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Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £34,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
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All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
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The University of Manchester is committed to attracting and supporting the very best students. We have a focus on nurturing talent and ability and we want to make sure that you have the opportunity to study here, regardless of your financial circumstances.
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Course unit details:
Theories of Equity in Education
Unit code | EDUC30652 |
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Credit rating | 20 |
Unit level | Level 3 |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
This unit is an advanced sociology and philosophy of education course , asking complex questions like:
What is equity in education?
What is merit?
What is an educational test and how do we know if it’s fair?
Is a fair system one with equal outcomes for everyone?
What counts as an outcome anyway?
The unit aims to go against the grain of much educational thinking and research by staying with the messiness of educational problems rather than prioritising the search for solutions. For this reason, the assessments do not ask you to posit solutions to the educational problems described, but rather to explore them in their full complexity.
Aims
The unit aims to:
- extend students’ knowledge and understanding of key issues affecting the equity of educational opportunities and outcomes;
- help students to develop a complex understanding of the relationship between education and society;
- introduce students to a wide range of theoretical approaches to educational inequity and apply these to different empirical topics;
- encourage independent thinking and self-reflection around education and educational inequities.
Syllabus
Each week, the unit connects the theoretical to the empirical. In each lecture, we will explore a questions below in relation to one educational theory. In the following seminar, we will discuss the essential reading. Most weeks, the reading will discuss one equity characteristic (such as race, class, gender or sexuality) in relation to the theory from the lecture. Most weeks there will also be a chance to reflect on your own experiences in education, and whether the theory being discussed helps you to understand them.
Teaching and learning methods
Learning will take place over twelve teaching weeks in semester 2. We will meet for one 1.5-hour lecture (whole group) and one 1.5-hour seminar (max 25 students) each week. The lecture will explore a theory or concept in detail, while the seminar will relate that theory to a key equity issue through discussion of the key reading, as well as activities focused on students’ own experiences and further application activities.
The standard SEED Blackboard (or new VLE) template will be used for pre-reading and accessing learning material.
Knowledge and understanding
- Investigate how multiple perspectives of sociological and philosophical theories interplay as they relate to education
- Critically analyse a range of equity issues in education from a global perspective
- Evaluate the link between theory and application in educational research
Intellectual skills
- Analyse empirical topics using a range of theories as a lens
- Apply a range of theories to empirical topics identified independently by students
- Work independently and with tutor support to devise topics for assessments
Practical skills
- Work independently and with tutor support to devise topics for assessments
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Develop critical researcher/learner reflexivity from a sociological perspective.
Assessment methods
Method | Weight |
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Written assignment (inc essay) | 75% |
Report | 25% |
Feedback methods
Online Blackboard
Recommended reading
Activity, online first, pp. 1-15. doi: 10.1080/10749039.2023.2208573.
Mirza, H.S. and Meetoo, V. (2017)/ ‘Empowering Muslim girls? Post-feminism, multiculturalism and the production of the “model” Muslim female student in British schools’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 39(2), pp. 227–241. doi: 10.1080/01425692.2017.1406336.
Ladson-Billings, G and Tate, W. F. (1995) ‘Towards a critical race theory of education’ Teachers College Record, Vol. 97, pp47-68
Martinussen, M. and Mulcahy, D. (2023). ‘Working-class student-hood and “job-readiness”: affective relations of class, gender and employability policy in higher education’, Journal of Education Policy, online first, pp. 1-19. doi: 10.1080/02680939.2023.2228755.
Power, S and Taylor, C. (2013). ‘Social justice and education in the public and private spheres’, Oxford Review of Education, 39(4), pp. 464–479. doi:10.1080/03054985.2013.821854.
Raffo, C., Dyson, A., Gunter, H., Hall, D., Jones, L. & Kalambouka A. (2007) Education and Poverty: A critical review of theory, policy and practice. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Raffo, C. (2014) Improving Educational Equity in Urban Contexts. London:Routledge
Raffo, C., Dyson, A., Gunter, H., Hall, D., Jones, L. & Kalambouka, A. (2010) (Eds) Education and Poverty in Affluent Countries. London: Routledge.
Reay, D. (2006) The Zombie stalking English schools: social class and educational inequality. British Journal of Educational Studies, 54 (3), September: 288-307.
Whitty, G. (2001) ‘Education, social class and social exclusion’ Journal of Education Policy, 16 (4), 287-295
Wilkinson, R. & Pickett, K. (2009) The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better
Willis, P. (1977) Learning to Labour: How working class kids get working class jobs. Aldershot: Gower
Windle, J.A. and Fonseca Afonso, É (2021). ‘Building anti-racist education through spaces of border thinking’, Critical Studies in Education, 63(5), pp. 606–621. doi: 10.1080/17508487.2021.2000000.
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
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Lectures | 18 |
Seminars | 18 |
Independent study hours | |
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Independent study | 164 |
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
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Kathryn Telling | Unit coordinator |