Education via Study Centres MA

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Become a specialist in education. Deepen your knowledge with a highly specific postgraduate degree. Expand your career options in a wide range of educational contexts.

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Overview

The MA Education degree is ideal for teachers and other educational professionals who want to develop their careers with a highly specialised postgraduate degree. When you join the course, you’ll be part of a community of practice, studying alongside professionals from a broad range of educational backgrounds.

Our aim is to deepen your knowledge and enhance your employment prospects as the degree provides you with the opportunity to critically engage with theory and obtain a clear understanding of how this relates to your own practice, background, and experience within the field of education.

This MA Education course is a flexible qualification which opens alternative career paths and allows progression towards new professional opportunities.

Please contact your Study Centre for the duration and mode of this course.

Why us?

Tailor the degree content to your interests and career plans
Carry out research which is specific to your own interests and workplace

Learn from a team of research-active lecturers with vast experience in the field of education

Course structure

The MA Education degree is taught via seminars, workshops, support sessions, collaborative group work and discussion, tutorials, presentations, and directed private study.

Your progress will be assessed both through written assignments, including a dissertation, and a variety of carefully designed tasks to ensure you meet all learning outcomes. Compared to an undergraduate course, you’ll find that a master’s degree requires a higher level of independent working.

Course modules

Core modules:

Introduction to Criticality (30 credits)

Gain an understanding of the importance of critical thinking as the basis of your study, located in the belief that critical thinking and analysis in the broader context of education is the model for educating critical professionals. Develop your skills in self-assessment, mental flexibility, creativity, interpretation, and argument.

Research Methods in Education (30 credits)

Explore the principles and practice of conducting educational research, including research design, data collection, management and analysis, use of I.T. tools and resources, conducting literature surveys, writing for the academic research community, the politics and ethics of educational research, theoretical perspectives, and current debates relating to research. Generate and evaluate your own research tools and engage in depth with relevant critical literature.

Curriculum in the Contemporary World (30 credits)

Examine the key drivers that influence curriculum development in Britain and across the globe. Gain a theoretical and practical understanding of the curriculum and its design and development over time. Critically examine how decisions made about the curriculum have become crucial to how inclusive the provision is and how progress and attainment are achieved through the teaching and learning strategies chosen in light of change. Explore ways in which we can utilise research data to influence practice and select the most appropriate pedagogies for a specific subject area.

MA Thesis (60 credits)

Complete a substantial piece of research within your chosen field of study and related to your designated route. Gain an in depth understanding of your specialist area by answering a research question, the proposal for which will have been examined in the Research Methods in Education module.

Some modules have prerequisites. Read more about what this means in our Help and Advice article.

Optional modules:

Leadership, Leader Identity and Educational Organisations (30 credits)

Critically explore leadership models and how these are influenced by the micropolitics of organisations. Evaluate and self-analyse personal and professional development of the strategic leaders in this context. Consider leader identity by exploring values, motives and goals for developing and enhancing strategic leadership. Develop interpersonal awareness through critical reflection and evaluate leadership style in terms of impact on others and the organisational context.

The Nature of Teaching and Learning (30 credits)

Gain knowledge of current research around children’s learning and associated modes of teaching. Reflect upon your own professional practice and consider the potential of introducing alternative teaching and learning experiences. Consider the nature and contribution of different types of assessment and explore major psychological theories of learning with reference to the social foundations of cognitive development.

Facilities

This course is delivered at one of our Study Centres. Use the tab on the left to contact them directly to find out more about their facilities and location.

Entry requirements

We don’t currently display entry requirements for United States. Please contact the Student Admin team on studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk or 0191 515 3154.

Please contact the study centre for more information on their specific requirements and equivalent qualifications from outside the UK.

Fees and finance

Please contact MDIS Singapore directly for information on fees and finance.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

A student sitting at a desk reading a book

Career ready

This degree is ideal for teachers and other professionals working in educational management who want to progress their careers more quickly.

The ability to specialise the course content provides opportunities in particular fields of education, such as becoming an expert in teaching and learning, or leadership and management. Depending on which route you choose, you’ll study modules that will allow you to critically examine these areas and identify skills that will enhance your ability to transfer learning to further study and to the workplace.

The knowledge and skills you’ll gain studying for a master’s in education will also be transferable to many other sectors, particularly education policy and government. If you’re already working in a relevant field, you’ll graduate with enhanced potential for progression professionally.

Please note that this course doesn’t qualify you as a teacher.

Related courses

Contact

Contact the Student Helpline for further information about studying at the University of Sunderland:

0191 515 3000

student.helpline@sunderland.ac.uk

View Programme Specifications for the Faculty of Education and Society.

Page last updated: 09 February 2024

We aim to provide clear, accurate and timely information to prospective and current students. We continuously review and enhance course content in consultation with our students and the information provided on our website is the latest available. If you have received an offer from us to start a course, we will communicate any important changes to you in writing. We will always seek to ensure that our prospective students are fully aware of the basis on which they are accepting an offer.