Racism is an inevitable feature of contemporary British life. Discuss this statement with reference to education .
ASSIGNMENT SOCIOLOGY
Assignment Guidance
Title: Racism is an inevitable feature of contemporary British life. Discuss this statement with reference to education .
The assignment title is Racism is an inevitable feature of contemporary British life. Discuss this statement with reference to education. In responding to the title you should immediately identify whether or not you agree with this statement; doing so will help you to develop an ARGUMENT.
The assignment title is set and should not be modified.
The essay should be written according to the guidance provided so far; it should include your response to the statement (ARGUMENT), followed by the necessary EVIDENCE to substantiate your claim.
Main body means the key points of your essay.
EVIDENCE includes DfE data (which is essential if you choose to focus on education), qualitative and quantitative data from any subject-specific books or articles that you choose to use, examples of media newspaper headlines, news reports, books, films, TV, webpages, social media, etc. (vital if you choose to focus on media), ONS data, or any data gleaned from statistical websites or online reports (see Blackboard for a list of relevant data sources).
In terms of useful THEORY you should generally consider using material by Stuart Hall, John Solomos, Les Back, John Rex, Paul Gilroy, Michael Banton, Tariq Modood, Robert Miles, etc.; but you may also find it helpful to incorporate some of the classics by Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, etc.
Essential points:
Your assignment must begin with an argument and answer to the question/response to the title, as well as a brief introduction to the topic and any relevant debates/theory. You will then use the remainder of the essay to substantiate your argument with evidence and engagement with relevant sociological theory.
You must discuss the key concepts and scholarly debates about race and ethnicity in contemporary Britain, relating to either education or the media.
You must use appropriate sociological and scholarly material; this means subject specific books, peer reviewed journal articles/book reviews, quantitative/qualitative studies, and material drawn from websites either provided on Blackboard or agreed with Dr. Devine.
You are required to use at the very minimum ten sources for this assignment, though a much wider range of reading/research is encouraged.
You must identify theoretical perspectives such as Marxism, feminism, Functionalism etc.; however, reference to any perspective/tradition must be clarified; for example, be clear about the scholars/theorists you are actually referring to be absolutely specific. Each of these perspectives are vast, fluid and diverse; it is generalising and clumsy to simply say Marxists argue that ….. feminists argue that ….. Always be direct and to the point; for example, Marxist sociologist Stuart Hall argues that …..
Ensure that you critically interrogate any identified theoretical perspectives, concepts, principles, ideologies and/or policies through reference to other sources in the selected field. This might includes an academic interrogation of the concept of racism itself.
Ensure that your grammar and spelling are meticulous and that your sentences make sense (careless deficiencies of writing, referencing and proof-reading may lead to the deduction of up to two grade points from your final mark); also, be careful that your paragraphs represent a single point do not try to do too much in a single paragraph, and keep things simple and to the point. Moreover, try to avoid the use of lengthy quotations copying out an extract is not a skill it is interpretation, comparison, and critical engagement that matters.
