Module: Human Development - Power & Politics

Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

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Date posted: September 2024

Module Title	Human Development - Power & Politics
Module Code	ES126 (ITS) / EDU1057 (Banner)
Faculty	DCU Institute of Education	School	Human Development
Module Co-ordinator	Orna Farrell
Module Teachers	David Gibson, Jane O'Kelly
NFQ level	6	Credit Rating	5
Pre-requisite	Not Available
Co-requisite	Not Available
Compatibles	Not Available
Incompatibles	Not Available

None
120min exam

Description

In this course students are introduced to the life-course approach to human development. Although the common sense view of the human life-cycle is widely accepted in society and strongly suggests that there exists a universal and uniform set of stages through which all people pass, historically and sociologically, it has been acknowledged that these apparently natural biological stages are part of the human life-course which is social as well as biological. Stages of the life-course are influenced by cultural differences and also by the material circumstances of people’s lives in given types of society. Other social factors, such as social class, gender and ethnicity also influence the way the life-course is experienced. For example, some people due to their positioning in the class/race/ethnicity The life-course approach allows us to see how advantage and disadvantage has a cumulative effect over time. In this course we will analyse educational experiences in order to see how inequalities are socially constructed over the life-course. In doing so, we will see how disadvantage and inequality accumulate as a child transitions between the various stages of education beginning in pre-school through to further, adult and continuing education. Moreover, while both children and adults experience inequality differently, and some more than others, we will see that they, as active agents in their own lives, have the capacity to construct and reproduce inequalities. They are also presented with opportunities to challenge and transform them.

Learning Outcomes

1. Appreciate the advantages of adopting the life-course approach to human development
2. Discuss the cumulative effect of inequality and disadvantage over the life-course.
3. Document how the educational system contributes to the reproduction of class, gender and racial/ethnic inequality over time.
4. Critically assess the part that both children and adults play in reproducing inequality in society.
5. Discuss the role that the new sociology of education has played, and continues to play, in challenging and transforming inequality, particularly in the field of further, adult and continuing education.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full-time hours per semester
Lecture	24	Lecture time
Independent Study	25	reading
Assignment Completion	51	Preparation for and sitting examination
Independent Study	25	study
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Introduction to the life-course approach to human development

Contemporary issues for early childhood.

Barriers to parental involvement.

The role of the teacher.

From pre-school to primary school.

From family to peer groups.

Learning racism, classism, and sexism from childhood to adolescence

The politics of class, race/ethnicity and gender in transition

Transition from primary to secondary school.

Expectations of femininity and masculinity.

Reproducing or transforming inequality?

Processes of inclusion and exclusion within the education system.

Youth culture/Youth subculture

Contemporary issues for higher education

Credentialism and adult education

Higher education/adult education and the cumulative effect of educational constraints over the life-course

The role of the teacher/educator in facilitating transformation

The facilitation of student autonomy/critique curriculum and classroom pedagogy/culturally relevant curricula

Introduction to critical class/race/ethnicity/feminist theory/

The potential to challenge the cumulative effects of inequalities in the education system over the life-course.

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	100%	Examination Weight	0%

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Course Work Breakdown

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories: Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module. Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module. Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1

Indicative Reading List

Hunt, Stephen: 2005, The Life Course, Palgrave Macmillan, New York,
Lynch, K. and Lodge. A.: 2002, Equality and Power in Schools: Redistribution, Recognition and Representation, RouteledgeFalmer, London,
Lynch, K. and Lodge. A.: 2004, Diversity at School, The Equality Authority, Dublin,
Drudy, S. and Lynch, K.: 1993, Schools and Society in Ireland, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin,
Deegan, J., Devine, D. and Lodge, A.: 2004, Primary Voices: Equality, Diversity and Childhood in Irish Primary Schools, Institute of Public Administration, Dublin,
Arnot, M. and Mac an Ghaill (eds): 2006, Gender and Education, Routledge, London,
Connell, R.W.: 2002, The Men and the Boys, Polity, Cambridge,
Roche, J., Tucker, S., Thomson, R. and Flynn, R.: 2004, Youth in Society, Sage, London,
Archer, L., Hutchings, M. and Ross, A.: 0, Higher Education and Social Class: Issues of exclusion and inclusion, RoutledgeFalmer, London,
Finger, M. and Asun, J. M.: 2001, Adult Education at the Crossroads: Learning our way out, Zed, London,
McLaren, P.and Giarelli, J.M.: 1995, Crossroads, Directions and a new Critical Race Theory., Routledge Falmer, London,
Sleeter, C.E. and McLaren: 1995, Multicultural Education, Critical Pedagogy and the Politics of Difference, Suny Press,

Other Resources

6684, Online Lecture, UL, 2010, The Role of Higher Education in Promoting a just and Equal Society:, University of Limerick, http://www.ul.ie/sociology/index.php?pagid=67&useid=fcs0681617,