Education – MA/PgDip/PgCert

This course offers you flexible professional and personal development opportunities. It is ideal if you are a teacher, either experienced or recently qualified, or another educational practitioner working in • an educational setting • a role supporting some aspect of learning • an education care role.

The course is practice-oriented so your work is focused on your workplace or community setting. You develop a reflective and critical approach to issues arising from your practice. You draw on your professional experience and link this to research, policy and new approaches to develop your knowledge base and critical evaluation skills. Through this learning you are able to develop and influence practice in your current and/or future context.

We advise you on the best route through the course by helping you to select modules most appropriate for your context and requirements. These are often delivered at the University on Saturdays or in the evenings. In the enquiry phase, the final stage to achieve a masters award, you undertake a substantial enquiry into an area of professional concern.

There is considerable flexibility in the delivery of our accredited professional development packages for groups of staff in schools and other educational institutions. For example, we can customise the modules in the course to your needs and can often deliver aspects of the course off-site.

The course helps you to develop your • professional knowledge and understanding of practice in your context • enquiry and practitioner research skills • academic skills • employability skills that link closely to your education specialism and career aims.

You can focus your studies on
• primary or secondary education
• further education and/or higher education
• professions allied to education such as learning mentor, arts education officer or those responsible for professional development

You develop the following knowledge and skills
• building a knowledge base to enable critique of policy and practice
• professional work-based learning
• professional reflection
• practitioner enquiry
• developing practice and innovation
• leadership of change

Your employment opportunities following this course are many and varied. The changing education context creates opportunities for postgraduate professionals who are able to
• lead change in complex work environments
• work across different agencies and teams to secure improvements in learning and inclusion
• draw on a broad knowledge base to develop and influence practice and policy
• use reflection and research skills to understand the needs of learners, colleagues and partners in education

There is also a full-time version of this course.