Postgraduate Module Descriptor

EFPM910: Education Policy

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Module Aims

The principal aim of this module is to facilitate critical examination of education policy in global, national and local contexts. It will seek to develop the following:

Knowledge and understanding of education policy and its relationship to wider changes at local, national and international levels
Knowledge and understanding of key ideas underpinning education policy changes and developments
A more developed knowledge and understanding of educational practices and institutional arrangements as they have developed in the context of policy change
Critical thinking in relation to theoretical perspectives on education policy as a field of contest
The capacity to effectively contribute to debates about education policy development and change
The capacity to examine the implications of policy frameworks and discourses for educational institutions and teaching and learning practices

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of education policy in different settings 2. Critically evaluate different theoretical perspectives on education policy 3. Demonstrate a critical understanding of key global, national and local issues in education policy
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. Critically reflect upon and evaluate your own understanding of education policy and its application to contexts with which you are familiar 5. Critically examine theoretical perspectives on education policy as a field of contest
Personal and Key Skills	6. Synthesise and organise ideas to present a convincing argument 7. Engage in critical, reflective debate 8. Undertake both directed and independent study to recognise, justify and analyse key ideas in education policy literature and relate these to research, theory, policy and practice

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

The content of the module may change to reflect emerging and developing theory, research and practices in the field of education policy. Nevertheless it will consider key questions and perspectives on education policy including:

Characterising education policy
Localised and elite policy making
Educational centralisation and decentralisation
Education policy transfer, travel and re-contextualisation
Reforming teacher professionalism and teacher identities
Conceptions of children and young people in education policy
Education policy and social justice
Large scale educational reforms including state intervention, New Public Management and privatisation
The internationalisation of education policy
Educational policy and students, teachers/lecturers and education institutions

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
30.5	269.5	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	30.5	30 hours of in-class sessions (10 x 3 hours) and 1 academic tutorial (0.5 hours)
Guided Independent Study	119.5	Directed study (e.g. web-based activities, preparing for academic tutorial, preparing for seminars, responding to seminar activities, contributing to online activities/discussion)
Guided Independent Study	50	Directed reading related to topics discussed in the module
Guided Independent Study	100	Preparing for assignments and further independent reading

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).