Education - MA

This module aims to support you to become an ethical and critically reflexive practitioner, able to operate effectively as a coach or mentor in a range of different educational settings.

In this module you will be encouraged to think critically and increase your awareness of issues in adult learning and development that impact directly on coaching and mentoring practices. You will be encouraged to integrate your prior work and life experiences with the theoretical concepts underpinning coaching and mentoring discussed on the module. You will use relevant theories effectively to relate your understanding to the skills and approaches necessary to develop professionally as a coach or mentor in a variety of working contexts.

This module is can also be taken as a standalone credit-bearing course.

Apply to start in January 2022

For this module you will examine the societal issues of class, gender, race, sexuality, age and disability, with an emphasis on the equality, diversity and Inclusion agenda in educational policy and practice. You will engage in a critical and challenging exploration of the principles informing equality, diversity and inclusion across the education sector in the UK and internationally.

The module will cover topics such as historical perspectives on inclusion and diversity, equality rights movements, social/historical origins of inequality and innovative inclusive practices in education. You will consider how social constructions and policy trajectories around equality, diversity and inclusion can lead to potential educational barriers for many groups in society. The module will also focus on legal rights and obligations with regard to equality, diversity and inclusion in professional educational practice, as well as organising effective inclusive learning environments and how to personalise learning for different groups of learners with diverse needs and backgrounds.

This module provides an opportunity to explore and understand the contributions of key thinkers in critical pedagogy. It will also provide an opportunity to explore and debate critical pedagogical issues such as critical literacies, -, issues of identity, agency and power, critical discourse analysis and dialogical teaching.

You will examine the relationship between these theories and teaching and learning practices across a variety of educational settings and contexts.

It is very important that educational professionals are able to critique their practice in terms of the historical traditions of their subject and the curricula that support it. This module is designed to equip students with a critical perspective, informed by knowledge, understanding and skills to analyse critically the ways in which curricula is led and managed across educational settings. To this end it explores how curriculum design influences the processes of learning and teaching, as well as educational outcomes for learners.

This module offers a critical and interdisciplinary, integrated practice approach to childhood and youth studies. During the module you will cover childhood and youth issues relating to your own practice, which could include family; law; children’s rights; childhood as a social construct; children’s participation in society and the issue of children’s voice and multi-cultural childhoods, within a national and worldwide context.

In this module approaches to institutional effectiveness and improvement in education and how they are reflected in national educational policy agendas will be discussed. Cross-national education models for institutional effectiveness and change management used in schools, further and higher Education institutions will be critiqued and evaluated.

This module will enhance your awareness of education systems, traditions and issues in a number of countries, helping you to understand the relationships between education and other social phenomena by introducing the concepts and skills needed for systematic comparison. This programme will help you to gain a rigorous multidisciplinary grounding in the comparative analysis of education and society, deepening their understanding of contemporary issues in education in many parts of the world.

This module explores the politics and historical trajectories of education and education policy. It draws on concepts from the social sciences such as the state, globalisation, neo-liberalism, discourse, policy cycle, convergence, policy learning and policy borrowing and considers the ways in which they impact on education practices (including assessment, teaching and learning etc.) across the different sectors.

The place and role of assessment in education today is highly significant. Assessment is not only concerned with grading and marking learners, it also serves an evaluative function for ways in which schools, colleges, universities, and other learning sites can be evaluated. This module is designed to equip students with a critical perspective, informed by knowledge, understanding and skills to analyse critically the ways in which uses and purposes of assessment function across a range of educational settings.

This module considers how, in order to be a successful pedagogue an understanding of self is as crucial as an understanding of the learner. This module will move you into a deeper level of professional self-reflection and provide a framework to help you to challenge your daily work practices to support transforming special needs pupils/students towards their full potential for learning.

There will be a strong theory-practice link serving to guide you towards a critical understanding of your daily classroom practice and skills as a transformative teacher.

This module will consider leadership and management definitions, values, theories, strategies and styles and their impact on the performance of others and on teaching and learning; the relationships and differences between leadership and management.

It will examine the role of legislation, policy, guidance and local/national frameworks in relation to educational leadership across a range of setting.

This module looks at the identification, assessment and provision for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

You will be introduced to a range of issues related to social, emotional and behavioural difficulties as we examine national and local policies in relation to definitions, legislation and guidance documents. You will develop your understanding of the concept SEND.

This module forms an introduction to the processes and importance of active reflection around educators’ and educational managers’ professional practices in the workplace. It promotes the importance of reflexivity for educational professionals by asking you to reflect upon how key critical incidents in your working life can be illustrative of wider educational practices and principles.

In-line with the TMF framework philosophy this module is a level 7 optional module, situated within a flexible framework that aims to meet the specific academic needs of individual practitioners. A blended learning approach is taken in accord with the University’s learning and teaching strategy and the programme’s philosophy and aims.