Education has the power to change lives, and the School of Education at Oxford Brookes is proud of its strong reputation for bringing this great gift to the students who will in turn work with both children and adults to open up the world of learning and knowledge. Oxford is a city steeped in learning and at the School of Education we draw on our expertise in research to equip our students with an innovative and creative understanding of teaching and learning.
About
The School of Education values its long-term relationships with school and college partners and their communities. We have over 600 well established partnerships in education from the early years, primary, secondary and post-compulsory sectors from across the region as well as nationally and internationally. These links are continuing to grow and evolve in new ways as we develop School Direct Partnerships, in keeping with a schools-led emphasis in teacher education, and strive to provide research-informed leadership and collaboration with the teaching profession. Together we are a strong community of learners who aim to educate excellent teachers to be agents of change, improving classroom practice for future generations.
At foundation, undergraduate, master’s and doctoral level we work with locally based professionals to develop projects that matter to communities such as our Beyond English as an Additional Language (EAL) project with schools in Marston and in our links with locally based charities such as Reading Questand Family Links. At all levels our courses encourage students to reach out on a more global basis and to gain a wider perspective on the importance and power of education. For some this may mean taking part in one of our regular organised trips to The Gambia or sharing in some of our developing partnerships with institutions in the USA, Japan and Europe.
The School of Education at Oxford Brookes is one of the largest schools of education in the UK, training the teachers of the future from the early years through to the post-compulsory sector. Our primary and secondary initial teacher education programmes are quality driven programmes and received praise in their most recent Ofsted report.
As one of the UK’s biggest providers of professional development in education, we offer professional certificates, master’s degrees and doctorates across a wide range of subject areas and areas of professional application and we also host a Centre for Excellence in Teaching for the Post-compulsory sector.
Alongside this we have developed a suite of undergraduate and master’s programmes that enable students to interrogate and explore ideas around the philosophy, purposes and practices of education. These include courses that allow students to reflect more broadly on the themes of childhood, or focus more specifically on language and the teaching of language, particularly English as a second language. We run successful Foundation and Undergraduate Top-up degrees with partner FE colleges within and beyond our region, enabling professionals to complete their studies whilst still working within the education sector.
In our master’s and doctoral programmes, including our EdD programme, and through the work of our Centre for Educational Consultancy and Development we continue to offer students already qualified in education and related professions the opportunity to forge new understandings of effective practice and professionalism.
Our programmes provide preparation for careers in education as well as other professions in the public and private sector, such as educational psychology, social work, human resources and the health service. Keeping in touch with our newly qualified teachers and our other alumni is a key priority. We maintain a website open to our NQTs as they develop in their new careers, and at events and training offered by the Centre for Educational Consultancy and Development (CECD) we are pleased to welcome back many of our former students. The heart of success in the School of Education is the close link we aim to foster between research and practice and many research seminars and conferences are open to alumni so that we can continue to transform lives through education.
Oxford Brookes Education students are highly valued by employers. Many of our teaching students go on to successful careers at schools nationally as well as in the local area and quickly progress onto leadership and management roles. We like to keep in touch with our students throughout their careers and through the Centre for Educational Consultancy and Development we offer a range of Continuing Professional Development courses and consultancy services to ensure that students are always up-to-date with the latest thinking in education.
Students from our Education courses that do not wish to follow a career in teaching have gone on to have successful careers in many different fields including social work, youth work, community education, adult education, educational psychology, educational publishing and educational charities.
Would you like to share your experiences and expertise with our current students? Or perhaps attend an Open Day with our prospective students? Or maybe you’d like to organise a reunion? Well, we’d love to hear from all of you. Stay connected with the School of Education and with other Oxford Brookes alumni via our LinkedIn and Facebook groups and alumni societies.