EDUCATION STUDIES at Canterbury Christ Church University

Explore the big questions underpinning education through the lens of history, psychology, sociology and philosophy. Discover learning across the lifespan, from the cradle to the grave. Examine key issues around sustainability and arts education and argue your case for alternative models of education and society drawing upon informed and cutting-edge research and debate.

You’ll compare education systems in different countries and cultures, and build an understanding of how people learn and develop throughout their lives. This thought provoking and stimulating course also gives you the chance to move beyond this core, exploring issues such as globalisation and the impact of neoliberalism, politics and education or the role of the arts in education. There are also opportunities to explore how education is represented in the media, film or in literature. 

Our personalised tutoring will give you the opportunity to develop a deeper and more holistic understanding of education as a philosophy as well as a pedagogy and you will be supported to develop your studies to suit your career aspirations. In addition, you will have the opportunity to visit a range of educational settings such as schools or community education groups

You will explore areas including:

• sociology, philosophy, history, psychology and literacy
• sustainability
• ethics, politics and extremism
• the role of the arts in education.

Why Education studies?

This thought-­provoking and stimulating course offers the opportunity to explore the relationship between education and some fundamental questions underpinning the world. Education studies examines how people learn and develop throughout their whole lifetimes, investigating how successful this is, exploring the impact education does or does not have on how we live our lives as individuals, communities, countries and cultures.

Oppression of minorities, inequality and poverty, and marginalisation of social and ethnic groups remain national and international problems. The solution to these issues, in whatever form, can only start with education. But even these long-standing concerns are dwarfed by the new global emergency of climate change. Whatever the future of the world, education must be a catalyst in rethinking how we treat the planet and in adjusting to the new reality of how climate change will dramatically effect communities, nations, peoples and cultures.

The degree includes several modules that directly address such big questions, and aims to support you in becoming an expert in understanding not just how people are educated, but also the role education plays in sustained and life-long change, particularly in matters of social justice, sustainability and the environment.

Who is this course for?

Education Studies has always attracted students who are passionate about the role education plays in people’s lives and are interested in finding out about the learning process, how humans learn and the role educational settings play in shaping how people see the world. More than this however, if you also feel passionate about the challenges the world faces, particularly issues regarding sustainability and social justice you are likely to feel at home on the course. 

Education studies is also very attractive to students who are not quite ready to specialise in one particular area. Because it has a base in a variety of fields - particularly sociology, psychology, history and philosophy – it is a great course to choose if you want a general background in a variety of topics rather than be constrained to just one area. The great advantage to this is the breadth of knowledge you will gain. 

What can i do next?

Education Studies is a broad academic course that provides a foundation for many different professional career paths. 

Our graduates have gained employment in various fields including corporate training, teaching English abroad, educational publishing, the third sector, social and educational research, educational administration, speech and language therapy, and management in either local or national government. Many of our students go on to postgraduate study, such as Master's degrees, teacher training or other professional qualifications.