Education Studies with Foundation Year BA (Hons)

This module is designed to enable you to gain an understanding of how Education and Early years provision in the UK have developed since the 19th Century. 

You will explore philosophical questions about the role of education and consider the aims/purpose of education. 

You will be introduced to key concepts such as ‘marketisation’, ‘social mobility’ and ‘meritocracy’ and explore ways in which inequalities related to ‘race’, ‘class’, gender and ‘disability’ are reproduced within the education system.

Understanding inclusion and equality is integral to a successful study of education and professional practice. 

This module looks at key ideas and debates in inclusion and equality, examining factors contributing to inequalities in educational outcomes, including the areas of social class, special educational needs and disability (SEND). 

You will develop your understanding of barriers to equality in education and explore best practices in education settings through engaging with practically oriented research and evidence.

This module will enable you to critically reflect upon your own education values and how these serve as a reference point for your own practice. 

A sound knowledge and understanding of key learning theories and how they can be applied to practice in ‘real-world’ settings is essential for professionals working in education and this module will give you the foundation blocks on which to build a broader theoretical knowledge.

This module will critically appraise the concept of language awareness in education with the focus on the current debates in language teaching and learning. It will introduce you to the main theories of language development across the lifespan. You will gain a detailed understanding of current research evidence on bilingualism, second language learning, and foreign language learning in different contexts through guided examination of key texts. This module will provide you will practical evidence-based strategies to support English language learning in linguistically diverse educational settings.

Child development is multifaceted. This module will provide you with knowledge of physical, cognitive, social, emotional and language development, and you will learn how these domains of development are interrelated. You will also learn about key milestones from early childhood to the end of adolescence. 

Crucially, you will develop an understanding of how to support children with different aspects of development and how to recognise when a child’s development is not as expected. 

These are key skills for any education practitioner working with children and will stand you in good stead for the placement at Level 5 and beyond in the workplace.

This module focuses on the experience of the classroom from both teacher and pupil perspectives. Drawing upon the more theoretical approach of the other L4 core modules, this module extends your thinking to specific examples of the impact of learning theory and educational policy in a real-world context. 

An important part of this module will be your development of impactful learning practices not least because the classroom plays a key role in developing innovation and creativity, but also because it is key when fostering belonging and community.

Assessment is often regarded as a contentious issue in education. Given the crucial importance of assessment for teaching and learning, it is necessary to have an understanding of the different principles, theories and practices that underpin assessment. You will learn the purposes of assessment, the components of assessment and the role of feedback. You will demonstrate an awareness of the role of learning outcomes in the assessment practices and inclusive curriculum design.

The module aims to explore how educational theories concepts, movements and philosophical thoughts impact pedagogy from early years to higher education. You will look at case studies and exemplars focusing on different pedagogic models and innovations from Western, eastern and postcolonial contexts and engage in formative dialogue synthesising these educational approaches and their philosophical underpinnings.

This module explores educational goals, policies and practices around the world through a comparative lens. You will gain a critical understanding of the factors, such as poverty, globalisation, migration and conflict, that impact economic and social mobility, school enrolment, girls’ education and access to quality education in different parts of the world. 

You will critically examine the colonial and postcolonial roots of comparative education and the distribution of power among the policy actors in the field. 

Taking a human rights perspective, you will evaluate the shift from increasing access to formal schooling for all children and communities (Millennium Development Goals) to improving the quality of teaching/learning (Sustainable Development Goals #4) and its implications across various global contexts.

In this module you will develop the skills to explore and analyse a topic, evaluate the evidence-based information to identify a clinical practice gap and develop an action plan using research evidence to address the gap. This will form part of your dissertation/service improvement project.

This practice placement module aims to enable you to reflect upon and work towards career and personal goals. The module consists of theoretical and experiential components and allows examining and critically evaluating the relationship between educational concepts and theories, and their application in a relevant setting. 

You will be encouraged to explore theories of teaching, learning and assessment, educational policy, leadership and the safeguarding of children and young people. Within a relevant education-related workplace setting, you will apply the theoretical knowledge and skills gained over the course of your studies. 

This module will support you in gaining clear expectations of the skills needed to meet your chosen graduate employment path, plan for your career goals, and develop key graduate attributes. You will be required to carry out a minimum of 80 hours of experiential learning in a self-sourced relevant setting within the field of education.

Digital technology has changed childhood, schools and the wider culture and society. In most young people’s lives computers and digital devices are formative in both academic and pastoral/ personal ways. As well as being a key learning tool they offer the potential to provide opportunities for imaginative self-expression, creativity and play, serving as a medium through which personal, social and learning relationships are formed. 

In this module you will broadly examine how new technologies and associated social practices transform children's lives and schooling. You will consider how digital practices are shaped and how these affect children’s identity and educational experiences as well as teacher’s development. Particular attention will be given to the notion of digital literacy, as a means of understanding children’s digital experiences.

Education is guided by policy at local, national, and, increasingly, global levels. This module will help you to understand how and why policy is made, the impact upon practice and their role in policy as an educator, and the role that politics, ideology, society, and the economy play in education policy.

Leadership has a significant impact upon the teaching and learning outcomes, and overall ethos and culture, in any educational setting. 

In this module, you will begin by examining the difference between leadership and management, terms that are often used interchangeably yet have differing definitions. You will then explore different theories of leadership, before examining the impact that different leadership styles have upon teaching and learning in schools and how leadership differs in early years settings. 

The module then introduces some of the challenges that leaders face, including managing conflict, leading through change and dealing with gender stereotypes in leadership. Finally, you will learn the theories and skills to help you become a reflective leader, to build an effective team, to support new leaders and to coach, mentor and supervise other practitioners.

This module is about examining perspectives and challenging our thinking around Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The module will critically engage with both SEND theory and practice, so that you can inform it, challenge it, implement it and re-shape it.

This module will provide the opportunity for you to examine and explore the personal, social, psycho-motor, and emotional needs of children with special needs.

This module will provide you with the tools to examine and interrogate the assumed neutrality of everyday processes in education settings, explore attitudes to cultural differences, and reflect on the ways in which education practitioners can develop learning environments that can help every child reach their own potential.

This module builds on from level 5 research methodology module and enables you to undertake an individual enquiry-based study related to a relevant topic of your choice within the areas of Education studies. This may be an empirically based investigation, a thematic literature review or a library-based piece of research.

You will attend fortnightly lectures/workshops to provide effective scaffolding to support you with the practicalities of completing this project. For example, you will be provided with support in completing an ethics proposal; defining your research question; choosing an appropriate methodology and analysing your findings.