Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

The aim of the course is to introduce students to some of the key issues, debates and perspectives in the sociology of education field. The sociological perspective is applied to address the widespread concerns about differential patterns of educational outcomes of students coming from different ethnic, gender and social class backgrounds. The module aims to examine patterns of stratification in students’ access to and preparedness for higher education, the choice of institutions and degree courses, the student experience through higher education, as well as the postgraduate/school-to- work transition. Throughout the module, inequalities are addressed at the level of individuals, schools, educational systems and its interactions, while particular attention is being paid to the role that (higher) education plays in promoting social mobility and/or social reproduction in the age of globalisation.

The module aims:
-       To demonstrate an understanding of key concepts, theoretical approaches and contemporary debates in the sociology of education/higher education field
-       To address how social inequalities with regards to race/ethnicity, class and gender affect access to, and the experience of, different levels of education
-       To explain the relationship between educational and social structures and individual decision- making at key educational junctures
-       To demonstrate a clear understanding of how schooling and higher education is implicated in the wider process of social and cultural reproduction and transformation

Outline Of Syllabus

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIELD
-       Sociology of education: a critical history and prospects for the future (Lauder, Brown & Halsey; 2009)
-       Educational expansion, credential inflation and the internationalisation of HE (Brown, 2011; Bathmaker, 2003; Collins, 1979)

PERSISTENT INEQUALITIES IN SCHOOLING
-       Class inequality and meritocracy: The social mobility myth (e.g. Shavit and Blossfeld, 1993; Breen and Goldthorpe, 1999)
-       The debate on inequality: Maximally Maintained Inequality (Raftery and Hout, 1993) vs. Effectively Maintained Inequality (Lucas, 2001)
-       Cultural explanations of educational inequality (e.g. Bourdieu, 1986; Bernstein, 2003; Coleman, 1988; Lareau, 2002; Ogbu, 2004)
-       Rational action theory (Boudon, 1974; Mare, 1979; Breen, 1999)
-       The role of schools (Turner, 1960)
-       The A-to-C economy (Gillborn & Youdell, 2001).
-       Tracking and ability groupings in schools (Hallinnan, 1994)
-       Private schooling and inequality (Coleman et al. 1982; Sullivan and Heath, 2002; Swift, 2004)
-       Gap years and elitism (Heath, 2007)

INEQUALITIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION ACCESS & PARTICIPATION
-       HE and social justice: Class, gender & ethnic inequalities (Archer, Hutchings and Ross, 2003; Furlong & Cartmel, 2009)
-       The widening participation agenda (Sutton Trust, 2010; Arum, Gamoran, and Shavit, 2011;)
-       Admissions (Karabel, 2005; Stevens, 2007; Boliver, 2011; 2013)
-       The HE choice (Ball and Vincent, 1998; Reay et al. 2002; Ball et al. 2002; Mullen, 2009)
-       The higher education experience: social and academic integration (Reay et al. 2009; Lehmann, 2014; Granfield, 1991; Bathmaker at al. 2013; Bradley and Ingram, 2012)
-       Non-traditional students in higher education (Connor et al. 2001, 2003 and 2004)
-       International students in higher education (Brown, 2000; King, 2011; Waters, 2009; Brooks and Waters, 2009)

INEQUALITIES AFTER GRADUATION
-       Transition to work/further study (Tomlinson, 2008; Abrahams, 2016)
-       Graduate Employability. Returns at the labour market (Sutton Trust, 2014)
-       Inequalities in access to postgraduate education (Pasztor and Wakeling, 2017)

HIGHER EDUCATION AS AN INSTITUTION
-       Academic life in the neoliberal university (Gumport, 2007; Jacobs, 2004; Levin, 2006)
-       The Mcdonaldization of Higher Education (Hayes & Wynyard, 2006; Garland, 2008)
-       The student as consumer (Mollesworth, Scullion and Nixon, 2010)

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
1.       Demonstrate an informed and in-depth understanding of key concepts and theoretical approaches underlying contemporary educational issues and debates.
2.       Identify and evaluate the connections between a range of theoretical explanations in education with respect to social class, race and gender.
3.       To demonstrate a clear understanding of how schooling and higher education is implicated in the wider process of social and cultural reproduction and transformation.
4.       Relate the studied concepts, theories and policies to their own educational biography.

Intended Skill Outcomes

The module enables students to become aware of, understand, critically examine and evaluate different educational theories with respect to various inequalities based on theoretical and empirical readings. During the module students will develop a range of transferable skills such as: critical and analytical thinking; presenting complex arguments; leading, stimulating and structuring discussion of complex material; interacting effectively within the student group taking on a variety of roles as well as working independently.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures are utilised to introduce students to the concepts, theoretical perspectives and substantive topics. They provide the narrative thread around which students’ own reading should take place. Each week students are required to read a selection of articles and book chapters containing theoretical arguments and empirical evidence in relation to particular themes in the sociology of education which we will then discuss critically in the seminar. Seminars are organised to encourage students to explore - via small group discussion, prior reading and research - their developing understanding of the educational field. Case studies, debates and exercises will also be used during the seminars while two workshops will ask students to view visual material and then work together to analyse it sociologically.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The essays will examine students’ knowledge and understanding of the subject matter while at the same time demonstrating their ability to synthesise arguments and think and write critically and creatively. Each essay will permit students to explore one topic in some depth: the combined assessments will provide evidence that the learning outcomes have been met.

General Notes

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