Course description
Schools and Communities (PGCert)
Duration: Part-time over 1-2 years
Course Content
Through two core 30-credit modules, the Postgraduate Certificate in Schools and Communities aims to:
-develop your understanding of the ways in which schools are historically and geographically situated
-enable you to understand more about what is required of schools and schooling in different places and at different times
-explore some of the interconnections and tangles which create pressures, problems and paradoxes for schools
-help you understand more about the potential for schools to change, particularly in response to equity agendas
-develop detailed analyses of particular aspects of school in order to understand more about the impact of the school's location, history, context, structure and relation to different communities on its mission and functioning
-develop your research literacy by understanding the position and nature of education research reports
-problematise research in education by engaging with current policy initiatives
-help you to identify how educational practice can be improved by critically applying research
-develop your understanding of education research paradigms and key issues in educational research methods and methodology
-develop understanding of practice based enquiry and introduce research methods and design
-develop a commitment to continuous professional learning through ongoing practice-based enquiry.
These core modules are:
Understanding Schools and their Communities
Research, Policy and Educational Practice
Please note that all module details are subject to change.
Course Structure
The Postgraduate Certificate in Schools and Communities can be taken on a part-time basis over one to two years.
The course comprises two core modules, which can be taken in any order. Understanding Schools and their Communities is offered during the Education Summer Study. Research, Policy and Educational Practice is offered in twilight and Saturday sessions throughout the spring semester.
Each module is taught through 30 hours of direct teaching in whole group sessions. Electronic or face-to-face individual support and teaching is also provided, as appropriate to students' contexts.
Each 30-credit module is assessed by a written assignment of 5,000-6,000 words. For you to complete the programme successfully, you must achieve a Pass grade on each assignment
