ESSAY QUESTIONS (PICK ONE)
‘Decolonising’ has become a buzzword in debates about education in recent years. To what extent can the ‘decolonising’ agenda help address persisting inequalities in education, e.g. those related to race, culture or socio-economic status? Choose a specific focus for your essay and use examples.
SDG 4, Education for All, is widely regarded as a success, with around 95% of children worldwide enrolled in primary school. Is formal education in a State-run school system the best way of delivering learning for the remaining 5% of children? Explain your answer with reference to at least one marginalised group or region/territory.
Sections of the essay
Introduction:
Try to win the reader’s attention and interest with your introduction: Outline the importance of the issue and the debates/contentions surrounding it: what is at stake here?
Review of relevant literature:
Include a brief overview of the relevant literature in your essay. This can be a separate section, or part of the introduction. What are the debates that your essay speaks to? Outline them briefly, mentioning key authors in the field .
Analysis and discussion section: This is where you develop your argument(s). Please think about a structure for this section.
Illustrate your arguments / points with examples and/or case studies. Provide evidence and references for everything you say –remember this is not an opinion piece. Rely as much as possible on academic sources and keep reliance on non-academic sources to a minimum (unless there is a good reason for using them).
Where using NGO reports and statistics on the current state of a region or issue, look critically at how the data was gathered and acknowledge any potentially weaknesses, and think about how the NGO’s agenda may influence their presentation of their findings.
Conclusion:
Summarise your findings in the conclusion and consider the wider implications of your findings, e.g. in terms of policy implications, or in terms of implications for future research.
Style and formatting
Use font size 12 and a commonly used font (such as Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri).
Referencing
All sources of information should be suitably referenced in the text, using the Harvard (author, date) system.
A list of all references used should be included at the end of the essay. Format them consistently according to a referencing style common in the Social Sciences (e.g. Harvard style, or Chicago style).
