Educational sociology: Culture, Education and Interaction

The course opens for a continuous understanding of obligations and opportunities for educational activities under changing conditions and circumstances in institutions and society. The course examines the reproductive processes in areas such as family, work, leisure and within the formal educational system. Life in kindergarten, school and education is created by actors who are there for varying periods og time, the staff as well as children, adolescents and adults. The educational activities are also impacted by political trends and movements at national as well as international level. The course examines how the actors orient themselves in this field of tension, and we investigate theoretical perspectives and empirical studies that explain how actors create understanding and organize their life, in and outside the institutions. Central to the study is to examine how institutions relate to social class and culture in general. Home, leisure and education will be studied in the light of various theories of power. Finally, the course examines the opportunities for preparing and practicing educational activities in light of varying action theory frameworks.

The subject gives thorough knowledge on and theoretical insight into:
-The importance of social class and cultural differences in educational activities.
-Interaction and tensions between pedagogical activities and politics.
-How different groups of actors creates understanding and organize their life, in and outside the institutions.

26 hours of lectures and 13 hours of seminars are distributed over the semester period. Lectures and seminars may be concentrated to particular periods of the semester. Draft of theory and topic for the assignment shall be approved in conjunction with an oral presentation of the project at the seminar. The assignment should be maximum 15 pages.

Deadline for submission is December 10th.