Program Overview

EEP418 Education Studies: Contextualising Primary Education

This subject encourages students to think sociologically, culturally, and reflectively. Students are introduced to contemporary cultural, social, and political debates that impact the experience of students and teachers in Australian educational contexts. Historical, economic, social, cultural, and political contexts all play a part in shaping the provision and practice of education, and students are encouraged to see education as a contested and ideologically-driven social process.

Subject Information

Grading System

HD/FL

Duration

One session

School

School of Education

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:

• reflect critically on significant educational issues
• understand social justice as part of the liberal role assigned to teachers by the state
• recognise the contested and ideological nature of education in Australia, and the historical antecedents, political agendas, and cultural practices that have shaped how education is practiced and experienced by teachers and students
• engage with theoretical concepts such as subjectivity, power, knowledge, and representation, and develop an understanding of how these concepts relate to educational identities and experiences
• explore their own positionality as students, teachers, researchers, and activists, reflexively analysing the social and professional obligations with regard to the provision of socially just education
• translate a theoretical commitment to social justice into practical activities such as reflective practice, inclusive curriculum, appropriate pedagogies, and policies, in accordance with differing contexts and contents

Syllabus

This subject will cover the following topics:

• Ideologies of schooling, theoretical perspectives to research and practice, the philosophical and ideological nature of knowledge, the nature of power, contestation, resistance, negotiation, within and external to the school and community
  • Discourses of opportunity and outcomes in the diversity of Australian culture and history
• Local, national, and international contexts of Australian education, including:
  • social and policy reforms and their impact on student access, participation, opportunity, and outcomes
  • globalisation and its effects on Australian education
  • the politics of teacher education in contemporary Australia
• Cultural and identity politics of schools and classrooms, including:
  • gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability, and social class
  • the social justice debates in relation to identity categories and schooling experience