Course Catalogue

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This ten-week course in the second semester provides an opportunity for students to bring together and apply learning from across the four core courses of the programme. The course aims to equip students with conceptual and analytical tools to understand and apply policy-making processes. Students will examine how policy problems are identified and constructed ('problem representation') and how certain policy options gain momentum. Working together, students will apply skills in identifying and designing a response to a policy problem related to social justice/equity and educational change. Tripartite assessment will be used.

10 x 2 hours of seminars

Normally a first degree in Education or a cognate area.

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1. Group presentation (either in-person or video) with each group member contributing (25%) - 1200 words approx

2. Individual written report (75%) - 2800 words approx

■ Bring together and apply learning from across the four core courses of the programme.

■ Equip students with conceptual and analytical tools to understand and apply policy-making processes.

■ Examine how policy problems are constructed (problem formulation and presentation) and how certain policy options gain momentum.

Apply skills in group work and in assessment activities identifying and designing a response to a policy problem related to social justice/equity and educational change

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Adopt a trans-disciplinary approach to understand policy making and its processes

■ Conceptualise the policy making process, and associated concepts of leadership, equity and educational change

■ Critically analyse how different disciplines - the political, philosophical/ideological, historic, economic, and sociological - contribute to policy formulation, presentation and momentum processes, including the influence of 'mediators' such as the media

■ Distinguish how particular conceptual perspectives - such as economic-instrumentalism, human capital theory, critical perspective, feminism, managerialism - privilege particular ways of interpreting policy problems and solutions

■ Develop an appropriate policy to address an identified educational problem while working in a team

■ Understand and apply the techniques and skills associated with problem-based learning, especially capabilities of group problem solving, team organisation, interpersonal communication, and peer learning

■ Demonstrate ability to present and defend the policy to an audience of peers and academics

■ Apply the skills and knowledge acquired in individual and group assignments ( such as team problem solving in policy formulation to solve educational problems) and evaluate individual contributions to the group project.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.