Education Policy and Practice in International Perspectives, 7.5 credits
The course is discontinued from 2021-06-09
Contents
The course provides an introduction to education policy. It offers an overview of debates around policy at the level of international organizations, but also at the national level. It examines the relationships between policy contexts, processes and outcomes, and illustrates these through specific examples of policies in Europe and Sweden. The course provides participants the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of research on policy and to reflect on the connections between education policy and school practice. In particular, the course is structured around the following themes: (a) Understanding policy in education, how it is implemented and received in schools; (b) What are the values that policies represent and how these values are mediated in the contexts of education institutions, and (c) what does policy and research on policy mean for teachers and students. The course will use case studies to explore these themes, drawing on research in the fields of:
- eacher education and inclusion practices for successful for learners in need of adjustments of education an special support
- school marketization and privatization
- changing education governance in the European Union, and the role of international organizations in education policy
The case studies will have both Swedish and international / comparative elements.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
- Demonstrate knowledge of the trends of educational policy in Sweden and selected international contexts
Skills and Abilities
- Identify and problematize issues of values in education policy and educational goals as these are formulated by governments and international organizations
- Identify important contemporary policy issues in Sweden and Europe and discuss their implications for schools and students
Values and attitudes
- Critically evaluate selected policy developments for schools’ and teachers’ practice
- Relate their understandings of policy to particular policy areas and be able to translate this knowledge into a written and oral presentation
Required Knowledge
General qualifications for university studies and a minimum of 60 ECTS credits of studies at university level.
Form of instruction
The course has mandatory parts that demands physical presence at campus, see further in the course schedule and study guide. The course will be delivered by a combination of lectures, seminars, guided individual work and student presentations.
Examination modes
Physical presence in mandatory parts is demanded for passed result on the course if not otherwise written in current schedule and study guide.
There will be two forms of assessment in the course:
- An individual written essay
- Individual or group student presentations on a topic selected by students
To pass the course it is required that all compulsory parts are passed. The course results are defined by the examinators overall assessment of the students learning outcomes. Possible grades are Passed with distinction, Passed, or Failed.
The course work is examined at the ordinary examination or re-examined at a later occasion during the same semester. An opportunity to re-examine the course work is normally given in the following semester provided the student has requested it. After that a student with a fail is advised to participate in the next ordinary examination. Re-examinations based on the same curriculum are guaranteed within the two years of the first registration on the course.
A student has the right to change examiner for a course based on a written request to the head of department after two fails on the same course or a part of the course.
Transfer of credits
Students have the right to apply for transfer of credits from earlier higher education or occupational experience. For more information, see the Higher Education Ordinance and: http://www.umu.se/english/education/master/transfer-credits
A negative decision about transfer of credits is possible to appeal to Överklagandenämnden för högskolan, http://www.onh.se/.
A negative decision shall be motivated in writing.
For more information, take contact with Student Services.
Literature
Valid from: 2017 week 1
Managing inclusion in competitive school systems: The cases of Sweden and England
Alexiadou N, Erixon Arreman I, Dovemark M, Ho AS, Lundahl L, Lundström U
Umeå universitet / Research in Comparative and International Education :
2016 :
Teacher Education for inclusive practice
: Responding to policy
Alexiadou N, Essex J
Included in:
European journal of teacher education
London :
Taylor & Francis :
2000- :
39 :
5-19 pages
Länk
Allan Julie
The inclusion challenge
Included in:
Bildning för alla!
Kristianstad :
Kristianstad University Press :
2012 :
247 s. :
109-120 pages
Ladda ner pdf
Still social and democratic?
: Inclusive education policies in the Nordic welfare states
Arnesen A-L, Lundahl L
Included in:
Scandinavian journal of educational research
London :
Taylor & Francis :
2000- :
50 :
285-300 pages
Ladda ner pdf
How schools do policy
: policy enactments in secondary schools
Ball Stephen J., Maguire Meg, Braun Annette, Hoskins Kate, Perryman Jane
London [u.a.] :
Routledge :
2012 :
173 s. :
ISBN: 9780415676267
Search the University Library catalogue
Education around the world
: a comparative introduction
Brock Colin, Alexiadou Nafsika
London :
Bloomsbury :
2013 :
205 p. :
ISBN: 9781441105011
Search the University Library catalogue
Bunar N
Choosing for Quality or Inequality
: current perspectives on the implementation of school choice policy in Sweden
Included in:
Journal of education policy [Elektronisk resurs].
London :
Taylor & Francis :
1999- :
25 :
1-18 pages
Ladda ner pdf
Bunar N
Multicultural urban schools in Sweden and their communities
: social predicaments: the power of stigma, and relational dilemmas
Included in:
Urban education [Elektronisk resurs].
Thousand Oaks, CA :
Sage Publications :
1999- :
46 :
141-164 pages
Ladda ner pdf
Erixon Arreman I
The Process of Finding a Shape
: stabilising new research structures in Swedish teacher education
Included in:
European educational research journal
Wallingford :
Triangle Journals :
2002- :
7 :
157-175 pages
Ladda ner pdf
Erixon Arreman I
Student Perceptions of New Differentiation Policies in Swedish Post-16 Education
Included in:
European educational research journal
Wallingford :
Triangle Journals :
2002- :
13 :
616-631 pages
Ladda ner pdf
Labaree D.F
Public Goods, Private Goods
: The American Struggle over Eduational Goals
Included in:
American educational research journal
Beverly Hills :
Sage :
2000- :
34 :
39-81 pages
Ladda ner pdf
New forms of European Union governance in the education sector?
: A preliminary analysis of the Open Method of Coordination
Lange B, Alexiadou N
Included in:
European educational research journal
Wallingford :
Triangle Journals :
2002- :
6 :
321-335 pages
Ladda ner pdf
Lindbom A
School Choice in Sweden
: Effects on Student Performance, School Costs, and Segregation
Included in:
Scandinavian journal of educational research
London :
Taylor & Francis :
2000- :
54 :
615-630 pages
Ladda ner pdf
Educational marketization the Swedish way
Lundahl L, Erixon Arreman I, Holm A, Lundström U
Included in:
Education inquiry
Umeå :
Umeå School of Education, Umeå University :
2010- :
4 :
497-517 pages
Setting Things Right?
: Swedish Upper Secondary School Reform in a 40-year Perspective
Lundahl L, Erixon Arreman I, Lundström U, Rönnberg L
Included in:
European journal of education
Oxford :
Blackwell :
1999- :
45 :
46-59 pages
Manzon M
Comparing places
Included in:
Comparative Education Research
2nd ed. 2014. :
Cham :
Springer International Publishing :
2014. :
XVI, 453 p. :
97-137 pages
Globalizing education policy
Rizvi Fazal, Lingard Bob
London :
Routledge :
2010 :
228 s. :
ISBN: 0415416256
Search the University Library catalogue
Enacting inclusion
: a framework for interrogating inclusive practice
Florian L, Spratt J
Included in:
European journal of special needs education
Chichester :
Wiley :
1986- :
28 :
119-135 pages
Ladda ner pdf
Schwartz A
The significance of place and pedagogy in an urban multicultural school in Sweden
Included in:
Education inquiry
Umeå :
Umeå School of Education, Umeå University :
2010- :
5 :
247-264 pages
Does initial teacher education make a difference?
: The impact of teacher preparation on student teachers’ attitudes towards educational inclusion
Sosu M.E, Mtika P, Colucci-Gray L
Included in:
JET
Abingdon :
Carfax :
1996- :
36 :
389-405 pages
Ladda ner pdf
Additional articles will be included closer to the start of the course.