| CODE | EDS4216 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Politics of Schooling and the Curriculum | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 04 - Years 4, 5 in Modular UG or PG Cert Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Education Studies | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit brings to a conclusion the philosophy of education course in the BEd. (Hons.) programme but can stand as a free-standing course in its own right for students who have not already done the earlier courses. The idea is to address the broader issues about schooling and the curriculum. These are issues that concern teachers who work in schools and with curricula and other citizens also who have a direct stake in them since the politics of schooling and the curriculum bear strongly on the upbringing of the young and therefore on the quality of society in general. The study-unit will begin by questioning the institution of schooling. It will represent mass, compulsory, schooling as politically problematic in virtue of the two purposes with which it has been identified; control and emancipation. The beginnings of the politics of control are traceable to Plato in The Republic where he conceived of schools as instruments of social engineering – Rousseau supported this idea in different writings. The beginnings of the politics of personal emancipation associated with mass schooling came out of the Enlightenment, Rousseau’s opponents. The conflict continues to modern times where Ivan Illich advocates de-schooling society, Michel Foucault characterises schools as part of the disciplinary technology of the state, and the lifelong education movement recasting its function within the concept of lifelong education and a learning society. The politics of schooling in Malta particularly within the last three decades will ground and focus the lectures in the local historical context. The curriculum is the instrument through which the politics of schooling are expressed given concrete form, i.e., in the form of the politics of teaching and learning in the school. In this sense, the National Curriculum acquires special importance because it is an instrument of state control over the whole compulsory schooling sector. The course, therefore, examines the politics of national curricula and the political questions they raise. The assumption in the National Curriculum is that it should serve the political interests of democracy and social justice, two highly contentious terms, and the politics of inclusion, which is equally contentious. These concepts will be examined in the course as well as the kind of schooling system and curriculum they imply. Again, the examination will be made using the local context of schooling policies and practices over the past ten years in particular, and looking at the history of the National Curriculum. Study-unit Aims The unit aims to raise the political issues related to secondary schooling and the secondary curriculum. Going into schooling issues enables the student to explore and understand the broader political perspective of the institution within which s/he works, namely the school. It will enable him/her to problematize the compulsory nature of schooling and his/her own role within it and explore the relationship between schooling and education. The same is done with the curriculum, both the NMC and the particular curriculum of secondary schooling. The aim is to problematize the existence of an NMC in a democracy, and to get students to examine key curriculum theories, traditional, liberal and progressive critically. Learning Outcomes 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: (a) have a knowledge of different theories of schooling and its purpose; (b) be exposed to a critique which will help them understand the political implications of the theories and the issues these raise; (c) be sensitized to the ethical and political dimensions of teaching required by the reflective practitioner; (d) be exposed to different competing curriculum theories, liberal, progressive, and traditional with their implications for reflective practice; (e) acquire a critical understanding of the Maltese National Curriculum. 2. Skills (including transferable [generic] skills): By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: The skills the students will develop are the skills of analysis, of the concepts involved (primarily schooling, education, curriculum) and the issues raised in order to see them better, and the skills of critical thinking as the theories taken on board are systematically questioned. Recommended Texts: - Dewey, J. (1916) Democracy and Education. Macmillan (any edition) - Plato. The Republic. (Book 7). (any edition). - Wain, K. (1991) The Maltese National Curriculum: a critical analysis. Mireva Publications. Other Readings - A reading pack will be provided containing the following readings: - Barrow, R. (1981) The Philosophy of Schooling. Harvester Wheatsheaf. Schooling: Its Nature and Point. - Burwood, L., (1996) How Should Schools Respond to the Plurality of Values in a Multi-Cultural Society, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 30, No. 3. pp. 415-428. - Carr, W., & Hartnett, A. (1996), Education and the Struggle for Democracy. Open University Press. Chapters 3, and Conclusion. - Freire, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Penguin. Chapter 2. - Hunter, I. (1994) Rethinking the School. Allen and Unwin. Introduction. - Illich, I. (1971) Deschooling Society, Penguin. Chapter 1’ - Peters, R.S. (1966) Ethics and Education, Allen and Unwin, Chapter 3. - Wain, K. et al. (1995) Tomorrow’s Schools, Ministry of Education, Malta. Chapter 2. - White, P. (1972) Socialization and Education. In Dearden, R.F. et al. Education and the development of reason, Routledge and Kegan Paul. Various policy documents related to schooling and curriculum policies in Malta.. Seminars 1. Sultana, R.G. (1997) Teachers and the struggle for democracy: educators as political actors, in Sultana, R.G. (Ed.) Inside/Outside Schools: Towards a Critical Sociology of Education in Malta, Malta: PEG, pp. 409-438. 2. Foucault, M. (1984) The Means of Correct Training, in Rabinow, P. (Ed.) The Foucault Reader, NY: Pantheon Books, pp. 188-205. 3. Tanti Rigos, O. (2010). The Junior Lyceum Entrance: A Foucaultian Genealogy. Unpublished M.Ed. dissertation, University of Malta, ‘The Foundations of the Disciplinary Society’ pp. 13-26. 4. Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment. (2005) For All Children to Succeed. Malta: Salesian Press. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Independent Study | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Carlos Grima Kenneth Wain |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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