Module description
Educational agendas, discourses and priorities, such as the rise of “big data”, testing, rankings and accountability, or debates on employability do not come out of nowhere; they are tied to and constituted by changing conceptions of society, governance, the state and the market. In this module students will discuss the interconnections between the shifts in our thinking about education and capitalism, the privatisation and corporatisation of education under neoliberalism, the gendered dimensions of production, globalisation and capital, and contemporary trends in education, such as globalised markets and growing inequalities, mobility of labour and capital as a result of technological change, the shift from a manufacturing to a service-based economy and the rise of a “knowledge society” discourse. We will read theoretical and empirical literature on the global political economy in relation to schools, higher education institutions, and the changing world of work. We will also look into the influence of international organisations, corporations and philanthropic foundations on global education agendas. Students will learn to see the bigger picture of education as a site of struggle between different views on how our society should be organised, the role of the state and the structure of the economy.
Assessment details
- 2,000 word group report (worth 20% of the final grade)
- 4000 word assignment (worth 80% of the final grade)
Educational aims & objectives
This module aims to enable students to:
- Become aware of different strands and priorities in the political economy of education from a historical perspective;
- Compare and contrast various theories of political economy;
- Explore linkages between changes in political and economic trends and educational agendas;
- Critically assess claims and arguments about what kind of educational reforms are needed and their potential implications;
- Understand education as a site of struggle between different groups and ideologies in society;
- Understand the gendered dimensions of labour, globalisation and capital;
- Critically reflect on their own assumptions about education and their role as educators and educational leaders in relation to the political economy at the local and global levels.