Education

This is a service-learning based project promoted by the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education, and Applied Psychology in cooperation with the Projects and Mobility Office and it is designed for exchange students staying at the University of Padova for the entire academic year or spring semester. Students on this service-learning course participate in the program called Erasmus@School. Service-learning is an experiential educational method in which students engage in community service, reflect critically on this experience, and learn from it personally, socially, and academically. Students are involved in activities such as theater labs, foreign language learning, and science labs in a primary (six-10-year-olds) and secondary (11–13-year-olds) school in Padova. The course is graded pass/no pass only.

This course introduces students to (1) the main disciplines which shape education, including sociology, philosophy, economics, history, and psychology, and the accounts they give of the relationships between education and social change; (2) the structures of formal education in the UK and the different conceptions of the value and purposes of education they represent; (3) how key stakeholders, such as policymakers, professional associations, teacher unions and employer bodies, have influenced the ways in which education is organized, for example, by raising the school leaving age, the introduction of a National Curriculum, or Academies; (4) the potential of education to create a more just and socially cohesive society, and what structural, organizational, and individual barriers help or hinder the realization of this vision; and (5) the role of educational theory and research in identifying and analyzing critical educational changes, using concepts such as, marketization, widening participation, social justice, and social inclusion.

This course aims to support participants in establishing a general overview of qualitative educational research, enabling them to critically read and review qualitative academic writings. Participants will also use qualitative research methods to understand the complex and multifaceted nature of educational phenomena based on their own experiences. This course provides the essential foundation for participants to develop as educators (and educational researchers).

This course introduces international education and development through three lenses. The course first examines why education is seen as important for development, drawing upon economic, rights-based, and socio-cultural perspectives. It then examines the way education is measured and targets are set for development. The course provides grounding in education and international development, with a particular focus on the challenges facing resource-constrained and rapidly expanding educational systems. 

This class provides a forum for students to discuss issues of education, development, and globalization. Seminars will be held with various development organizations. The colloquium theme will vary and include such topics as globalization of Asian models of educational development, democratization and education, etc.

This course covers the concept and areas of education, the dimensions, contexts, and agents of education, and the purposes and values of education in today's world. 

This course covers various theoretical traditions of scholarship within the sociology of education, and explores questions about the role of education in society. It explores institutional based processes, such as institutional power dynamics, teacher labelling, the curriculum and "hidden curriculum," and the construct of ability. In doing so, the course explores the processes through which educational and social inequality are generated and how alternative forms of education might address inequality.

This course explores transitions that occur in children's and adolescents' lives, including "vertical transitions," described as "developmental and predictable" and including moving on from one setting to another at the appropriate stage in education/life and "horizontal transition," described as the movement between activities during the course of a normal day. The course explores transitions that result from migration, changes in the family structure, and bereavement.

This is a special studies course with projects arranged between the student and faculty member. The specific topics of study vary each term and are described on a special study project form for each student. The number of units varies with the student's project, contact hours, and method of assessment, as defined on the student's special study project form.

The course covers the basic concepts of human biology, the genetic bases of human development and behavior, the morphophysiology of the neuroendocrine system, developmental neurobiology, the psychobiology of cognitive, perceptual, and motor processes, and educational neuropsychology.