I really hate my third essay topic!
This is why I did not save the best for last, because my rationale was that because this topic sucks then maybe the rapidly approaching deadline would make me get to work. Ugh, ugh, ugh. This is the topic:
For this essay, choose a specific contemporary educational policy issue (e.d. access to higher education, high stakes testing, racial desegregation, education funding, sex/sexuality education, bilingual education). Also, choose a theoretical framework or concept that you believe provides a useful lens through which to critically analyze the chosen policy issue.
* Provide an overview of the policy issue, explaining its significance in the broader goal of educational equity and/or social justice;
* Offer a detailed description of the theoretical framework or concept, being careful to define all key terms;
* Through the lens of your chosen theoretical framework or concept, analyze how power is exercised to influence the formation and implementation of policy.
*Groan* I really do not want to write this essay. I did so well with the last two, mainly because I was fiercely familiar with the topics, which were meritocracy and education as the "great (un)equalizer," that I was able to refer back to a lot of previously written papers of mine and grab familiar sources of literature right away, which is why I have done so well on time. But now I get this. I am really not extremely familiar with educational policies in detail, which means I have to research this bullshit and then I have to find a theoretical lens that I feel comfortable using to argue power.
Grrrr....Alright, this is what I am contemplating. Possibly writing on high stakes testing and argue from a Marxist/neo-Marxist theoretical perspective that these tests exercise power because they can contribute to social reproduction.
Or I could do racial desegregation and look at how this is only practiced on paper, but not in reality, thanks to institutional racism. Using a theoretical lens such as critical race theory or critical pedagogy.
I need to really think. It is almost done, but god do I hate this topic.
For this essay, choose a specific contemporary educational policy issue (e.d. access to higher education, high stakes testing, racial desegregation, education funding, sex/sexuality education, bilingual education). Also, choose a theoretical framework or concept that you believe provides a useful lens through which to critically analyze the chosen policy issue.
* Provide an overview of the policy issue, explaining its significance in the broader goal of educational equity and/or social justice;
* Offer a detailed description of the theoretical framework or concept, being careful to define all key terms;
* Through the lens of your chosen theoretical framework or concept, analyze how power is exercised to influence the formation and implementation of policy.
*Groan* I really do not want to write this essay. I did so well with the last two, mainly because I was fiercely familiar with the topics, which were meritocracy and education as the "great (un)equalizer," that I was able to refer back to a lot of previously written papers of mine and grab familiar sources of literature right away, which is why I have done so well on time. But now I get this. I am really not extremely familiar with educational policies in detail, which means I have to research this bullshit and then I have to find a theoretical lens that I feel comfortable using to argue power.
Grrrr....Alright, this is what I am contemplating. Possibly writing on high stakes testing and argue from a Marxist/neo-Marxist theoretical perspective that these tests exercise power because they can contribute to social reproduction.
Or I could do racial desegregation and look at how this is only practiced on paper, but not in reality, thanks to institutional racism. Using a theoretical lens such as critical race theory or critical pedagogy.
I need to really think. It is almost done, but god do I hate this topic.