Education

The Education, Society, and Social Justice module invites students to critically explore social justice and its historical, theoretical, and practical applications within education. It examines how structural inequalities, rooted in factors such as class, race, gender, and disability, shape educational access, opportunities, and outcomes. Through this lens, students will reflect on and analyse the role of education in addressing systemic inequalities, promoting social mobility, tackling poverty, and contributing to global equity. The module provides a comprehensive understanding of the barriers, challenges, and opportunities that exist within educational systems and evaluates the impact of national and global policies on social justice outcomes. Students will engage with key social justice theories and examine empirical evidence to critically assess how education can serve as both a tool for social transformation and a mechanism for reproducing inequality. By fostering a supportive and collaborative learning environment, this module empowers students to develop the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed to become agents of change in addressing inequality and promoting social justice in education.

To support students in developing their critical understanding, the module emphasises the importance of active participation and reflection. A variety of interactive and student-centered teaching approaches are used to foster engagement, scaffold learning and prepare students for their assessments including: interactive seminars; collaborative learning and group work; engaging in peer-led discussions; debates and jigsaw activities; case study analysis with real-world examples; guest speakers; and weekly structured reflection activities helping students to build a deeper understanding of the issues.

The module introduces students to the key issues and dilemmas surrounding research in the broad field of education, while also enabling them to develop a critical understanding of research on policy and practice within their specialist area. The module provides opportunities to engage with the philosophical foundations of educational research and to explore the values, purposes and ethical considerations that underpin research methodologies. Students will also be introduced to and consider the practicalities of planning, conducting and completing a small-scale research study in their specialist area, with an emphasis on common methods of data collection and interpretation that are accessible, relevant and appropriate to students’ needs.

This module, which is cross-listed across the three MA programmes, develops students’ knowledge and understanding of empirically and theoretically based educational research in diverse contexts. The module is designed to cater for a range of students on the MA programmes, many of whom are practicing professionals within educational or early childhood settings. Some students may not yet be practitioners in their fields but will have knowledge and understanding broadly. Moreover, some will have more experience of research than others. This module takes a supportive approach in structuring teaching and learning to scaffold, support and challenge students as needed. Successful completion of the module will provide students with the knowledge, understanding and research tools to enable each student to design and plan their own research project (empirical or theoretical) as part of their Research Project module.

Children’s, young peoples’ and young adults’ experiences in education contexts and their capacity to learn, develop and participate, not only depends on their cognitive-conceptual capacities but also on a range of interconnected social-emotional dimensions: perceptions they hold about themselves as a person and as a learner; perceptions of others; the emotions they experience in learning activities and in their social experience and interactions with others (both teachers and other learners).  The complexity of the social and emotional dimensions of educational contexts shapes learners’ experiences, engagement and educational progress and effects the development of their wellbeing and mental health.

This module aims to provide students with the opportunity to learn about key issues, perspectives and debates in theory, policy and practice, drawing on literature, their own experiences and other resources, to explore the social-emotional dimensions of both learners themselves and of the educational contexts within which they are learning, developing and participating (institutional and policy). Broad theoretical perspectives are introduced as a basis for understanding social-emotional dimensions of education and wellbeing, the difficulties encountered and experienced by some learners and the possible institutional responses. Students are introduced to different frameworks/perspectives through which social-emotional dimensions are problematized, e.g. the mental illness framework - diagnosis & treatment of disorders; the SEND framework – identification of SEMH difficulties, additional support needs and educational interventions; the development for all framework – enhancing social-emotional literacy learning and development through teaching, learning, curriculum and institutional change.  

The module offers opportunities to consider how principles and practices of social justice might be enacted through the work of leaders in their local educational contexts. Students will develop an understanding of how tools and concepts from thinkers such as Paolo Freire, bell hooks and Michel Foucault might support critical reflection on a range of educational contexts. We will consider the possibilities of change within the constraints and potentials of those contexts through an examination of organisation strategies for improvement. Students will focus on theories and models of learning and school improvement that have the potential to bring about positive change through working dialogically with the diversity of people in school communities.

Students will explore tools and concepts drawn from theoretical and research literature that problematise schools and schooling in ways that support students in critically appraising the institutions in which they work. As the module progresses students will consider the limitations and possibilities of the role of school leaders in creating positive environments for learning and teaching. Students will apply their developing knowledge to a critical appraisal of their local contexts and consider how they might plan to facilitate positive change. During the module students will identify one area of change they would like to see in their current setting and consider how they might work towards that change within its constraints. Seminars will be as participatory as possible and will depend on students engaging in reflective reading beforehand.

The Research Methods module provides you with an opportunity to research an area of bespoke interest to you within your field of study - Education, Education Leadership and Management or SEND and Inclusive Education* – developing your skills in the design, development, management and delivery of your research project. After developing and honing the research focus for your project, you will work with your supervisor to create the research questions and research design that will underpin the research that you wish to do. Working independently, but in close consultation with your supervisor, you will then carry out the research that you have designed drawing upon key project management skills to move the research from inception to finished product. You will demonstrate your ability to critically analyse, synthesise and make recommendations through the submission of a written dissertation. A key goal of the research project is for you, as a researcher and/or practitioner, to add to the knowledge in the area that you are researching. This knowledge may then be disseminated via your publication in journals, presentation to colleagues or a CPD session in your school or organisation.

Postgraduates, who earn the Master of Arts degree, should have both an advanced and in-depth knowledge and understanding of their field of study, which is underpinned by an appreciation of current practice and scholarly research in the field. Students must be able to demonstrate a critical awareness of issues and developments in their subject area, an understanding of their professional responsibility within the field of study, knowledge of both research integrity and ethics as well as an ability to demonstration reflection and reflexivity as a researcher. These skills will be evidenced in your engagement with the research project, in your Pecha Kucha presentation and in the written dissertation.

*Your project must focus and be clearly linked to an area within the field of your MA degree allowing you to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of an agreed research area.