Please note:
This course is taught in English. For Dutch speaking students, parts of the course may be offered in Dutch. See the course manual for further details.
The course works towards the following course aims:
The Paradigms & Practices course offers theoretical perspectives and strategies for studying the field of youth, education and societal issues. The course works towards the following course aims:
• To be able to define and have an overview of the field of the master YES; Youth, Education and Society, and be aware of the pertinent issues in this field;
• To know which present-day and historic scientific, theoretical and empirical paradigms are relevant when studying in this field;
• To be able to describe scientific theories concerning and insights into social behaviour, the relationship between behaviour and educational infrastructure, and educational policy development;
• To formulate critical questions and communicate research findings to fellow students and a wider audience;
• To know what is going on in society in terms of education-related issues and be able to contribute to the public debate;
• To write clearly and concisely in a scientific manner, according to the APA guidelines. The APA guidelines (Edition 6) are compulsory for all written papers during the Master's degree. It is important to purchase a copy of the APA manual and apply it carefully;
Apart from the usual objective of imparting knowledge and teaching relevant skills, the lecturers also seek to stimulate scientific curiosity in and commitment to the social issues encountered in the field. This will be done in part through assignments and activities during the lectures, but students are also expected to take the initiative themselves.
Relationship between assignments and course goals
The two assignments, i.e. the group assignment and the individual assignment are both in line with the (learning) goals for this course. Whilst students will be individually assessed on their understanding and knowledge of the theory, they will undergo group assessment regarding skills and their ability to reflect on their (cooperation) skills (through designing, developing, and engaging in a small scale naturalistic inquiry) in the field of Youth, Education, and Society.
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This course in the Master's degree programme discusses the main perspectives and strategies that are useful for studying Youth, Education and Society. The course offers theoretical perspectives and practical strategies for studying educational issues in society and learning to conduct analyses within the triangle of scientific research, policies and professional practice. Developing a theoretical approach and working with different perspectives and ideas in practice are very important within the programme. Students are assessed on a group field assignment (40%) and an individual exam (60%).
The course consists of six (theory-practice) lectures given by two lecturers, in which theory is introduced and discussed and feedback is provided on the assignment. In the seminars, the lecturers discuss the required reading and relate the texts on Community Psychology, Educational Civil Society, Critical and Normative Pedagogy, and Social Governance to the Dutch context as related to international contexts. Each lecture focuses on the assigned reading for that week. Any additional literature (articles) will be published on Blackboard.
In the second part of each lecture, students work in different groups: The group field assignment is designed around an educational problem in society, which municipality X or organisation Y is trying to address and aims to teach students to contribute to innovative solutions. A key trait of this teaching format is that learning largely takes place through interaction with the actors in whom and situations in which the problem manifests itself. In small groups, students then analyse a real educational issue currently playing out in a Dutch municipality or organisation. The analysis involves considering scientific literature, policy analysis, interviews, observations and evaluating the current ideas of how to tackle the issue. Feedback sessions will be organised to guide the research process.
The group assignment is concluded with a final presentation. The quality of the presentation counts towards the mark for the group field assignment.
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