UK and in a global context. Say how you are going to lay out the essay, possibly referring to some of the literature, and how you will critically engage with its contents and will offer a conclusion.
Section 1 (about 1500 words) The first part of your essay should clearly set the scene, set out the context of the issues involved, define terms, explain the use of terminology, highlight specific tensions and inconsistencies. You could consider teaching pedagogy or teacher training for example. You should relate to the policy and legislation, academic literature and research insights. You should recognise theoretical perspectives and paradigms that shape understandings of inequality and social justice. You may also identify critical voices in the debate, tensions and present specific themes and ideas. You may introduce philosophical debates, draw upon an historical, cultural, political, social, and economic perspective, and use theoretical insights to unfold complex debates.
Section 2 (about 1500 words) The second part of your essay, you could provide greater analysis and understanding, develop two or three ideas from previous issues, and demonstrate depth of knowledge and critique. For example, you may identify further insights into issues of inequalities, acknowledge the issue of intersectionality, globalisation, challenges with researching inequality. There may also be ideological positions that become apparent when using theoretical perspectives. You should include the writings from individuals/groups involved in the political struggle for equality and social justice, include the voice of individuals.
Conclusion (about 600 words) Summarise key points. Conclude by outlining your key insights on the issue you have selected to examine and critically explore. Offer your own perspective of how educational establishments can respond to overcoming inequality in education
Writing the assignment
Bear in mind the following points:
- Observe the 4,000 word limit
- Ensure a clear structure with introduction and conclusion, sections possibly with sub-headings
- Ensure that the assignment addresses the identified topic and its associated questions
- Provide a theoretical framework for your treatment of the topic and its associated questions
- Use and/or challenge the literature to support your argument. For every quotation or reference ask yourself why it is there
- Ensure that description is subordinate to analysis
Reviewing your assignment
Once completed, check that:
- The introduction states the assignment’s purpose – its focus and the questions to be addressed
- You have indicated in the introduction what will be covered in the remaining sections
- You have demonstrated a critical understanding of the conceptual basis of managing change as a framework for analysing your chosen topic
- Your quotes and references support or add to your analysis and are not gratuitous
- Your conclusions cover the answer to the substantive questions addressed, as well as reflections on the concepts involved in the analysis and the nature and limitations of the literature and research sources
- Paragraphs are more than one sentence and sentences are not too long (e.g. one idea per sentence)
Marking your assignment
I am looking for evidence of critical thinking, to be convinced by your argument and for the evidence you use to support your case. I will expect your own use of other sources to demonstrate a critical awareness of their relative merits.
| Social justice |
| Brief Description the purpose of education. Is education inherently unequal and oppressive or can it be a liberatory force? This week also reflects on the concept of Social Justice. |
| Session Questions How would you define social justice? |
| Essential reading (always listed in the order you should read them) Reay, D. (2017) Miseducation: inequality, education and the working classes. Bristol: Polity Press. Chapter 5: Social mobility: a problematic solution (pp. 101 – 125). Akala (2018) Natives: race and class in the ruins of empire, London: Two Roads. Chapter 3: Special needs |
| Further reading Reay, D. (2012) ‘What would a socially just education system look like?: saving the minnows from the pike’, Journal of Education Policy, 27(5): 587-599. |
| Additional Resources Diane Reay Social Justice Seminar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcN_Ijb0FOI Sir Ken Robinson RSA animation: https://youtu.be/zDZFcDGpL4U |
| Race |
| Brief Description This week, we are going to engage with several key articles to consider how education can be implicated in reproducing racial inequalities and understandings. |
| Session Questions How have the articles helped you in thinking about the role of education in reproducing racial inequalities?How significant is the idea of essentialised racial difference to these practices?Can we argue, based on the articles, that education often involves differentiating practices? |
| Essential reading (always listed in the order you should read them). Martschenko, D. Oluwaseun (2021). Normalizing race in (gifted) education: genomics and spaces of White exceptionalism. Critical Studies in Education, pp.1-17 Lingard, B., Creagh, S., & Vass, G. (2012). Education policy as numbers: Data categories and two Australian cases of misrecognition. Journal of Education Policy, 27(3), 315–333. |
| Further reading Burridge, N., & Chodkiewicz, A. (2012). An historical overview of aboriginal education policies in the Australian context. In N. Burridge, F. Whalan, & K. Vaughan (Eds.), Indigenous education: A learning journey for teachers, schools and communities. Rotterdam: Sense Fallace, T.D. (2015). The savage origins of child-centered pedagogy, 1871-1913. American Educational Research Journal, 52, (1), 73-103 Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2011). Paradoxes of Sahrawi refugees’ educational migration: promoting self-sufficiency or renewing dependency? Comparative Education, 47(4), 433-447 Gillborn, D. (2008). Coincidence or conspiracy? Whiteness, policy and the persistence of the Black/White achievement gap. Educational Review, 60:3, 229-248 Knoester, M. & Au, W. (2017). Standardized testing and school segregation: like tinder for fire?. Race Ethnicity and Education, Disability Brief Description The lecture focuses on the issue of disability and draws upon the lived experiences of disabled people and their struggle for equality and social justice. It begins with raising critical questions about education, liberal democracy and in conjunction with the politics of recognition. It also uses a (critical) disability studies perspective to examine the question: what is disability? Session Questions What is disability? Essential reading (always listed in the order you should read them). Peters, S.J. (2008). ‘Inequality in Education for People with Disabilities’. In Holsinger, D.B. and Jacob, W.J. (Eds.). Inequality in Education, comparative and international perspectives. Hong Kong: Springer. pp.149 – 171. Further reading Dolmage, J.T. (2017). Academic Ableism: disability and higher education. USA; University of Michigan Press. pp.1 – 40 (Chapter 1). Kikabhai, N. (2018). The Rhetoric of Widening Participation in Higher Education and its Impact, Ending the Barriers Against Disabled People. Switzerland: Palgrave MacMillan. pp.117 – 146 (Chapter 5). 20(1), 1-14 |
