Education Studies

Core Texts in Education

A number of classic writers from Plato to Paulo Freire are essential to understanding contemporary debates about education. This module enables an in-depth critical study of three contrasting and complementary texts from different historical periods that have shaped the language and concepts with which we think about education and childhood. Your reading of these texts will be informed by historical context and their reception in contemporary educational literature. You will be encouraged to engage with questions the texts raise about the status of knowledge, the nature of human flourishing, and the vocation of the educator. You will need to connect and compare the texts with each other and with key contemporary debates in educational policy and practice. You will ask questions about the legacy of our intellectual inheritance and the lessons that we can learn from the thinkers of the past.

Psychology and Education

The views of major psychological theorists will be examined together with the application of these views to human learning across the age span. The module will look at the learner in context, examining aspects of the learning environment as well as factors such as motivation and different types of intelligence. Critical consideration will also be given to teaching and learning styles and the importance of self-esteem in the learning process.

Research Methods in Childhood and Education

Introduces you to various research tools (interviewing, observation, questionnaires, etc.) and appropriate data analysis. It equips you with the skills necessary to undertake a final year dissertation.

The Social World of Childhood and Youth

Involves a consideration of the implications of different models of socialisation and an examination of structural, cultural and experiential factors in the development of identity. A strong feature of the module is its use of life and oral history approaches to the study of childhood and youth.

Alternative Educational Provisions

Cultural and Arts based learning

Emotional Development and Attachment

English Language Teaching to Adults

Inclusion: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Explores the issues and challenges around inclusive provision for children and young people with special educational needs/disabilities. It analyses notions of discrimination and challenges you to think about your own attitudes and beliefs.

Media, Technology and Education

You will develop an understanding of how media and technology impact on our lives and our understanding of the world around us. Emerging theories, frameworks and contemporary academic literature explore these dynamic issues and their impact on our concept of education. You will have first-hand opportunities to examine media and technology.

Children's Outdoor Learning

On this module you will explore how young children use play to learn and how adults plan for exploration and play in the outdoors environment.

Gender and 21st Century Education

You will develop an understanding of how concepts of gender are lived in different ways by teachers and learners. You will examine how these sometimes competing concepts shape social, cultural and educational contexts. The media, socialisation and education play vital roles in shaping teachers, learners and learning contexts. You will be expected to analyse these key domains in relation to your own experiences, and to apply your reflections and analyses to a range of key theories.

Controversial and Contemporary Research in Education

Dissertation

Educational Placement

Philosophy of Education

Engages with questions about the nature, aims and justification of education through a distinctively philosophical approach. By examining a range of contemporary, historical and international perspectives, students will appreciate that education is a value-laden enterprise whose core concepts are contested. Students will engage in a critical dialogue with some of the seminal texts that have shaped the way we understand the educational endeavour and will be encouraged to examine their own assumptions about education and participate in the contemporary debate through reasoned and cogent arguments.

Becoming a Reader

On this module you will look at children's literacy, investigating theories and debates about how children learn to read and become readers. You will interrogate various models of how children learn to read exploring the contribution of decoding skills, comprehension of text and attitudinal and motivational dimensions. You will critically explore the issues of multiple literacies in an era of digital communication. This module will build on Literature for Young Children module and will enable you to scrutinise a range of developmental theories and to appreciate and articulate your own position within a theoretically complex and controversial aspect of development.

Education in International Development

Study the place of education in international development programmes, and explores the impact of economic development, foreign aid and international relations on educational opportunity. Educational case studies from actual development projects around the world enable you to learn about development education policy and practice.

Inclusion: Diverse Perspectives

Take the opportunity to explore the ways in which various groups traditionally excluded from education can be included. We will look at the experiences of children who are marginalised or excluded and focus on the impact on the child. We will also explore and critique a range of national and international models and practices relating to inclusion.

Technology & Learning: Dilemmas, Challenges & Opportunities

The Principled Professional

Explore elements of the professional role in early years (and potentially in other areas of employment) so that you are well informed about the nature of professionalism. In this module, you will reflect upon your personal principles and ethics with regard to your professional identity and considered the necessarily political nature of the field. You will also establish your stance as advocates for children and their families where their well-being is concerned.

Understanding Youth, Deviance and Discipline