Master of Arts in Education — Birmingham City University, UK

Awarded by Birmingham City University

The Master of Arts in Education will give students a foundation for a career in many different educational settings, both public and private. This programme provides a comprehensive international overview of teaching, learning and educational systems.

Students will develop important transferable skills in scholarly studies, research skills and practice. These will prove useful when students find themselves working as part of a team, or having to handle lots of data.

The master’s programme within this framework aims to prepare students to become a creative, confident, technologically-competent and forward-looking individual who has developed the skills of research, reflection and critical evaluation and is aware of the local, national and global themes, issues, policies, ideology and philosophy that affect professional practise within the chosen field.

The development of autonomous professionals is central and participants should be in a position to analyse, synthesise and evaluate information from diverse sources in order to inform their professional development. They should also be able to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in their discipline and be able to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, propose new hypotheses. These programmes provide a safe space where students can engage in critical academic enquiry and risk-taking.

In addition to this, students will develop the qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment requiring the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility, decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations, the ability to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of incomplete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences.

Requirement for Award

The programme structure enables participants to work towards the award of an MA through the accumulation of credits over a period of time. A staged series of exit awards ensure that an award is provided should participants decide not to complete the programme. This is achieved in the following way:

• a Postgraduate Certificate which requires the successful completion of 60 credits
• a Postgraduate Diploma, which requires the successful completion of 120 credits
• a Masters of Arts award which requires the successful completion of 180 credits.

Students who successfully complete the Core modules and 4 modules from the framework up to a maximum of 80 credits and the Dissertation will be entitled to the award of a Masters award. For a named award at least two-thirds of credits gained from modules directly related to the specialist focus and the dissertation must also relate to the subject area of the named award. Named awards include: The award of:

• Masters of Arts in Education (MA Education)

In addition to the generic MA Education, there are a number of named routes:

• MA Education (Childhood Studies)
• MA Education (Early Years Leadership)

Delivery Mode and Assessment

The course is delivered through a variety of engaging, interactive and hands-on modes, which include face-to-face sessions, small, group discussions, directed tasks/individual study. Students will be given university’s access to Moodle virtual learning environment. Students will be able to access a wide range of e-books and journals.

Note: All learning materials and resources will only be available online in the Student Portal's Learning Resource.

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of a range of key thinkers and theorists in the field of education and their application in a range of educational settings
• Be a confident, critical academic reader and writer at level 7
• Be able to theorise contemporary educational issues in order to think and apply alternatives in your future practice in different settings
• Be a reflexive, critical, evaluative and innovative thinker in the field of education who is capable of independent enquiry and who takes responsibility for learning and professional practice
• Be confident in your knowledge of a range of educational research methodologies and methods
• Conceive, develop and investigate research questions within education using appropriate methods and adhering to ethical standards
• Be able to make a significant contribution in discussions about the contemporary educational debate, collaborate in presentations and workshops and communicate clearly and effectively about educational issues in a variety of modes
• Recognise the role of educators and education as a tool for social justice and change in a local and global society
• Make a positive contribution to learning, teaching, education and organisational development within your role in education
• Have developed specialist knowledge within a key area of education (Special educational needs, International education, early childhood)
• Be able to critically analyse international approaches to practice and contemporary educational issues (International Education)

MA Education (Childhood Studies) Route*

• Introduction to Masters Level Study
• Masters Level Research
• Dissertation
• Critical Issues in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• Dimensions of Childhood and Youth
• International & Comparative Education
• Policy, Politics & Practice

MA Education (Early Years Leadership) Route

• Introduction to Masters Level Study
• Masters Level Research
• Dissertation
• Coaching and Mentoring 2
• Curriculum Matters
• Institutional Effectiveness and Change Management
• Leadership and Management

The module diets indicated above lead to the named award. Students wishing to take a different combination of modules will be able to qualify for the generic MA Education which includes the same core modules.

* only with a minimum of 10 students to offer