International development

Education, Justice & Liberation

Module code: 103IDS
Level 6
30 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Workshop
Assessment modes: Essay, Coursework

This module introduces students to liberatory approaches to education and their fate following the globalisation of model education policies by Northern policy actors.

The first section examines liberatory approaches to education implemented by anti-colonial revolutionaries in the C20th, and anti-racist, liberatory education models developed by Black parents and educators in the UK and USA.

The second section critically examines the globalisation of particular models of education, and power dynamics involved in aid-funded education initiatives in the Global South.

The final section scrutinises the role of policy consultants in shaping education in the North and South, exploring possibilities for liberatory pedagogies in the present.

Module learning outcomes

  • Convey understanding about the relationship between systems of education and social justice outcomes in different settings
  • Appreciate the impact that specific policy actors and policy models have on shaping education in the Global North and South;
  • Systematically identify the relationship between approaches to education/pedagogy and models of social justice