All participants must currently be working in an education establishment

You will be required to prepare a set of bullet points and accompanying notes on one or a combination of the contemporary issues studied on the course, as if you were going to give a presentation. (However you will not be required to give a presentation of the slides). The total wordage of the slides and accompanying notes should be up to 1800.
You will be expected to:
Explain the importance of this topic to Schools in your sector or education
Identify the actual or potential implications for your School / department
Suggest workable strategies to facilitate progress with this issue in School / department
Reflect upon your current or potential future role in relation to this issue

Due to the ever changing nature of the education working environment, the content of this module is likely to be equally dynamic. This module introduces you to a selection of institutional, policy, and other externally driven factors which affect the priorities of education. You are exposed to a variety of contemporary organisational and/or legislative issues and are asked to consider the effect of these on not only your own professional practice, but also on the team within which you work.

A variety of learning and teaching methods will be used such as presentations by specialist practitioners, group discussions, case studies and task centred investigations. There will be a strong emphasis on activity-focused learning and you will be expected to actively engage in all sessions.
In addition you will be required to engage in independent study in order to consolidate and build upon your learning from the taught sessions. This will take the form of undertaking follow-up tasks, work based self-assessments, engaging with virtual learning materials including a Discussion Board, and, where appropriate, reading relevant literature.

The module will be delivered in 10 weekly 2 hour workshops, and oppurtunities for additional assignment workshops will normally be available on request.

Access to a well-stocked University library for a range of relevant texts and journals
Internet access enabling access to relevant websites
Blackboard access

The rationale for a website-based reading list is that this course focuses on contemporary, and therefore continuously changing, issues in education. Recent research reports, media reports and educational agency websites will inform participants? thinking. We also hope that participants will continue to engage with these sites and identify relevant information in future, beyond the module.

Agency / professional body websites
Department for Education and Skills:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/

Ofsted:
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/

Learning and Skills Council:
http://www.lsc.gov.uk/

Media websites
Education Guardian at:
http://education.guardian.co.uk

BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk
Extensive use will be made of articles in the Guardian and Times Education Supplement
newspapers.