MA International Education (Curriculum and Pedagogy)

This optional course unit offers a comprehensive exploration of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and includes a wide range of issues in local and international education contexts. The unit addresses the complexities and intersectionality of these issues and their impact on educational practices, policies and outcomes. Key themes covered in the unit include migration, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and disability.

Four conceptual frameworks are introduced, and through the examination of case studies from different contexts, students gain a deeper understanding of the diverse factors shaping educational EDI. Emphasising critical reflection and dialogue, students challenge existing norms and biases fostering a more equitable and inclusive educational practices, policies and justice.

The unit aims to: 

• Develop students’ knowledge and understanding of student diversity and of threats to equality and inclusion in education in a range of cultural contexts. 
• Explore examples of policies and practices in promoting equality in education internationally, in relation to issues such as migration, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and disability.
• Locate equality, diversity and inclusion in education in the context of international debates related to social justice and human rights.

Students will be able to communicate effectively, in writing, orally in class (and potentially in a future placement or place of employment), about the way governments in a range of countries have responded to EDI issues in their education systems.  

Students will have gained knowledge about efforts made to address inequalities in education opportunities and outcomes in a range of country contexts. Specifically, they will be equipped to identify threats to equity and inclusion in the education systems in which they are employed. They will also have self-critically evaluated their own experience of inequality and inequity in their educational journey so far. 

• Syllabus (indicative curriculum content):

The course begins by exploring the meaning of key terms including equality, equity, inclusion, diversity, intersectionality and marginalisation, in relation to education in different cultural contexts. Each week, a particular issue of diversity is explored to understand the ways in which education systems address the challenge of creating an equitable education system. In the seminars that follow, students examine a range of case study examples from a wide range of contexts in detail. Four conceptual frameworks, which specifically address inequality and social justice, are introduced, and students use these to examine case studies from a wide variety of contexts.

Whole group lectures and Small Group Seminars
Students attend 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars, in total 20 hours of engagement with their peers and lecturers of the unit.  
Whole group face to face lectures address the key EDI issues. These are complemented by seminars in smaller groups, in which the students are provided with an opportunity to use one of the four frameworks to analyse a key issue. To finalise, students are given a 2-hour optional tutorial to clarify any issues addressed during lectures and seminars.

Independent study and directed reading 
To prepare for the weekly face to face sessions, students are expected to review the materials provided on Blackboard and read from the recommended reading list for the unit and for the sessions. Students are also encouraged to carry out independent study to identify and read materials related to their country case study, and to form buddy groups, as appropriate. The students are expected to allocate about 78 hours for directed and self-directed study.

• Draw on and critically evaluate recent research to demonstrate their knowledge of the study of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).
• Demonstrate a critical and comprehensive understanding of key terms and concepts in the study of EDI.
• Demonstrate a nuanced and critical understanding of the interplay between local, national and international policies related to EDI.

• Identify threats and challenges to EDI in local and international education contexts and offer a range of evidenced ways of resolving these. 
• Formulate research questions to challenge the issues of EDI.
• Enhance their abilities to be critically self-reflective 
• Describe, explain, synthesise and construct sophisticated arguments

• Demonstrate an original application of a conceptual framework 
• Use digital technologies and e-learning sources to search a wide range of resources 

• Develop the skill to communicate to specialist and non-specialist audiences 
• Self-direct their learning to make choices between multiple complex concepts and ideas
• Critically examine the work of researchers in the field and policy positions and identify the discourses underpinning these positions.

Written feedback on Blackboard within 15 working days 

Ainscow, M. Dyson, A., Goldrick, S., & West, M. (2012). Making schools effective for all: rethinking the task. School Leadership & Management, 32(3), 197–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2012.669648

Atkinson, C. (2021). ‘They don’t really talk about it ‘cos they don’t think it’s right’: Heteronormativity and Institutional Silence in UK Primary Education. Gender and Education, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2020.1773410

Burman, E. & Miles, S. (2020). Deconstructing supplementary education: From the pedagogy of the supplement to the unsettling of the mainstream, Educational Review, 72 (1), p3-22

Florian, L. & Black-Hawkins, K. (2011) Exploring inclusive pedagogy Lani Florian and Kristine Black-Hawkins, British Educational Research Journal, 37,(5), October 2011, pp. 813–828  DOI: 10.1080/01411926.2010.501096

Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. London: Penguin

Hanna, H. (2020) Crossing the border from ‘migrant’ to ‘expert’: exploring migrant learners’ perspectives on inclusion in a primary school in England, Children’s Geographies, 18:5, pp. 544–556. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2018.1548693

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. London: Routledge 

Rose, P. (2015). Three lessons for educational quality in post-2015 goals and targets: Clarity, measurability and equity. International Journal of Educational Development, 40(C), 289–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2014.11.006

Shain,Scheduled activity hours Lectures 10 Seminars 10 Tutorials 2

Teaching staff

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