X9K907 - Durham University

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Course details

The MA in Education provides outstanding opportunities to study a wide range of educational issues. It will provide you with a clear understanding of the nature and significance of policy and practice in education, relevant to researchers as well as professionals in schools, colleges and universities.

A key feature of the course is the facility for you to draw on your own professional and personal as well as academic and theoretical interests, through being able to choose from a range of optional modules to study (see below). You will also be able to explore your own interests in depth through the completion of a dissertation.

In all of our modules, we aim to introduce you to key ideas and ways of thinking that enable you to engage with related issues in contexts that are relevant to you. Our course is constructed in such a way that contexts as diverse as science education in schools, informal learning in the workplace and the management of schools outside the UK, can be explored through module assignments as well as the dissertation.

The degree has been designed to meet the needs of educational professionals, especially those in teaching, management or administration at all levels of education. Students likely to benefit from the course are those who are interested in education, often teachers or people planning to become teachers, who have a commitment to pedagogy, and educational managers in schools, colleges and higher education institutions, as well as those working in educational administration, in the UK and overseas.

Students who have successfully completed the PGCE at Durham in the previous academic year have the option to use 90 credits they have accredited on this course. These students will only need to do the core modules, Education Enquiry and the Dissertation to complete the course.

Course Structure

Students normally study two 20 credit core taught modules, two 10 credit taught modules, two 30 credit modules plus the dissertation over one year.

Core modules:

Design and Methods in Education Research (20 credits)
Conceptual Perspectives in Education (20 credits).

Mini modules:

You must select two 10 credit modules from a list of optional modules which may include:

Secondary Data in Education Research
Ethnographies of Education
Measurement in Education
Research Interviews
Narrative Enquiry.

Examples of optional modules:

You must select 60 credits from a list of modules which may include:

Assessment
Psychology of the Learner
Inclusive Pedagogies for Diverse Classrooms
Digital Technologies and Education: Critical Perspectives
Enhancing Teaching and Learning for Purposeful Productive Thought
Language, Education and Power
Leading Change in Educational Organisations.

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Learning

In all of our postgraduate taught courses, we place an emphasis on empowering students to be autonomous, independent learners. The taught modules provide an introduction to module content which is then developed and extended through our use of online resources, key reading and independent study and research. We consider the development of independent learning and research skills to be one of the key elements of our postgraduate taught curriculum and one which helps our students cultivate initiative, originality and critical thinking. In other words, students are advised not to restrict their study to the content provided in lectures and seminars.

On the MA Education programme, you will take compulsory core modules worth a total of 60 credits plus two optional modules worth 60 credits. Modules are delivered using a combination of lectures, seminars workshops, and tutorials. The core modules are designed to provide you with a critical understanding of theories, research and issues relevant to your chosen course of study. Outside timetabled contact hours, you are also expected to devote significant amounts of time to reading, discussing and preparing for classes, assignments and project work.

You will undertake a 60 credit dissertation. This crucial piece of work is a significant piece of independent research that constitutes a synthesis of theory, method, and practice in education and is supported by an individual supervisor, specialist dissertation workshops and the Dissertation Coordinator.

Throughout the course, all students meet regularly with an Academic Advisor, who provides academic support and guidance. In addition, Programme Leads have regular office hours where they meet students to discuss any issues. Module staff are also happy to meet with you to discuss module specific issues as needed.

In term time, the department also has an extensive programme of departmental and research group seminars which postgraduate students are encouraged to attend (please check our events page for up to date information: https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/education/about-us/events ). Before the academic year starts, we provide information on preparation for the course. On arrival, we have induction sessions and social events, headed by the Director of Postgraduate Studies and attended by both academic and administrative staff.

Fees and funding

Full Time Fees

Tuition fees
Home students	£9,900 per year
EU students	£21,500 per year
Island students	£9,900 per year
International students	£21,500 per year

The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of full time study, are set according to the academic year of entry, and remain the same throughout the duration of the programme for that cohort (unless otherwise stated).

Please also check costs for colleges and accommodation.