B.A. Education Studies (Hons)

Course Content

Our courses are reviewed regularly and the module list you choose from may vary from that shown here, but it is representative of the range of what is on offer.

Year 1

Exploring Learning (compulsory) encourages you to reflect on your own position as a student in higher education. You will explore different learning approaches, strategies and styles. You will learn key skills for the academic study of education.

Education in a World of Change: Policy and Provision (compulsory)

The aim of this module is to introduce you to central aspects of education policy and provision in the English context. Schooling will be related to broader forces of social change, including economic, cultural, technological and political. There will be focus on formal education but alternative educational settings will be considered. You will be introduced to some of the major philosophical ideas that have shaped educational policy in England and encouraged to make connections between central themes from the late 19th/ early 20th centuries and policy developments in the present day. You will be introduced to the study of the history and philosophy of education and to policy critique.

Constructions of Childhood (compulsory) shows how childhood is thought of differently, and how this has changed, over time and place. It draws on sociological, historical and cross-cultural perspectives to look at childhood in different contexts, and the role of children in society.

Introduction to Child Development (compulsory) examines notions of development and the ways in which developmental issues both underpin, and impact upon, children’s learning.

Education and Childhood through Film and Literature

This module sets out to explore the way schools, teachers and their students are represented in popular culture, specifically in selected key film and television texts and literary works. The module will examine educational themes which recur and the way they reflect contemporary debates about the purpose of education, childhood, youth culture and teacher role/ performance. Does popular culture embody alternative perspectives of education and its societal role, or does it tend to reproduce common stereotypes and popular myths? How can we explain the enduring popularity of reliving school days through fictional books and moving image texts?
Years 2 and 3

Year 2

Core Texts in Education

A number of classic writers from Plato to Paulo Freire are essential to understanding contemporary debates about education. This module enables an in-depth critical study of three contrasting and complementary texts from different historical periods that have shaped the language and concepts with which we think about education and childhood. Your reading of these texts will be informed by historical context and their reception in contemporary educational literature. You will be encouraged to engage with questions the texts raise about the status of knowledge, the nature of human flourishing, and the vocation of the educator. You will need to connect and compare the texts with each other and with key contemporary debates in educational policy and practice. You will ask questions about the legacy of our intellectual inheritance and the lessons that we can learn from the thinkers of the past.
Cross-National Perspectives on Education will explore to what extent previously separate educational traditions and systems are becoming comparable in an increasingly interdependent world. Generic themes will be considered cross-nationally, such as approaches to citizenship, learner autonomy and curriculums. You will be encouraged to explore the social, cultural and historical influences that shape these approaches, and to examine assumptions about your own and other educational systems.

The Developing Child

During this module you will have the opportunity to explore alternative explanations of developmental processes and deepen your understanding of child development introduced in the year one module Introduction to Child Development.

Educational Inequalities: Schooling and Youth investigates the relationship between formal education processes and outcomes and wider social processes and structures. It considers contesting visions of equality in educational debates, and how these are manifested in policy. It will examine the relationships between identity, school and wider cultures, the subjectivities of learners, and consequent experiences of education.

From Education to Work looks at the 14-19 curriculum and higher education, focusing on the transition from school to work. It explores the intended and unintended consequences of past and current policies.

Inclusion: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities explores the issues and challenges around inclusive provision for children and young people with special educational needs/disabilities. It analyses notions of discrimination and challenges you to think about your own attitudes and beliefs.

Psychology of Learning explores how people learn and why they often fail to learn. Perspectives from social, cognitive and developmental psychology will be examined to explore learning across the life span in both formal and informal learning contexts. The impact on the learning process of individual factors and contextual factors will be evaluated.

Research Methods in Childhood and Education introduces you to various research tools (interviewing, observation, questionnaires, etc.) and appropriate data analysis. It equips you with the skills necessary to undertake a final year dissertation.

The Social World of Childhood involves a consideration of the implications of different models of socialisation and an examination of structural, cultural and experiential factors in the development of child identity. A strong feature of the module is its use of life and oral history approaches to the study of childhood.

Children and the Media explores the way in which children interact with different forms of media, such as television, video games, computers, mobile and imaging technology.

Literature for Young Children aims to develop your knowledge and understanding of the range of texts available for young children. You will develop skills in selecting texts which support language development with particular focus on phonological awareness and reading development.
New Media and Youth Identities investigates issues in digital media use and identity among young people in a range of individual, social and institutional contexts. You will consider how new forms and practices such as mobile phones and SMS, gaming and social networking sites offer new ways for young people to express themselves, and are shifting perceptions of private and public identity.

Outdoor Learning will explore how young children use play to learn and how adults plan for exploration and play in the outdoors environment.

Writing Technologies examines the impact of the technology of writing on individuals and society. Over the course of the module you will consider the philosophical, historical, cultural and political importance of different writing technologies and modes of written communication, such as handwriting, print, text, and online.

Spirituality and Children explores children’s spiritual development, looking at major world religions, new age and secular developments.

Historical Perspectives on Education explores the ways in which education has been historically envisaged in the UK, covering the interrelationship between culture and pedagogy, and looking at how educational opportunities have been organised. Students will have the opportunity to develop an historical perspective on some current models of education.

Year 3

Philosophy of Education engages with questions about the nature, aims and justification of education through a distinctively philosophical approach. By examining a range of contemporary, historical and international perspectives, students will appreciate that education is a value-laden enterprise whose core concepts are contested. Students will engage in a critical dialogue with some of the seminal texts that have shaped the way we understand the educational endeavour and will be encouraged to examine their own assumptions about education and participate in the contemporary debate through reasoned and cogent arguments.

Becoming a Reader

This module looks at children's literacy, investigating theories and debates about how children learn to read and become readers. You will interrogate various models of how children learn to read exploring the contribution of decoding skills, comprehension of text and attitudinal and motivational dimensions. You will critically explore the issues of multiple literacies in an era of digital communication. This module will build on Literature for Young Children module and will enable you to scrutinise a range of developmental theories and to appreciate and articulate your own position within a theoretically complex and controversial aspect of development.

Controversial Issues in Education will follow up key issues introduced in previous modules and enable you to explore and debate these in some depth, through group discussion and extended individual research.

Education in International Development studies the place of education in international development programmes, and explores the impact of economic development, foreign aid and international relations on educational opportunity. Educational case studies from actual development projects around the world enable you to learn about development education policy and practice.

e-Pedagogy for the Future investigates the variety of uses of information and communication technology (ICT) in the learning process and enables students to critically evaluate different approaches to e-learning.

Inclusion: Diverse Perspectives provides you with an opportunity to explore the ways in which various groups traditionally excluded from education can be included. We will look at the experiences of children who are marginalised or excluded and focus on the impact on the child. We will also explore and critique a range of national and international models and practices relating to inclusion.

Independent Study: This module involves individual or group work on an appropriate topic or set of topics, under the supervision of the module leader. You will have the opportunity to devise your own programme with the support of, and in negotiation with, a supervisor. You will consider issues central to Education Studies which may be an extension of work from areas raised in other modules in the discipline, or some other agreed issue or set of issues.

Independent Study: Work and Community Related Learning. This module will help you develop graduate attributes and employability skills by requiring you to reflect critically on learning gained from activities in work, community related and extra-curricular settings. You will develop your awareness and understanding of the world of work and your future employability. Specifically, you will:

• gain benefit personally and academically from experiences in the work and community context
• engage in self-directed learning with appropriate academic supervision and structured reflection
• reflect critically on and illustrate using specific examples the learning and personal development gained from work related or extra-curricular experience in relation to possible future professional roles.

This module runs flexibly, like an independent study, and can fit in with a variety of work or volunteer work experiences. This could include things you do alongside your degree on a regular basis or something you plan to do e.g. over the summer break.

Examples of projects that students have previously focused on are:

• Working as an E Pioneer for the University; to support the use of technology in teaching at Oxford Brookes.
• Working part time in a North Oxford nursery.
• Working on a voluntary basis with children with Special Educational Needs.
• Working as a language tutor to support BMW workers in their use of business English.
• Working as a marketing intern at Oxford University Press.
• Working with local charity, Reading Quest as a volunteer supporting primary aged children’s reading

Dissertation: an in-depth study (under the supervision of an academic tutor) of a chosen problem related to education.