| Unit name | Race, The State and Education |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EDUC30051 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Walker |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Education |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
How can we interrogate our assumptions about race and racism and the ways in which they work across different contexts? How do race and racism shape education systems and practices? How are modern states bound up in racial logics and what are the implications of this for education?
This unit will draw on multidisciplinary perspectives – sociological, historical and philosophical – to examine the pervasiveness and significance of racial thinking and racism in the modern world. It will consider how racial thinking and racial domination have been integral to the formation of modern states. Building on this foundation, the unit will support students to examine issues of race and racism in education in different national contexts. The unit will have a theoretical focus, engaging with texts on theories of race, and race and the state. It will also draw on empirical studies from academic authors, organisations and think tanks working in the field of race equality and relevant media/newspaper material.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
This unit allows for a broader range of optional units to be available in the Year 3 BSc Education Studies course which do not require prerequisites.
An overview of content
The unit begins by exploring the ideation of race/racial difference in the modern era, and how it operates symbolically, ideologically, discursively and materially in societies. This exploration is structured around set texts engaging with theories of race and racism and how these play out in different historical and contemporary contexts. The focus aims to challenge students’ lay or ‘folk’ understandings of these concepts in order to develop their analytical capacities.
The unit then considers racial thinking, domination and exclusion as integral to the project of modern states, including nation-states, exerted as a tool of power and control over those deemed as racially undesirable. This challenges the idea of racism as aberrational to the function of modern states, supporting students to interrogate racism at the level of structures and systems in education. This focus will allow students to examine education as an instrument of state control without ignoring its capacity to act as a catalyst for liberation.
The unit then addresses race and the state by placing a spotlight on education: the settler colonial state and education, ethnonationalism and education, biopolitics and education, and racial segregation and education. The unit concludes by engaging with education in the context of the post racial state – the idea that we have now transcended race, either as a global community or in national contexts.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
This unit supports students to interrogate racial inequalities in education systems in different national contexts.
Students will be encouraged to become confident and self-aware in their engagement with racial phenomena. They will develop knowledge of concepts to help them to better engage in conversations and issues relevant to race in their personal as well as future employment settings.
Learning Outcomes
Teaching will involve a combination of lectures, group discussions, seminar activities and debates.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
In class group work discussion on materials relevant for the assignment (ILOs 1-4)
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Abstract of approx. 300 words outlining the focus and argument for part II of the assignment. (20%) ILOs 1-3
Essay 2,000 words. This will be a reflective and analytical piece of writing, in response to a set of guided questions. Students will draw on their annotated bibliographies in addition to other sources. (80%) ILOS 1-3
When assessment does not go to plan
When a student fails the unit and is eligible to resubmit, failed components will be reassessed on a like-for-like basis.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. EDUC30051).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
