https://courseoutline.auckland.ac.nz/dco/course/EDUC/113/1250

EDUC 113 : Current Issues in Education

Education and Social Work

2025 Summer School (1250) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Educational issues are pressing concerns in our society. The course will help develop understanding of the background of today's public debates around schooling and will introduce ways in which educational thought and research address big topics.

Course Overview

In Aotearoa New Zealand, regionally and globally, education has and continues to serve several purposes within our society. What form and function publicly funded schooling should serve in addressing societal needs and demands, are hotly debated issues. This course acts as an introduction to some of these debates, and the ways in which educational thought and research can be used to understand and critically assess contemporary issues and concerns regarding education today.   

Particular attention is given to the ways in which schooling serves to reproduce and/or challenge existing patterns of inequality in society. Various "isms', including classism, racism, sexism, ableism, colonialism, are interrogated in relation to educational policies and practices within the schooling system of Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally.  As part of this, scrutiny is given to how contemporary educational structures and systems have and continue to be reformed through policy-making, and through the actions of professionals working in schools. Through this course you will gain a stronger understanding of how and why education remains a matter of significant public concern, and a subject of ongoing, intense political debate.

Course Requirements

Restriction: EDUC 118

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: People and Place
Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 7: Collaboration
Capability 8: Ethics and Professionalism
Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Arts

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Understand and apply sociological concepts, ideas and theories to articulate the competing expectations individuals, communities and society place on education today (Capability 3, 4 and 6)
  2. Identify underlying ideologies that have shaped the form, function, and purpose of public education in New Zealand and the world today, and how they manifest in contemporary issues/challenges facing education. (Capability 3 and 4)
  3. Identify and critically evaluate the merits and limitations of various solutions proposed over time to endemic challenges faced within public education, and make reasoned judgements of the most effective solutions to addressing these challenges moving forward. (Capability 4 and 5)
  4. Understand how to meaningfully engage in addressing some of the identified issues facing our education system either through their own future professional engagement in the system or as members of society. (Capability 5 and 7)
  5. Discuss and interpret the ways in which Te Tiriti o Waitangi and new demands faced by the country's increasingly diverse population have on public education moving forward (Capability 1 and 8)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Peerwise Reading Quizzes 20% Individual Coursework
Letter to Minister of Education (Written Assignment) 40% Individual Coursework
Final exam 40% Individual Examination
3 types 100%
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4 5
Peerwise Reading Quizzes
Letter to Minister of Education (Written Assignment)
Final exam

To pass this course students must submit all assessments and earn an overall mark of 50%

Next Offered

The course will be taught again in Semester 2, 2025 but will be a fully face to face class. 

Teaching & Learning Methods

The lecture based component will involve you viewing pre-recorded lectures, derived from the S2 delivery of EDUC 113 in 2024, but curated  for online engagement and viewing.   You can expect to complete some small tasks within and following these lectures which will feed into the activities of the workshop.  

The workshop will be interactive and hands-on with a strong focus on having you complete parts of the assessments during that time together.   

Module

This course introduces you to some of the key issues, debates and challenges facing our education system in Aotearoa New Zealand at present. Each year we bring in colleagues from across the School of Critical Studies in Education to introduce you to a range of topical and current concerns. This year, this includes questions about identity and belonging, the role/function of a university education, sexuality/sex education, curriculum and knowledge, disability and inclusion, climate change education, and teachers' work. We have chosen these issues because there is significant attention being given to them in the media and by politicians. We seek to explore with you why that might be.   

You will come to see that many of these issues are part of more enduring questions about the role, function and purpose of education in our society. Such questions include ones such as:  

  • Is education a public or private good?
  • What role/relationship does education have to the inequities we observe in our society today?
  • Who is included/excluded in education and why?
  • What learning is relevant/important for young people today?    
You will have an introductory lecture, led by Ritesh on these  questions, and this will then be followed by further lectures where these big questions are unpacked further through an examination of specific current issues in education. These lectures will be delivered by a different members of the School of Critical Studies in Education. 

Exam Mode

The exam may be invigilated and on campus, so do not book travel away from Auckland during the examination period.

 Information will be updated in Canvas when final decisions re, mode of the exam has been confirmed. 

Workload Expectations

This course is a compressed 15 point blended course delivered over 6 weeks instead of the usual 12.  This means that the workload is equivalent to a 30 point course during term time.  This translates to about 20 hours per week of your time per week.  If you are unable to dedicate this time over the summer to learning then do not enrol.  

You will be expected to spend about 5 hours per week going through the recorded lectures and activities associated with this, and an additional 2 hours per week attending a face-to-face workshop.   Outside of this, you can expect to spend the remaining time per week (about 10-12 hours) completing readings and assignments for the course.   

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

On Campus with asynchronous lectures

The course is delivered using a blended approach. This includes weekly online asynchronous lectures and a scheduled weekly in person workshop.

Lectures will be delivered as asynchronous recordings that will include aspects that require further exploration and reflection.

If you will not be in Auckland, or are unable to attend the weekly face to face workshops then you should not enrol in this course, as attendance in these workshops is required.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.
There will be one reading for each online lecture provided on Canvas.  To ensure you are completing these readings, one of the assessment task has you writing multiple choice questions and responding/rating the questions of others through a platform call Peerwise which you will learn more about in the first week's workshop.   

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

As a result of previous feedback from students in EDUC 113, the following changes have been made:
1. Greater support and scaffolding of expectations in regards to the written assignments, which will largely occur
within the workshop.
2. Shifting lecture delivery to online to afford more flexibility for students who might be balancing work commitments and study during summer school.  
3. Timetabling workshops for two hours rather than longer so that it doesn't become too exhausting.  At the same time focus of the workshops will be on helping students with assessments, and following up on the lecture material to ensure all students have a good understanding of what was covered and what is expected of you.  
4. Maximising opportunities for all students to engage with each other through collaborative, group based tasks.  

Other Information

This summer school operates in a compressed six week block. It is important that students attend the workshops each week to ensure they are able to successfully complete the course.  Additionally, you will be expected to have viewed the lectures and completed activities based on the lectures ahead of the workshop.  If you do not have the time to commit to these expectations on a consistent basis for all six weeks of summer school, or will not be in Auckland for some/all of that time, please reconsider enrolling in the class.   

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework, tests and examinations as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.

Students can use generative artificial intelligence text and art generation software, such as ChatGPT and DALL.E 2, on their assessments in this course, but only with prior permission from the instructor. Without permission, you are expected to complete assessments without substantial assistance, including from automated tools (this includes translation software). 

If you are given permission to use such tools, you must acknowledge this. Please include a paragraph at the end of any assessment that uses AI explaining what you used the tool for and what prompts you used to get the results.

 Referencing: For guidance on how to reference AI generated content in your writing, visit Quick©ite.

Please be aware of the limitations of ChatGPT, including the following:

In order to achieve high-quality results, you must provide suitable prompts. Keep refining your prompts until you get quality outputs.
Do not rely on any information given by the tool. Unless you can confirm the answer with another source, assume that any facts or figures provided by the tool are incorrect. It is your responsibility to ensure that the tool does not make any errors or omissions, and it works best for topics that you are familiar with.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Class representatives will be sought and selected in the first week of the term.


Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

The teaching team is committed to supporting an inclusive and supportive environment for all students, and have sought to accomodate a range of learning needs and styles in the past. Please be in touch with the course director early in the term to discuss any specific accomodations or requests you have.   

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 15/11/2024 11:01 a.m.