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MRes Education
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Objectives
The programme aims to provide advanced training in research methods across the full range of the social sciences for both prospective researchers and those currently working in the field, as well as in-depth knowledge of educational issues.
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Entry requirements
people with a 2:1 first degree in a social science subject or overseas equivalent.
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Academic title
MRes Education
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Course description
Programme description
- teaching from staff with international reputations in the field.
- flexibility and choice over the duration of the programme enables participants to take acount of new interests and changing concerns.
- students are able to undertake professionally focused research that reflects their specific interests.
You will gain a thorough theoretical and practical knowledge of the variety of data collection methods available to the social scientist and of the principle methods of analysing social data.
The programme includes four interdisciplinary modules in Social Science research methods: Qualitative Research Methods; Quantitative Research Methods; Theory & Methodologies of the Social Sciences; and Applied Social Science: Research Design and Project Management. You will also choose two specialist Education master's modules from an approved list of over 20 and carry out a pilot research study in an aspect of education.
Programme format and assessment
The core modules are compulsory. All modules are assessed by coursework. There are no written examinations.
Programme modules for MRes Education
Theory and Methodologies of the Social Sciences (Core Module)
Through seminar discussions, students will consider a range of philosophical approaches to the social sciences, from positivism and empiricism, to hermenuetics, marxism, and post-structuralism, and discuss the relationship between theoretical debates in particular disciplines to those within the wider social sciences. Each seminar will begin with student-led discussion of readings and then end with a more formal presentation from the instructor to introduce the material for the coming week.
Conceptual Development and Science Learning
Major theoretical perspectives on learning and on the communication of knowledge will be considered together with empirical evidence from studies on (1) students' learning and concept development and (2) the design of learning environments. Major perspectives on learning which will be considered include Piagetian theory; information processing theory; Vygotsky and the social construction of knowledge; language and learning in science. Theoretically grounded approaches to promoting more effective learning environments will be presented. Finally, evidence relating to the progression of students' understanding of the concepts and epistemological basis of knowledge will be discussed.
Critical Religious Education
This course provides a critical overview of the basic issues and contours of the model of Critical Religious Education developed at King’s College, which informs the pedagogy of the National Framework for Religious Education. Particular attention is given to a) the model’s philosophical roots in critical realism, b) its realistic understanding of personal identity, religious traditions, and transcendent truth claims, c) its pedagogical practices grounded in phenomenography and variation theory, and d) comparison with alternative phenomenological and constructivist religious education pedagogy.
Design and Evaluation of Educational Software
Approaches to the selection and evaluation of educational software and online resources will be discussed and illustrated with reference to a wide range of educational software. The course will include practical evaluation sessions. The design and development of educational software and online resources will be considered with particular emphasis on issues such as user interface design, screen layout and styles of interaction. The influence of new software environments will be discussed.
Education, Policy and the City
Policies are developed in order to tackle what are perceived to be social issues or problems. For example, currently we have policies which aim to include children, students and all learners in society in order to improve their life chances. However, concerns about ‘problems’ in society are not new. In the nineteenth century in Britain, the movement of many people from the country-side to the newly emerging cities was accompanied by social changes and concerns about poverty, poor housing, child labour and what were viewed as the threats of the growing urban working class. It became accepted that the government (the state) would have to do something about these issues. Social policies were enacted to try to ameliorate these problems. Obviously education – the focus of this course - was one form of policy intervention. In this course we want to consider the origins of state intervention (policy) into educational provision. We will examine how and why certain policies were taken up, which ideologies have dominated at certain times and we will explore the sorts of policy outcomes which have come from all this. We want to consider how policies are developed and how they are implemented. We also want to consider how they change in the different contexts in which they are interpreted, experienced, enacted and/or resisted as well as through the actions of those charged with their implementation. Our course title includes the word city because it is in cities that we can most easily see the way in which educational and other policies do their work and are resisted/ appropriated/impact on the lives of those who ‘people policy’.
Educational Assessment
This course uses the concept of the validity of an educational assessment as an organising focus for a comprehensive treatment of assessment issues. The course begins with a critique of traditional 'psychometric' approaches to assessment, detailing why they are inappropriate for educational settings. In their place, a framework for validity that acknowledges the essentially social nature of assessment will be developed. Within this framework, the resolution of a number of 'tensions' in assessment will be discussed. These will include: summative assessment v formative assessment, valid assessment v reliable assessment, assessment for selection v assessment for motivation, continuous assessment v 'one-off' assessment, internal assessment v external assessment, assessment for monitoring v assessment for diagnosis, norm-referenced assessment v criterion-referenced assessment. In the second half of the course (i.e., weeks 5-10), each participant will make a presentation to the group either on one of the tensions listed above, or on some other relevant topic agreed with the course organiser. The assessment of the course will be based on both the presentation and a short essay, which can either be based on the presentation topic chosen, or some other 'tension'.
Effective Language Practices in Multiethnic and Multilingual Classrooms
This course is designed for those who are involved in the education of language minority students in the primary, secondary and FE sectors in the UK. Students will gain an understanding of: policy, theory and practice in the teaching and learning of ESL/EAL in school/college settings principles and practice of integrating language and content teaching assessment of ESL/EAL development.
Enabling e-Inclusion
This module focuses for the most part on those aspects of e-Inclusion related to learning difficulties/disabilities and digital technologies. The module will introduce students to e-Inclusion and to the theoretical frameworks in which it is grounded, and will develop participants’ knowledge, understanding and capacity to critically appraise and systematically reflect on: The history and development of the use of technology to support learning, especially by those who find learning difficult Developing theories and policies related to the use of such technology, and the eventual formulation of the concept of e-Inclusion The medical and social models of inclusion, together with the associated policies on withdrawal vs. support Differing theoretical frameworks for LDD (including dyslexia) and technological responses to these
English & the Arts of Language
By the end of this course students will be able to situate their own practice within an arts paradigm; apply to their thinking about teaching a knowledge of the relevant literature on writing, composition and rhetoric to issues in the teaching of English; reflect on their own practice as teachers and arts practitioners; apply to their thinking about teaching an understanding of what is involved in students’ appreciation of the language-based arts; and apply to their thinking about teaching an understanding of the relevance to English of creative work within performing arts, moving image and other modalities The course develops knowledge and understanding of aspects of psychological, philosophical and aesthetic and literary theory relevant to a theoretical foundation for an arts-oriented English and key issues in the debates about the place and relative importance of the arts in education.
Foundations of Teaching & Learning Mathematics
By the end of the course, participants will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theoretical frameworks, particularly sociological and psychological, and their influences on teaching and learning in mathematics education; demonstrate an ability to review critically and theoretically discourses and positions related to the teaching and learning of mathematics; demonstrate an ability to engage critically with and respond to research and scholarship within the field of mathematics education and apply their knowledge, understanding and intellectual skills to write an informed and critical review about a topic in their chosen area of study. The course develops knowledge and understanding of a range of theoretical frameworks, particularly psychological and sociological, and their influence on teaching and learning in mathematics education; research findings from psychological and sociological research paradigms and their influence on teaching and learning in mathematics education and the seminal texts and literature relating to the psychology and sociology of mathematics education.
Foundations of Teaching & Learning Science
By the end of this course, participants will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theoretical frameworks, particularly sociological and psychological, on teaching and learning in Science education; demonstrate an ability to critically consider research based evidence and its implications for practice and apply their knowledge, understanding and intellectual skills to write an informed and critical review about a topic in their chosen area of study. The course develops knowledge and understanding of a range of theoretical frameworks, particularly sociological and psychological influences, on teaching and learning in science education and the seminal texts and literature in these areas.
From Theory to Practice: The Contexts of Jewish Education
This module builds on the corpus of theory studied in the Philosophies of Jewish Education module. It examines the relationship of educational philosophies and visions to the historical, economic and sociological contexts in which Jewish education operates. Case studies form an integral part of the module, as does comparative analysis of provision in the UK and abroad.
ICT and Literacy
This is a cross-curricular course which has been popular with students on the Languages and ICT programmes among others. The course will examine central issues related to new and wider definitions of literacy in the light of recent developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and will examine the implications of these for notions of literacy and its pedagogy. Also considered will be the various ways in which language has developed as a result of the devices, mechanisms and practices that are being used on the Internet – including email, chat and the World Wide Web. It is essential that all course participants are confident users of email and the Web, as much of the course will be delivered online through the use of a virtual learning environment.
ICT Policy & Practice
By the end of the course, participants will be able to discuss social and historical critical frameworks for the evaluation of policy development and strategy for ICT use in schools; apply frameworks to studies of ICT policy implementation and actual use reported in the literature; demonstrate familiarity with a range of educational change theories and use one or more to discuss aspects of policy implementation in schools; demonstrate familiarity with a range of professional development theories and use one or more to discuss aspects of ICT practice in schools; discuss and analyse the relationship between policies and realities of practice in schools; reflect upon and explain possible reasons for the successes and failures of strategies for ICT use in schools and discuss the implications of the changing nature of ICT and its impact on policy development and the reality of practice in schools.
Issues in ICT Teaching & Learning
By the end of this course, participants will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theoretical frameworks, particularly psychological, on teaching and learning with ICT; demonstrate an ability to critically consider research based evidence and its implications for practice and apply their knowledge, understanding and intellectual skills to write an informed and critical review about a topic in their chosen area of study.
Issues in Teaching & Learning Modern Foreign Languages
By the end of the course, participants will be able to articulate the key concepts in second language acquisition theory; understand how these concepts have been applied in MFL teaching practices; critique various teaching and learning approaches and the theoretical precepts which underpin them and relate this broader understanding to participants' own teaching contexts. The course develops knowledge and understanding of a range of theoretical frameworks on teaching and learning in MFL education and the seminal texts and literature in these areas.
Language Contact, Bilingualism and Black Englishes
This course is designed for teachers, lecturers and others who are interested in examining some of the societal and individual linguistic consequences of the encounters between peoples and languages. The course will include the analysis of concepts such as bilingualism, multilingualism and the formation and function of languages like Caribbean Creoles and the Black Englishes of the United States and the UK.
Notions of English
By the end of this course participants will have an understanding of key elements of an epistemological framework for the teaching of English; a knowledge of the competing philosophies of English, the history of these positions and their current manifestations; an understanding of the cognitive activities distinctively involved in English; an ability to reflect on their own assessment practices and an awareness of the assumptions underlying their own pedagogical practices and an ability to reflect on their efficacy in relation to the teaching of English The course develops knowledge and understanding of aspects of psychological, philosophical and aesthetic and literary theory relevant to a theoretical foundation for an arts-oriented English and key issues in the debates about the place and relative importance of the arts in education
Performing Arts in the Classroom
By the end of this module, students will have an understanding of the potential role that arts organisations can bring to classroom practice; a knowledge of the relevant theory and an understanding of how that might be practically applied; an understanding of the importance of dialogue with arts practitioners; an ability to apply approaches to learning developed by arts practitioners to their own classroom practice and a knowledge of the history of arts education and an awareness of the current role of the arts within education policy.
Philosophies of Jewish Education
This course will introduce students to the key characteristics of major philosophies and theories of Jewish education, and enable them to articulate and critique different visions of Jewish education. Students will study key classical and contemporary texts on views of teaching, learning and education, and reflect critically on what it means to be an educated Jew.
Policy, Practice & the Mathematics Curriculum
By the end of the course, participants will be able to demonstrate critical awareness and appreciation of theoretical frameworks such as sociological, philosophical, and historical, and their influences on curriculum, practice and policy in mathematics education; demonstrate an ability to analyse critically historical developments within mathematics education policy and practice and the ideological/ values-related assumptions underlying these; demonstrate an ability to reflect on the relationship between understandings of mathematics education at theoretical levels and within policy and practice and demonstrate an ability to relate aspects of practice to public and curricular influences and to reflect on the nature and impact of such influences.
Practical Placement: Globe Theatre
By the end of this course, students will have a critical understanding of performing arts practice at the Globe; a critical understanding of the variety of arts forms that contribute to the creation of theatre at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre; a critical knowledge of a specified aspect of project or area of work within the Globe; a critical knowledge of how a particular issue or topic makes itself manifest in a variety of arts organisations; an ability to reflect upon and apply the knowledge they have gained in the placement to their thinking about practice in the classroom and an ability to devise activities for the classroom.
Qualitative Research Methods
The objective of this course is to equip students with qualitative methodological skills. It is designed to introduce students to a range of qualitative methodologies and analytic techniques. It will also provide experience of qualitative interviewing, ethnographic observation and qualitative data analysis. The course is split into two parts: the first part of the course covers intersubjective methods such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, and ethnography. The second part focuses on methods of qualitative analysis, including textual and discourse analysis, archival scholarship, and computer-based qualitative data coding, using packages such as NVIVIO NUD*ist and AtlasTI. Please contact the lecturer responsible for further information on the content of the course.
Quantitative Methods for Social Science Research
The first part of this course focuses on collecting quantitative data and introduces survey and questionnaire design; sampling and error measurement; and the access and use of major public databases such as the census. The second section covers basic techniques of quantitative data analysis, including: descriptive statistics and exploratory data analysis; statistical inference; regression analysis and measures of association; and provides computer training in the use of Excel and SPSS. This course is taught by the Department of Management.
Recent Developments in Education Management
The course, taught by the School of Education and Professional Studies, will focus on theoretical perspectives, research findings and the politics of research. Sessions will cover both problem solving and critical approaches to educational management, educational reform, leadership, educational change, educational markets, managerialism, the 'Third Way', curriculum analysis, development and management. Other issues explored will include: the relationship between policy and practice; between decision making and consultation; power and authority; gender and the micropolitics of educational organisations. Although some case studies will be based on the UK context, the intention is to inform debate on education in different societies and to make students aware of the comparative dimension to the study of educational management. The content of this module is subject to regular review in order to take account of recent developments in the field.
Recent Developments in ICT Education
This course will introduce some of the major current issues associated with the use of computers in education. There will be consideration of how the use of computers can be related to learning, teaching and the curriculum; the nature of educational software; and the impact of new technologies such as multimedia and networking. Attention will be paid to the effects of the National Curriculum in England and Wales, though not to the exclusion of consideration of the effects on the curricula of other countries. Specific areas to be introduced will include: the use of generic software; multimedia; the Internet as an information source; communications; web-based learning, modelling and artificial intelligence. The sessions will generally divide into two. The first part of each evening will be based on a presentation/seminar on one specific area. The discussion will be supported by a pre-session reading task. Generally, the second half will involve the following types of activities: focused computer-based practical tasks; individual students sharing their plans for their essays; focussed tasks based on specific papers, reports or other documents.
Recent Developments in Mathematics Education
This course will provide an overview of recent developments in mathematics education. A major focus of this module will be the exploration of research being undertaken at King’s in the context of recent developments more widely. The content of this course will be subject to regular review so as to ensure that the course reflects recent developments. We anticipate that the topics which will be considered will be drawn from: International comparisons, Progression in learning mathematics, Processes in mathematics, The role of IT in mathematics education, Social theories of teaching & learning, The impact of feminisms on mathematics education, Social Justice and mathematics education, Assessment practices and mathematics education.
Recent Developments in Modern Language Teaching
The course explores recent developments in MFL education in the UK, other EU countries and other global contexts. Topics which will be considered include: recent research and initiatives in language teaching and learning, teaching approaches, learning strategies, assessment frameworks, resources, the European Dimension, Citizenship, gender and culturality. In sessions, we focus on core texts and interrogate them and undertake a range of interactive activities, all based on specified pre-reading. All topics are related to issues of classroom practice and school policy.
Recent Developments in Science Education
This course aims: to develop a knowledge and understanding of recent research and current developments in science education with a particular focus on the theoretical base; to develop the abilities to review critically and evaluate research findings and their implications; to consider the implications for policy and practice; to provide an opportunity for in-depth consideration, analysis and critical review of one research-based recent development in science education The course will begin by examining the historical context of science education, with particular reference to the UK, to explore the influences that have been formative on structuring the existing provision. We will explore the competing demands on science education, how they are, or are not met, and their impact on curricula and policy. In the sessions that follow the course will examine recent bodies of research in the areas of assessment, cognitive acceleration, ideas, evidence and argumentation, constructivism, the role of language in science education, informal science education and practical enquiry. You will be required to undertake focussed reading and engage in analysis and critique of the ideas and their implications. The intention is to develop a knowledge and understanding of some of the recent thinking that guides current thinking about what constitutes good practice and the research evidence for its value. During the course, you will be required to select one topic for a fuller analysis for your written assignment. One session will be devoted to a presentation of your initial thoughts and exploration and formative feedback provided for the full assignment.
Religious Education: Context, Curriculum and Methodology
This course provides a critical overview of the basic issues and contours of contemporary practice and debate in religious education in Britain. Particular attention is given to the issues of methodology and ideology, and to effective teaching and learning in religious education. The content centres chiefly on the modern (post-1944) history of religious education in Britain is traced through its most prominent debates, personalities and developments. Attention is given to the diversity of methodologies employed by British religious educators (confessional, implicit, phenomenological, spiritual, conceptual, ethnographic and critical); these are discussed and evaluated in the context of the legislative arrangements, national guidelines and statutory and non-statutory advice that pertain to religious education.
School Effectiveness and Improvement
School effectiveness and improvement research has become very popular in recent years but has also become increasingly criticised for being a socially and politically decontextualised body of literature which provides support for inequitable educational reforms. This course is intended to provide a critical appraisal of this literature by looking at its methodological and theoretical problems, whether school effectiveness and school improvement claims are justified and the relationship between this literature and recent education policy in the UK and elsewhere. While this is emphatically not a course on 'fixing' underperforming schools, the school effectiveness and improvement literature provides a fascinating example of the way educational research is never neutral but is coloured by the political, ideological and methodological concerns of its time.
Science and Religion
This course is suitable for both science teachers and RE specialists. It serves as a general introduction to the subject. Topics will include: changing views of science from Greek Antiquity to the present; conflict thesis; Galileo affair; Darwinian controversies; miracles; language in science and religion; evidence and belief; cosmology; educational issues and resources.
Social Context of Schooling
This course is designed to provide a framework through which to examine the conflicting aims, claims, values and beliefs which have underpinned educational provision over time. The course considers several key social science concepts or fields of study with education as the major substantive focus and processes of social change providing the major context of concern. The key concepts include: gender, 'race', class, post-fordism, the market, the politics of knowledge and micropolitics. The overall aim of the course is to introduce students to a set of concepts, theories and ideas which will enable them to place their own subject interests in relation to significant social, political and economic changes taking place in modern society.
Social Justice in the City
This course explores what is meant by the concept of social justice and some of the difficulties involved in trying to enact socially just practices. It will consider tensions between distributive, cultural and associational forms of justice by looking at some examples of contexts in which these tensions arise.
Teacher Development
In recent years, the gaze of researchers and policy makers has focused increasingly on teachers and teacher change. In this course, teacher development is considered as an area of knowledge from a range of perspectives including historical, sociological, psychological, political and philosophical. The concepts of ‘teacher’ and ‘development’ are examined separately in parallel to the concept of ‘teacher development’. The roles and representations of teachers (e.g. as ‘professionals’ or as ‘change agents’) are explored in depth. Predominantly quantitative research into teacher knowledge, behaviours and attitudes is compared and contrasted with qualitative research into teachers’ lives and careers. Models of the process of development in professionals: e.g. the reflective practitioner or the competence based model are examined as are more holistic models, e.g. models of social, personal and professional growth. The research into long-term teacher change and its management is examined. The role of appraisal, monitoring and inspection, mentoring and induction are considered in the context of education management. Participants are expected to use their knowledge and experience of their own and their colleagues’ development to interpret and inform their reading and discussions
Duration
One year FT, two years PT, September to September.
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