module specification

Module description:

The module will encourage academic debate around gender issues and gender theory and education as hallmarks of urban education and its theorisation; these debates will emanate from and be stimulated by empirical encounter and the reading of current educational academic research.  It will draw upon formal areas of gender studies, feminist theory, sociology of education, gender philosophy, educational academic research and cultural studies and the theorisation, metaphors and methodologies of enquiry they contribute to the interpretation and understanding of gender in education.

The module aims:

• To enable students to apply theory to interpret research data and contexts
• To explore the impact of gendered- and hetero-normativities in education institutions and practices
• To highlight the historicity of gender within educational discourse and practice
• To examine the relationship between educational and social structures with reference to gender
• To explore methodological approaches to researching gender issues and social transformation across all sectors, including Higher Education
• To develop analytical and interpretive skills around empirical studies into gender studies by reading academic educational research around gender
• To introduce and reinforce the importance of educational research and autobiography in exploring the construction of gender and gendered relations within education

- The first part of the module deals with the notion of gender, gender identities and gender norms as socially constructed and defined by key sociological and philosophical studies around gender. LO1,LO2

- The second part of the module introduces students to prevalent gendered issues in the world of education and schooling, including teaching as a gendered profession and the construction of gendered identities in schooling. LO1,LO2,LO3

- The third part of the module engages and analyses with current academic educational research and empirical studies that extend debates around gender and explore gender issues in education theoretically and empirically. LO3,LO4

The learning on this module is planned and encouraged through engagements with lectures and seminar workshops where students discuss issues introduced in the lecture and also arising from the reading of relevant articles and pieces of educational research. There are online discussion boards introduced in the module which allow students to reflect on the findings from one article, either empirical or theoretical and this activity grounds the skills for the assessment of the module where they are providing and critical summary of articles covered in the module in relation to one theme, issue or debate of their choosing. The seminar workshops therefore blend some of the work and discussions produced in lectures and seminars and students have opportunities to articulate their understanding and interpretations of course materials, debates and readings, as embedded in the course syllabus.

At the end of the module, students will be able to:

• Analyse and locate historical and current educational issues in relation to wider debates in gender studies and other critical theories in education
• Demonstrate and articulate their understanding of gender issues by viewing gender as socially constructed
• Understand the importance of educational research and qualitative methods to explore gender relations and issues of inequality within educational contexts
• Interpret the complexity of gender relations within multi- and inter-disciplinary educational and professional contexts

1. An essay which encourages students to use some of the theoretical and empirical resources used in the syllabus and critically consider debates or issues around gender and education by applying relevant theories, exploring current debates and/or societal issues and using some of the empirical data read in the academic educational research read (LO1,2,3 and 4) – 100%.    (3000 words)

https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/2670F1BA-3DFB-5BF7-0567-6EB5B87A4188.html