Critical Perspectives in Curriculum and Pedagogy
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| EDUC4278 | Education | 4 | 30 | Spring Malaysia |
- Code
- EDUC4278
- School
- Education
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- 30
- Semesters
- Spring Malaysia
Summary
This module examines contemporary debates surrounding orthodoxies in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment in schools and how these relate to policy, research and practice. In particular it considers the way different orthodoxies frame what children and young people learn in schools (curriculum), how they learn and how assessment practices inform pedagogy. The module will explore these orthodoxies in terms of their origins and purposes and it will consider alternative models from an international perspective. The module starts by considering the history, politics and ideology of the curriculum as it currently exists and invites students to extend this analysis to various international contexts. It then develops understanding through application of psychological, social and cultural theories of learning, pedagogy and assessment. These theorised views of schooling and classroom practices enable us to analyse and critique the wide-ranging policy and research discussions about curriculum, pedagogy and assessment that are current in a range of international contexts. Participants will be engaged in considering how developments of, and alternatives to, current practices will impact curriculum, pedagogy and assessment in the future, in the context of increasingly globalised education.
Assessment
- 100% Coursework 1: An assignment of 6,000 words with 10% tolerance either way
Educational Aims
• to develop understanding of the ways in which the school curriculum is historically, politically and ideologically situated;• to explore the potential impacts of current agendas in curriculum/policy reform;• to develop understanding of theories of learning and apply them to participants’ classroom experience;• to develop understanding of the complex and changing relationships between classroom learning, pedagogy, assessment strategies and the curriculum.Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
On successful completion of the module, students will have gained knowledge of:
- curriculum history and of current curriculum developments, including trends in official knowledge and pedagogy;
- theories and analytical tools that develop understanding of classroom learning and assessment.
Intellectual skills
On successful completion of the module, students will have the ability to:
- critically evaluate reading material and theoretical positions;
- critically analyse curriculum trajectories and possible reasons for learner disengagement;
- theorise learning contexts and critique assessment practices.
Professional Practical Skills
On successful completion of the module, students will have the ability to:
- reflect on one’s own professional practice and that of others and use different theoretical perspectives to increase learner engagement partly through teachers’ increased awareness and understanding of learner progress.
Transferable (key) Skills
On successful completion of the module, students will have:
- the knowledge of how to critique policy and educational change, analyse classroom learning and improve the learner’s experience;
- the ability to understand and work with a range of macro and micro influences of classroom learning
Conveners
- Dr Subarna Sivapalan