Education

Dilemmas in Education

Education is a contested and continuously reviewed field. In this module, you'll explore a range of controversial issues and dilemmas that impact the education sector. There'll be opportunities, through group discussion and extended individual research, for you to explore and debate issues in some depth. 

Students will also lead some seminars to facilitate a detailed consideration of relevant issues from a range of perspectives. You will be encouraged to evaluate ideas and evidence in different forms, including popular media and policy texts, as well as more traditional academic texts.

Sustainability in Education

You'll explore concepts that inform sustainable learning environments and cultures from a range of perspectives such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals of:

• international development
• well-being
• social justice
• gender equality
• safety
• equitable access to education.

There will be opportunities to explore the role of leadership and management in addition to:

• coaching and mentoring in developing a sustainable workforce
• digital technology to support sustainable pedagogies and working practices
•  environmental art practices. 

Pedagogies that support sustainable education, curriculum planning will be considered, as well as practices that support sustainable learning environments.

Creative Education

This module offers an opportunity to explore a range of innovative and creative approaches including:

• critical, transformative and compassionate pedagogies
• risk taking and embracing uncertainty within safe environments 
• the use of head, heart and hand
• communities of practice and communities of care.

Together we'll evaluate topics like:

• the positioning and value of the arts in the curriculum
• the relevance of the arts in supporting democracy and societies
• the arts as social texts; sense and meaning making through creative practices
• informal learning through creative practices for example, community arts, museums and galleries, the arts in hospitals.

Education in a Digital World

You'll delve into learning theories and pedagogies that inform the effective use of digital technology to support learning. This includes exploring how digital technology can be harnessed to support access to learning for a range of learners, as well as how learning analytics and Learning Management Systems (LMS) can be harnessed to manage and monitor learning to improve achievement. 

There'll be opportunites to critically evaluate established and emerging debates about the use of digital technology in education.

Developing an Inclusive Curriculum

You'll explore curriculum theory, policy, and lived experiences to understand how these inform curriculum design and embodiment, as well as the value of representation and diversity in the curriculum. Through this process, students will develop an understanding of the complexities of developing and implementing a range of inclusive learning environments.

Leading Change in Education

You will explore, from national and international viewpoints, both theoretical perspectives and practical concerns about organisational transformation in education. Together we'll consider change at the macro, meso and micro levels and how educational policy impacts change. and, in turn, how leadership impacts improvement, accountability and strategic planning to support effective change.

This module will help you develop a greater understanding of educational leadership, it's impact on individuals and institutions and the role of motivation, resilience and the assurance of equity.

Alternative Perspectives on Special Educational Needs/Disabilities and Inclusion (SENDI)

You'll examine inter-disciplinary and critical perspectives on Special Educational Needs/Disabilities and Inclusion (SENDI) through the lenses of history, sociology, philosophy and psychology. 

Some of the topics we'll explore together include: 

• the impact of national and international policy on the provision for individuals with SEND
• the ethical considerations related to SENDI
• critical perspectives and construction of SENDI including contemporary issues such as social justice and the Neurodiversity movement
• lived experiences of those with SEND, their carers and professionals.

Mental health and compassionate pedagogy in Education

You will draw on the four foundational disciplines of history, sociology, philosophy and psychology to explore the prevalence of Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) and a range of relevant lived experiences. 

You'll consider policies that impact the education of those experiencing SEMH concerns and the theories that inform our understanding of these issues. The role of professionals supporting those with SEMH to meet their academic potential and the institutions within which they work will also be examined. 

The module will include an overarching consideration of the perspectives of promoting positive mental health and wellbeing.

Childhood and Youth

You'll take a holistic approach to considering the lives of children and young people, considering the context of educational/learning settings within or outside of school and how families, politics, and cultures may impact this. 

There will be opportunities to explore a wide range of young people's circumstances, for example:

• hospitalisation and chronic physical and mental conditions
• young carers
• looked after children
• asylum seekers and refugees
• multilingualism
• neurodiversity.

Educational Environments

You will have the opportunity to explore a range of approaches and environments that offer and support learning for children and adults such as forest schools, outdoor learning, inclusive provision, community projects and festivals, home-schooling, museums and galleries, and virtual schools. 

Students will consider a range of creative pedagogies that can support effective learning in non-traditional learning spaces and the potential impact that these may have on learners.

Independent Study

This module provides an opportunity for you to engage in independent study of an approved topic conducted under supervision and with the prior approval of the programme team.