An essay developing a philosophical response to a question about educational policy or practice (50%).
The expectations of this piece of assessment are:
- That you choose a topic that is educationally relevant. This could be a topical issue to do with current educational policy in the UK or in other international contexts; for example, selective schooling, parental choice in education.
- That you articulate a question about it that is philosophical in nature, rather than empirical. Given the length of the assignment, it is not a good idea to choose a very broad question – e.g. “What are the aims of education?” – as you will not be able to go into it in sufficient depth.
- That you demonstrate to the reader that you have understood what form a philosophical response to your question could take. We do not expect you to produce a fully developed philosophical argument, but we do expect to see some independent argument in your essay (see above guidelines on writing philosophy). What we are looking for here is evidence that you have thought about the topic and formed your own view on it, and that you are able to present and defend this in a compelling manner.
- That you show that you have engaged with some of the relevant philosophical literature on your chosen topic. Again, there is no expectation that you offer a comprehensive literature review of everything that philosophers have had to say on a given topic, but we are looking for evidence of understanding of and reflection on some philosophical work, either from the module readings or from broader philosophical literature that you have identified.
- That you present your work in a clearly written style and that you pay particular attention to referencing conventions (see below and in the student handbooks).
Specific aspects of the marking criteria (see below) that will be drawn on when assessing the assignment:
Knowledge & understanding:
- Evidence that your writing is informed by an understanding of the relevant philosophical literature.
- Evidence that you have understood and reflected on the ideas and concepts you are working with; including an awareness of any possible tensions and complexities involved in them.
- Evidence that you have reflected on the relationship between the philosophical and the empirical aspects of your topic.
Intellectual skills:
- A clear, logical structure to your writing, so that the reader can follow your argument throughout the text.
- Careful and appropriate use of quotes from relevant sources, examples or empirical data to support and/or illustrate the claims that you are making
Scholarly practices:
- Careful, complete and accurate referencing
- Engagement with a range of relevant literature, as appropriate (preferably more than one source).
