Email:  linda.westphalen@adelaide.edu.au

Phone: +61 (0) 8 8313 3784

Key contact time:  (Adelaide time) Tuesdays 1.30pm - 3.30pm

Please note that I monitor email daily and that is my preferred mode of contact.

After successfully completing this topic you should be able to

1. Understand the implications of various education issues and policies for families, communities and  governments;
2. Understand ‘core values’ (or ideologies) and their replication;
3. Critically assess policies about schools and education in relation to their impacts;
4. Critically analyse theoretical discourses relating to policy creation and enforcement.

In the process, you should also

5. develop skills in analysing policy documents and other texts, as sources of information about education;
6. develop skills in research and presentation;

Access to MyUni.  A reader will be provided.  Ability to work online is assumed.

This course takes as its philosophical focus the work of Paulo Freire, particularly his key text, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Library of Congress, New York, 1970). 

Your first assessment item is to review the following article and this can be done as pre-reading if you wish. 

The article is both audio and text-based.  It is by Henry Giroux who explains his own views on Freire and power, as well as Freire's approach to education.  ('Lessons From Paulo Freire', Chronicle of Higher Education. 10/22/2010, Vol. 57, Issue 9, pB15-B16. 2p.) 

This is available via the following link:

http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rlh&AN=54945638&site=ehost-live&scope=site

(You will need your University of Adelaide library login to access the file.)

More information about the review is available in the Assessments section below.

 

Please bring your own electronic device (laptop) to class intensives. Access to the Univeristy of Adelaide's MyUni site is assumed.

Access to the University of Adelaide Online teaching platform, MyUni, is assumed.  You will need to acces the online Discussion Board for this Course.

The course has both face to face an online delivery modes.  It includes two intensive contact periods, 15 - 17 July and 26 to 28 August, taking place onsite in Singapore.  The first of these will be geared toward teaching key concepts.  The second will be geared toward student presentations which are part of the assessment schedule.  In between, students will be required to participate in a Discussion Board, where they will upload at least one article for discussion and review.  The course will conclude with the online submission via myuni of a current policy debate. 

2 x 3 Day intensive face to face course = 32 hours
Online discussion board activities = 4 hours
Critical review of Paulo Freire = 4 hours
Critical review of article = 12 hours
Intensive reading = 32 hours
Preparation and presentation of presentation = 30 hours
Issues policy debate essay = 40 hours

Total = 154 hours

First Intensive: 15 - 17 July

Friday 15th July: 7 - 10pm

1. Introductions, organisational planning, presentation allocation
2. Review of Course Objectives, Assessment requirements - how to critically review:  task one Freire critical pedagogy review
3. Identities, seminar and workshop

Saturday 16th July: 1pm - 8pm

1. Core values and ideologies - seminar and workshop
2. Language, Diasporas and Hybridity - seminar and workshop
3. The Family - seminar and workshop
4. Religion - seminar and workshop

Sunday 17th July: 9am - 4pm

1. Sex, gender and heteronormativity - seminar and workshop, with a particular view to your essay (this as an exemplar)
2. Whiteness and Race - seminar and workshop
3. Ability - seminar and workshop
4. Surveillance and control of teachers, students and schools.
5. Questions


Second Intensive: 26 - 28 August

Friday 26th August: 7 - 10 pm.

Questions on assessment, especially the policy essay; further feedback and guidance as required

Saturday 27 August: 1 - 8pm

Round 1 of presentations

Sunday 28 August: 9 - 4pm

Round 2 of presentations
Guided essay preparation

Assessment

1. Review of Henry Giroux article on Paulo Freire (20%) [2,4]
2. Review of one key article to your presentation or essay (20%) [3,4]
3. Presentation (30 minutes) on a policy, policy document and related debates in a specific region or country (30%) [1,3]
4. Essay on either the same issue in another country or the same country with a different issue (30%).  [1,3

Due dates:

Giroux Review: August 1st
Article review: August 15th
Presentation:  Done in second Intensive, Power point or Prezi due by August 30th
Long Essay (3500 words): September 12th.  There is limited scope for an extension of the deadline for this item.

All materials for assessments, including assessment detail, is in MyUni.

You will need to upload your assessment items either via the Discussion Board or Turnitin on MyUni.  Each item has its own folder with a submission window.

1. Review of Giroux article on Paulo Freire.   (1000 words – 20% of your final result)

Addressing Learning Outcomes 2 and 4

Due August 1st 2016, via MyUni.

Follow the link below to an article about the key work of Paulo Freire. You will need your University of Adelaide student number and password to access the site.  The reading also has a ‘voice’ option so you can listen to it as well as read it.

http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rlh&AN=54945638&site=ehost-live&scope=site

In 1000 words, critically review Henry Giroux’s article. A critical review is a mode of writing where an author (you) assesses the strengths, weaknesses, gaps and assumptions in another’s work.  If you see counter arguments by other academics, these can be included with due attribution.  You also need to give some idea of the content so that a reader knows a little about the argument and context of its production.

The structure is, as with any essay, an introduction, discussion and a conclusion.  I suggest that you follow the general guide:

Introduction: what are you going to do? (10%)

Content summary (ie, what does Giroux say about Paulo Freire?) (20%)

Discussion: Strengths, weaknesses, gaps, assumptions.  (60%)  Your opinions can go here too (see note below).

Conclusion: what did you discover? (10 – 20%)

DO NOT
. Use dot points
· Forget to include a bibliography, or to include in the bibliography Giroux’s article
· Waffle – you don’t have the space.

Essays 10% over or under in word count are fine:  any more than this and you are probably waffling or missing something.

I am also interested in your opinion, so if you want to write in first person (‘I think…’), which is a legitimate academic style in Feminist research, I don’t have a problem. Be aware that this is not the case with all academics in education.



Assessment 2: Review of Key Article to Your Presentation or Essay. (1000 words – 20% of your final result)

Addressing Learning Outcomes 1, 3, 4 and 5

Due 15th August 2016

In 1000 words, critically review an article of your choosing, preferably one relating to your presentation or essay.

Please upload your chosen article to the Discussion Board for others to read.   To do this, go to MyUni, hit the Discussion Board tab on the left of the Education Issues Homepage and go to the ‘Education Issues’ forum and then ‘Review Article:  Your Choice’. I’ll be checking the Discussion Board every Tuesday.

To reiterate for clarity, a critical review is a mode of writing where an author (you) assesses the strengths, weaknesses, gaps and assumptions in another’s work.  If you see counter arguments by other academics, these can be included with due attribution.  You also need to give some idea of the content so that a reader knows a little about the argument and context of its production.

The structure is, as with any essay, an introduction, discussion and a conclusion.  I suggest that you follow the general guide:

Introduction: what are you going to do? (10%)

Content summary (ie, what does Giroux say about Paulo Freire?) (20%)

Discussion: Strengths, weaknesses, gaps, assumptions.  (60%)  Your opinions can go here too (see note below).

Conclusion: what did you discover? (10 – 20%)

DO NOT
·  Use dot points
·  Forget to include a bibliography, or to include in the bibliography Giroux’s article
·  Waffle – you don’t have the space.

Essays 10% over or under in word count are fine:  any more than this and you are probably waffling or missing something.

I am also interested in your opinion, so if you want to write in first person (‘I think…’), which is a legitimate academic style in Feminist research, I don’t have a problem. Be aware that this is not the case with all academics in education.

Notes for choosing an article:

Substantial – your article needs to be more than a few hundred words long.  It’s hard to put an optimal size, but most articles are between 3000 and 10 000 words long.

Authoritative – the author(s) needs to have some standing in the field.  This usually means that they’re an academic in a university or a policy maker or a government body.

Relevant - it needs to relate specifically to the topic.  Lots of interesting articles out there mean that there’s potential to be distracted by fascinating ‘red herrings.’

Reputable –it needs to come from a respected publisher.  This usually means the journal has a peer review process.  Again a hard one to be clear with: some teaching journals, for example, have a wide readership, and may be very relevant, but not peer reviewed.

Recent – unless you are doing an historical paper, your chosen article needs to be as recent as possible.  Realistically, though, not all topics will have articles on them in the last few months.  An article from the last 5 years is fine.


3. Presentation (30% of your final result) To be done during second intensive in late August.

Addressing Learning Outcomes 1, 3, 4 and 6

Using the template in MyUni, research, create and present a 30 minute power point or prezi which outlines an Education Issue of your interest.  Please allow 10 minutes for questions.  The presentations will happen in the second intensive in late August. 

You do not have to locate your topic in Singapore or Australia.  Anywhere in the world is fine, but be aware that you must change either the topic or the region for the essay.  One or the other (or both) must be different.  Your topic should be a real world issue with an education focus.

Please make sure you keep Linda informed about your topic choice.

The power point template includes a great deal of information about what content should be included.  Please look at it closely before you begin your research.

You power point will be submitted as part of your assessment.

Lecture series:  These are the beginning points for you to consider when deciding your Education Issues presentation and essay topic(s). 

Identities:  Contextual and fluid, strategic, ‘fine-grained’, imagined (Anderson) or Abstract (James), ontology

Core values or Ideologies: Locating education within the state, the community and the family, Hegemony, Diasporas, Hybridity, Assimilation and monoculturalism, multiculturalism

What is education for?: Reproductive/Transformative Curriculum, Power  

The school as a site of culture: intersections of difference, Power (2), Subjugated knowledges, epistemology

Race: Demographics, migration, ‘illegal immigrants’, First Nations peoples, globalisation, segregation and apartheid, racism

Language: Languages of instruction, hegemonic English, language loss, Minority languages, impact of ICTs

Gender:  Gender differentiated education, exclusion based on gender, alternative sexualities, sex education, feminist politics

Class: School funding, school access, education resources, aid, public/private education debate,

Religion: Exclusion and suppression, hegemony, power, access, education systems based on, informal education

Disability: Institutional control over the body, inclusion and access, testing, teaching strategies, adaptive technology

Exceptionality: Enrichment, extension and/or acceleration, teaching strategies, testing and assessment

4. A short essay of 3500 words (30% of your final result)

Addressing Learning Outcomes 1, 3, 4, and 5

Students are required to negotiate with the convener an education issue-based essay with either the same topic or the same regional context as the presentation.  Students may not present on the same country and topic as in their presentation – one or both must be different.  The essay must pick up a significant aspect of theory (eg.  cultures, hybridity, identity, etc), but can relate to any aspect of education-based policy or problem.  The essay should be considered a ‘capstone’ component.

Essay starters:

A. Outline the real-world educational problem and provide evidence for it being a problem (facts, figures, report data, quotes from media, policies, etc) OR

B. Details on the specific context (facts, figures, report data, quotes from media, policies, own narratives, etc)

Research on the issue (literature, academic papers, research articles and so on.  Remember SARRR…)

What don’t we know about the problem? (ie. What’s the Gap?)

A. How could Theory elucidate or inform the issue?  (eg.  How could feminist theory inform the education issue of girls’ academic performance in Physics in New Zealand?)  OR

B. Theory X has the potential to be applied to problem Y in country/context Z because…

Has the problem been improved upon or solved elsewhere?  By whom?  Is this a ‘real’ solution, or was it partial?  Did it cause more problems?

Conclusion: Summarise value of your theory applied to your problem in your context and look forward to other possible avenues for improving or resolving the issue.

Due Date Monday 12 September 2016 via MyUni. 

Please be aware that University marks must be submitted by 23 September and Linda will need time to mark your assignment.  There is therefore limited scope for extensions, and these must be due to medical or compassionate circumstances.

Due Dates:

Giroux review : 1 August
Article Review: 15 AUgust
Presentation: Second Intensive; Power point or Prezi due 30 August
Essay: 12 September

All assessment will be submitted online via MyUni and Turnitin.