Global Change and Education Policy

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

16 hours of study each week over a 15 week period to complete on-line course work and assessments. This includes a structured schedule of 2 hours of formal on-line tutorials per week throughout the period of study.

340 hours

To enrol in this subject, you must be admitted in the Specialist Certificate, or the Postgraduate Certificate or the Master of Global Studies in Education (SC-GLBSTED, PC-GLBSTED, or MC-GLBSTED) . This subject is not available for students admitted in any other courses.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

In recent years, it has become clear that an understanding of educational processes requires an ability to interpret and negotiate the profound economic, political and cultural shifts that define the nature of the context in which education now takes place.

This subject is designed to enable students to understand changes associated with contemporary processes of globalisation and to explore the implications of these changes for educators and policy makers.

The subject is based on the assumption that it is no longer possible to interpret and analyse educational change by focusing solely on national political spaces and policy processes. Instead, it is necessary to examine how global policy ideas and practices shape the ways policies are developed and monitored.

The subject will review some of the key debates surrounding the notion of globalisation, explore how educational ideas circulate around the world, and examine how global institutions (such as transnational corporations, intergovernmental organisations, NGOs and the media) promote particular education ideas, practices and agendas.

On successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

• Understand how processes associated with globalisation influence education policies, ideas and practices;
• Evaluate shifts relating to political and cultural globalisation with an emphasis on the role international agencies play in education policy processes;
• Interpret and explain how policy makers and educators in different countries are responding to changes associated with globalisation;
• Critically assess the ways education leaders might manage these changes in various educational settings.

A minor essay - topics to be announced (4000 words) Due mid Semester 40%

A major essay - topics to be announced (6000 words) This assignment will build on the first, benefiting from feedback form completion of the first. The key expectation is that the two assignments together will demonstrate that students have an adequate understanding of the issues explored in classes and readings, together with an ability to apply these to issues specific to the student’s place of work. Due end of semester 60%

This subject has a minimum hurdle requirement of 80% participation in online tutorials

Students will be required to purchase the following texts:

Rizvi, F. & Lingard, B. (2010) Globalizing Education Policy, London: Routledge

Steger, M. (2004) Globalization: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.