POLICY IN HIGHER EDUCATION CONTEXTS - 2025/6

Module Overview

In this module you will explore and consider the influence of context and policy on the learning and teaching environments both generally and specifically your own. You will also consider and analyse the impact of educational policies on processes and practices in higher education and your own disciplinary context. You will be introduced to a range of educational and language policies e.g CEFR, and the role of national bodies e.g. Advance HE and their impact on educational practices. You will critique these policies and debate the influence of such policies on practice. You will use theories from critical discourse analysis to evaluate an educational policy.

Module provider

Literature & Languages

Module Leader

HERON Marion (Sy Inst Educ)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• What is educational policy?


• Frameworks for analysing educational policies


• Language policy and evaluation e.g. ROAD MAPPING


• Corpus linguistic tools

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate:

Evaluating a policy – critique.

  Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of: 

• Coursework: Critique of an education policy, 1,500 words, 50%, addressing learning outcomes 1,2,3. You are required to evaluate an educational policy of your choice and consider the implications of this policy on HE practices and processes, with specific reference to learners and the diversity of learner backgrounds. You will also provide suggestions for how the policy might be adapted. You will be expected to use a theoretical framework to analyse the educational policy and provide a rationale for choice of framework.  Through this assessment you will demonstrate your understanding of a relevant educational policy and its implications (employability skills) and your global and cultural capabilities (understanding contexts and learners from diverse backgrounds).


• Coursework: A linguistic analysis of an educational policy text. 1,500 words, 50%, addresses learning outcomes 3,4,5. You are required to choose one educational policy text (different from coursework 1) and use a software corpus linguistics tool e.g. Sketch Engine to analyse the language of the text. You will critically analyse the language of the policy text and make suggestions as to the influence of language on policy practices. Through this assessment you will demonstrate your employability skills (understanding and analysing a policy text) and digital capabilities (using corpus linguistics software tools e.g. Sketch Engine). 

• Coursework: You will have the opportunity to receive peer review on your policy evaluation. There will be a dedicated 1 hour slot in a seminar session for group discussion and feedback on lesson plans during the drafting stage.


• Coursework: Reflection – you will have the opportunity to receive feedback on a draft reflection from your module tutor.


• Coursework – you will share the results of your critical discourse analysis with peers in the class and receive informal feedback on results / data.

Module aims

• Explore a range of educational policies
• Critique educational policies using a variety of different frameworks.
• Consider own educational context in the light of educational policies
• Use critical discourse analysis to analyse policy documents

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to encourage interaction and communication with all group members. The mode of study is online and therefore the synchronous seminars and discussion board activities are crucial to the development of a group identity.

Captured content

You will have access to pre-recorded short videos and different supporting resources such as pdf slides, short articles and language learning materials. The captured content aims to develop understanding of key concepts and theories. You will be expected to engage with the captured content in order to participate in the interactive activities both online and in the synchronous sessions. All the captured content will be accompanied by a guided learning worksheet. In order to maximise the learning opportunities from the captured content, and to make links to the in-session material, you will be expected to engage with the captured content prior to the synchronous sessions. All the captured content will be accompanied by a guided learning worksheet which you will be expected to complete prior to the synchronous sessions. Engagement with the captured content and other online resources support the development of your digital capabilities and ability to work autonomously.

Weekly synchronous seminar sessions

The synchronous seminar sessions will build on the captured content and will allow students to explore issues and reflect on their own practices. It is expected that you will bring your completed guided learning worksheet to these sessions. These synchronous seminar sessions will involve interactive tasks either whole class or in break out rooms, quizzes and presentations. The aim of the seminar sessions is to apply the theories and concepts from the captured content to your own learning and teaching contexts and to critique the theories presented in the literature. To maximise the potential for sharing ideas and learning from others, you will be expected to participate in whole group and smaller group activities and discussions based on the pre-session and in-class material. Discussions and other interactive activities with classmates supports the development of global and cultural awareness and understanding of how to work in multilingual contexts. You will also develop your employability by relating key concepts to your own contexts.

Guided study

The guided study comprises a number of reading activities drawing on the key literature in the field. All readings are accompanied by a reading comprehension worksheet which will allow you to read key texts and engage with theories in their own contexts. Guided study aims to encourage independent work and develop planning and monitoring skills.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ELAM023

Other information

Surrey's Curriculum Framework is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills and capabilities in the following areas: Employability: This module provides you with an understanding of educational policies in text and practice. You will become aware of the range of different policies and their impact on the educational context and practices. You will also be aware of some key educational bodies which impact on the practices of HE. Skills in reading, interpreting and creating policy are integral to many modern workplaces, inside and outside of higher education. Digital Capabilities: You will be expected to engage with all the online materials and resources through Surrey Learn. You will be participating in regular synchronous seminar sessions as well as contributing to the online discussion boards. The module takes a flipped learning approach and as such you will be engaging with captured content in a variety of different modes. You will work in collaborative groups in Teams break out rooms. You will be expected to try out a number of corpus linguistics software to create both corpora and analyse the corpora for linguistic data. Global and Cultural Capabilities: A key theme of this module is understanding how policies are developed and how they impact on practice. We will draw on a range of policies from different cultural and educational contexts to understand their influence on the way HE systems work. The focus will be both UK national and international, and you will be expected to contribute your own examples. You will also be considering language policies and their impact on the learning of language in the classroom and critiquing how language policy can influence or constrain language development and disciplinary understanding in the HE classroom. You will develop your own communication skills as you interact and work with students from different language and cultural backgrounds.

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.