74833 - EDUCATION SYSTEMS AND POLICIES

Learning outcomes

The course enables students to: – be familiar with the structure of education systems in the developed world; – recognize the goals of knowledge transmission, socialization, and selection typically pursued by education systems; – be knowledgeable about sociological theories dealing with education; – understand selection mechanisms enacted via education systems; – identify the interests of the various stake-holders involved in educational activities; – grasp the key features of the comparative approach to the study of teaching and learning processes; – apply a set of tools for analyzing educational policies (as pertains, for example, to social inequality) and thus interpret them, convey their chief characteristics and assess their outcomes.

Course contents

The course enables students to:

- be familiar with the structure of education systems in the developed world;

- recognize the goals of knowledge transmission, socialization, and selection typically pursued by education systems;

- be knowledgeable about sociological theories dealing with education;

- understand selection mechanisms enacted via education systems;

- identify the interests of the various stake-holders involved in educational activities;

- grasp the key features of the comparative approach to the study of teaching and learning processes;

- apply a set of tools for analyzing educational policies (as pertains, for example, to social inequality) and thus interpret them, convey their chief characteristics and assess their outcomes.

Readings/Bibliography

Regularly attending students (see below) may decide to write an original paper on a topic agreed upon with the professor *and* take a written exam in which they must display familiarity with *one* text chosen among the following (all available on-line in pdf format):

- OECD. Education at a Glance 2018: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD, 2018 (Chapters A, B, C and D);

- OECD. Education Policy Outlook 2018: Putting Student Learning at the Centre. Paris: OECD, 2018 (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, plus 5 countries chosen from those addressed in Chapter 7);

- European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice. The European Higher Education Area in 2018: Bologna Process Implementation Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018;

- OECD. Equity in Education: Breaking Down Barriers to Social Mobility. Paris: OECD, 2018.

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Non-attending students (as well as attending students who prefer not to write a paper) need to take a written exam based on one of the texts listed above for attending students *plus* the following text:

Steven Brint. School and Societies. Stanford Social Sciences, 2nd ed., 2006 (Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8).

Teaching methods

Face-to-face lectures.

Assessment methods

The exam is administered in exclusively *written* form. The only valid mark is the one achieved in the most recent attempt to pass the exam. Candidates who do not participate in an exam for which they have registered cannot participate in the following exam session. Students can refuse a passing mark just one time.

Students who attend regularly (no more than *3* absences) may decide to deliver a written paper on a topic agreed upon with the professor. In this case, the final mark will be based on an evaluation of the presentation or paper and a final written exam involving the texts mentioned above.

Office hours

See the website of Giancarlo Gasperoni