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.
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.
Optional modules:
- Professional Development for Early Career Teachers (30 credits)
Critically explore teacher identities and investigate the opportunities challenges presented by specific contexts. Explore the importance of wellbeing, both in terms of individual teachers and their colleagues and pupils. Examine the importance of parental links and how parental support can have a significant influence on learner success. Revisit key learning theories related to the building of trusting relationships in school environments and how these can become damaged by early childhood experiences. Explore equality and diversity issues and how these might manifest themselves in specific contexts.
- Reflective Practice for Early Career Teachers (30 credits)
Critically explore teachers’ identities and the importance of reflecting on what influences these. Examine how reflective practices are at the heart of both self-improvement and the enhancement of teaching and learning practices. Understand the local and global impact of education and gain a refined knowledge of the contexts in which they work. Focus on key areas, such as the impact of notions of the self on teaching and learning, as well as what underpins curriculum design, the purposes of policies, and the drivers that impact on the teaching professional.
- Mentoring and Coaching (30 credits)
Explore the principles, concepts, theories and models relating to the development of coaching, guidance and mentoring skills. Evaluate the impact these might have on teaching and learning. Demonstrate the development of related skills, the personal qualities that underpin effective learning relationships and the ability to integrate these skills into your professional practice. Develop supportive relationships, both personal and professional, as well as awareness of the potential of all learners.
- Leading Organisational Effectiveness in Education and Training (30 credits)
Examine the issues relating to the human elements within the audit, planning and implementation of organisational change in an educational establishment. Explore topics such as the complexities of the principles of leadership, leadership roles and responsibilities, when determining the need for change in an educational establishment. Investigate the issues relating to effective human and material resourcing, the implications of human resistance to change and the influence of motivational skills when attempting to resolve under-performance.
- Assessment Theory into Pedagogical Practice (30 credits)
Examine educational assessment theory in relation to the practice which you are involved in your own educational setting. Consider current assessment theories and trends, as well as the construction and development of assessment policy around these theories and trends. Design, implement and evaluate specific assessment instruments within your own context.
- Development of Learning: A Case Study (30 credits)
Gain an introduction to research methods, focusing on school policy and practice to address the individual learning needs of pupils. Use the knowledge you have gained from your experience in a school setting where you have identified the way in which the school addresses the educational needs of a particular group of individual pupils and show how learning is developed over time or what could be done to enhance development.
Some modules have prerequisites. Read more about what this means in our Help and Advice article.