In preparation for your Masters study please ready yourself by

• Engaging with and thinking about contemporary educational issues and concerns in the press (UK and global), and how they are reported in educational publications, and across media.
• Reading widely around the interests you have in education, using Open Access research articles as well as other media.

A Masters course is a progression from undergraduate study and requires a higher level of independent study, persistent curiosity, criticality, reflection and layered analysis and synthesis. Books such as Elliott, G., Kadi-Hanifi, K. and Solvason, C. (2018) Your guide to successful postgraduate study. SAGE (chapter 4 especially) might be useful.

All students will be engaging with and reading Educational Research so, in addition to pursuing literature in relation to your own interests, we suggest you start reading about Educational Research. The following texts are ones we recommend on the modules and good starters:

EPM730 Research Design: Methodology and Methods

• Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2018) Research methods in education. Eighth edition. Routledge.
• Creswell, J.W. and Creswell, J.D. (2023) Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sixth edition. SAGE
• Creswell, J.W. and Guetterman, T.C. (2021) Educational research : planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Sixth edition, global edition. Pearson Education
• Denzin, N.K. et al. (eds.) (2024) The SAGE handbook of qualitative research. Sixth edition. SAGE.
• Pring, R. (2015) Philosophy of educational research. Third edition. Bloomsbury Academic.

In the week before teaching starts you will be invited to an induction session online.

This session will enable you to:

• Meet and get to know your fellow students and staff
• Ensure you are registered so that you can access resources
• Learn how to access Library, Moodle and other university resources if you are new to it
• Clarify how the elements of the MA Education course relate
• Reflect on your pre-registration reading and thinking
• Ensure you have accessed resources for Week 1 pre-session tasks
• Begin to understand expectations of Masters study and the year ahead.

You will receive an email with a timetable for the day early in September.

IMPORTANT: Please bring your photo ID with you on this date to complete enrolment.

Teaching starts week beginning 21st September 2026:

Modules are taught 6-9pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout semesters one and two, for 8 (not consecutive) weeks.

Semester One

• Mondays: EPM730 Research Design: Methodology and Methods
• Tuesdays: EPM720 Educational Leadership
• Wednesdays: EPM728 Contemporary Issues in Safeguarding and Vulnerability
• Thursdays EPM705 Dissertation

Sharing research seminars on Thursday 15th October and 19th November 4.30 – 7pm are open and advised for all students to learn with and from peers about the research and dissertation process (on-campus and online)

Semester Two

• Mondays: EPM730 Research Design: Methodology and Methods
• Tuesdays: EPM721 Pedagogy and Practice
• Wednesdays: EPM722 Inclusive Practices
• Thursdays EPM705 Dissertation

Sharing research seminars on Thursday 4th March TBC 4.30 – 7pm are open and advised for all students (on-campus and online). Our annual conference will take place in early July

Full details of your individual academic timetable will be available via your university email calendar after you have completed online enrolment and set up your student login.

Teaching is enquiry-based and collaborative. You will be facilitated to learn from and with peers, to investigate and explore both together and independently. On Moodle you will find pre-session reading and tasks which will be inform the learning and activities of that session.

Your interests will be central to the assignment foci you choose. Modules will provide opportunity for you to identify and generate connections between theory and practice in relation to your interests.

Unless you have requested and had acknowledgement of prior credits, you will study five modules in total (4 x 30 credit / 300 hours study; 1 x 60 credit / 600 hours study): You will choose one option in each semester, ensuring that this includes EPM730 Research Design: Methodology and Methods before you commence your 60 credit EPM705 Research project / Dissertation.

Additional Masters research sharing sessions will enrich your studies and provide further guidance for your own research project. These will take place at twilight times each term, concluding with our annual conference in July.

Module Outlines

EPM705 Research Project / Dissertation (double weighted) will involve some taught dissertation sessions, workshops and supervisions to support you to undertake and write-up your own research study.

EPM720 Educational Leadership will explore approaches to leadership and management, and the skills and qualities required to lead and manage a range of individual and professional groups within an educational setting. Current research, statutory requirements, legislation and policy will be drawn from in relation to leadership and management. You will critically reflect on and evaluate the impact of different approaches to leadership and management, and models of leadership.

EPM721 Pedagogy and Practice will engage you in a critical exploration of how learning happens and an investigation of the character and claims for diverse educational practices and pedagogies. Through a focus on the interrelated areas of learning, teaching and assessment you will engage with key theories and debates, analysing and reflecting on their relevance to your personal and professional interests.

EPM722 Inclusive Practices will enable you to critically engage with the concept of inclusion with a focus on special educational needs and disability. You will develop a critical understanding of how structural and socio-culturally situated inequalities can affect young people’s access, participation and success in education and society and how different needs, such as SEND can affect pupils’ participation and learning. You will explore strategies to promote inclusive and supportive communities through evidence-based practices.

EPM728 Contemporary Issues in Safeguarding and Vulnerability will develop your understanding of the context in which safeguarding takes place and links this to debates around the appropriateness and effectiveness of policy and practice. In doing this, you will explore concepts of vulnerability and risk and how they affect working practices as well as critically evaluating the current policy context.

EPM730 Research Design: Methods and Methodology will enable you to develop a critical understanding of the principles underpinning an effective research design in education at master’s level. You will explore issues of research methodology, ethics and understanding in relation to your chosen field, to enhance and inform professional and/or academic practice. You will design a research project, which will include a framework for the collection and analysis/interpretation of primary data.

You will be contacted by to select your first and second choice modules for the year.

You will have different module tutors across the year depending on the modules you take.

Tutors for Semester One are

• EPM730 Research Design: Methodology and Methods – Dr Steve Dixon
• EPM720 Educational Leadership – Dr Jacky Taylor
• EPM728 Contemporary Issues in Safeguarding and Vulnerability – TBC
• EPM705 Research Project / Dissertation – Dr Jo Trowsdale

You will have opportunity to engage with and learn staff from the wider Education and Childhood and Professional Studies team and across the School of Education. This might be through our Sharing Research sessions, workshops, as guest speakers in core modules, or as dissertation supervisor.