Education (Leadership and Management) MA
12 Months Full-Time | September Start

You will be encouraged to critically explore a range of approaches to research however emphasis will be placed on your understanding of the world view, design and meaning system that will drive your own research study. It is assumed that prior to the undertaking of this dissertation module you will have undertaken study that prepares you for engagement with a Masters dissertation process and that you will have constructed a robust research proposal that has gained or is in the process of gaining ethical approval from both the University and (if applicable) your employing organisation. In the module you will revisit and deepen your understandings of a range of key topic areas linked to the empirical research process, this will include discussion of world views and research paradigms, the research question, aim or hypothesis, research design, working with literature and theory, developing ethical codes, constructing the research sample, collecting robust research evidence, ensuring quality assurance within your research work, analysing both qualitative and quantitative evidence and writing and disseminating the research dissertation work. You will be invited to attend a series of research seminars during the module and you will have access to a named Higher Education supervisor for one to one tutorial work. Both the seminars and tutorials will encourage you to apply the key areas of learning within this module to your own professional context and field of expertise. This will enable you to critically examine how the empirical research process will work best for your research goals and design

Academic skills when studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Presenting your ideas
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Speed reading techniques.
• Developing self-reflection skills.
• Discussing ethical issues in research, and analysing results.
• Describing bias and limitations of research.

In this module you will focus on the role of the practitioner as a research user. You will have the opportunity to make effective and systematic use of published research to inform education practice and/or policy. Through the process of the systematic appraisal, you will develop enhanced critical appraisal skills. The systematic appraisal project will address research questions which arise from your specific practice/field of expertise. These questions may address:
• Effectiveness of single/definable interventions in order to state and recommend best practice/provide evidence based guidelines for practice.
• Evaluation of appropriateness/acceptability/process/outcomes of educational provision in order to improve/develop/inform practice.
• The service user experience of education services.
• Relationships between practitioners and service users.
• Theoretical and ideological issues of relevance to education practice and/or policy.
You will be supported to select published work to be included in the appraisal; this may be either entirely quantitative, entirely qualitative or mixed method. You will then have the opportunity to consider the philosophical perspective of both the research question and the appraisal methodology.
The focus of this module is a small scale systematic review which you will undertake with the support of an experienced academic research supervisor. Peer support is also encouraged through student led seminars.

The aim of the module is to develop an understanding of the Education system in England; where it has come from and how it works in practice today. This will enable you to put all other education related modules into context. It will give you an understanding of the education system in England and allow you to identify and appraise its many facets. You will explore the UK system and consider the key features of the modern-day education system and the rationale which underpins that system. You will explore research papers, texts and policy documents and consider how they might challenge commonly held assumptions and beliefs about the current system.

In this module you will focus on the role of the practitioner as a research user and you will have the opportunity to articulate and negotiate a Master’s level enquiry relevant to you and your practice. You will have the opportunity to make effective and systematic use of published research to inform education practice and/or policy. You will learn how to interrogate electronic databases efficiently and effectively analyse qualitative data and write up your findings. Through this process, you will develop your critical appraisal skills. This module enables you to carry out a very small-scale piece of research which you undertake with the support of the module tutor.

This module provides the underpinning skills and knowledge necessary to undertake independent research in education and training at Level 7. It will give you the opportunity to develop practical and theoretical skills in the use and understanding of different research paradigms, methodological approaches and their associated research methods. You will also develop an in-depth understanding of related issues, including but not restricted to, ethical concerns, data management and analysis, the use conceptual frameworks and how to engage critically with the literature. The module has a strong focus on practice, and you will be encouraged to take this as your starting point, to question and problematize professional concerns, and to develop those as research problems and questions.
This will provide you with a framework to critique and question research, policy and practice and their impact on Education and Training. Drawing on this, you will be able to develop a research proposal which addresses a professional concern, drawing on contemporary and relevant research literature in order to analyse and justify your methodological approach. You will also be supported to explore subject based literature in order to support your identification and exploration of a research problem.

This module focusses on various ways of conceptualising educational leadership and management, from formal structures and notions of bureaucracy to critical and subjective theories. This module will provide an opportunity to explore leadership and management in an education context from a holistic, strategic perspective. You will explore the four management processes of planning, organising, leading and controlling. You will also have the opportunity to consider the more practical aspects of a leader’s role, i.e. the structural, financial, legal and HR aspects. In addition to drawing on the expertise of those who work in the sector in considering how these theories translate into practice, it will offer the opportunity for you to explore your own practice/perceptions of strategic management and how theory might impact on them.

In the ever-changing landscape of education, this module aims to explore the range of changes that can impact on educational institutions and at all levels. It is will provide the opportunity to consider and discuss effective ways of bringing about change and how to manage it. It will enable you to explore key theories and ideas and then apply them to real school challenges, bringing into this the experience of headteachers in changing their schools and local authority personnel responsible for bringing about school turn around.

This module focusses on the various ways in which the learning environment might be managed, in a variety of educational contexts and how it can impact on teaching and learning. You will be able to explore, create, reflect upon and evaluate learning environments and consider how they can be managed to maximise their effectiveness in relation to effective educational delivery, facilitation of learning and assessment of the desired outcomes In addition, you will develop a critical understanding of how learning environments and their management can impact on student experience.

This module is intended to give students who are either professionals working within education or those who are intending to work in education an opportunity to develop their knowledge of both pedagogy and andragogy. The module will take you on a journey through the ideology that shapes the way in which education is both defined and organised and the theoretical dissonance between theories of learning and formal education. The focus is broad as you are encouraged to consider all aspects of teaching and learning in the statutory, further/higher and lifelong learning sectors.

This module comprising the implementation of a quality improvement project in your workplace is designed to promote your personal development, equipping you with a range of inter-personal, intellectual and practical (functional) skills. The real-time work-based dissertation will be of benefit to your employing organisation. It seeks to raise your awareness of the workplace as a learning environment, extend your capability and enhance your individual effectiveness, employability and business competitiveness. It will focus on organisational-based issues and seek to develop your skills in the diagnosis of problems, research and analysis. You will develop strategies to address complex problems in your organisation and practice, responding to internal and external factors that every organisation has to contend with. You will demonstrate that appropriate ethical, commercial, confidentiality and data protection issues are taken into consideration. The module will instil intellectual curiosity in you as a professional learner, and lay a foundation for a philosophy of lifelong learning. This will culminate in a dissertation report reflecting on the learning derived from implementing the project.

This is a work based learning module that focuses your learning on the needs of your organisation and how they can be met through the initiation of change through a quality improvement project. It involves a tripartite relationship between you, your organisation and the university, facilitating your engagement with theory from the university and workplace activity concurrently. You will develop a comprehensive understanding of a range of models, concepts and theories that will help you to become engaged in well informed and meaningful work-based enquiry and project management. Through a combination of university seminar and inter-session activities in the workplace, the module will help you to develop a critical awareness of a range of appropriate approaches to project planning, implementation and evaluation appropriate to your own organisational and professional context. Learning from this module will enable you to develop a project based approach to complex issues in your practice using structured project management, change management, reflective models, leadership approaches while taking ethical, confidentiality, data protection and professional codes of practice into consideration. This module will develop a culture of project based approaches to complex issues in your practice. It will develop in you the confidence to initiate and lead change in your practice in response to challenges faced on a daily basis in organisations, effectively making you a lifelong change agent in your career. While it is a stand-alone module, taken before the 60 credit work based dissertation this module can be used to plan the major quality improvement dissertation.