Education

Course overview

The MA Education is designed to develop and enhance your professional knowledge, skills, and understanding of contemporary professional practice. The course is based on the concept of practitioner-based enquiry in order to link theory with practice, and impact on students/pupils learning.

The acquisition of credits at Masters level is useful evidence for meeting teachers' performance management objectives, and for those applying for threshold assessment. We are also able to award credits for those in possession of the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) and other awards from the National College of School Leadership.

The course offers two pathways, each of which will meet the needs of different types of students. Crucially, to cater for students' needs, this course will enable you to study at a pace which suits both you, and the institution for which you work.

In order to acquire the full award, teachers are required to pass a compulsory research methods module and a 30 or 60-credit Dissertation/Major Project. Apart from these stipulations, participants choose a personalised route through the course, drawing from a pool of 40 modules located in a number of categories. For those on the Newly Qualified Teacher/Early Professional Development route, the first recommended module is: 'Early Professional Development for NQTs and others in the First Five Years of their Careers' (30 Credits) which spans two semesters.

You are then able to focus on a particular field of enquiry by combining modules to suit your individual, or institutional, needs and interests. Each category contains a minimum of three, 30-credit modules, enabling teachers to focus on a particular theme should they so wish. Other participants may decide to choose modules from several categories:

Optional modules

• Curriculum Design/Subject Knowledge - Teaching a Subject
• Equality/Diversity - Engaging with Diversity in Education
• Early & Continuing Professional Development - Mentoring & Coaching for Institutional Improvement
• Professional Development for Teaching in the Early Years of Their Careers
• Early Years - Creative Curriculum in the Early Years
• Teaching/ Learning/Assessment - Raising Achievement Through Improving Teaching and Learning
• Wider Workforce - Every Child Matters, Well-being and Emotional Development in Young Children
• Inclusion - Special Educational Needs in a Mainstream Classroom Context.
• Leadership/Management/School Improvement - eg Action Enquiry for Institutional Improvement; Quality in Middle Management; and Leading a Subject.

Assessment

Modes of assessment vary according to the nature of the module but may include: assignments, exhibitions, critically reflective journals and logs, presentations, patchwork texts and Major Projects. Each 30-credit module requires the submission of 6,000 words, or equivalent. Self and peer assessment are encouraged alongside other forms of assessment.

Dedication

Up to 5 years, part-time.