WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
This course investigates contemporary education in a lively and stimulating way, from primary and secondary through to higher and adult education.
It's very much a sociology-based course, looking at sociological factors affecting the family, social policy for young people, education and the national curriculum. We look at the subject from an international perspective to reflect the diversity of our student intake.
You'll explore how individuals develop and learn, how the education system has evolved and how it continues to evolve. You'll learn to critique the purpose of educational interventions and to evaluate arguments on educational issues.
We'll give you an understanding of how political ideologies influence education policy. You'll examine faith schools, special needs education and multiculturalism along with the sociology, psychology and philosophy of education.
You'll learn how to evaluate research, enriching your studies and giving you the know-how and confidence to embark on your own research.
MODULES
Foundation Year
CORE MODULES
Mental Wealth: Introduction to Academic and Professional Identity/Practice
This module is the first of four rungs on the Career Passport pathway which recognises the importance of acknowledging the value of skills, competencies and experience (SCE) beyond academic subject assessment to aid the graduate in securing a job and support career acceleration.
The module will allow students the opportunity to acquire tangible evidence to support their employability narrative, at intervals as the progress throughout their academic studies.
Areas of focus will include intelligence and digital proficiency. Individual intelligence which includes intrapersonal ability to identify, assess, and regulate one’s own emotions and moods; to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions and where one has to make consequential decisions for oneself. These areas will be covered under four areas, emotional, social, physical and cognitive intelligences.
Digital proficiency will provide students with an environment to explore their ability to use ICT effectively; to understand the implications of the proliferation of technology and access to information; and to develop competencies to realise opportunities in the connected digital social and economic space. All UEL students should have access to a Digital Skills Planner (and accreditation programme) to ensure all get to ‘Digital Competence’ level. Where degree-appropriate, a further Digital Expertise route would be available.
Introduction to Early Childhood, Special Needs and Education
- To prepare students for degree level study at the University of East London, by:
- To introduce students to some of the key concepts within the discipline of the Early Childhood Education, Special Education and Education Studies
Social, Emotional and Mental Health
- To reflect on what is meant by behaviour. In doing this, students will be encouraged to consider the effect of issues including stereotyping, expectations and language on how such ‘challenging’ behaviour might be described.
- Students will consider a range of views on how best to support children who may display SEMH difficulties, including the importance of working with parents/carers and specialist agencies.
Placements in Context - Play and Learning
- To understand that young children are learning all the time at home, in the community and in whatever setting they are placed
- To become familiar with different learning environments and settings that support children’s learning and development.
- To understand that young children are learning all the time at home, in the community and in whatever setting they are placed
- To gain an insight into how to observe children closely and to use this as the basis for planning for supporting children’s learning and development.
- To consider carefully the role of language, talk and play in supporting the learning and development of children
- To explore issues relating to language, cultures, needs and interests
- To understand the importance of reflection in practice
Skills for Academic and Professional Writing
To prepare students for degree level study at the University of East London, by:
- Assisting students to manage their own learning and identify, reflect upon and develop their transferable skills
- Providing students with the necessary study skills in the areas of academic writing, information retrieval, and presentation skills
- Providing students with an understanding of theory relevant to studying early childhood, special education and education studies in higher education
Research in Practice: Live Project
- To consolidate knowledge and understanding of topics covered across the foundation programme
- To understand the importance of digital literacy and its role in employability
- To gain an insight into how to design a video presentation and writing scripts
- Plan, prepare and execute a video presentation based on a topic discussed as part of the programme.
- Respond to guidance, affording opportunity for contextualisation and improvement of the representation for project work
- Demonstrate confidence and professionalism in preparation, management, selection and contextualisation of practice, preparing and representing live project work using appropriate skills in communication
Year 1
CORE MODULES
Sociology of Education
This module has the following aims:
- To provide students with an introduction to the sociology of education and a range of sociological and theoretical
- perspectives that have developed within education.
- To explore issues of race, class or gender in terms of educational access and achievement.
- To encourage students to critically reflect upon their own educational backgrounds, experiences and contexts.
- To develop skills of critical reading and reflection.
Philosophy of Education
This module has the following aims:
- to introduce ‘philosophy ’ to students and to compare it to other foundation
- disciplines in education studies: psychology and sociology
- to encounter a range of philosophical perspectives on education
- to address the foundational questions in philosophy
- to provide a context for considering your own attitudes as to the purpose of education
- to develop skills of critical reading and reflection.
Emerging Research Communities
This module will provide you with the opportunity to develop skills associated with problem solving, critical thinking, logical reasoning and researching.
Over the space of twelve weeks, you will work with experienced researchers and academics in the Education subject area at the School of Education and Communities. You will build an active research community of your peers, which will be cultivated over your three years at the University of East London. Staff will continue to support and scaffold this community of research in Level 5, culminating in your own independent research project at Level 6.
During lectures, you will explore the most appropriate research methods within your discipline accounting for ethical, cultural and social issues. You will be introduced to the key concepts, principles and stages of the research process, engaging with real-life examples from existing and ongoing research in your field of study. During workshops and tutorials, you will work collaboratively with your peers. You will develop the ability to read and compare current and ongoing research literature in your discipline. You will determine the credibility of sources and reflect on the research processed used.
The assessment for this module will be in the form of collaborative group work. It will be submitted as an e-portfolio consisting of two sections
- an infographic/e-poster
- 1,500 written comparison of two pieces of academic research. You will be guided by experienced staff members to achieve the digital proficiency necessary for this assessment, skills which will be beneficial to a future career in any industry.
Key Principles for Inclusion and Diversity
- To provide a broad and critical historical review of the development of the field of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), and the legislative frameworks underpinning its practice.
- To introduce and develop awareness of concepts, terms, definitions and debates within the field
- To introduce critical disability studies and consider the experience of SEN and Disability for diverse social groups
- To provide a critique of the individual deficit model of disability and a critical focus of social oppression theory in the context of commitment to equal opportunities and human rights.
Exploring Social Worlds
This module will develop students’ understanding of people’s social and cultural experience in a range of contexts. It will develop students’ ability to think about practical support for young people’s lives and rights. Students will learn about a range of theoretical perspectives that will help them understand the experiences of children, young people and young adults.
Mental Wealth: Academic and Professional Skills for Life 1
- This module will provide students with the opportunity to identify the skills, competencies and experiences required for youth work and a range of potential future career areas.
- Students will be supported to recognise the areas for their own personal professional development (including emotional, social, physical, cultural and cognitive intelligences) through taught and workshop activity.
- Central to the developmental process is for each student to cultivate their reflective skills, openness and self-awareness to enable themselves to assess what they are doing, identify areas for improvement and confidently receive and give constructive feedback. Students will additionally develop knowledge and strategies for advancing their own emotional, social, physical, cultural and cognitive intelligences and improve their health and well-being.
Year 2
CORE MODULES
Mental Wealth: Academic and Professional Skills for Life 2
This module seeks to develop the key psychological determinants of human performance which are increasingly critical for successful graduate-level employment, entrepreneurship and career progression in the 4th industrial era.
This module will provide students with the opportunity to apply several of the skills, competencies and experience required for successful development to, and in a range of potential career areas.
Students will continue to build upon and advance the skills and concepts they learnt in Level 4 to further develop their emotional intelligence, emotional literacy, reflective skills, and self-awareness.
Students will have the opportunity to explore the skills and knowledge involved in entrepreneurial activities by practising and engaging with self and others in analysis, critical-thinking, problem solving and research.
Contemporary Issues in Education
During this module the students will engage in discussing and analysing contemporary issues in education and heighten their awareness of the relationship between empirical evidence and academic arguments in advancing their understanding. The students will be able to develop their skills in evaluating the evidence and arguments related to contemporary debates. Also, the students will be able to construct theoretical arguments in advancing public representations of educational issues.
Having successfully completed this module the students will be able to evaluate and demonstrate different positions in some contemporary debates about issues in education. Also they will be able to use a range of sources to further extend their knowledge and understanding of issues relating to education, and to critically examine contemporary debates and issues in education.
Identity and Social Justice
In this module students will extend their critical understanding of theory and research from a range of social science disciplines used to explore and analyse the lives and experiences of children and young people (including education, psychology, sociology, human geography and social policy). Students will explore issues of social justices, critically considering:
- how these aspects are addressed within key policies, organisations (including grassroots and third sector), and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;
- the micro- and macro- influences on the lives of children and young people, such as biological, social, economic, political, cultural and/or generational influences, with particular attention paid to issues of inequality and intersectionality;
- the extent to which educators/practitioners influence these aspects of the lives of children and young people;
- children and young people's rights and the extent to which they actively influence these aspects of their own lives.
During the module, students' campus-based studies will be complemented by engagement in educational and community settings, allowing them to develop a critical awareness of current issues relating to the lives of children and young people, and to actively engage in consideration of how drawing upon research evidence from social science disciplines can enable them to affect change in the lives of the children and young people with whom they work/may work in the future.
Building Research Communities
Building Research Communities follows on from the Level 4: Emerging Research Communities by further developing knowledge and understanding of research theories, concepts and processes and the research skills required for independent, ethical and applied research. This module is rooted in the principles of research informed teaching which includes learning about research findings in their field of study; learning research processes and methodologies and learning to work in research 'mode' which builds on pedagogical principles of enquiry-based, active, collaborative and experiential learning, supporting students to engage in critique and discussion in a 'research community of practice' (Lave and Wenger, 1998).
At Level 5: Developing Research Communities focuses on developing students' understanding of research theories, concepts and processes and the research skills required for independent, ethical and applied research. The module will introduce students to key issues in research methodology and design, such as how to develop research questions, using research literature, addressing ethical issues, designing data collection tools and organising and analysing data. Students will explore a range of qualitative research techniques, including interviews, questionnaires, observational studies and documentary research. Students will also be encouraged to reflect on wider questions about how educational and early childhood research helps us to understand social worlds and can impact on policy and practice. This module will provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to carry out an applied research project at Level 6.
In this module students will be supported by a range of workshops to develop research, analytical, and presentation skills, alongside ongoing reflective writing. The module is assessed entirely by coursework with a mixture of individual and group learning experiences. Students are assessed individually.
Ideology, Politics, and Policy in Education
This is a highly innovative module that draws strongly on aspects of politics, philosophy, economics, sociology, social policy, and comparative education, as well as activism. You will be introduced to historical and new national and educational developments focussing on policy agendas to try and understand these in the context of neo-liberalisation of education in England, and the possibility for social change.
This module challenges you to be critical, and this is specifically in the context of making sense of the current education policy agenda in England by understanding the political-economic ideology of the Government that drives education policy making.
Education Practice
The aims of the module are to:
- enable students to develop their learning about the various career progression opportunities in the education sector
- engage students with knowledge and understanding of contemporary practice issues facing the education sector
- provide students with the opportunity to engage with and learn from professionals from the education sectors
- support students to identify their aspirations and plan for the remainder of their studies
- enhance students employability skills
- increase knowledge and confidence and employability prospects
Year 3
CORE MODULES
Mental Wealth: Academic and Professional Skills for Life 3
This module will provide students with the opportunity to apply a full range of skills, competencies and experience required for successful development in a range of potential education related career areas. They will advance the areas identified in their level 5 studies for their personal professional development (including emotional, social, physical, cultural and cognitive intelligences) through taught and workshop activity.
Through engagement with the Career Passport students will reflect upon the success of the strategies that they employ to further develop their reflective skills, self awareness, ‘life style’ ‘self care’ approaches and where necessary improve these.
Critical and Global Perspectives on Education
- To develop critical awareness of current educational policy, practices and provision relating to special and inclusive education
- To develop critical awareness of the similarities and differences between contexts in terms of special and inclusive education developments in policy and practice
- To consider the inclusion of children with special educational needs from an international perspective
Language, Pedagogy and Cultural Diversity
This module aims to:
- Consider issues in language, culture and pedagogy from individual and societal perspectives
- Understand the links between professional practice, subject-related concepts and the lived experiences of bilingual and multilingual learners
- Examine/analyse policy and practice in culturally and linguistically diverse learning and teaching environments locally, nationally and/or internationally.
Volunteering
The aims of the module are to:
- enable students to have their learning from volunteering accredited as part of their study
- engage students with critical knowledge and understanding of the motives for voluntary action.
- provide students with the opportunity to critically reflect upon their learning and development whilst undertaking voluntary activity
- support students to identify their strengths and areas for development
- enhance employability prospects
Independent Research Project
You will have the opportunity to initiate a small-scale applied research study that addresses an issue, topic or challenge within the broad field of education, special education or early childhood. The applied research will support professional formation and contribute to knowledge within the wider community.
The module is designed to guide you towards design, implementation and completion of an applied research project undertaken in collaboration with a relevant external organisation (the nature of which will be discussed and agreed with the relevant module leader). You will develop a range of theoretical, methodological, academic and practical skills and knowledge.
You will apply these in a practice context to address a real-world problem through ethical research practice, professional engagement and problem solving leading to research dissemination.
The chosen area of applied research will be demonstrably linked to the personal interests and professional aspirations of the student within the field of education, special education or early childhood. Through supervision you will shape and agree a proposal for a viable and ethical applied research project.
