This course is for people interested in learning more about education as an international issue. The course explores the changing conditions of the society and the world, and their implications for education. Education is now central to the international policy agenda, as a core focus of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and highly relevant to other areas such as health, poverty eradication and environmental sustainability. The course offers an enjoyable way for students to develop critical knowledge and analytical tools to understand key issue in the field of international and comparative education such as sustainable development, equity, diversity, and inclusion. The students will use these concepts to analyse their own educational experiences and to develop global awareness and understanding of diverse perspectives.

Weekly teaching sessions

EDUC5858 International and Comparative Education

None

An analytical essay of 4000 words. The student will compare at least two countries/ regions/ local areas with regard to an educational topic. The literature-based essay should include a clear set of questions, a comparative analysis of the issue, and the implications of what the student have learned for education policy and/or practice. 100% of the overall mark will be based on this assessment.

The formative activities - short outline essay and small group presentation, and formative feedback will support student with the development of summative essay.

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

■ To introduce students to key concepts in international education such as sustainable development, equity and diversity.

■ To encourage students to read and reflect critically on the main contemporary challenges in providing quality education across the world, particularly in areas of poverty and deep inequalities.

■ To facilitate reflection about the changing nature of society, and the world, in relation to increased mobility, globalisation, and flow.

■ To familiarise students with basic comparative methods to facilitate reflection on the relationship between education, inequality and social justice within a global and local scale.

■ To critically question prevailing discourses of development, internationalisation and globalisation.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Critically analyse the impact of the forces of globalisation and internationalisation on education.

2. Demonstrate awareness of key debates in international education, particularly those concerning issues of sustainable development at global, national and local levels.

3. Understand of dominant paradigms of globalisation, development and human rights for understanding world-wide educational challenges.

4. Understand key global policy agendas in sustainable development and education.

5. Read and analyse international policy and data and critically navigate different interpretations and commentaries and relate these to contemporary educational issues.

6. Use theories and concepts derived from international and comparative studies to analyse your own educational experiences from a wider perspective.

Students must submit an essay as course's summative assessment.