The ideas that inform EDUC106 are predominantly sociological and historical, but the disciplines of cultural studies, philosophy, politics and economics also have a strong influence. EDUC106 presents a socio-cultural history of Australian education. This unit is one of two foundation units offered by the School of Education. It is designed to complement EDUC105, the other foundation unit, but has a different approach to the study of education and draws on different theoretical disciplines.

The contents of the unit is presented over 13 weeks and the material is organised into:

• Introduction
• Orientations

including the roles of culture, power, socialization, governance and identity in education

• Contexts

including consideration of childhood, markets, disadvantage, disability, gender, race and youth in education

Textbooks

The text required for this unit is:

Cultural Perspectives in Education (2006) Frenchs Forest, Sydney: Pearson Education Australia

The recommended text for this unit is:

Hayes, D., Mills, M., Christie, P. and Lingard, B. (2006) Teachers and Schooling Making a Difference: Productive pedagogy, assessment and performance. Sydney: Allen & Unwin

Assessment

Offering

In semester 1 the unit is only available for external study. However, it is available for both internal and external students in semester 2.

If you choose to study this unit as an internal student in semester 2 you will be required to attend 3 hours of classes per week:

Two lectures of one hour duration at 2.00 pm Monday and 2.00 pm Wednesday
and a one hour tutorial

As an external student you will not attend any lectures or tutorials on a weekly basis. You will be sent tapes of the lectures as well as a Study Guide, which leads you through the unit content and sets you tasks to complete to help your understanding of the content.

External students must also attend 2 compulsory 1 day On Campus schools during the semester of their enrolment.

Thus unit is a compulsory unit for any student enrolled in the BADipEd, BA-PsychDipEd, BBADipEd, BComDipEd, BEcDipEd, BADipEd (Honours), BEd (Primary) and BEd (Secondary).

However, it is available to all students across the university and will be of particular interest to students with an interest in the educational aspects of Australian history, the development of education policy or themes in the practice of current education. It is also useful for those Non-Award students who are thinking about enrolling in an education program at some stage.

If you would like any more information about this unit please contact the unit co-ordinator, David Saltmarsh:

Phone: 02 9850 8798

Email: david.saltmarsh@mq.edu.au