Curriculum, Learning and Society: Investigating Practice

EDU E846 Curriculum, Learning and Society: Investigating practice is a 20-credit, postgraduate level course. The course has been developed by the UK Open University.

EDU E846 leads you to explore issues in learning, curriculum and pedagogy from a socio-cultural perspective. Throughout the course, you will be guided to reflect on your experiences and practices in order to develop and justify your theoretical positions based on those discussed in the course.

This course aims to develop in learners an understanding of the:

• interrelationship between the specified, enacted and experienced curriculum in a range of cultural, social and institutional contexts;
• theoretical views of learning, knowledge and pedagogy underlying a sociocultural approach and how these relate to the main research debates in the field;
• theories as tools of a community and as part of practice;
• implications of different theoretical perspectives on the nature of learning and knowledge for pedagogy and assessment.

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

1. Critically evaluate the curriculum dynamic in your own setting using a socio-cultural perspective.
2. Review current theoretical views of learning, knowledge, pedagogy and assessment, and use these as tools to synthesize personal views of practice.
3. Analyse, critique and evaluate examples of research and policy responses to curriculum and pedagogical issues.
4. Design innovative learning/teaching and assessment activities based on recent theories of learning, pedagogy and assessment, and reflect on personal and institutional changes for implementing the innovation.
5. Develop a theoretical framework for your future professional development.

This course includes five sections, as follows:

Section 1: Introduction to the course

Section 2: Learning and practice

Section 3: Understanding pedagogy

Section 4: Knowledge and practice

Section 5: Cultural bridging, transforming identities

More details about the five sections are provided in Section 1 of the Study Guide.

The materials for Curriculum, Learning and Society: Investigating practice consist of this Course Guide, the Study Guide, three Readers, materials on the OLE and a Media Guide, and an Assignment File – all of which are provided by HKMU.

Course Guide

The Course Guide tells you briefly what the course is about, what it contains, and how you can work your way through it. It also gives you information about tutors and face-to-face sessions, and assessment. Remember to refer to this Course Guide throughout the course to help clarify important points about studying EDU E846.

Study Guide

The Study Guide includes five sections (see Appendix). Each of its five sections includes directions for working through the different components of the course materials and comments on, and summarises, the key issues and ideas in the Readers. It also guides you to develop your assignments, including the project.

Readers

There are three Readers, they are:

Reader 1

MURPHY, P. and HALL, K. (eds) (2008) Learning and Practice: Agency and Identities, London, Sage in association with The Open University.

Reader 2

HALL, K., MURPHY, P. and SOLER, J. (eds) (2008) Pedagogy and Practice: Culture and Identities, London, Sage in association with The Open University.

Reader 3

MURPHY, P. and McCORMICK, R. (eds) (2008) Knowledge and Practice: Representations and Identities, London, Sage in association with The Open University.

OLE materials and Media Guide

Multimedia materials on the OLE include a range of audio-visual resources spanning educational and workplace settings in the UK. The Media Guide will inform you about how to access these resources, and provides you with important background to the excerpts on practice and the case studies.

You should work through the OLE materials as directed by the Study Guide. While the cases are all UK based, they help you to develop analytical skills and a critical understanding of the theories discussed in the course. You should also try to compare the cases and excerpts on the OLE with situations in Hong Kong, and particularly your own teaching/working context.

Course resources in the OLE

There are some online resources which are accessible via the course on the platform – the Online Learning Environment (OLE).

Assignment File

The Assignment File provides an overview of the nature and requirements of the course assignments. It guides you carefully through the five assignments.

The following table provides an overview of the course and suggests the amount of time it may take to complete each section. However, we all have our own pace of learning and approaches to study, so the schedule is only a guide. You can adjust it to fit your personal needs more closely. The important point is to plan your study schedule carefully. The estimated time, on average, that you need to spend on this course is about 15 hours per week. This estimate includes time for reading the Study Guide, Readers and OLE materials; completing the action tasks in the Study Guide; writing your assignments; attending tutorials and day schools; and reviewing the study material.

To supplement your self-study, there are ten three-hour tutorials and two three-hour day schools. In addition, at the beginning of the semester, there will be a student orientation and a talk on the HKMU Library for new students. You will also be able to communicate with your tutor through the telephone.

In the tutorials, your tutor will answer your questions about any problems you might face during self-study and hold other activities, such as small- group discussions, to facilitate your learning. The day schools will be in the form of lectures, in which the tutor will provide an overview of the Section and explain key concepts in selected chapters in the relevant Reader.

As soon as your tutorial group is confirmed, we will give you the name and phone number of your tutor and notify you of the dates, times and location of the face-to-face sessions. To help you to participate actively in these sessions, you are provided with a Tutorial and Day School Manual which:

• gives an overview of the course and the assignments;
• indicates what you should prepare for each session; and
• suggests some activities and questions for discussion.

You are strongly recommended to go through the Tutorial and Day School Manual before each tutorial or day school. All face-to-face sessions are optional, but attendance and active participation in them will enhance your learning.

Besides supporting you through the face-to-face sessions and telephone tutoring, your tutor marks and comments on your assignments, and keeps a close watch on your progress. When your assignments are returned, pay particular attention to the comments your tutor has written on the Assignment Form and the assignment.

Students enrolled in EDU E846 can use the online resources and tools on the OLE. The OLE will provide students with additional means to communicate and discuss – with their peers, tutors and Course Co- ordinator – issues arising from course materials and their practice.

The following is a recommended strategy for working through the course.

1. Organize a study schedule. Refer to the section ‘Course organizer’ in this Course Guide and to the Study Schedule provided by your Course Co-ordinator. Note the time suggested for you to spend on each section and how the assignments relate to the sections. You will receive by email a schedule of your face-to-face sessions. Once you have decided on your own study schedule, do everything you can to stick to it. The major reason students fail is that they fall behind with their course work. If you get into difficulties with your schedule, please let your tutor know before it is too late to help you.
2. Work on your course by reading through the Study Guide. When you come to an ‘Action’, follow the instructions and read the assigned article(s), or view the OLE materials and perform the assigned tasks. Then return to the Study Guide and read the ‘Commentary’.
3. A central activity of this course is for you to reflect on your practice and design innovating teaching/learning and assessment activities after developing critical understanding of current theories of learning, knowledge, pedagogy and assessment. The ‘actions’ you are required to complete as you work through your Study Guide will help you to finalize your assignments. You should try to carry out all these tasks.
4. After completing the last section and Assignment 5, review the course and prepare yourself for the final examination.

EDU E846 has two methods of assessing your progress: continuous assessment (assignments) and a final examination.

Assignments

There are five assignments – the last one of which is a project – for continuous assessment purposes in the course. All assignments will be counted and will contribute 60% to your final course result. Your assignments have been structured as follows:

1. A report on your pedagogical practice and a discussion of your practice in relation to curriculum dynamic.
2. A critical analysis of learning and practice.
3. A review of theories in pedagogy and an analysis of current practice using such theories.
4. Synthesis of an ideal pedagogical approach.
5. Design of teaching/learning and assessment activities and an analysis for making changes.

You should read the Assignment File for details.

Examination

The examination for EDU E846 Curriculum, Learning and Society: investigating practice will last for three hours and has a value of 40% of the total course result.

You should use the time between finishing the last section of the Study Guide and Assignment 5, and sitting the examination to review the entire course. You should also review your tutor-marked assignments and comments on them before the examination.

The specimen examination paper provided to you is similar in format to the final examination, although the questions will be different. To earn a pass for the course, you must pass in both the continuous assessment (assignments) and your final examination.

We hope that by studying EDU E846 Curriculum, Learning and Society: investigating practice you will be able to reflect on your own pedagogical practice; develop theoretical perspectives on learning, knowledge, pedagogy and assessment; and make plans for change.

We wish you every success in the course.