Assignment 1: Curriculum as Social Practice - Student Guide
What This Assignment Is About
This assignment asks you to examine how schools can either maintain existing social
inequalities or help challenge them. You'll do this by analyzing a real classroom
situation using one of the theoretical frameworks we've studied.
The Core Question
Paulo Freire reminds us that education is never neutral - it always serves someone's
interests. Your task is to explore how schooling may perpetuate and/or disrupt
social inequalities through either:
• The curriculum (what gets taught, how knowledge is selected and organized),
OR
• Teachers' pedagogic choices (how teachers decide to teach, interact with
students, and structure learning)
Key Requirements
1. Choose Your Focus
Pick ONE main theoretical framework from our "Curriculum as Social Practice"
section:
• The Pedagogic Device (Bernstein) - How educational knowledge gets
selected, transformed, and transmitted in schools
• Classification/Framing (Bernstein) - How strongly subjects/knowledge are
separated (classification) and how much control teachers/students have over
learning (framing)
• The Three Message Systems (Bernstein) - Curriculum (what), pedagogy
(how), and evaluation (assessment)
• The Specialization Plane (Maton) - Whether success depends more on
specialized knowledge or being the "right kind of person"
2. Use a Real Example
Draw from your own classroom experience - this could be:
• Something you observed during teaching practice
• An incident from your own schooling/own teaching
• A situation you witnessed as a student teacher
• A classroom dynamic you noticed
3. Structure Your Essay (1000-1500 words)
Introduction (100-150 words)
• Identify a specific problem or issue in schooling that concerns you
Case Study Description (150-200 words)
• Tell the story of your chosen classroom incident/situation
• Provide enough detail so I can understand what happened
• Keep it factual and descriptive at this stage
Theoretical Framework Explanation (250-300 words)
• Explain your chosen concept/framework clearly
• Show you understand the key ideas and terminology
• Reference the relevant readings to demonstrate your understanding
Critical Analysis (600-850 words)
• This is the heart of your essay
• Use your theoretical framework to analyze how your case study shows
schooling either:
o Perpetuating social inequalities, AND/OR
o Disrupting/challenging social inequalities
• Make clear connections between theory and your example
• Consider multiple perspectives and complexities
What Makes a Strong Response
Excellent essays will:
• Show deep understanding of your chosen theoretical framework
• Make insightful connections between theory and your real example
• Demonstrate critical thinking about how education serves different social
interests
• Use course readings effectively to support your arguments
• Present a clear, well-organized argument
Common pitfalls to avoid:
• Simply describing what happened without analyzing it theoretically
• Using common-sense explanations instead of engaging with course concepts
• Choosing a vague or underdeveloped example
• Trying to cover too many concepts superficially instead of going deep with one
Tips for Success
1. Choose your framework first - Pick the one you understand best and find
most interesting
2. Select a specific, concrete example - Avoid general or vague situations
3. Make explicit connections - Don't assume I will see how your theory applies
to your example
4. Be critical, not just descriptive - Analyze power relations, whose interests are
served, what could be different
I hope this helps. Bring examples to class for discussion/further explanation.
See you on Tuesday!!