Postgraduate Course: The Changing (policy) Landscape of Higher Education (EDUA11308)
Course Outline
| School | Moray House School of Education |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 40 |
| Home subject area | Education |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The course explores how the higher education landscape has been changing in response to economic, social and political changes that have been taking place nationally and internationally, over the past fifty years. Focusing in particular on the period starting in the early 1990s, the course identifies major transformations in higher education, many of which are associated with the rise of neoliberal policies in the UK and elsewhere. Students are encouraged to consider how their own professional work contexts, and/or past and present experience as learners, have been affected or shaped by these wider social, political and economic driving forces of higher education policy, and the heightened significance that countries have been attributing to higher education particularly in the past two decades.
Although the course explores recent changes in higher education within the UK, also comparing Scottish HE policy to that of other UK countries, an emphasis will be placed on issues that are of international significance; and comparative analysis across countries and systems of higher education, within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) but also non-EU countries is encouraged.
Dovetailing with the two courses ¿Higher Education and Society¿ and ¿Curricula and Pedagogies supporting Student Learning course¿, ¿The Changing Higher Education Policy Landscape¿ has an orienting function introducing students to recurrent issues in higher education policy, research and practice but also those that are new or distinct to our contemporary period. The purpose of the course is for students to develop a critical understanding of the drivers behind more recent HE policy priorities, such as employability, widening access, diversification, lifelong learning, internationalisation, and efforts aimed at strengthening research provision.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Identify and able to demonstrate a critical understanding of the key policy debates influencing the field of higher education at the present time
2. Relate higher education policy developments to wider economic, political and economic changes in society and also to changes in their professional (or educational) contexts
3. Evaluate the success of recent policy initiatives in reaching their targets
4. Analyse and interpret key policy issues from multiple perspectives and in light of broader social, political and economic trends
5. Critically assess the consequences of recent developments on how valuable knowledge itself is being construed, and what this means for the teaching and research functions of the university
Contrast and evaluate engagement with key HE policy issues in different countries
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Assessment Information
Essay - 2000 words
A critical analysis of a specific HE policy document
Topic to be negotiated with tutor, with peer input 20%
Essay- 4000 words
Topic to be negotiated with tutor, with peer input 60%
Essay- 2000 words
Topic to be negotiated with tutor, with peer input 20%
The assessments build on one another to enable students to employ what they learned in one assignment in the one that follows. An effort is made to balance the workload, which is particularly relevant for FT students who have final assignments due for two other courses in December. The most highly weighted assignment for ¿The changing HE Policy Landscape¿ therefore is not at the end of the year but two-thirds through (in October). Although all assignments are written ones, there will be opportunities for students to approach these written assignments in different ways and to actively explore alternative approaches to analysing and writing about HE.
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Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
The key policy issues to be explored, among them employability, widening access, systems diversification, funding of higher education, lifelong learning, internationalisation in the context of globalisation, and the centrality of research excellence in the context of the knowledge economy/knowledge society, will be analysed and interpreted from multiple perspectives and in light of broader social, political and economic trends. Linkages will be explored also between these trends and how knowledge itself is being construed in this context, the types of knowledge being valued and what this means for the teaching and research functions of the university.
UK, European and Non-EU Students will be encouraged to identify relevant documents from their own country, share these with course participants and through discussion engage in comparative analysis.
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Carolin Kreber
Tel: (0131 6)51 6668
Email: carolin.kreber@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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