ACIT5920 Master's Thesis, Phase 2 Course description

To be admitted to the examination the student shall fulfil the following course work requirement: one individual assignment on 1200 words (+/- 10%), on a given topic. The student shall formulate a problem based on the topic and answer the problem. The assignment shall be submitted within the set deadline. If necessary, the student and teacher can agree on an extended deadline for submission of the assignment. The assignment is evaluated with ‘accepted’ or ‘not accepted’ and will be evaluated by co-students in small groups of three - to four students, and in collaboration with the teacher, based on a template and instruction, given by the teacher, and announced in detail on Canvas. The work requirement gives the students an opportunity to reflect on central topics in the course literature, and function as an exercise for both the writer and the co-students, on how to interpret exam questions. Students who get ‘not accepted’ on their assignment may rewrite and submit a new version of the assignment at a date set by the teacher. This assignment is evaluated with ‘accepted’ or ‘not accepted’ by the teacher.

Final assessment will be based on a 6-hour individual written school exam, based on a given topic. The writing of the assignment must show knowledge of the course literature. If other literature is referred, this cannot replace use of course literature, however it may function as additional literature.

In case of failed exam/legal absence, the student can sit for a new/postponed exam when this is arranged. New or postponed exams are offered within a reasonable time span following the regular exam.

The student is responsible for applying for a new exam within the time limits set by OsloMet and the Faculty of Education and International Studies. Regulations for new or postponed examinations are available in Regulations relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet.

The exam papers can be written in English, Norwegian, Swedish or Danish.

Bilingual dictionary (book, not digital)

A graded scale from A to E for passed and F for not passed will be used.

An internal and external examiner will conduct the assessment of the exam.

This course thematize the role Education and Religion play in developmental processes and discourses, both in their own right and by intersecting other central developmental topics of social mobility, power structures, globalization, colonial, decolonial and gender debates, as well as the role of education in marginalized positions.

The course will be taught in English or Norwegian, depending on needs according to the participants’ language abilities and the presence of international exchange students.

The course is open to students who have completed at least a one-year introductory course in Development Studies at either OsloMet, or other equivalent courses at universities/university colleges in Norway, or abroad.

Education, knowledge and competence are crucial elements in strategies for, and theories on, development. Religion and spirituality might influence educational systems in many contexts, in either overt or implicit forms. The course thematizes how educational systems change and gain new roles and importance through modernization- and globalization processes, on both global and local levels. It emphasizes how education might enable individual empowerment, stimulate national consolidation and contribute to poverty reduction, and further how to utilize education to promote positive change, specifically related to development processes in the global South.

The course describes, and critically discusses issues connected to education as a right-based developmental tool, anchored in the UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Children, and ideas of Global Citizenship Education for global, sustainable solutions. It also describes and discuss the crucial role education play in emergencies, crises and conflicts for millions of displaced people, especially children.

As religious systems and ideologies have influenced, and still might affect educational traditions and systems in many parts of the world, the course critically discusses how religion intersects educational systems in different contexts and uncovers possible challenges on both curricular content and pedagogies. The course problematize how educational systems in many parts of the global South are marked by colonial legacies, ongoing coloniality of knowledge and education, in addition to decolonial debates. As part of these discussions, the course includes how western-based churches and missions historically influenced, and in many places still influence, educational systems in the global South.

Two internal examiners. External examiner is used periodically.

Assistant professor Nuno Marques