Education MA at University of Northampton

As a teacher, education professional or recent graduate you can take this opportunity to enhance your practice by reflecting on your own personal and professional experiences and developing further skills, knowledge and understanding of aspects of specific interest.

This course is available for full-time and part-time study. If you choose the full-time route, the course has a distinct international and comparative perspective, while the part-time option features optional additional modules relating to teacher-led research, mathematics and early years.

Course Details

Throughout the course we encourage you to engage with other students and professional colleagues in order to develop critical approaches to your study of education and your practical teaching.

The MA comprises of modules that can be studied one by one. A key element of many modules is the provision for ‘shared enquiry’, enabling you to engage with other professional colleagues and researchers in developing critical approaches to enquiry within practical education (and education-related) contexts.

There is a full time pathway through this MA. This is particularly targeted at international students and has a strong international and comparative flavour, although UK students are very welcome to apply. It consists of four compulsory modules and a thesis.

The four modules that must be taken on the full-time pathway are:

School and Classroom Cultures
Educational Leadership
International Perspectives on Education
Research methods

There are also a range of modules which enable teachers to engage with reflective, teacher-led research.

Methods of Learning

All of the teaching for this course is in small group format, such as seminars and workshops, enabling you to engage in discussion and debate. You will also be able to attend research seminars, day courses and other educational activities. Underpinning all of what we teach is the linking of theory and practice, allowing you to critically reflect on work-based issues, concerns and developments.

This course is taught as interactive sessions, with a focus on active engagement and discussion. There are 140 contact hours for the entire MA, which means you will typically have six hours of classes per week for full-time attendance and you will be expected to undertake a further 24 hours of self-directed study and research each week.

If you are studying part-time, the course will take between two and five years to complete, and you will typically have two hours of classes per week and should undertake eight hours of self-directed study per week. However, the workload is not consistently spread over the year and so there may be times when you are working more hours in a given week.

As well as your usual sessions, you can also attend workshops and presentations associated with research that the Faculty of Education and Humanities is involved in.

Assessments

The way we assess is flexible and sensitive to your existing professional workloads, linking your studies with aspects of work on-going in your own school or setting.

There are no exams for this course. Instead, assessment is in the form of essays, portfolios, presentations and small scale research projects. You will complete the MA with a final project or dissertation.

Scholarships

EU and International Scholarships

We’re committed to offering the opportunity to study in the UK to the best and brightest students from around the world.

TD Lewis Scholarship

The T D Lewis Scholarship provides both undergraduate and postgraduate students with financial awards of up to £1,000.  This scholarship is awarded on educational excellence…

The Chancellor's Fund

The Chancellor’s Fund is a bi-annual fund providing students with awards of between £100 and £1,000. You must be a current student to apply.  The…