Masters Degrees (Education)

About the course

Our Primary and Secondary PGCEs are "Outstanding" (Ofsted, 2015).

All our Education courses have been developed in collaboration with Partnership schools and the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). This ensures not only the highest possible quality of provision, but also relevance in reflecting national and school-level priorities in Education.

Aims

School and Local Authorities are increasingly seeking to employ teachers with not only high levels of competence and skill in classroom practice, but practitioners who have advanced subject knowledge for teaching and enhanced knowledge of systems and theories relevant to education. Therefore, the aims of this program are:

-to enable student teachers to develop a critical understanding of issues and theories that impact upon classroom practice in teaching, learning and assessment in secondary schools;
-to support student teachers in their exploration and critical reflection on their own and others practice in relation to national and regional priorities and policies and current research relevant to the Key Stages for this programme;
-to promote student teachers' practical teaching skills and subject knowledge for teaching across the relevant Key Stages for this programme, making links with relevant theory to inform practice.

The programme aims to further develop students' existing transferable skills in communication, literacy, numeracy and critical reasoning. It is suitable for those who wish to gain employment as teachers and who aspire to progress to leadership and management roles in schools or in the wider world of education. It will provide an excellent foundation for progression to either higher academic or advanced professional qualifications.

Course Content

The PGCE is an intensive programme, which combines an exploration of principles and methods of teaching and learning with practical school-based teaching placements. It lasts for 36 weeks from early September to late June.

The Secondary programme prepares you to work with pupils aged 11-16. At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our Partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

The PGCE Secondary courses are structured around three modules, which share a generic General Professional Education (GPE) component. The GPE programme involves an enquiry based learning approach, which combines taught sessions with independent professional learning activities (PLAs). These PLAs require independent research, which is either school-related or school-based. The three PGCE modules are:

1. Education Studies I

This module covers the following GPE themes:
Professionalism, values and reflective practice;
Safeguarding, child protection and e-safety;
Understanding curriculum and the National Curriculum;
Supporting learners, learning and effective behaviour management;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with SEND and SEBD;
Effective planning and teaching to promote pupil progress;
Assessment and its role in promoting effective learning.
You will also focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

2. Education Studies II

This module covers the following GPE themes:
Applying for your first post;
Understanding data analysis to support effective teaching and learning;
Behaviour for learning and the wider professional responsibilities of the subject teacher;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with English as an Additional Language, pupils receiving the Pupil Premium and able pupils;
Safeguarding with a focus on the Prevent and Channel national strategy and bullying and homophobic bullying.
You will also continue to focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

3. Education Studies III

This module focuses specifically on supporting student teachers to make an effective transition into their first post and examines the following themes in GPE:
Preparing for induction and the professional learning action plan for your first post;
Pathways into leadership in education;
Learning outside the classroom;
Contributing to the wider aspects of the formal and informal curriculum and your wider professional role as a teacher.

Subject Specific Course Content

The aim of Physical Education is to develop physical competence so that all children are able to move efficiently, effectively and safely and understand what they are doing. The outcome, physical literacy, is as essential as literacy and numeracy to ensure the holistic educational development of young people in our society.

The PGCE Secondary Physical Education course at Brunel University London has a long standing national reputation for high quality teacher education in our subject area. The course is very popular, drawing on outstanding expertise and experience in this field from both academic and school staff. Many of our alumni have gone on to become school leaders, not only within Physical Education, but also as members of senior management teams in school at an early stage in their career because of the high standards and expectations we have for our student teachers. We retain very close links with our community of Physical Education alumni and many of them go on to be mentors for our student teachers, are involved in selection and recruitment of the next generation of PE teachers from Brunel or contribute to aspects of teaching on the programme where they have specific expertise.

School Experience

School-based professional learning is a compulsory element of all programmes leading to a recommendation for QTS. The course involves the statutory requirement of at least 120 days of school experience in the form of block school placements undertaken in at least two different contexts.

Our current partnership schools are mainly located in the West London area and adjoining Home Counties. We have developed close links with a number of very good schools over a number of years, and offer placements within carefully chosen schools that provide an appropriate professional learning experience. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the schools we work with is a distinctive aspect of our provision and we are equally proud of the diversity of our student teacher cohort, who reflect the communities in which many of them go on to work as teachers.

You will be allocated a school-based mentor, selected for their experience and expertise, who is there to help you develop and learn while you are on placement. The importance of this person should not be underestimated. Teaching is a very challenging profession and with the help of your school-based mentor and your University tutor we aim to make sure that you have support every step of the way, encouraging reflection and development.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Childcare Disqualification and Prohibition Orders

As an accredited provider of Initial Teacher Education we have to have regard to the Department for Education’s statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education, when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. We ensure that all student teachers have been subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) criminal records checks, including a check of the children’s barred list.

The Department for Education has published statutory guidance on the application to schools of the Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2009 and related obligations under the Childcare Act 2006. We undertake our responsibility to ensure that the student teachers are not, therefore, disqualified from childcare or that the student teacher has obtained a childcare disqualification waiver from Ofsted. We also check that candidates are not subject to a prohibition order for teaching issued by the Secretary of State.
We also offer student teachers the opportunity to experience placements in alternative settings, which include special schools, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), young offenders institutions. This further demonstrates our commitment to preparing teachers to work with young people in a diverse range of educational contexts.

Teaching

We adopt an enquiry-based learning approach in our PGCE Secondary courses where students are encouraged to research and investigate a range of broad and subject specific educational themes and issues and bring their findings back for discussion in interactive lectures, workshops and seminars. These themes and issues address national, regional and partnership priorities as well as specific areas for investigation with the subject area.

Assessment

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
The PGCE Secondary programme carries 60 Master’s Level credits and requires you to successfully complete three formally assessed pieces of academic work during the year.
All of these assessments also require an accompanying portfolio of evidence.
The Master’s Level credits provide an excellent foundation for future academic and professional study.

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
Alongside the PGCE academic award for your programme, you will also be assessed for the recommendation of QTS. In order to be recommended for QTS you are required to demonstrate that you have met the Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2013) in both the University and in school and alternative education settings. All aspects of the programme are designed around you being able to demonstrate that you are meeting the Teachers’ Standards.

Part 1 of the Teachers’ Standards require you to:

Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils
Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils
Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge
Plan and teach well structured lessons
Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils
Make accurate and productive use of assessment
Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment
Fulfil wider professional responsibilities
(Teachers’ Standards, DfE, 2013)

Part 2 of the Teachers’ Standards require students to demonstrate the highest standards of personal and professional conduct.

As the PGCE is a professional course, 100% attendance is an expectation.

Recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status will be made by the Secondary PGCE Examination Board for all those who successfully demonstrate the Teachers’ Standards as shown in the requirements for University and school-based work.

Special Features

As a leading centre of education and with roots in teacher education dating back to 1798, we are able to provide first class teacher education that is internationally recognised.

A Brunel PGCE is a recognised symbol of quality teacher education which accounts for our high employment rates.

At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

You will benefit from an established partnership between Brunel and a variety of educational institutions and local schools. Brunel education degrees offer multicultural placement learning opportunities. For example, our location in West London and our diverse and well-established schools network means you will gain highly-valued placement learning experiences in vibrant multicultural schools.

Beyond ITE, for early career teachers we offer the Masters in Teaching (MAT), where students can utilise their 60 PGCE Masters level credits to continue their postgraduate studies part-time, whilst also meeting the requirements outlined for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) and early career development. Where schools have qualified for Enhanced Partnership status with Brunel University London, NQTs in those schools have access to the first year MAT module for free, illustrating our commitment to supporting NQTs into and through their first year of teaching. We also offer a Masters in Education (MAEd), a Doctorate in Education (EdDoc) and PhD postgraduate routes through the Department of Education. This continuum of provision ensures a commitment to teacher education and professional learning at all stages and the growing community of professional practice strengthens our Partnership.

Staff are nationally and internationally recognised for their research, and liaise with government and other agencies on education policy issues. The Department of Education is host to a number of research centres, including the Brunel Able Children’s Centre. The process of learning is informed by cutting-edge research by staff in the strands of: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Pedagogy and Professional Practice (PPP).

You can take advantage of free access to our excellent University Academic Skills service, ASK.

We have an award winning Professional Development Centre.

Our library has been nominated for national awards for its outstanding provision.

We have on-site volunteering opportunities through our Brunel Volunteers provision.

Our Disability and Dyslexia Service team have an excellent track record of support for students.

Our Union of Brunel Students provides you with a range of additional support and a broad range of extra-curricular opportunities and social events.

There is excellent University-wide access to PCs and the Internet, as well as free loan of media equipment and music/recording studios, and web space on the University server.

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This programme will give you an unparalleled opportunity to study international education and globalisation, as they intersect, at master’s level.

International education and globalisation are challenging and contested concepts; in this programme you will analyse the meaning, scope and dimensions of international education and globalisation (as they intersect). You will also consider relevant educational purposes, methods and approaches in international education.

Importantly, you will engage in the critical analysis of the assumptions and evidence that underpin change and reform to policy and practice in international education.

The programme will provide cutting edge knowledge, skills and understandings at the intersection between the two fields of study so that you can make a significant future contribution to international education. For example, you will explore the implications of a shifting global educational landscape such as how to prepare learners for an increasingly connected and mobile global society.

You will be equipped to:

- critically analyse and apply research in the fields of international education and globalisation (as they intersect)
- undertake small scale research yourself.

Your prior educational experience will be valued as a source of evidence. You will be encouraged to analyse, share and build on these experiences as a basis for collective learning. As such we welcome students with a diversity of experience and interests, including those with:

- professional experience in formal or informal education, charities, non-governmental organisations or governmental organisations
- aspirations to pursue a career or research in international education and globalisation
- aspirations for promotion in international and global education contexts.

Programme features

- unique amongst master’s programmes in education, with a focus on the interrelationships between international education and globalisation

- a distinctive focus on bridge building between practice and theory throughout all elements of the programme

- an excellent way to develop your research skills or progress to doctoral level study

- prepares you to make a significant future contribution to practice and policy in international education

- will help you to fast track your career; the international education sector increasingly requires master’s level qualifications for promoted posts (completing this in 12 months is an efficient way to progress your career)

- you will have access to cutting edge research and international experts in the fields of international education and globalisation.

You can find out more about this programme by viewing a recording of a webinar (https://vimeo.com/155981301).

Visit the website http://www.bath.ac.uk/study/pg/programmes/ma-inter-edu-global/

Programme structure

This is a 90 credit programme, that follows a semester-based structure (one 12 credit core unit is provided across the two semesters, while two other 12 credit units are delivered per semester).

- Core Units
You must study all four units in addition to the Dissertation.

- Research Methods in International Education and Globalisation (12 credits) (Taught across Semester one and two)
- Education in an International and Global Context (12 credits) (Semester one)
- Education, Globalisation and Change for International Education and Globalisation (12 credits) (Semester one)
- Learning and Culture (12 credits) (Semester two)
- Dissertation: International Education and Globalisation (30 credits) (March-September)

Optional units:
You must select one of the following units (your choice will depend on your interests in either; leading educational innovation, or, education and development in low and middle income countries).

- Education and International Development (12 credits) (Semester two)
- Leading Educational Innovation in International Education and Globalisation (12 credits) (Semester two)

View Programme & Unit Catalogue (http://www.bath.ac.uk/catalogues/2015-2016/ed/THED-AFM44.html) for further information.

Learning and teaching

This programme is research-led but is also informed by professional perspectives in international education. Throughout the programme your prior (international) education experience will be valued as a source of evidence.

Learning and teaching takes place through lectures, workshops and seminars blended with on line learning opportunities and group/ individual study. You will become increasingly independent as the year progresses and as you work towards your Dissertation with the support of an expert supervisor.

Methods of assessment

A variety of formative assessment methods will be used throughout the programme to review your progress and support your further learning. You will have opportunities to demonstrate your knowledge, understanding and skills using a range of assessment methods.

The Dissertation unit is assessed by a 15,000 word research report.

Assessment of other units will include:

- formal academic style writing tasks (5,000 words in total)
- tasks in which you communicate your learning via different media (such as webpages and podcasts) and in different styles depending on audience (disseminating to researchers, policymakers and practitioners for examples).

Careers

This programme will enable you to make a significant future contribution in the fields of international education and globalisation; we are committed to ensuring that you acquire a range of subject-specific and generic skills (including employability skills).

Our graduates will go on to work in a wide variety of education-related careers, such as:

- teaching or lecturing in international education contexts (such as international colleges and schools, English medium schools, schools in low and middle income countries)
- teacher education posts worldwide
- leadership roles in international education or globalisation
- administration in international education or globalisation
- research in universities or other organisations (government, business, voluntary and international)
- educational policy makers or analysts (at local, national, international levels)
- education roles in charities and NGOs.

About the department

The Department of Education is a thriving academic community focused on furthering our understanding of policy, culture, pedagogy and diversity within a global educational context. We hold a strong national and international reputation for our research.

We have an excellent network with a wide range of educational institutions including, schools, colleges, universities, local authorities and government departments, within the UK and also internationally.

Find out more about the department here - http://www.bath.ac.uk/education/

Find out how to apply here - http://www.bath.ac.uk/hss/graduate-school/taught-programmes/how-to-apply/

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Do you want to develop your professional expertise and advance your career in education? The Master of Education addresses the professional learning needs of educators, educational administrators, managers, policy makers and others interested or involved in learning and education in the wider community. The course positions you to be a thought leader. Step beyond where you are now. Think deeply as you connect with research excellence and transform how you practice.

The course addresses learning in schools, workplaces and community. It connects research and practice to make you a stronger thinker, an engaged practitioner and an advanced specialist. You will broaden your knowledge of key learning constructs, deepen your professional learning in specialist areas and advance your capacity as a professional inquirer.

You will build your research knowledge and extend your expertise in one of the following specialisations:

- Adult learning
- Digital learning
- Early childhood education
- Educational leadership and policy
- Expert teaching practice
- General education studies
- Inclusive and special education.

In the Master of Education you can graduate with a generic, broadly applicable qualification, by choosing general leadership studies and selecting units to suit your requirements. Alternatively, you may prefer to choose one of the other specialisations and graduate with a qualification that highlights your particular leadership expertise. The flexible structure means you do not have to finalise your decision before being admitted to the course.

A flexible course delivery also allows you to continue working whilst completing the course. You can choose to engage via a fully online offering or to combine this with attendance at face-to-face workshops if you are able and interested.

Graduates pursue leadership roles in educational environments, business, and community settings.

Visit the website http://www.study.monash/courses/find-a-course/2016/education-d6002?domestic=true

Overview

Please select a specialisation for more details:

Adult learning

Your qualification will be a Master of Education in Adult Learning

Do you want to develop your knowledge and expertise in adult education? If so, this specialisation is for you. It focuses on ways to lead and develop communities of learners and their learning - in workplaces, communities and in local, global and virtual spaces. It offers ideas and approaches to enable participation and learning, through formal and non-formal means, and expand and extend practice and skill development in communities.

Through engagement with contemporary theories, approaches and concepts around lifelong learning and participation, you will identify local and global trends and practices around adult education. You will develop a repertoire of strategies to design engaging learning activities for adults.

You will explore how socially inclusive communities are developed and through practical case studies gain an appreciation of the transformative power of education in promoting community inclusion in global settings. You will learn how experiential learning and transformative approaches to teaching and learning can be used in community contexts to address core social issues such as poverty, racism and crime.

Graduates of this specialisation will be well positioned to manage, deliver and administer learning in workplaces, communities, tertiary and vocational sectors.

Digital learning

Your qualification will be a Master of Education in Digital Learning

Do you want to learn how to adapt digital technologies effectively in teaching and learning across school, tertiary, workplace and community settings? This specialisation engages with the key issues and debates relating to digital technology in education and the application of effective educational technology practices for learning.

It is suited to professionals across school, tertiary, workplace and community settings, who are grappling with how best to design, facilitate and assess the use of digital technologies in teaching and learning.

You will explore current and emerging trends in digital technologies being used in education and develop your understanding of the social, political, economic, cultural and historical issues surrounding their adoption. Your expert practice will develop through engagement with contemporary theories, models and practical strategies for understanding digital technology in education and society. Key issues such as identity, cyber safety, globalisation, equity and emerging forms of social practice will be examined.

You will be immersed in a collaborative and student-centred environment as you experience, practise and critique the design of digital technologies, materials, activities and assessments. There is a special focus on online teaching and learning but instructional issues relating to emerging technologies and practices, such as social media, digital games, mobile devices, virtual worlds and augmented reality will also be explored.

The specialisation is designed for all students regardless of their familiarity with computers.

Graduates will be well positioned to adapt digital technologies effectively in teaching and learning across school, tertiary, workplace and community settings.

Early childhood education

Your qualification will be a Master of Education in Early Childhood Education

If you want to develop your expertise and advance your career in early childhood education, then this specialisation is for you. It develops the expert practice of early childhood educators, leaders, policy makers and others interested in advancing their understanding of young children's learning, addressing the emerging need in global economies to build capacity of professionals in the early childhood sector.

It will equip you to respond to complex issues around children, their families and communities and initiate inclusive teaching and learning practices among young children.

You will develop your awareness of the features of leadership that engages critically and ethically in working with children, families and communities, and apply this to your professional practice.

You will gain an in-depth understanding of the nature of early literacy and numeracy development in the context of everyday life across families and cultures. Contemporary theories and approaches in cross-cultural mathematical and literacy development will form the foundation of a rich repertoire of strategies to promote children's early literacy and numeracy learning.

As a graduate you will be in a position to pursue senior roles in early childhood education, policy, leadership and management. The program will enhance your ability to lead educational work, innovative curriculum, teaching and policy, and professional learning in early childhood contexts.

Educational leadership and policy

Your qualification will be a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy

This specialisation focuses on leadership practices and policy development within educational contexts. It is suited to those who are interested in leading educational initiatives and institutions and extending their knowledge of how to lead, manage and administer capable educational organisations.

You will explore the concept and characteristics of a capable organisation, and evaluate factors that contribute to maintaining and sustaining capable organisations including human intellect, knowledge, values, emotion, learning and organisational culture and climate.

As a result you will acquire a suite of effective leadership strategies for capability building and develop your understanding of how organisations build organisational resilience when confronted with change.

Importantly, you will add to this the capacity to assess organisational capability and develop capacity in particular contexts. Using empirical research you will evaluate the decision making process that occurs within organisations and the aspects that influence it. You will design strategies to improve problem solving and decision making processes and outcomes and enhance organisational capabilities.

Expert teaching practice

Your qualification will be a Master of Education in Expert Teaching Practice

How and what we teach and the way students learn lies at the heart of education. As such, expert teachers and expert teaching are critical ingredients in both formal and informal education. Whether your setting is schools, tertiary education, workplaces or community organisations and groups, this specialisation is designed to extend your interest and deepen your knowledge and practice of teaching and learning in various learning areas and contexts of your choice.

You will address the complexity and the artistry of teaching – advancing your understanding of how learning can be both stimulated and supported – in various learning areas and contexts of your choice.

General education studies

Your qualification will be a Master of Education

Monash understands that professionals are themselves often in the best position to decide the particular knowledge they need to acquire. This specialisation offers the opportunity to select your two specialist units from across the other specialisations.

You can tailor your unit choices to suit your own interests or needs while maintaining a strong focus on leadership. A museum director, for example, may choose a blend of organisational learning and science curriculum and pedagogy in anticipation of leading the museum's science outreach. A current or aspiring principal, planning work in a rural community, may find a Community learning unit an excellent substitute to one suggested for principals.

Inclusive and special education

Your qualification will be a Master of Education in Inclusive and Special Education

Do you want to develop effective strategies to promote inclusion of learners with diverse needs in a range of learning contexts? If so, this specialisation is for you.

It focuses on building inclusive learning environments. You will study theories of, and approaches to, inclusion of diverse learners with particular cultural, social, cognitive and emotional needs across learning contexts. In doing so, you will discover ways in which education can be transformed to include all learners regardless of their age, sexuality, gender, class, ethnicity and disability.

For more information visit the faculty website - http://www.study.monash/media/links/faculty-websites/education

Find out how to apply here - http://www.study.monash/courses/find-a-course/2016/education-d6002?domestic=true#making-the-application

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About the course

Our Primary and Secondary PGCEs are "Outstanding" (Ofsted, 2015).

All our Education courses have been developed in collaboration with Partnership schools and the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). This ensures not only the highest possible quality of provision, but also relevance in reflecting national and school-level priorities in Education.

Aims

School and Local Authorities are increasingly seeking to employ teachers with not only high levels of competence and skill in classroom practice, but practitioners who have advanced subject knowledge for teaching and enhanced knowledge of systems and theories relevant to education. Therefore, the aims of this program are:

to enable student teachers to develop a critical understanding of issues and theories that impact upon classroom practice in teaching, learning and assessment in secondary schools;
to support student teachers in their exploration and critical reflection on their own and others practice in relation to national and regional priorities and policies and current research relevant to the Key Stages for this programme;
to promote student teachers' practical teaching skills and subject knowledge for teaching across the relevant Key Stages for this programme, making links with relevant theory to inform practice.

The programme aims to further develop students' existing transferable skills in communication, literacy, numeracy and critical reasoning.
It is suitable for those who wish to gain employment as teachers and who aspire to progress to leadership and management roles in schools or in the wider world of education. It will provide an excellent foundation for progression to either higher academic or advanced professional qualifications.

Course Content

The PGCE is an intensive programme, which combines an exploration of principles and methods of teaching and learning with practical school-based teaching placements. It lasts for 36 weeks from early September to late June.

The Primary programme prepares you to work with pupils aged 5-11. At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our Partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

The PGCE Primary course is structured around three modules, which share a generic General Professional Education (GPE) component. The GPE programme involves an enquiry based learning approach, which combines taught sessions with independent professional learning activities (PLAs). These PLAs require independent research, which is either school-related or school-based.

The three PGCE modules are:

1. Education Studies I
This module covers the following GPE themes:
Professionalism, values and reflective practice;
Safeguarding, child protection and e-safety;
Understanding curriculum and the National Curriculum;
Supporting learners, learning and effective behaviour management;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with SEND and SEBD;
Effective planning and teaching to promote pupil progress;
Assessment and its role in promoting effective learning.
Applying for your first post;
Understanding data analysis to support effective teaching and learning;
Behaviour for learning and the wider professional responsibilities of the subject teacher;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with English as an Additional Language, pupils receiving the Pupil Premium and able pupils;
Safeguarding with a focus on the Prevent and Channel national strategy and bullying and homophobic bullying.

2. Education Studies II
This module aims to develop understanding of the learning, teaching and assessment of the National Curriculum for Key Stage 1 & 2, in the Core (English, Mathematics and Science) and Foundation subjects (Computing, Physical Education, History, Geography, Religious Education, Art and Music).
The primary focus will be on developing approaches to maximise the impact you can make on pupil progress (TS2). This module focuses on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and ways to meet the differentiated needs of a range of pupils in relation to theoretical perspectives and real-life classroom applications and strategies are addressed.

3. Education Studies III (Curriculum Enhancement)
The following range of Curriculum Enhancements are usually offered: Bilingualism, Culture & Identities (BCI), Mathematics, Mathematical Thinking, Physical Education, Talk, Science, Computing
This unique module aims to develop curriculum expertise in the chosen area, whereby student teachers can:
research and develop innovative skills and projects within the context of their curriculum enhancement study and school setting;
apply the skills and principles of highly effective planning, teaching and assessment principles of National Curriculum focus areas, using a broad range of learning, teaching and assessment resources and approaches;
explore and develop skills in ‘specialised’ cross-curricula approaches.

School Experience

School-based professional learning is a compulsory element of all programmes leading to a recommendation for QTS. The course involves the statutory requirement of at least 120 days of school experience in the form of block school placements undertaken in at least two different contexts.

Our current partnership schools are mainly located in the West London area and adjoining Home Counties. We have developed close links with a number of very good schools over a number of years, and offer placements within carefully chosen schools that provide an appropriate professional learning experience. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the schools we work with is a distinctive aspect of our provision and we are equally proud of the diversity of our student teacher cohort, who reflect the communities in which many of them go on to work as teachers.

We also offer student teachers the opportunity to experience placements in alternative settings, which include special schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs). This further demonstrates our commitment to preparing teachers to work with young people in a diverse range of educational contexts.

You will be allocated a school-based mentor, selected for their experience and expertise, who is there to help you develop and learn while you are on placement. The importance of this person should not be underestimated. Teaching is a very challenging profession and with the help of your school-based mentor and your University tutor we aim to make sure that you have support every step of the way, encouraging reflection and development.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Childcare Disqualification and Prohibition Orders

As an accredited provider of Initial Teacher Education we have to have regard to the Department for Education’s statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education, when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. We ensure that all student teachers have been subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) criminal records checks, including a check of the children’s barred list. The Department for Education has published statutory guidance on the application to schools of the Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2009 and related obligations under the Childcare Act 2006. We undertake our responsibility to ensure that the student teachers are not, therefore, disqualified from childcare or that the student teacher has obtained a childcare disqualification waiver from Ofsted. We also check that candidates are not subject to a prohibition order for teaching issued by the Secretary of State.

The application will cost £51.86 (this amount may be subject to change) and the University will send further instructions as part of the admissions process. For further guidance please email [email protected].

Teaching

We adopt an enquiry-based learning approach in our PGCE Primary courses where students are encouraged to research and investigate a range of broad and subject specific educational themes and issues and bring their findings back for discussion in interactive lectures, workshops and seminars. These themes and issues address national, regional and partnership priorities as well as specific areas for investigation with the subject area.

Assessment

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
The PGCE Primary programme carries 60 Master’s Level credits and requires you to successfully complete three formally assessed pieces of academic work during the year.
All of these assessments also require an accompanying portfolio of evidence.
The Master’s Level credits provide an excellent foundation for future academic and professional study.

Qualified Teacher Status
Alongside the PGCE academic award for your programme, you will also be assessed for the recommendation of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). In order to be recommended for QTS you are required to demonstrate that you have met the Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2013) in both the University and in school and alternative education settings. All aspects of the programme are designed around you being able to demonstrate that you are meeting the Teachers’ Standards.

Part 1 of the Teachers’ Standards require you to:
Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils
Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils
Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge
Plan and teach well structured lessons
Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils
Make accurate and productive use of assessment
Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment
Fulfil wider professional responsibilities (Teachers’ Standards, DfE, 2013)

Part 2 of the Teachers’ Standards require students to demonstrate the highest standards of personal and professional conduct.

As the PGCE is a professional course, 100% attendance is an expectation.

Recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status will be made by the PGCE Examination Board for all those who successfully demonstrate the Teachers’ Standards as shown in the requirements for University and school-based work.

Special Features

As a leading centre of education and with roots in teacher education dating back to 1798, we are able to provide first class teacher education that is internationally recognised.

A Brunel PGCE is a recognised symbol of quality teacher education which accounts for our high employment rates.

At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

You will benefit from an established partnership between Brunel and a variety of educational institutions and local schools. Brunel education degrees offer multicultural placement learning opportunities. For example, our location in West London and our diverse and well-established schools network means you will gain highly-valued placement learning experiences in vibrant multicultural schools.

Beyond ITE, for early career teachers we offer the Masters in Teaching (MAT), where students can utilise their 60 PGCE Masters level credits to continue their postgraduate studies part-time, whilst also meeting the requirements outlined for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) and early career development. Where schools have qualified for Enhanced Partnership status with Brunel University London, NQTs in those schools have access to the first year MAT module for free, illustrating our commitment to supporting NQTs into and through their first year of teaching. We also offer a Masters in Education (MAEd), a Doctorate in Education (EdDoc) and PhD postgraduate routes through the Department of Education. This continuum of provision ensures a commitment to teacher education and professional learning at all stages and the growing community of professional practice strengthens our Partnership.

Staff are nationally and internationally recognised for their research, and liaise with government and other agencies on education policy issues. The Department of Education is host to a number of research centres, including the Brunel Able Children’s Centre. The process of learning is informed by cutting-edge research by staff in the strands of: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Pedagogy and Professional Practice (PPP).

You can take advantage of free access to our excellent University Academic Skills service, ASK.

We have an award winning Professional Development Centre.

Our library has been nominated for national awards for its outstanding provision.

We have on-site volunteering opportunities through our Brunel Volunteers provision.

Our Disability and Dyslexia Service team have an excellent track record of support for students.

Our Union of Brunel Students provides you with a range of additional support and a broad range of extra-curricular opportunities and social events.

There is excellent University-wide access to PCs and the Internet, as well as free loan of media equipment and music/recording studios, and web space on the University server.

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About the course

Our Primary and Secondary PGCEs are "Outstanding" (Ofsted, 2015).

All our Education courses have been developed in collaboration with Partnership schools and the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). This ensures not only the highest possible quality of provision, but also relevance in reflecting national and school-level priorities in Education.

Aims

School and Local Authorities are increasingly seeking to employ teachers with not only high levels of competence and skill in classroom practice, but practitioners who have advanced subject knowledge for teaching and enhanced knowledge of systems and theories relevant to education. Therefore, the aims of this program are:

to enable student teachers to develop a critical understanding of issues and theories that impact upon classroom practice in teaching, learning and assessment in secondary schools;
to support student teachers in their exploration and critical reflection on their own and others practice in relation to national and regional priorities and policies and current research relevant to the Key Stages for this programme;
to promote student teachers' practical teaching skills and subject knowledge for teaching across the relevant Key Stages for this programme, making links with relevant theory to inform practice.

The programme aims to further develop students' existing transferable skills in communication, literacy, numeracy and critical reasoning. It is suitable for those who wish to gain employment as teachers and who aspire to progress to leadership and management roles in schools or in the wider world of education. It will provide an excellent foundation for progression to either higher academic or advanced professional qualifications.

Course Content

Generic Course Structure and Content

The PGCE is an intensive programme, which combines an exploration of principles and methods of teaching and learning with practical school-based teaching placements. It lasts for 36 weeks from early September to late June.

The Secondary programme prepares you to work with pupils aged 11-16. At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our Partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

The PGCE Secondary courses are structured around three modules, which share a generic General Professional Education (GPE) component. The GPE programme involves an enquiry based learning approach, which combines taught sessions with independent professional learning activities (PLAs). These PLAs require independent research, which is either school-related or school-based. The three PGCE modules are:

1. Education Studies I

This module covers the following GPE themes:
Professionalism, values and reflective practice;
Safeguarding, child protection and e-safety;
Understanding curriculum and the National Curriculum;
Supporting learners, learning and effective behaviour management;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with SEND and SEBD;
Effective planning and teaching to promote pupil progress;
Assessment and its role in promoting effective learning.
You will also focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

2. Education Studies II

This module covers the following GPE themes:
Applying for your first post;
Understanding data analysis to support effective teaching and learning;
Behaviour for learning and the wider professional responsibilities of the subject teacher;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with English as an Additional Language, pupils receiving the Pupil Premium and able pupils;
Safeguarding with a focus on the Prevent and Channel national strategy and bullying and homophobic bullying.
You will also continue to focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

3. Education Studies III

This module focuses specifically on supporting student teachers to make an effective transition into their first post and examines the following themes in GPE:
Preparing for induction and the professional learning action plan for your first post;
Pathways into leadership in education;
Learning outside the classroom;
Contributing to the wider aspects of the formal and informal curriculum and your wider professional role as a teacher.

Subject Specific Course Content

Mathematics is one of the three core subjects in the National Curriculum along with English and Science. As such, it is accorded a high status and there are ample opportunities for the promotion of good teachers.

Attitudes among pupils to the subject are extremely varied. The challenge for you is to bring Mathematics to life and inspire pupils of all abilities to explore the subject's potential at an appropriate level.

You have to be able to encourage and support pupils who struggle with Mathematics or lack enthusiasm for the subject, and learn how to make it accessible to them. You also have to be able to extend those who enjoy and are successful in the subject.

The PGCE Secondary Mathematics Education course is very popular, drawing on outstanding expertise and experience in Education to
build upon your commitment to the teaching profession and the subject area.

The intensive programme combines courses in principles and methods of teaching with practical school-based teaching placements and students are assessed on both elements.

Throughout the course, theory and practice are integrated in both the University and school contexts. The course is planned and delivered in partnership with Mathematics colleagues in local schools.

The Teachers’ Standards are mapped to every aspect of course provision to facilitate the best possible opportunities to support the process of your professional learning.

School Experience

School-based professional learning is a compulsory element of all programmes leading to a recommendation for QTS. The course involves the statutory requirement of at least 120 days of school experience in the form of block school placements undertaken in at least two different contexts.

Our current partnership schools are mainly located in the West London area and adjoining Home Counties. We have developed close links with a number of very good schools over a number of years, and offer placements within carefully chosen schools that provide an appropriate professional learning experience. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the schools we work with is a distinctive aspect of our provision and we are equally proud of the diversity of our student teacher cohort, who reflect the communities in which many of them go on to work as teachers.

We also offer student teachers the opportunity to experience placements in alternative settings, which include special schools, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), young offenders institutions. This further demonstrates our commitment to preparing teachers to work with young people in a diverse range of educational contexts.

You will be allocated a school-based mentor, selected for their experience and expertise, who is there to help you develop and learn while you are on placement. The importance of this person should not be underestimated. Teaching is a very challenging profession and with the help of your school-based mentor and your University tutor we aim to make sure that you have support every step of the way, encouraging reflection and development.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Childcare Disqualification and Prohibition Orders

As an accredited provider of Initial Teacher Education we have to have regard to the Department for Education’s statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education, when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

We ensure that all student teachers have been subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) criminal records checks, including a check of the children’s barred list. The Department for Education has published statutory guidance on the application to schools of the Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2009 and related obligations under the Childcare Act 2006.

We undertake our responsibility to ensure that the student teachers are not, therefore, disqualified from childcare or that the student teacher has obtained a childcare disqualification waiver from Ofsted. We also check that candidates are not subject to a prohibition order for teaching issued by the Secretary of State.

Learning and Teaching

We adopt an enquiry-based learning approach in our PGCE Secondary courses where students are encouraged to research and investigate a range of broad and subject specific educational themes and issues and bring their findings back for discussion in interactive lectures, workshops and seminars. These themes and issues address national, regional and partnership priorities as well as specific areas for investigation with the subject area.

Assessment

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
The PGCE Secondary programme carries 60 Master’s Level credits and requires you to successfully complete three formally assessed pieces of academic work during the year.
All of these assessments also require an accompanying portfolio of evidence.
The Master’s Level credits provide an excellent foundation for future academic and professional study.

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
Alongside the PGCE academic award for your programme, you will also be assessed for the recommendation of Qualified Teacher Status. In order to be recommended for QTS you are required to demonstrate that you have met the Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2013) in both the University and in school and alternative education settings. All aspects of the programme are designed around you being able to demonstrate that you are meeting the Teachers’ Standards.

Part 1 of the Teachers’ Standards require you to:

Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils
Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils
Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge
Plan and teach well structured lessons
Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils
Make accurate and productive use of assessment
Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment
Fulfil wider professional responsibilities
(Teachers’ Standards, DfE, 2013)

Part 2 of the Teachers’ Standards require students to demonstrate the highest standards of personal and professional conduct.

As the PGCE is a professional course, 100% attendance is an expectation.

Recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status will be made by the Secondary PGCE Examination Board for all those who successfully demonstrate the Teachers’ Standards as shown in the requirements for University and school-based work.

Special Features

As a leading centre of education and with roots in teacher education dating back to 1798, we are able to provide first class teacher education that is internationally recognised.

A Brunel PGCE is a recognised symbol of quality teacher education which accounts for our high employment rates.

At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

You will benefit from an established partnership between Brunel and a variety of educational institutions and local schools. Brunel education degrees offer multicultural placement learning opportunities. For example, our location in West London and our diverse and well-established schools network means you will gain highly-valued placement learning experiences in vibrant multicultural schools.

Beyond ITE, for early career teachers we offer the Masters in Teaching (MAT), where students can utilise their 60 PGCE Masters level credits to continue their postgraduate studies part-time, whilst also meeting the requirements outlined for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) and early career development. Where schools have qualified for Enhanced Partnership status with Brunel University London, NQTs in those schools have access to the first year MAT module for free, illustrating our commitment to supporting NQTs into and through their first year of teaching. We also offer a Masters in Education (MAEd), a Doctorate in Education (EdDoc) and PhD postgraduate routes through the Department of Education. This continuum of provision ensures a commitment to teacher education and professional learning at all stages and the growing community of professional practice strengthens our Partnership.

Staff are nationally and internationally recognised for their research, and liaise with government and other agencies on education policy issues. The Department of Education is host to a number of research centres, including the Brunel Able Children’s Centre. The process of learning is informed by cutting-edge research by staff in the strands of: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Pedagogy and Professional Practice (PPP).

You can take advantage of free access to our excellent University Academic Skills service, ASK.

We have an award winning Professional Development Centre.

Our library has been nominated for national awards for its outstanding provision.

We have on-site volunteering opportunities through our Brunel Volunteers provision.

Our Disability and Dyslexia Service team have an excellent track record of support for students.

Our Union of Brunel Students provides you with a range of additional support and a broad range of extra-curricular opportunities and social events.

There is excellent University-wide access to PCs and the Internet, as well as free loan of media equipment and music/recording studios, and web space on the University server.

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The Department of Education offers a one-year (12 month) taught full time MA in Global and International Citizenship Education.

Globalisation is perhaps the key driving force of modern education systems. Schools (and other educational enterprises in universities, businesses and communities) are part of a global network. This programme explores important issues about what it means to be a citizen in a global world - what could and should be done by educators to respond to the needs of individuals and groups in nation states and the new global society. We discuss issues about rights and duties and communities in the UK, Europe and globally and explore learning, teaching and assessment methods in schools and beyond.

This programme will be attractive to all those who have an interest in social studies education. This includes political and ideological education, moral education and education for diversity. This is a broad field that includes global education, comparative education, international education, intercultural understanding and citizenship education. In particular, the programme explores how to help people understand society and develop the skills to take part in it. This includes investigations of European citizenship and global citizenship education and focusing on learning and teaching methods. The programme will be of interest to those who see themselves as current or future teachers, researchers or policy makers. Applications are welcomed from both home and international students. Examples of what our graduates have done include PhD research in Australia; becoming and academic in a university in Japan; being an international student advisor at a university in the USA; working in business and in higher education in China.

Programme Aims

The MA programme aims to:
-Provide advanced-level study of forms of education appropriate for global citizens
-Illuminate the nature of citizenship and global education through insights into comparative education
-Link citizenship and global education to wider issues in society (history, politics and culture) and education via rhetorical and other perspectives
-Develop personal, academic and professional language skills in English
-Develop basic research capabilities in the field of citizenship and global education

Programme Content

Term 1
In term 1 there are 2 compulsory modules:
-Citizenship Education (20 credits)
-Research Methods in Education (20 credits)

And one option module (20 credits) which may be chosen from the full list of modules available to all taught MA students. Modules that may be of particular interest to MAGICE students are likely to include:
-Education and Social Justice
-Intercultural Communication in Education
-Motivation in Education
-Teaching and Learning in Schools

Term 2
-Teaching and Learning Citizenship & Global Education (20 credits)

And one option module (20 credits) from the full list of modules available to all taught MA students. Modules that may be of particular interest to MAGICE students are likely to include:
-Contemporary Issues in Teaching
-Cross-cultural Perspectives on Language and Discourse
-Qualitative and Quantitative Data Analysis
-Gender, Sexuality and Education
-Higher Education in the 21st Century

Term 3
-Planning and Communicating Research (20 credits, classes spread over Terms 2 and 3)

The third term and the summer is also devoted to writing a dissertation (60 credits) based on a small-scale research study to be submitted by early September. Previous studies have included an examination of global education; universities as sites of global citizenship; studying the media.

Careers

Our graduates find employment in a wide range of sectors within education and higher education, but also in journalism, information management, human resources and other careers.

Others find employment opportunities in the civil service, NGOs and other international organisations.

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The aim of the MA in Higher Education is to equip students with research skills and substantive knowledge for the study of higher education. You will enhance your ability to facilitate and lead the development of expert knowledge within your specific area of higher education including academic practice.

In an increasingly global world the study of higher education is no longer limited to local, regional or national contexts. Universities influence and are influenced by factors such as globalisation, technological change and ongoing sophistication of higher education national and international characteristics. The study pathway therefore aims to enhance practice, research and policy of higher education within these fluid contexts. The course contributes to the personal development of those concerned with the study of higher education both formally and informally in a wide range of institutional settings and locations. Coursework encourages you to bring together your personal understanding of issues relating to specific aspects of higher education with the established and current body of professional and academic research literature relevant to your professional or personal aims. Underpinned by the development of advanced, specialist research skills, the course allows you to progressively broaden the knowledge and understanding of your chosen aspects of higher education. It emphasises the synthesis of theory and practice, including academic practice, and the importance of both structure and agency when understanding interactions within higher education institutions.

Careers

The MA graduates from a wide range of backgrounds, including tutors, lecturers and academics from different disciplines and educational contexts will benefit from the provision of specialist knowledge and research methods training. The course actively seeks to support the professional development, employability and career progression of managers, administrators and academic-related, professional staff (e.g. learning technologists, academic developers). The offering of a range of specialised research skills is tailored to enhance the expertise of these professionals as well as those aspiring to progress to higher levels of management in the areas of higher education policy, widening participation and access in higher education institutions. Invited lecturers from external higher education and policy institutions will highlight possible pathways for future employment within specialist organisations or universities in a number of countries. The design of authentic course assessment tasks underlines the importance of developing specialised research and professional skills applicable in the workplace. Equally, the research skills element of the course will equip participants with necessary skills for progression to doctoral or independent research.

Module list

• National and International Perspectives on Higher Education Policy

This module examines policy and policy-making as distinct processes of implementation and change. Students will consider the approaches of different countries to important debates in the field including the purpose and nature of universities, funding, internationalisation, access and widening participation, management, quality, and regulation processes. Utilising policy analysis methods as well as key concepts and theoretical frameworks students will critically examine comparative evidence to enhance their knowledge and understanding of higher education principles, processes and practices drawing on individual national case studies. The module covers the following broad areas of higher education policy, policy-making and change:

• Access, recruitment and widening participation
• Quality assurance and regimes of (de)regulation in higher education
• Management and change at institutional, national and international level
• Tiers of higher education provision, rankings and their implications for governments and universities.
• Higher education financing and shifting patterns of funding.
• Internationalisation, global competition and cross-border flow of students and researchers.
 
• Universities as Contemporary Learning and Teaching Environments

This module examines the historical development of research in teaching-learning with a view to identify key contributions that influenced how we conceptualise teaching-learning in the university sector. Several theoretical traditions are presented (e.g. communities of practice, student approaches to learning, actor network theory) and emphasis is placed on the role of assessment and feedback as well as the wide-scale implementation of technological media in higher education and their impact on new modalities of learning. Students will be offered the means to enhance their critical understanding and use of relevant theory by supporting critical and systematic reflection on the changing nature of teaching-learning in higher education, on the changing management landscape, and on the relationships between them in national and international contexts.

• Special Research Methods in Higher Education

This module provides an overview of the methods and methodologies applied to research in higher education. In doing so, it provides links between higher education and educational and social research in general without losing its particular focus and applicability on higher education settings. The meanings and associations between methods are discussed and their position in wider epistemological paradigms is considered. Students will be given an overview of the development of these methods and methodologies in higher education and will develop applied research skills on methods relevant to their practice or interests. Conclusions will be drawn on the methodological opportunities and challenges of the presented research methods and their supplementary to wider educational and social research will be critically examined.

• Educational and Social Research Methods

This module provides you with the opportunity to consider the aims and intentions of educational research, critique published journal articles, and examine the role of evidence from research as a basis for improving education and social care. You will gain grounding in educational research issues, methods and strategies together with knowledge of how to match intended outcomes with specific educational questions and methods of investigation.

• Postgraduate Major Study

This module supports students in the preparation and submission of their Master's Major project and involves a dissertation of 14,000 words or the equivalent. The Major Project enables students to demonstrate the ability to raise significant and meaningful questions in relation to their specialism which may involve working at the current limits of theoretical and / or research understanding. It will involve the ability to develop solutions to ethical dilemmas likely to arise in their research or professional practice. The project enables students to expand or redefine existing knowledge, to develop new approaches to changing workplace situations and / or to contribute to the development of best practice. It asks the student to communicate these processes in a clear and elegant fashion and to evaluate their work from the perspective of an autonomous reflective learner. Students' research topics must be negotiated with their appointed supervisor. An application for ethical approval and ethics discussion paper must then be submitted. The project may take the form of a written dissertation, a formal presentation and full research paper, an exhibition, a performance, an artefact or the development of software, or other written, aural or visual material. The project may be formed from a combination of these modes but will normally include a written component.

Assessment

You will be assessed in a number of ways, from systematic literature reviews to reflective accounts on your professional practice, to ensure you're learning effectively. Other forms of assessment may include presentations, critical analyses of existing research, producing a dissemination poster and a research project. Each module comprises of one summative assessment and one core formative assessment. The assessment of the modules places emphasis on authenticity of the assessment tasks. Assessment are designed to strengthen your ability to conduct research in higher education settings.

Your Faculty

The Faculty of Health, Social Care & Education is the largest provider of health, social care and education courses in the East of England, with over 6,000 students from more than 20 countries.

With 95% of our students finding full-time employment within six months of graduating, you can be sure that our courses have been designed with your career in mind. We’ve been educating nurses, midwives and social workers for over 25 years.

At the cutting edge of research, we offer a range of internationally recognised undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses taught by friendly, supportive and experienced staff. With over 150 research students across our three doctoral programmes (PhD; DProf and EdD), we provide the multi-disciplinary perspective and potential for academic debate that reflects our position as a leader in practitioner-focused and practice-led research studies.

Designed to enhance your learning experience, our facilities include state-of-the-art simulated skills laboratories that mirror real-life clinical situations and UK hospital wards. Our students also benefit from our Early Childhood Research and Resource Centre; a space in which they can experiment with equipment and play activities.

You’ll study in an exciting, modern faculty which has strong links with regional, national and international organisations, including healthcare trusts, social services, local and regional authorities, schools and academic institutions.

Your enthusiasm. Our passion. Your best foot forward.

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This programme offers theoretical and practical support for those embarking on a career in Higher Education (HE). It considers different approaches to teaching and learning, grounded in educational research, and related aspects such as curriculum design and delivery and the principles and purposes of assessment. It enables you to bring these considerations to bear on your own work and experience as a teacher, researcher or practitioner.

The emphasis throughout is on developing an understanding of the HE context, recognising the diversity of provision – universities, Further Education institutions, specialist institutions, professional providers – and practices, for example, in different disciplinary fields.

Visit the website https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/239/higher-education

About the Centre for the Study of Higher Education

The Centre for the Study of Higher Education provides a base for postgraduate provision with a distinctive focus on the field of Higher Education. CSHE is also a focal point for research in this area, supported by seminars and events to which all postgraduate students and staff are warmly welcomed.

We offer three taught postgraduate programmes (PCert, PDip and MA in Higher Education) and a PhD in Higher Education. Taught programmes are tailored to different levels of experience and designed for you to select subject matter according to your own professional interests and role. The emphasis throughout is on developing an understanding of the Higher Education context, the diversity of provision and the implications for all aspects of academic work in the 21st century.

The PhD programme, offered on a full-time or part-time basis, is aimed at those with a professional or scholarly interest in any aspect of Higher Education who wish to develop as independent researchers in the field.

Students on our programmes come from a wide range of subject backgrounds and bring a rich variety of experiences to their work, resulting in a lively interdisciplinary dimension to taught modules and opportunities for debate.

Please note that we are unable to offer tuition or supervision in relation to other phases of education (e.g. schools), or to schoolteacher education.

Modules

The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take modules from other programmes so that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas that interest you.

Assessment

Assessment is by an essay of 3,000 words or negotiated equivalent for each module.

Programme aims

This programme aims to:

- assist you to become an effective professional HE teacher informed by scholarship, research and innovation

- assist you to become an effective research worker, supervisor of research students and staff, and manager of projects (where appropriate)

- provide a sound knowledge and systematic understanding of the principal institutions, constituents and procedures of a higher education institution

- introduce you to a range of different theoretical approaches to the study of education and develop a critical awareness of education in its historical, socio-economic and political contexts

- enable you to study some selected aspects of higher education in greater depth.

Study support

- Research expertise and resources

The Centre for the Study of Higher Education has members of staff based in all faculties in the University, as well as a core team of Education specialists. Higher Education is a broad interdisciplinary field, and members of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education research and publish on a wide range of subjects. Full details can be found on individual staff webpages. The Centre draws on expertise from a range of disciplines; we offer joint supervision with other academic schools, and can accommodate a wide range of research topics.

The University library houses a growing collection of books and journals on higher education, many of which can be accessed online. You also have access to the extensive training and other resources provided through the Graduate School.

- Research seminars/events

The Centre holds regular research seminars where academic staff and postgraduate students discuss their research and work in progress. Every term we also invite a number of external speakers to give lectures and seminars. Our students have access to lively national and international research networks and conferences through the Centre’s active involvement in the Society for Research into Higher Education, the British Educational Research Association and other scholarly bodies.

- Dynamic publishing culture

Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Recent contributions include: Journal of Workplace Learning; Discourse; Journal of Further and Higher Education; Teaching in Higher Education; International Journal of Lifelong Education.

- Global Skills Award

All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme (http://www.kent.ac.uk/graduateschool/skills/programmes/gsa.html). The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.

Research areas

Research on HE at Kent includes work on education policy, the philosophy, economics, management and politics of HE, disciplinary teaching and learning, learning technology, academic practice and sociological perspectives on academic work.

Careers

Our students are higher education professionals at various stages of their careers, ranging from early career teachers to lecturers to experienced senior leaders. Throughout, we aim to enhance students’ understanding and capacity for critical analysis of the contexts and practices of higher education.

The MA in Higher Education further encourages students to reflect upon their own professional experiences through critical engagement with topics of academic interest. After completing the MA, recent graduates have gained promotion within their existing roles, taken up new employment or commenced PhD study.

Find out how to apply here - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/

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About the course

All our Education courses have been developed in collaboration with Partnership schools and the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). This ensures not only the highest possible quality of provision, but also relevance in reflecting national and school-level priorities in Education.

Aims

School and Local Authorities are increasingly seeking to employ teachers with not only high levels of competence and skill in classroom practice, but practitioners who have advanced subject knowledge for teaching and enhanced knowledge of systems and theories relevant to education. Therefore, the aims of this program are:

- to enable student teachers to develop a critical understanding of issues and theories that impact upon classroom practice in teaching, learning and assessment in secondary schools;
- to support student teachers in their exploration and critical reflection on their own and others practice in relation to national and regional priorities and policies and current research relevant to the Key Stages for this programme;
- to promote student teachers' practical teaching skills and subject knowledge for teaching across the relevant Key Stages for this programme, making links with relevant theory to inform practice.

The programme aims to further develop students' existing transferable skills in communication, literacy, numeracy and critical reasoning. It is suitable for those who wish to gain employment as teachers and who aspire to progress to leadership and management roles in schools or in the wider world of education. It will provide an excellent foundation for progression to either higher academic or advanced professional qualifications.

Course Content

The PGCE is an intensive programme, which combines an exploration of principles and methods of teaching and learning with practical school-based teaching placements. It lasts for 36 weeks from early September to late June.

The Secondary programme prepares you to work with pupils aged 11-16. At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our Partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

The PGCE Secondary courses are structured around three modules, which share a generic General Professional Education (GPE) component. The GPE programme involves an enquiry based learning approach, which combines taught sessions with independent professional learning activities (PLAs). These PLAs require independent research, which is either school-related or school-based. The three PGCE modules are:

1. Education Studies I

This module covers the following GPE themes:
Professionalism, values and reflective practice;
Safeguarding, child protection and e-safety;
Understanding curriculum and the National Curriculum;
Supporting learners, learning and effective behaviour management;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with SEND and SEBD;
Effective planning and teaching to promote pupil progress;
Assessment and its role in promoting effective learning.
You will also focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

2. Education Studies II

This module covers the following GPE themes:
Applying for your first post;
Understanding data analysis to support effective teaching and learning;
Behaviour for learning and the wider professional responsibilities of the subject teacher;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with English as an Additional Language, pupils receiving the Pupil Premium and able pupils;
Safeguarding with a focus on the Prevent and Channel national strategy and bullying and homophobic bullying.
You will also continue to focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

3. Education Studies III

This module focuses specifically on supporting student teachers to make an effective transition into their first post and examines the following themes in GPE:
Preparing for induction and the professional learning action plan for your first post;
Pathways into leadership in education;
Learning outside the classroom;
Contributing to the wider aspects of the formal and informal curriculum and your wider professional role as a teacher.

Subject Specific Course Content

This course has resulted from an initiative by the professional body for physics, the Institute of Physics, in response to current and future needs for specialist physics teachers in secondary schools who may wish to offer mathematics as a second subject. The PGCE is a full time, one year, postgraduate course, carrying 60 Masters Level credits.

Potential students will be graduates of physics or engineering who may be recent graduates or ‘career changers’ of different ages. The normal entry requirement is a bachelor’s degree from a recognised University, at upper second-class honours or above and one where physics topics form at least 50% of the degree content.

This qualification aims to produce reflective, confident and competent teachers of physics and mathematics who are able to be effective at planning, teaching and assessing these subjects in secondary schools and contribute to the whole school community.

School Experience

School-based professional learning is a compulsory element of all programmes leading to a recommendation for QTS. The course involves the statutory requirement of at least 120 days of school experience in the form of block school placements undertaken in at least two different contexts.

Our current partnership schools are mainly located in the West London area and adjoining Home Counties. We have developed close links with a number of very good schools over a number of years, and offer placements within carefully chosen schools that provide an appropriate professional learning experience. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the schools we work with is a distinctive aspect of our provision and we are equally proud of the diversity of our student teacher cohort, who reflect the communities in which many of them go
on to work as teachers.

We also offer student teachers the opportunity to experience placements in alternative settings, which include special schools, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), young offenders institutions. This further demonstrates our commitment to preparing teachers to work with young people in a diverse range of educational contexts.

You will be allocated a school-based mentor, selected for their experience and expertise, who is there to help you develop and learn while you are on placement. The importance of this person should not be underestimated. Teaching is a very challenging profession and with the help of your school-based mentor and your University tutor we aim to make sure that you have support every step of the way, encouraging reflection and development.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Childcare Disqualification and Prohibition Orders

As an accredited provider of Initial Teacher Education we have to have regard to the Department for Education’s statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education, when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. We ensure that all student teachers have been subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) criminal records checks, including a check of the children’s barred list. The Department for Education has published statutory guidance on the application to schools of the Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2009 and related obligations under the Childcare Act 2006.

We undertake our responsibility to ensure that the student teachers are not, therefore, disqualified from childcare or that the student teacher has obtained a childcare disqualification waiver from Ofsted. We also check that candidates are not subject to a prohibition order for teaching issued by the Secretary of State.

Teaching

We adopt an enquiry-based learning approach in our PGCE Secondary courses where students are encouraged to research and investigate a range of broad and subject specific educational themes and issues and bring their findings back for discussion in interactive lectures, workshops and seminars. These themes and issues address national, regional and partnership priorities as well as specific areas for investigation with the subject area.

Assessment

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
The PGCE Secondary programme carries 60 Master’s Level credits and requires you to successfully complete three formally assessed pieces of academic work during the year.
All of these assessments also require an accompanying portfolio of evidence.
The Master’s Level credits provide an excellent foundation for future academic and professional study.

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
Alongside the PGCE academic award for your programme, you will also be assessed for the recommendation of QTS. In order to be recommended for QTS you are required to demonstrate that you have met the Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2013) in both the University and in school and alternative education settings. All aspects of the programme are designed around you being able to demonstrate that you are meeting the Teachers’ Standards.

Part 1 of the Teachers’ Standards require you to:

Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils
Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils
Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge
Plan and teach well structured lessons
Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils
Make accurate and productive use of assessment
Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment
Fulfil wider professional responsibilities
(Teachers’ Standards, DfE, 2013)

Part 2 of the Teachers’ Standards require students to demonstrate the highest standards of personal and professional conduct.

As the PGCE is a professional course, 100% attendance is an expectation.

Recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status will be made by the Secondary PGCE Examination Board for all those who successfully demonstrate the Teachers’ Standards as shown in the requirements for University and school-based work.

Special Features

As a leading centre of education and with roots in teacher education dating back to 1798, we are able to provide first class teacher education that is internationally recognised.

A Brunel PGCE is a recognised symbol of quality teacher education which accounts for our high employment rates.

At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

You will benefit from an established partnership between Brunel and a variety of educational institutions and local schools. Brunel education degrees offer multicultural placement learning opportunities. For example, our location in West London and our diverse and well-established schools network means you will gain highly-valued placement learning experiences in vibrant multicultural schools.

Beyond ITE, for early career teachers we offer the Masters in Teaching (MAT), where students can utilise their 60 PGCE Masters level credits to continue their postgraduate studies part-time, whilst also meeting the requirements outlined for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) and early career development. Where schools have qualified for Enhanced Partnership status with Brunel University London, NQTs in those schools have access to the first year MAT module for free, illustrating our commitment to supporting NQTs into and through their first year of teaching. We also offer a Masters in Education (MAEd), a Doctorate in Education (EdDoc) and PhD postgraduate routes through the Department of Education. This continuum of provision ensures a commitment to teacher education and professional learning at all stages and the growing community of professional practice strengthens our Partnership.

Staff are nationally and internationally recognised for their research, and liaise with government and other agencies on education policy issues. The Department of Education is host to a number of research centres, including the Brunel Able Children’s Centre. The process of learning is informed by cutting-edge research by staff in the strands of: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
and Pedagogy and Professional Practice (PPP).

You can take advantage of free access to our excellent University Academic Skills service, ASK.

We have an award winning Professional Development Centre.

Our library has been nominated for national awards for its outstanding provision.

We have on-site volunteering opportunities through our Brunel Volunteers provision.

Our Disability and Dyslexia Service team have an excellent track record of support for students.

Our Union of Brunel Students provides you with a range of additional support and a broad range of extra-curricular opportunities and social events.

There is excellent University-wide access to PCs and the Internet, as well as free loan of media equipment and music/recording studios, and web space on the University server.

Read less

About the course

Our Primary and Secondary PGCEs are "Outstanding" (Ofsted, 2015).

All our Education courses have been developed in collaboration with Partnership schools and the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). This ensures not only the highest possible quality of provision, but also relevance in reflecting national and school-level priorities in Education.

Aims

School and Local Authorities are increasingly seeking to employ teachers with not only high levels of competence and skill in classroom practice, but practitioners who have advanced subject knowledge for teaching and enhanced knowledge of systems and theories relevant to education. Therefore, the aims of this program are:

-to enable student teachers to develop a critical understanding of issues and theories that impact upon classroom practice in teaching, learning and assessment in secondary schools;
-to support student teachers in their exploration and critical reflection on their own and others practice in relation to national and regional priorities and policies and current research relevant to the Key Stages for this programme;
-to promote student teachers' practical teaching skills and subject knowledge for teaching across the relevant Key Stages for this programme, making links with relevant theory to inform practice.

The programme aims to further develop students' existing transferable skills in communication, literacy, numeracy and critical reasoning. It is suitable for those who wish to gain employment as teachers and who aspire to progress to leadership and management roles in schools or in the wider world of education. It will provide an excellent foundation for progression to either higher academic or advanced professional qualifications.

Course Content

The PGCE is an intensive programme, which combines an exploration of principles and methods of teaching and learning with practical school-based teaching placements. It lasts for 36 weeks from early September to late June.

The Secondary programme prepares you to work with pupils aged 11-16. At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our Partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

The PGCE Secondary courses are structured around three modules, which share a generic General Professional Education (GPE) component. The GPE programme involves an enquiry based learning approach, which combines taught sessions with independent professional learning activities (PLAs). These PLAs require independent research, which is either school-related or school-based. The three PGCE modules are:

1. Education Studies I

This module covers the following GPE themes:
Professionalism, values and reflective practice;
Safeguarding, child protection and e-safety;
Understanding curriculum and the National Curriculum;
Supporting learners, learning and effective behaviour management;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with SEND and SEBD;
Effective planning and teaching to promote pupil progress;
Assessment and its role in promoting effective learning.
You will also focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

2. Education Studies II

This module covers the following GPE themes:
Applying for your first post:
Understanding data analysis to support effective teaching and learning;
Behaviour for learning and the wider professional responsibilities of the subject teacher;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with English as an Additional Language, pupils receiving the Pupil Premium and able pupils;
Safeguarding with a focus on the Prevent and Channel national strategy and bullying and homophobic bullying.
You will also continue to focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

3. Education Studies III

This module focuses specifically on supporting student teachers to make an effective transition into their first post and examines the following themes in GPE:
Preparing for induction and the professional learning action plan for your first post;
Pathways into leadership in education;
Learning outside the classroom;
Contributing to the wider aspects of the formal and informal curriculum and your wider professional role as a teacher.

Subject Specific Course Content

As a qualified science teacher you may be required to teach National Curriculum general science to Key Stage 4, as well as your particular specialism to ‘A’ level and beyond. To this end, the course aims to facilitate your transformation into a well-educated, well-trained, confident and motivated science educator.

Along with English and mathematics, science is one of the three core subjects of the National Curriculum and since all pupils have to study a broad, balanced curriculum in science there is a demand for well-qualified and skilled science teachers. Most pupils entering secondary school are excited at the prospect of work, for the first time in a fully equipped laboratory, and secondary school science teachers have to build upon and sustain this interest for the subject.

To meet this challenge we need capable, skilled and enthusiastic teachers who are able to motivate young people and lead them to discover the wonders of science.

School Experience

School-based professional learning is a compulsory element of all programmes leading to a recommendation for QTS. The course involves the statutory requirement of at least 120 days of school experience in the form of block school placements undertaken in at least two different contexts.

Our current partnership schools are mainly located in the West London area and adjoining Home Counties. We have developed close links with a number of very good schools over a number of years, and offer placements within carefully chosen schools that provide an appropriate professional learning experience. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the schools we work with is a distinctive aspect of our provision and we are equally proud of the diversity of our student teacher cohort, who reflect the communities in which many of them go on to work as teachers.

We also offer student teachers the opportunity to experience placements in alternative settings, which include special schools, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), young offenders institutions. This further demonstrates our commitment to preparing teachers to work with young people in a diverse range of educational contexts.

You will be allocated a school-based mentor, selected for their experience and expertise, who is there to help you develop and learn while you are on placement. The importance of this person should not be underestimated. Teaching is a very challenging profession and with the help of your school-based mentor and your University tutor we aim to make sure that you have support every step of the way, encouraging reflection and development.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Childcare Disqualification and Prohibition Orders

As an accredited provider of Initial Teacher Education we have to have regard to the Department for Education’s statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education, when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. We ensure that all student teachers have been subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) criminal records checks, including a check of the children’s barred list. The Department for Education has published statutory guidance on the application to schools of the Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2009 and related obligations under the Childcare Act 2006.

We undertake our responsibility to ensure that the student teachers are not, therefore, disqualified from childcare or that the student teacher has obtained a childcare disqualification waiver from Ofsted. We also check that candidates are not subject to a prohibition order for teaching issued by the Secretary of State.

Learning and Teaching

We adopt an enquiry-based learning approach in our PGCE Secondary courses where students are encouraged to research and investigate a range of broad and subject specific educational themes and issues and bring their findings back for discussion in interactive lectures, workshops and seminars. These themes and issues address national, regional and partnership priorities as well as specific areas for investigation with the subject area.

Assessment

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
The PGCE Secondary programme carries 60 Master’s Level credits and requires you to successfully complete three formally assessed pieces of academic work during the year.
All of these assessments also require an accompanying portfolio of evidence.
The Master’s Level credits provide an excellent foundation for future academic and professional study.

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
Alongside the PGCE academic award for your programme, you will also be assessed for the recommendation of QTS. In order to be recommended for QTS you are required to demonstrate that you have met the Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2013) in both the University and in school and alternative education settings. All aspects of the programme are designed around you being able to demonstrate that you are meeting the Teachers’ Standards.

Part 1 of the Teachers’ Standards require you to:

Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils
Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils
Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge
Plan and teach well structured lessons
Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils
Make accurate and productive use of assessment
Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment
Fulfil wider professional responsibilities
(Teachers’ Standards, DfE, 2013)

Part 2 of the Teachers’ Standards require students to demonstrate the highest standards of personal and professional conduct.

As the PGCE is a professional course, 100% attendance is an expectation.

Recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status will be made by the Secondary PGCE Examination Board for all those who successfully demonstrate the Teachers’ Standards as shown in the requirements for University and school-based work.

Special Features

As a leading centre of education and with roots in teacher education dating back to 1798, we are able to provide first class teacher education that is internationally recognised.

A Brunel PGCE is a recognised symbol of quality teacher education which accounts for our high employment rates.

At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

You will benefit from an established partnership between Brunel and a variety of educational institutions and local schools. Brunel education degrees offer multicultural placement learning opportunities. For example, our location in West London and our diverse and well-established schools network means you will gain highly-valued placement learning experiences in vibrant multicultural schools.

Beyond ITE, for early career teachers we offer the Masters in Teaching (MAT), where students can utilise their 60 PGCE Masters level credits to continue their postgraduate studies part-time, whilst also meeting the requirements outlined for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) and early career development. Where schools have qualified for Enhanced Partnership status with Brunel University London, NQTs in those schools have access to the first year MAT module for free, illustrating our commitment to supporting NQTs into and through their first year of teaching. We also offer a Masters in Education (MAEd), a Doctorate in Education (EdDoc) and PhD postgraduate routes through the Department of Education. This continuum of provision ensures a commitment to teacher education and professional learning at all stages and the growing community of professional practice strengthens our Partnership.

Staff are nationally and internationally recognised for their research, and liaise with government and other agencies on education policy issues. The Department of Education is host to a number of research centres, including the Brunel Able Children’s Centre. The process of learning is informed by cutting-edge research by staff in the strands of: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Pedagogy and Professional Practice (PPP).

You can take advantage of free access to our excellent University Academic Skills service, ASK.

We have an award winning Professional Development Centre.

Our library has been nominated for national awards for its outstanding provision.

We have on-site volunteering opportunities through our Brunel Volunteers provision.

Our Disability and Dyslexia Service team have an excellent track record of support for students.

Our Union of Brunel Students provides you with a range of additional support and a broad range of extra-curricular opportunities and social events.

There is excellent University-wide access to PCs and the Internet, as well as free loan of media equipment and music/recording studios, and web space on the University server.

Read less

About the course

Our Primary and Secondary PGCEs are "Outstanding" (Ofsted, 2015).

All our Education courses have been developed in collaboration with Partnership schools and the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). This ensures not only the highest possible quality of provision, but also relevance in reflecting national and school-level priorities in Education.

Aims

School and Local Authorities are increasingly seeking to employ teachers with not only high levels of competence and skill in classroom practice, but practitioners who have advanced subject knowledge for teaching and enhanced knowledge of systems and theories relevant to education. Therefore, the aims of this program are:

-to enable student teachers to develop a critical understanding of issues and theories that impact upon classroom practice in teaching, learning and assessment in secondary schools;
-to support student teachers in their exploration and critical reflection on their own and others practice in relation to national and regional priorities and policies and current research relevant to the Key Stages for this programme;
-to promote student teachers' practical teaching skills and subject knowledge for teaching across the relevant Key Stages for this programme, making links with relevant theory to inform practice.

The programme aims to further develop students' existing transferable skills in communication, literacy, numeracy and critical reasoning. It is suitable for those who wish to gain employment as teachers and who aspire to progress to leadership and management roles in schools or in the wider world of education. It will provide an excellent foundation for progression to either higher academic or advanced professional qualifications.

Course Content

The PGCE is an intensive programme, which combines an exploration of principles and methods of teaching and learning with practical school-based teaching placements. It lasts for 36 weeks from early September to late June.

The Secondary programme prepares you to work with pupils aged 11-16. At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our Partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

The PGCE Secondary courses are structured around three modules, which share a generic General Professional Education (GPE) component. The GPE programme involves an enquiry based learning approach, which combines taught sessions with independent professional learning activities (PLAs). These PLAs require independent research, which is either school-related or school-based. The three PGCE modules are:

1. Education Studies I
This module covers the following GPE themes:

Professionalism, values and reflective practice;
Safeguarding, child protection and e-safety;
Understanding curriculum and the National Curriculum;
Supporting learners, learning and effective behaviour management;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with SEND and SEBD;
Effective planning and teaching to promote pupil progress;
Assessment and its role in promoting effective learning.

You will also focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

2. Education Studies II
This module covers the following GPE themes:

Applying for your first post;
Understanding data analysis to support effective teaching and learning;
Behaviour for learning and the wider professional responsibilities of the subject teacher;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with English as an Additional Language, pupils receiving the Pupil Premium and able pupils;
Safeguarding with a focus on the Prevent and Channel national strategy and bullying and homophobic bullying.
You will also continue to focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

3. Education Studies III
This module focuses specifically on supporting student teachers to make an effective transition into their first post and examines the following themes in GPE:

Preparing for induction and the professional learning action plan for your first post;
Pathways into leadership in education;
Learning outside the classroom;
Contributing to the wider aspects of the formal and informal curriculum and your wider professional role as a teacher.

Subject Specific Course Content

As a qualified science teacher you may be required to teach National Curriculum general science to Key Stage 4, as well as your particular specialism to ‘A’ level and beyond. To this end, the course aims to facilitate your transformation into a well-educated, well-trained, confident and motivated science educator.

Along with English and mathematics, science is one of the three core subjects of the National Curriculum and since all pupils have to study a broad, balanced curriculum in science there is a demand for well-qualified and skilled science teachers. Most pupils entering secondary school are excited at the prospect of work, for the first time in a fully equipped laboratory, and secondary school science teachers have to build upon and sustain this interest for the subject.

To meet this challenge we need capable, skilled and enthusiastic teachers who are able to motivate young people and lead them to discover the wonders of science.

School Experience

School-based professional learning is a compulsory element of all programmes leading to a recommendation for QTS. The course involves the statutory requirement of at least 120 days of school experience in the form of block school placements undertaken in at least two different contexts.

Our current partnership schools are mainly located in the West London area and adjoining Home Counties. We have developed close links with a number of very good schools over a number of years, and offer placements within carefully chosen schools that provide an appropriate professional learning experience. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the schools we work with is a distinctive aspect of our provision and we are equally proud of the diversity of our student teacher cohort, who reflect the communities in which many of them go on to work as teachers.

We also offer student teachers the opportunity to experience placements in alternative settings, which include special schools, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), young offenders institutions. This further demonstrates our commitment to preparing teachers to work with young people in a diverse range of educational contexts.

You will be allocated a school-based mentor, selected for their experience and expertise, who is there to help you develop and learn while you are on placement. The importance of this person should not be underestimated. Teaching is a very challenging profession and with the help of your school-based mentor and your University tutor we aim to make sure that you have support every step of the way, encouraging reflection and development.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Childcare Disqualification and Prohibition Orders

As an accredited provider of Initial Teacher Education we have to have regard to the Department for Education’s statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education, when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. We ensure that all student teachers have been subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) criminal records checks, including a check of the children’s barred list. The Department for Education has published statutory guidance on the application to schools of the Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2009 and related obligations under the Childcare Act 2006.

We undertake our responsibility to ensure that the student teachers are not, therefore, disqualified from childcare or that the student teacher has obtained a childcare disqualification waiver from Ofsted. We also check that candidates are not subject to a prohibition order for teaching issued by the Secretary of State.

Teaching

We adopt an enquiry-based learning approach in our PGCE Secondary courses where students are encouraged to research and investigate a range of broad and subject specific educational themes and issues and bring their findings back for discussion in interactive lectures, workshops and seminars. These themes and issues address national, regional and partnership priorities as well as specific areas for investigation with the subject area.

Assessment

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
The PGCE Secondary programme carries 60 Master’s Level credits and requires you to successfully complete three formally assessed pieces of academic work during the year.
All of these assessments also require an accompanying portfolio of evidence.
The Master’s Level credits provide an excellent foundation for future academic and professional study.

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
Alongside the PGCE academic award for your programme, you will also be assessed for the recommendation of QTS. In order to be recommended for QTS you are required to demonstrate that you have met the Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2013) in both the University and in school and alternative education settings. All aspects of the programme are designed around you being able to demonstrate that you are meeting the Teachers’ Standards.

Part 1 of the Teachers’ Standards require you to:

Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils
Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils
Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge
Plan and teach well structured lessons
Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils
Make accurate and productive use of assessment
Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment
Fulfil wider professional responsibilities
(Teachers’ Standards, DfE, 2013)

Part 2 of the Teachers’ Standards require students to demonstrate the highest standards of personal and professional conduct.

As the PGCE is a professional course, 100% attendance is an expectation.

Recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status will be made by the Secondary PGCE Examination Board for all those who successfully demonstrate the Teachers’ Standards as shown in the requirements for University and school-based work.

Special Features

As a leading centre of education and with roots in teacher education dating back to 1798, we are able to provide first class teacher education that is internationally recognised.

A Brunel PGCE is a recognised symbol of quality teacher education which accounts for our high employment rates.

At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

You will benefit from an established partnership between Brunel and a variety of educational institutions and local schools. Brunel education degrees offer multicultural placement learning opportunities. For example, our location in West London and our diverse and well-established schools network means you will gain highly-valued placement learning experiences in vibrant multicultural schools.

Beyond ITE, for early career teachers we offer the Masters in Teaching (MAT), where students can utilise their 60 PGCE Masters level credits to continue their postgraduate studies part-time, whilst also meeting the requirements outlined for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) and early career development. Where schools have qualified for Enhanced Partnership status with Brunel University London, NQTs in those schools have access to the first year MAT module for free, illustrating our commitment to supporting NQTs into and through their first year of teaching. We also offer a Masters in Education (MAEd), a Doctorate in Education (EdDoc) and PhD postgraduate routes through the Department of Education. This continuum of provision ensures a commitment to teacher education and professional learning at all stages and the growing community of professional practice strengthens our Partnership.

Staff are nationally and internationally recognised for their research, and liaise with government and other agencies on education policy issues. The Department of Education is host to a number of research centres, including the Brunel Able Children’s Centre. The process of learning is informed by cutting-edge research by staff in the strands of: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
and Pedagogy and Professional Practice (PPP).

You can take advantage of free access to our excellent University Academic Skills service, ASK.

We have an award winning Professional Development Centre.

Our library has been nominated for national awards for its outstanding provision.

We have on-site volunteering opportunities through our Brunel Volunteers provision.

Our Disability and Dyslexia Service team have an excellent track record of support for students.

Our Union of Brunel Students provides you with a range of additional support and a broad range of extra-curricular opportunities and social events.

There is excellent University-wide access to PCs and the Internet, as well as free loan of media equipment and music/recording studios, and web space on the University server.

Read less

About the course

Our Primary and Secondary PGCEs are "Outstanding" (Ofsted, 2015).

All our Education courses have been developed in collaboration with Partnership schools and the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL). This ensures not only the highest possible quality of provision, but also relevance in reflecting national and school-level priorities in Education.

Aims

The Brunel Science Postgraduate Certificate (PGCE) is a M-level course with 60 credits that can contribute to further Master's level study in Education, subject to approval.

The course will equip you with the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary to teach science and the ability to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the vital role of the teacher and the school in ensuring excellence in the educational experiences of young people

Undertake professional practice which enables you to evidence the Teachers’ Standards which facilitate the award of Qualified Teacher Status

Understand the relationships between Education and science within current national and government frameworks, and critically reflect on the impact of these in the work of schools and the educational experiences of young people

Recognise the contribution that science as part of the whole school curriculum makes to the development of the individual learner and groups of learners

Think critically about what it means to be scientifically educated and how this informs curriculum planning and design within the subject area

Apply a thorough knowledge and understanding of science (Physics) National Curriculum to the planning of curriculum experiences for pupils in school

Demonstrate competence and confidence in your ability to teach across the contexts for pupil learning in the mathematics National Curriculum range and content, applying principles of continuity and progression

Use subject knowledge and relevant course specifications to plan and deliver the 14-16 curriculum including examination and vocational courses

Demonstrate an understanding of the subject knowledge and specification requirements for the 16-19 curriculum

Utilise a range of teaching strategies to meet the identified learning needs of a wide range of pupils

Utilise a range of resources, including information and communication technology, to enhance pupil learning in physics

Understand the importance of safe practice and safeguarding and apply these in working with young people both within and beyond lessons

Use a wide range of class management strategies to maximise pupil learning

Understand the principles of inclusion and apply these to ensure equality of opportunity for all pupils in the subject area

Understand national frameworks for assessment within the subject area and use these to support the recording and analysis of data, and the subsequent use of this to plan the next phase of learning

Raise the status of the subject area by demonstrating high standards of professionalism at all times

Understand the crucial role of professional learning for the teacher, the pupils and schools.

Course Content

The PGCE is an intensive programme, which combines an exploration of principles and methods of teaching and learning with practical school-based teaching placements. It lasts for 36 weeks from early September to late June.

The Secondary programme prepares you to work with pupils aged 11-16. At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our Partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

The PGCE Secondary courses are structured around three modules, which share a generic General Professional Education (GPE) component. The GPE programme involves an enquiry based learning approach, which combines taught sessions with independent professional learning activities (PLAs). These PLAs require independent research, which is either school-related or school-based. The three PGCE modules are:

1. Education Studies I
This module covers the following GPE themes:

Professionalism, values and reflective practice;
Safeguarding, child protection and e-safety;
Understanding curriculum and the National Curriculum;
Supporting learners, learning and effective behaviour management;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with SEND and SEBD;
Effective planning and teaching to promote pupil progress;
Assessment and its role in promoting effective learning.

You will also focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

2. Education Studies II
This module covers the following GPE themes:

Applying for your first post;
Understanding data analysis to support effective teaching and learning;
Behaviour for learning and the wider professional responsibilities of the subject teacher;
Inclusive education, with a specific focus on supporting pupils with English as an Additional Language, pupils receiving the Pupil Premium and able pupils;
Safeguarding with a focus on the Prevent and Channel national strategy and bullying and homophobic bullying.

You will also continue to focus on teaching and learning issues of particular concern to your phase or subject specialism.

3. Education Studies III
This module focuses specifically on supporting student teachers to make an effective transition into their first post and examines the following themes in GPE:

Preparing for induction and the professional learning action plan for your first post;
Pathways into leadership in education;
Learning outside the classroom;
Contributing to the wider aspects of the formal and informal curriculum and your wider professional role as a teacher.

Subject Specific Course Content

As a qualified science teacher you may be required to teach National Curriculum general science to Key Stage 4, as well as your particular specialism to ‘A’ level and beyond. To this end, the course aims to facilitate your transformation into a well-educated, well-trained, confident and motivated science educator.

Along with English and mathematics, science is one of the three core subjects of the National Curriculum and since all pupils have to study a broad, balanced curriculum in science there is a demand for well-qualified and skilled science teachers. Most pupils entering secondary school are excited at the prospect of work, for the first time in a fully equipped laboratory, and secondary school science teachers have to build upon and sustain this interest for the subject.

To meet this challenge we need capable, skilled and enthusiastic teachers who are able to motivate young people and lead them to discover the wonders of science.

School Experience

School-based professional learning is a compulsory element of all programmes leading to a recommendation for QTS. The course involves the statutory requirement of at least 120 days of school experience in the form of block school placements undertaken in at least two different contexts.

Our current partnership schools are mainly located in the West London area and adjoining Home Counties. We have developed close links with a number of very good schools over a number of years, and offer placements within carefully chosen schools that provide an appropriate professional learning experience. The ethnic and cultural diversity of the schools we work with is a distinctive aspect of our provision and we are equally proud of the diversity of our student teacher cohort, who reflect the communities in which many of them go on to work as teachers.

We also offer student teachers the opportunity to experience placements in alternative settings, which include special schools, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), young offenders institutions. This further demonstrates our commitment to preparing teachers to work with young people in a diverse range of educational contexts.

You will be allocated a school-based mentor, selected for their experience and expertise, who is there to help you develop and learn while you are on placement. The importance of this person should not be underestimated. Teaching is a very challenging profession and with the help of your school-based mentor and your University tutor we aim to make sure that you have support every step of the way, encouraging reflection and development.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Childcare Disqualification and Prohibition Orders

As an accredited provider of Initial Teacher Education we have to have regard to the Department for Education’s statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education, when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. We ensure that all student teachers have been subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) criminal records checks, including a check of the children’s barred list. The Department for Education has published statutory guidance on the application to schools of the Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2009 and related obligations under the Childcare Act 2006.

We undertake our responsibility to ensure that the student teachers are not, therefore, disqualified from childcare or that the student teacher has obtained a childcare disqualification waiver from Ofsted. We also check that candidates are not subject to a prohibition order for teaching issued by the Secretary of State.

Teaching

We adopt an enquiry-based learning approach in our PGCE Secondary courses where students are encouraged to research and investigate a range of broad and subject specific educational themes and issues and bring their findings back for discussion in interactive lectures, workshops and seminars. These themes and issues address national, regional and partnership priorities as well as specific areas for investigation with the subject area.

Assessment

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
The PGCE Secondary programme carries 60 Master’s Level credits and requires you to successfully complete three formally assessed pieces of academic work during the year.
All of these assessments also require an accompanying portfolio of evidence.
The Master’s Level credits provide an excellent foundation for future academic and professional study.

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
Alongside the PGCE academic award for your programme, you will also be assessed for the recommendation of QTS. In order to be recommended for QTS you are required to demonstrate that you have met the Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2013) in both the University and in school and alternative education settings. All aspects of the programme are designed around you being able to demonstrate that you are meeting the Teachers’ Standards.

Part 1 of the Teachers’ Standards require you to:

Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils
Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils
Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge
Plan and teach well structured lessons
Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils
Make accurate and productive use of assessment
Manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment
Fulfil wider professional responsibilities
(Teachers’ Standards, DfE, 2013)

Part 2 of the Teachers’ Standards require students to demonstrate the highest standards of personal and professional conduct.

As the PGCE is a professional course, 100% attendance is an expectation.

Recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status will be made by the Secondary PGCE Examination Board for all those who successfully demonstrate the Teachers’ Standards as shown in the requirements for University and school-based work.

Special Features

As a leading centre of education and with roots in teacher education dating back to 1798, we are able to provide first class teacher education that is internationally recognised.

A Brunel PGCE is a recognised symbol of quality teacher education which accounts for our high employment rates.

At the heart of our programmes is a vision that our student teachers’ teaching will impact positively on pupil progress over time in schools and that our partnership activities with schools will contribute to school improvement. We aspire for all our students to be outstanding teachers.

You will benefit from an established partnership between Brunel and a variety of educational institutions and local schools. Brunel education degrees offer multicultural placement learning opportunities. For example, our location in West London and our diverse and well-established schools network means you will gain highly-valued placement learning experiences in vibrant multicultural schools.

Beyond ITE, for early career teachers we offer the Masters in Teaching (MAT), where students can utilise their 60 PGCE Masters level credits to continue their postgraduate studies part-time, whilst also meeting the requirements outlined for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) and early career development. Where schools have qualified for Enhanced Partnership status with Brunel University London, NQTs in those schools have access to the first year MAT module for free, illustrating our commitment to supporting NQTs into and through their first year of teaching. We also offer a Masters in Education (MAEd), a Doctorate in Education (EdDoc) and PhD postgraduate routes through the Department of Education. This continuum of provision ensures a commitment to teacher education and professional learning at all stages and the growing community of professional practice strengthens our Partnership.

Staff are nationally and internationally recognised for their research, and liaise with government and other agencies on education policy issues. The Department of Education is host to a number of research centres, including the Brunel Able Children’s Centre. The process of learning is informed by cutting-edge research by staff in the strands of: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Pedagogy and Professional Practice (PPP).

You can take advantage of free access to our excellent University Academic Skills service, ASK.

We have an award winning Professional Development Centre.

Our library has been nominated for national awards for its outstanding provision.

We have on-site volunteering opportunities through our Brunel Volunteers provision.

Our Disability and Dyslexia Service team have an excellent track record of support for students.

Our Union of Brunel Students provides you with a range of additional support and a broad range of extra-curricular opportunities and social events.

There is excellent University-wide access to PCs and the Internet, as well as free loan of media equipment and music/recording studios, and web space on the University server.

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The Department of Education offers a one-year (12 month) taught full time MA in Science Education. This programme will be attractive to all those who have an interest in science education, whether as teachers, researchers or policy makers. Applications are welcomed from both home and international students.

Applicants are strongly advised to ensure that they submit applications no later than 1st September if they wish to begin a course of study beginning in the same year. No guarantee can be offered that applications received after this date will be processed for a September start date.

The Department also welcomes applications from people interested in studying for a PhD in science education in its areas of expertise (see below).

Why come to York?

The University of York Science Education Group (UYSEG) has an outstanding international reputation for the excellence of its work in research and curriculum development in science education. Our school science programmes such as Science: the Salters Approach, Salters Advanced Chemistry, Salters Horners Advanced Physics and, most recently, Salters Nuffield Advanced Biology and 21st Century Science are widely used in this country, and have received international acclaim. Science: the Salters Approach and Salters Advanced Chemistry have been adapted for use in many other countries, including Belgium, Hong Kong, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland and the USA. If you come to York, you will have the opportunity to work with one of the leading groups in science education.

As members of the University of York Science Education Group, the science education staff in the Department of Education have made a significant contribution to the high profile of science education at York. Science specialist staff currently in the Department include Professor Robin Millar, Professor Judith Bennett, Martin Braund and Fred Lubben. All hold major grants for research and development in science education.

Areas of expertise include assessment, attitudes to science, the use of context-based approaches to the teaching of science, curriculum development (including international collaboration on projects), evaluation of curriculum interventions, gender issues in science education, practical work in science, scientific literacy, systematic reviews of research literature, and the transition from primary to secondary school. Current international work includes involvement in the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) project and a number of initiatives in Southern Africa.

The reputation of the University of York Science Education Group was a major contributory factor in York being chosen as the home of the new National Science Learning Centre, which opened in September 2005 and offers a programme of professional development courses for science teachers.

Programme Aims

The programme offers specialist tuition within an established framework for MA provision in the Department. The aims of the programme are:
-To enhance knowledge and understanding in science education
-To develop educational research capabilities and skills in the fields of education and science education
-To contribute, where appropriate, to professional development by enhancing capacity to investigate aspects of one or more of educational theory, policy and practice

Programme Content

Term 1
-Science, Education and Society (20 credits)
-Research methods in education (20 credits)

One option module from a list of about 10 (20 credits). Options are likely to include:
-Bilingualism
-Citizenship education
-Cross-linguistic influences in second language acquisition
-Discourse Analysis
-Education and social justice
-Evaluating ESOL classroom practice
-Intercultural communication in education
-Learning and teaching second/foreign language reading
-Motivation in education
-Teaching and assessing speaking skills
-Teaching and assessing writing skills
-Teaching and learning in schools
-Teaching World English
-Topics in second language acquisition

Term 2
-Recent research and innovation in science education (20 credits)

One option module from a list of about 10 (20 credits). Options are likely to include:
-Approaches to English teaching
-Contemporary issues in teaching
-Cross-cultural perspectives on language and discourse
-Developmental Psycholinguistics
-Learning and teaching grammar in a second language
-Pragmatics: language, meaning and communication
-Psychology of language and language learning
-Qualitative and quantitative data analysis
-Teaching and learning citizenship and global education
-Teaching English for academic purposes
-The practice of English language teaching
-Testing and assessment in English language teaching

Term 3
Planning and Communicating Research (20 credits). Classes are spread over Terms 2 and 3.

The third term and the summer is also devoted to writing a dissertation (60 credits) based on a small-scale research study to be submitted by early September.

Students will also be able to attend the department series of research seminars for Masters students which includes talks by visiting speakers.

Assessment

Students will complete:
-Four assessed coursework essay assignments (each 4,000 to 5,000 words in length)
-An exam in Research Methods in Education
-An assessed presentation + dissertation outline + ethics audit
-A dissertation of 12,000 words in length

Careers

Our graduates find employment in a wide range of sectors within education, but also in journalism, information management, human resources and other careers.

Our postgraduate courses can be used to complement teacher training/development programmes and voluntary or paid roles which focus on the more practical elements of teaching. However, other than our PGCE, our courses are not teacher training programmes in themselves.

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MA Education: Post-Compulsory education programme is an exciting opportunity to join other students in discussion and collaborative learning while being taught by a team which is highly skilled in supporting your needs.

Course detail

Our MA Education: Post-compulsory Education programme offers you the opportunity to learn about and develop your knowledge of current issues from a wide range of perspectives on education and to focus your study towards your particular interest in Post-compulsory Education.

The Year One modules introduce you to the skills you need for Master’s level study and you will develop in-depth knowledge of a range of approaches and methods through which education is investigated. In Year Two there is a choice to adopt a local, national or global perspective. You might choose to study global changes and effects on education or contemporary educational issues and changes at national level, or you might have a specific ‘local’ issue you want to study. This ‘local’ issue might be something relevant to you and your employer if you are employed in a work setting, or it might be some aspect of your special interest in Post-compulsory Education that you choose to examine in more depth. In Year Three you will study the Dissertation/Major Project and the focus for this study will be on Post-compulsory Education. You will have a specific tutor who will supervise this work.

Format

We have designed the MA programmes to support you to engage proactively in education from a theoretical or practical approach, or a combination of the two.

We include creative approaches to teaching, learning and assessment and you are supported by a team of tutors who are active researchers. We have designed the programme to enable you to study with others who are interested in a wide range of educational issues; for example people working in primary, secondary, post-compulsory or higher education; libraries and archive professionals; people working in museum education; people with mentor roles; Early Years teachers, play workers or Children’s Centre managers.

The course engages you with current issues and debates in education, enabling you to gain critical awareness and understanding and to develop new insights. You will engage in research and advanced scholarship in the discipline and will develop as a self-directed, independent learner who is able to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively.

Modules

- Developing Criticality
- Methods of Enquiry
- Global Perspectives on Education
- Critical Contemporary Issues in Education in a National Context
- Local Independent Study/Project

Then either:

Dissertation: Post-compulsory Education

This module is the culmination of the MA Education. It engages students in a substantial piece of research focused on a topic that is relevant to an educational context and manageable within the time and credit constraints of a Master’s dissertation. The focus and nature of the investigation will be agreed with your supervisor for example it could be an investigation into the use of the ‘flipped classroom’ approach to teaching and learning in undergraduate study.

Major Project: Post-compulsory Education

This module is the culmination of the MA Education. It engages students in a substantial piece of research investigation and artefact development on a topic relevant to an educational context and manageable within the time and credit constraints of a Master’s dissertation. The focus, nature of the investigation and intended output will be negotiated and agreed with your supervisor. For example the written component could be an investigation into a self-review tool you have designed to support student self-assessment including a dissemination strategy you have developed, which may include a poster presenting your findings and good practice guidelines you have developed to enhance future practice in the setting.

How to apply

For information on how to apply, please see the following link:
https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/how-to-apply/

Other sources of funding

Information on alternative sources of funding can be found here:
https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/student-services/money/funding-my-course/postgraduate-/postgraduate-funding-/

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The MA Education programme will give you an unparalleled opportunity to study education at a master's level. Working independently within a challenging but supportive environment, you will be provided with the tools and resources to undertake and use educational research. You will also be supported in researching and reflecting on your own practice.

The programme aims to:
- improve your research, analysis and critical thinking skills
- enhance your professional practice through greater theoretical understanding of current educational issues.

The MA Education is designed for teachers, lecturers, trainers, educational leaders, managers and administrators, and those aspiring to a career in education.

Programme features:
- Choose from one of four Study Pathways to focus your learning where you want to develop.
- Flexible study options include Summer Schools, Study Centres and distance learning.
- Undertake a small scale research project in the context of your own or your institution's policy and practice.
- Optional opportunity to study for the International Baccalaureate Educators’ Certificate alongside the MA Education.

Visit the website http://www.bath.ac.uk/study/pg/programmes/ma-in-educ/

Study Pathways

You can choose one of the following Study Pathways as part of this programme:

MA Education:
The MA Education is our most popular degree and allows you the greatest flexibility in choice of units and dissertation topic (with the exception of those opting to take the International Baccalaureate Educator Certificates who are required to take specific units).

MA Education (International Education):
This pathway is designed for those who wish to develop knowledge and an understanding of issues relating to education beyond the national context. Depending upon your interests, you can focus on issues relating to educational practices in different national systems, on international schools and/or on other issues cutting across national contexts.

MA Education (Learning and Teaching):
If you wish to develop the practice and your understanding of Learning and Teaching then this is the pathway for you. Core units draw on theory of learning and teaching processes (with children and adults) and the role of technology.

MA Education (Educational Leadership and Management):
This pathway is designed to meet the needs of experienced educational professionals who wish to inform their work as leaders and managers, or who aspire to a leadership role, through an in-depth understanding of current educational management practice, theory, research and policy.

Ways of studying - flexible study options

You can choose from a variety of ways to study this programme.

- Summer School (http://www.bath.ac.uk/education/postgraduate/ways-of-studying/summer-school/)
- Study Centres (http://www.bath.ac.uk/education/postgraduate/ways-of-studying/study-centres/)
- Distance Learning (http://www.bath.ac.uk/education/postgraduate/ways-of-studying/distance-learning/)

If you wish, you can complete the programme entirely though distance learning, however we recommend you try to attend at least one face-to-face unit as it is valuable to spent time in a study environment with tutors and other students.

Programme structure

For the 90 credits required for the MA Education, you acquire 60 credits through taught units and 30 credits by completing a dissertation. Typically, you complete five 12 credit taught units. One of the taught units must be the Research Methods in Education which is worth 12 credits, another of the taught units must be Understanding Learners and Learning or Education and Society (your choice may depend on which pathway you choose).

- Distance learning study commences at two fixed points in the year, 1st March and 1st September.
- Units taught at Summer School start in July
- Units are taught at Study Centres throughout the year.
- You can study units in any order, but you must complete each unit within six months.
- 175 study hours is expected for each unit.
- You can study up to two units at any one time and you have between two and five years to complete the programme.

View summary table (http://www.bath.ac.uk/education/images/ma-education-programme-table.jpg) or Programme & Unit Catalogue (http://www.bath.ac.uk/catalogues/2015-2016/ed/ed-proglist-pg.html#B) for further information.

Learning and teaching

Our programmes are modular, consisting of self-contained units, taught and assessed by assignment and dissertation. As you progress through the units and successfully pass the assignments, you will receive feedback and grades, thus providing you with a clear indication of your academic progress.

Teaching methods at Summer Schools and Study Centres include; lectures, student-led seminars, workshops, group work, tutorials, Moodle (virtual learning environment), and other electronic communications.

If there are less than six students enrolled on a unit scheduled at Summer School, the unit will still run, but it may be taught on a Directed Tutorial basis. You will be provided with resources to help your study and individual or group tutorials will be timetabled in order to make sure your learning needs are fully met.

Distance Learning takes place online; enabling you to study independently with the support of a tutor. The Wiki environment offers you a number of alternatives for working flexibly with your learning materials. In addition, there are opportunities to link up with other students and leave feedback about your experience.

Methods of assessment

Assessment consists of a written 5000 word assignment for each unit of study, together with a 15,000 word Dissertation.

Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)

If you have studied, but not completed or received an award, for postgraduate Masters level units in education from another institution, you may be eligible to transfer credit for this prior learning.

- Depending on the programme of study, you may transfer up to 40% of the total credits required for the MA/Postgraduate Certificate/Postgraduate Diploma in Education.

- Credit must have been obtained recently (less than 8 years ago at the time of the award of the qualification to which it contributes).

- Claims for APL will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

- If you obtain APL you will still be required to study Research Methods in Education and either Education and Society or Understanding Learners and Learning (unless your previous study has sufficient overlap with any of the units, in which case exemption may be considered).

- Use of APL credit may affect your options when selecting a study pathway.

Careers

This programme is ideal for those wishing to progress their career within an educational organisation.

Many of our graduates have gone on to be leaders and managers within educational settings; while others started their educational careers in teaching, lecturing or administration. This degree will also prepare you for further study at Doctoral level (PhD or EdD).

About the department

The Department of Education is a thriving academic community focused on furthering our understanding of policy, culture, pedagogy and diversity within a global educational context. We hold a strong national and international reputation for our research.

We have an excellent network with a wide range of educational institutions including, schools, colleges, universities, local authorities and government departments, within the UK and also internationally.

Find out more about the department here - http://www.bath.ac.uk/education/

Find out how to apply here - http://www.bath.ac.uk/hss/graduate-school/taught-programmes/how-to-apply/

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