Course summary

Develop your critical thinking about educational issues in a community that shares your passion for teaching and learning. Study global approaches to education through research, theories and practice, and develop your career in the direction you choose. Our diverse postgraduate community can help you develop your critical thinking about educational issues along with your professional career. Choose from our broader MA Education (available in Cambridge, Chelmsford and by distance learning) or one of five specialist pathways: MA Education with Early Childhood (Chelmsford / distance learning) MA Education with Montessori (Chelmsford / distance learning) MA Education with Special Educational Needs and Disability (Chelmsford / distance learning) MA Education with Leadership and Management (Chelmsford / distance learning) MA Education with Technology (Chelmsford / distance learning) Our team of expert practitioners will encourage you to build on your own experiences and contexts to think critically about key issues in education, and help you develop and explain your critical positions using the latest research, theories and practice. If you’re a current practitioner the course will also contribute to your continuing professional development. You will study alongside people from a range of different backgrounds and fields of education, allowing you to learn from their experiences, share best practice and extend your professional network. You will also be supported to gain relevant work experience, usually through a voluntary position in an educational setting or other organisations that work with children and families. MA Education Our broad-based MA Education can help you pursue a career in many education contexts, such as educational policy and research. Study global approaches to educational theories, pedagogy, policy and social justice, tailoring your studies and carrying out research to focus on your particular interests. MA Education with Special Educational Needs and Disability Develop your understanding of inclusive practice, education theories and policy, and work towards a career in SEND-relevant policy and research. MA Education with Early Childhood Focus on early childhood education from birth until eight years old. Advance your knowledge of young children’s learning and develop your early years practice and professionalism with current policies and practice. Explore your areas of interest and learn to link your research to your practice. MA Education with Montessori Develop your early years Montessori practice and professionalism and advance your knowledge of young children’s learning, as well as learning how to best share your knowledge with others. Opportunities for work experience include live briefs and visits to educational settings, including forest schools, while our on-campus Montessori classroom will help you practise your curriculum knowledge. MA Education with Leadership and Management Explore and critique different approaches to educational leadership and management at national and international levels to make a real difference in the sector and advance your career in any educational setting. By applying educational leadership and management theory to your practice you'll develop as a self-critical learner, enhancing not only your professional knowledge and leadership skills, but your research and operational skills too. Learn to question and justify your everyday actions, improving your job satisfaction as well as the experience of pupils or students in your workplace. MA Education with Technology Develop a deep and systematic critique of key concepts, issues, developments and theories that underpin the study of applied education technology within different aspects of education. Relate current theories to your research and classroom practice, and learn how different knowledge and understandings of education technology can be applied for the benefits of children, families and wider society.