Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 102120

Coordinator Sarah Pacey Opens in new window

Description The subject is only offered to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Education (Primary) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education program. Teachers are required to understand the diverse cultural make up of schools and how to teach a diverse range of children. Using sociological and cultural theory, the subject examines conservative, liberal and radical approaches to cultural diversity in education. This cultural diversity includes dimensions of gender, religion, ethnicity, race, class, language and sexuality. The subject develops cultural literacy through the application of various theories such as Marxist and feminist-post structuralist analysis of these social relations to cultural diversity; pedagogy and cyberspace. Within this framework it is also essential that teachers engage with and understand the diversity and fluidity of individuals and the broader Australian community in order to promote equitable practices in schooling and to facilitate educational and professional transformation. Developing understandings of society, culture and the formation of subjectivities will promote an enhanced awareness of equity issues as well as crucial analytical and critical tools to address the needs of diverse students, their families, teachers, and the broader school community.

School Education

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 1 10cp

Check your fees via the Fees page.

Level Undergraduate Level 2 subject

Equivalent Subjects EDUC 1001 - Cultural Diversity Society and Learning

Restrictions

Students must be enrolled in 1717 - Bachelor of Education (Primary) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

1. Explore the relationships between Social Identities, institutional power and discourses in a variety of political contexts through sociological frameworks;
2. Examine the historical, social and political circumstances which have shaped postcolonial Australian identities;
3. Evaluate different ways that individual subjectivities are socially constructed within sociocultural and educational contexts; 
4. Examine the changing nature and role of family and family diversity and how educators can help sustain the capacity of families, communities and the school to engage all students.
5. Identify complexities within the construction of conformity and non-conformity in school sociocultural contexts related to age, gender, sexuality, ‘race’, class, ethnicity, ability, language and religion; 
6. Examine relevant policies and legislative requirements related to rights and responsibilities of students, parents, other community members and teachers in relation to cultures of schools and the effects on learning.
7. Evaluate key representations of identities and cultural groups in popular culture, with a particular focus on the popular media, e.g. television, games, internet sites, using different theoretical lenses.

Subject Content

1. Key sociological concepts and their relationship to education including but not limited to: culture; ‘Whiteness’; White privilege; subjectivity; discourse; power; knowledge; discipline; embodiment; surveillance; silence; normalisation; punishment; habitus; capital; field.
2. Policy and legislation pertaining to school-based issues regarding access and equity. 
3. Discrimination, prejudice and privilege; bullying, cyber bullying, violence and its manifestation in educational contexts.
4. Social construction of childhood and family. Political, economic and social policy perspectives. Contemporary debates. 
5. Theories of diversity and difference. 
6. Understanding culture as constituted in class, ethnicity, racialization, gender and sexualities. 
7. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and cultural practices and their links to the educational outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners.
8. Site of analysis – cultural diversity, pedagogy and cyberspace
9. Critical reading of academic texts and oral presentation skills.