Course Schedule

Week 1. Sep 17    Course Introduction

Week 2. Sep 24      Educational Systems: Its role in society

Rarmirez et al. 2018. “International Tests, National Assessments, and Educational Development (1970–2012).” Comparative Education Review 62 (3): 344-364.

Turner, Ralph H. (1960). “Sponsored and contest mobility and the school system.” American Sociological Review 25 (6): 855-867.

Week 3. Oct 01      Holiday (no class)

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Week 4. Oct 08     Student Cultures (1). Distinction in the US and Ireland

**Group Presentations **

Courtois, Aline. 2015. "‘Thousands waiting at our gates’: moral character, legitimacy and social justice in Irish elite schools." British Journal of Sociology of Education 36 (1): 53-70.

Khan, Shamus. 2011. Privilege: The making of an adolescent elite at St. Paul's School. Princeton University Press. (chapter 1)

Week 5. Oct 15      Student Cultures (2). Academics in France and Netherlands

**Group Presentations**   

Draelants, Hugues and Brigitte Darchy?Koechlin. 2011. "Flaunting one's academic pedigree? Self?presentation of students from elite French schools." British Journal of Sociology of Education 32 (1): 17-34.   

Mijs, Jonathan J. B. and Bowen Paulle. 2015. "The Burden of Acting Wise: Sanctioned School Success and Ambivalence about Hard Work at an Elite School in the Netherlands." Intercultural Education 27 (1): 22-38.

Week 6. Oct 22   Family Input in Education: (1) Parental Roles in Education

** Group Presentations**

Calarco, Jessica McCrory. 2014. "Coached for the classroom: Parents’ cultural transmission and children’s reproduction of educational inequalities." American Sociological Review 79 (5): 1015-1037.

Weininger, Elliot, Annette Lareau, and Dalton Conley. 2015. “What money doesn't buy: Class resources and children's participation in organized extracurricular activities." Social Forces 94 (2): 479-503.

Week 7. Oct 29  Family Input in Education: (2) Education Outside of School

** Group Presentations**                

Park, Hyunjoon and Youngshin Lim. 2020. “Student participation in private supplementary education: A comparative analysis of Japan, Korea, Shanghai, and the USA.” Chinese Journal of Sociology 6 (2): 239-256.

Shih, Yi-Ping and Chin-Chun Yi. 2014. Cultivating the difference: Social class, parental values, cultural capital and children's after-school activities in Taiwan. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 45 (1) 55-75.

Week 8. Nov 05    Teachers as the (not-so) invisible hand (1). Classroom Interactions

**Group Presentations**

Cohen, Elizabeth and Rachel Lotan. 1995. "Producing equal-status interaction in the heterogeneous classroom." American Educational Research Journal 32 (1): 99-120.

Liu, Ran and Yi-Lin Chiang. 2019. "Who is more motivated to learn? The roles of family background and teacher-student interaction in motivating student learning." The Journal of Chinese Sociology 6 (1): 6.

Week 9. Nov 12    Transition to Work (1) The Educational System Perspective

Title: The German VET System (and why everybody wants to be like Germany, or do they?)

Guest Speaker: Prof. Michael Gebel

Chair, Department of Sociology, University of Bamberg, Germany

Readings: TBA

(ALTERNATIVE) Week 9. Nov 12   Teachers as the (not-so) invisible hand (2). In Search of a Perfect Model

**This will be the alternative topic in the unlikely event that Taiwan implements quarantine and closes the boarder**

We will watch a documentary: “The Finland Phenomenon” in class.

Class discussion to follow.           

Week 10. Nov 19  Transition to Work (2) The Life Course Perspective

Conference Attendance:

Dates: Nov 19-21

Location: Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica

Class does not meet this week. Instead, you are encouraged to attend the conference at Academia Sinica (at Nangang). The conference is about transition to adulthood in Taiwan and elsewhere. As per the conference title, not all sessions focus on education. However, most of them will inevitably draw on ideas related to education, as it is often of critical importance. You are free to join any session of your interest and language (there are sessions in Chinese and English). Attendance at any one of them fulfills course participation requirement. Registration is required only for those who want food and a hard copy of the program at the conference.

While you are not required to submit any response memo for this conference, but be prepared to discuss what you’ve heard from the session in the following week, which will focus on transition to adulthood (especially about work). Since our end-of-semester presentations will take place as a mini conference, attending this conference will also serve to prepare yourself with conference presentation format and style.

Week 11. Nov 26    Transition to Work (3): The cost-benefit perspective

**Group Presentations**

Lee, Sunhwa and Mary Brinton. 1996. “Elite education and social capital: The case of South Korea.” Sociology of Education 69 (3): 177-192.

Rivera, Laruen. 2011. "Ivies, extracurriculars, and exclusion: Elite employers’ use of educational credentials." Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 29 (1): 71-90.

Week 12. Dec 03    Concluding Remarks: Global education and student belonging

**Group Presentations**

Brooks, Rachel, and Johanna Waters. 2009. "A second chance at ‘success’: UK students and global circuits of higher education." Sociology 43 (6): 1085-1102.

Lee, Yean-Ju, and Hagen Koo. 2006. "'Wild geese fathers' and a globalised family strategy for education in Korea." International Development Planning Review 28 (4): 533-553.

Week 13. Dec 10   Individual Meetings

Week 14. Dec 17  In-class workshop: presentations (2)

Class presentation will take the format of a mini conference. Each student/group will have 10-15min to present their final project, followed by 3min of Q&A. (The exact time for each presentation depends on the number of presenters.)

This is an opportunity to receive comments from knowledgeable readers, make revisions on your final paper, and practice defending your research or idea. Attendance and active participation in the workshop is a sign of support to your fellow classmates, and it is also good karma when it is your turn to present. You are required to join class and provide feedback even if you are not presenting.

Week 15. Dec 24    In-class workshop: presentations (2)

See week above.

Week 16. Dec 31    Reading Days

Week 17. Jan 07     Turn in final paper

**Please upload your paper on Moodle by 5pm. Each additional day of delay will result in cumulative downgrade of your final score.**

Course Requirements

1. Class participation (20%)

Since this class takes the format of a seminar, classroom participation is necessary. You are strongly encouraged to participate in classroom discussions by raising questions, responding to others, and providing your thoughts about the course materials. Through classroom discussions, you will not only get to know your classmates, but also enhance each other's understanding of the materials under discussion. Together, we will create a friendly atmosphere in which all feel welcomed.

2. Discussion leader (10%)

Beginning in week 2, students should self-divide into teams and lead course discussion at least once in the semester. Discussion leaders should prepare a list of 3-5 questions and post them on Moodle no later than 5PM on the Tuesday before class meeting.

3. In-class presentation (introduction of student life in each country) (20%)

Considering the content in this course, it is necessary to have a broad understanding of student culture across countries. Each group should have no more than 3 members, making up to a total of 14 groups. Please sign up on Moodle as the countries are first-come-first-serve. Do not present on the same country as other groups. The countries that one can sign up for are first come first served.

Each presentation will be 20 minutes, please mind the time limit. Members in each group should feel free to improvise with this assignment, as there are no requirements on the method or tools to assist or present your findings. Groups with graduate students will be additionally evaluated on the structure, data, and analysis of their presentation.

4. Final group paper + final presentation (45+5%)

Student write a final paper with their group member. Each group should consist of no more than TWO students. The paper should be about educational in global society, in alignment with the course topic. Students should pursue a specific topic of his/her interest. The paper must ask a question and provide evidence from existing research. Topics on educational inequality is preferred, but not necessary. Details of the paper and its format will be distributed in class in the second half of the semester. You should feel free to discuss your project/paper with the instructor during the semester.

If the group consists entirely of undergraduates, the paper is expected to be an extended literature review. If the group has at least one graduate student, the paper should be in article format, which includes data analysis. There will be two “checkpoints” as you set out to conduct the literature review. The first one is the presentation week, when you will present your draft in class. The second and final checkpoint is the following week, when you can schedule a meeting with the instructor to discuss details and revisions of your presented draft.

Your presentation score consists of two components: your own presentation (5%) or participation (5%), which is weighed by the level of engagement and questions raised regarding classmates’ work.