Example education dissertation topic 3:

‘Predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon and Euro-centric’: to what extent does a comparative analysis of take-up rates of GCSE History within inner-city Bradford and Bristol support this contention?

An analysis of the GCSE History syllabi offered by the three major examination boards reveals that the majority of options offered for study revolve around Britain and Europe. Further, whilst there are non-European options (for instance Medicine through time and Native Americans) analysis of the number of students taught each option reveals that well in excess of 80% of students are taught a Euro-centric and British syllabus. This dissertation asks whether this preponderance for ‘white’ study has an effect on the number of minority students choosing to study the subject at GCSE level and does so by a racial analysis of student uptake numbers in two cities with very different ethnic profiles: Bradford and Bristol. This is therefore a dissertation that combines education theory, issues of diversity and statistical analysis.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Haydn, T. (2011) ‘Secondary history: Current themes’, in, Davies, I. (ed.) Debates in history teaching. Abingdon: Routledge.
• Harris, R. and Haydn, T. (2012) ‘What happens to a subject in a ‘free market’ curriculum? A study of secondary school history in the UK’, Research Papers in Education, Vol. 27(1), pp. 81-101.