Module EFPM910 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
EFPM910: Education Policy
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 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, policy processes 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
| 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
- Frameworks and models of policy development
- 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
- Choice, markets and competition in education
- 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 | 270 | 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 | 30 hours of in-class sessions (10 x 3 hours) |
| Guided Independent Study | 120 | Directed study (e.g. web-based activities, 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).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay 1 | 1,000 words | 1-2, 4-5, 7 | Written tutor and peer feedback |
| Essay 2 | 1,000 words | 1, 3-8 | Written tutor and peer feedback |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 100 | 5,000 words | 1-8 | Written tutor feedback |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay (5,000 words) | 1-8 | 6 weeks |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
- Ball, S. (2007) Education PLC, London: Routledge.
- Ball, S. (1998) Big Policies/Small World: An Introduction to International Perspectives in Education Policy, Comparative Education, 34: 2, Special Number (20): Comparative Perspective in Education Policy, pp. 119-130.
- Burch, P. (2009) Hidden Markets, New York, NY: Routledge.
- Clarke, J. and Newman, J. (1997) The Managerial State, Power, Politics and Ideology in the Remaking of Social Welfare, London: Sage.
- Hall, D. Grimaldi, E., Gunter, H., Moller, J., Serpieri, R., and Skedsmo, G. (2016) Educational Reform and Modernisation in Europe: The Role of National Contexts in Mediating the New Public Management. European Educational Research Journal, 14 (16), pp. 487-507
- Hall, D. and Gunter, H. (2016) England: the European Educational NPM Laboratory in Gunter, H., Grimaldi, E., Hall, D., and Serpieri, R. (Eds) New Public Management and the Reform of Education: European Lessons for Policy and Practice. London: Routledge
- Hall, D. and McGinity, R. (2015) Conceptualising teacher professional identity in neo liberal times: Resistance, compliance and reform, Education Policy Analysis Archives
- Lipman, P. (2004) High stakes education, London: Routledge Falmer.
- Ozga, J. (2000) Policy research in educational settings, Buckingham: Open University Press.
- Pollitt, C. (2007) New Labour’s re-disorganization: hyper-modernism and the costs of reform, a cautionary tale. Public Management Review, 9, 529–543.
- Sachs, J. (2001) 'Teacher professional identity: competing discourses, competing outcomes', Journal of Education Policy, 16: 2, pp 149 — 161.
- Whitty, G. (2002) Making sense of education policy, London: Sage.
