BA (Hons) Education

On this course, core modules explore various aspects of education, including the sociology, politics, history and theory of education. Investigating aspects of inclusive education and barriers to learning is a key focus across the modules.

You’ll look at topics such as language and literacy, mathematical thinking and special educational needs. You'll also explore key elements of disability, equality, and diversity.

Methods of assessment for this course overall: 100% coursework.

Year 1

• What is education?
  This module introduces students to key concepts and issues in the history, sociology and philosophy of education. By examining historical and current issues that are of major concern within the world of education, the module seeks to provide students with the theoretical ideas that will underpin future studies at Levels 5 and 6. Themes such as equality, human rights and citizenship are addressed within the module both as current political issues and as ideas that illustrate the competing ideologies within education. The module also provides students with the opportunity to develop skills related to factual learning such as accessing, assimilating and organising information.
• Language, Literacy and Learning
  This module will allow participants to develop their understanding of the English curriculum and recent developments in the research and methodology of teaching reading, writing and speaking and listening in the EY and primary classroom. Links between theory and practice will be made explicit and learners will be encouraged to reflect on their own experiences as language users and producers.
• Developing mathematical thinking
  This module introduces students to key concepts and issues in the development of mathematical thinking. By examining attitudes towards mathematics and the processes within problem-solving, the module seeks to provide students with both theoretical and mathematical ideas that will underpin future studies. Themes such as number, pattern, questioning and assessment are all addressed within the module.
• Constructing childhood
  This module explores the ways in which childhood is constructed by societies and communities. It focuses on how these constructions of childhood are conveyed through literature, film and advertising, looking at ‘texts’ about childhood and those designed for children. The module considers how constructions of childhood have changed over time and how these different constructions have been shaped by political, social and economic factors. The theoretical underpinning for this module is from the fields of literary theory and cultural studies. It seeks to provide students with the theoretical ideas that will support future studies at Level 5 and Level 6.
• Study skills for Education
  This module introduces students to Higher Education Study Skills. Students will explore core skills including time management, core computing and maths skills, developing academic English, giving presentations and critical reading. There will be specific information on assignment planning and assignment writing. This will include an examination of the language of titles and the use of criteria. The module will be personalised with students working from their own current level of understanding.
• Community, family and children
  This module explores concepts of community, family and childhood. It discusses how these notions change over time and can vary from culture to culture. The module explores students’ own position with regard to these concepts as this will impact on their work with children in educational settings. It discusses the impact of media views, dominant discourses and educational and social policy in relation to ideas of community, family and children. The module discusses notions of equality and how society seeks to meet the needs of diverse communities. It explores how communities enable children to become adults and how society works with disaffected young people.

Year 2

• Interpersonal Interactions
  Students will develop their theoretical understanding of a range of personal interactions between pupils, professionals, family and peers and reflect on their importance in educational contexts. Using theory to inform practice students will develop their approaches to enhancing relationships between pupils and others in their educational workplace setting with the aim of promoting learning, well-being and inclusive practice for all.
• Equality, Culture and Citizenship
  This module builds on concepts introduced at L4. It provides a more critical and analytic exploration of the notion of equality, including critiquing notions of justice and social justice. The module develops the notion of community through analysing models of citizenship and the role of the individual in communities and wider social arenas. It explores what it means to hold rights, children’s rights and the link between being a rights holder and a responsible citizen. The module explores the notion of the individual, individual freedom and identity and the impact of culture on identity and life in a wider social arena.
• Barriers to Learning
  Students will develop their theoretical understanding of a range of potential ‘barriers to learning’, which may arise for pupils in their educational contexts. Using theory to inform practice, students will develop their approaches to identifying and reducing barriers, with the aim of developing inclusive practice for all pupils in an educational setting.
• Introduction to Technology and Education
  The use of technology in educational contexts has had a profound effect on the way that teachers teach and students learn. The aim of this module is to provide an introduction to the role of Information Technology in Education and explore the key concepts and issues regarding the potential of technology for teaching and learning. This module will investigate the ways in which technology can be used to support learning and to assist teachers and consider the affordances and constraints of various types of technologies currently used in different learning contexts.
• Alternative Educational Setting Placement
  This is a placement module. For the length of the module students will spend their time in an alternative educational setting to their own place of employment. This experience will provide students with the opportunity to work with children, families and communities in a different educational context and this will enable students to develop their knowledge and understanding about education in a wider sense.
• Anti Racist Education Practice
  It is vital that educators understand how to challenge racism.  They also must know how to establish and sustain an anti-racist experience for learners. In this module, students will develop an understanding of racism through an intersectional lens, considering its manifestations and impact at both interpersonal and institutional levels. Building on some of the themes introduced in What is Education?, students will explore anti-racist curriculum and pedagogy as well as policies and practices. The module will consider the practical application of legislative and policy directives, focusing on decolonising the curriculum and considering the hidden curriculum in relation to anti-discriminatory practices. Students will look at a range of scenarios to explore and question how people and institutions address various forms of systemic and structural racism.  For the assessment of this module, students will explore and evaluate anti-racist practice.  Completing this assignment will enable students to build skills needed to research and produce a successful dissertation in Year 3.

Year 3

• The Learning Environment
  The module aims to enable students to understand practice relevant to the age phase with which they work, by focusing upon learning within their particular work environment.
  This includes an understanding of:
  • the relationships that exist between different stakeholders within the education setting: parents, children, teachers, other adults – and how these affect learning
  • the physical and practical aspects of creating and maintaining an effective learning environment
  • the ways in which learning can be effectively celebrated.
• Contextualising Education Globally
  Deconstructing the education system enables learners to gain greater understanding of the complexities of how the education system works and how the parts of a system are related to one another and to society. This module builds on the year one module ‘what is education’ by exploring policy, practice and curriculum across the globe. Through learning about education systems in other countries and making a comparison with their own, learners will be able to analyse educational issues systematically. This will give learners opportunities to accommodate new knowledge and principles which can then be applied across education systems.
• Contemporary Issues in Education
  This module provides students with the opportunity to bring together a range of issues explored in depth in discreet modules and to critically explore the impact each element discussed has one upon the other. It will critically explore the role and purpose of education in contemporary Britain and the factors that impact on both government educational policy and the expectation parents, communities and children have of education. As the module is focused on contemporary concerns, the content is subject to change. For example, it may discuss how the new 2014 national curriculum is relevant to children growing up in the 21st century.
• Educational Autobiography
  This module will equip students with the framework, theory and methodologies to reflect critically on their own educational journey. Through lectures, seminars and workshops, students will be guided to map and analyse their experience of primary, secondary and tertiary education, and ultimately write a critical educational autobiography (educational autoethnography) as the endpoint assessment. Students will apply previous learning such as theories of education and pedagogy, barriers to learning, and personal and social interaction to their own experiences. It will also enable students to reflect on their understanding of wider social and cultural issues such as equality, culture and identity, and social justice in a personal context. The assignment will build on skills developed through reflective journals completed at Levels 4 and 5, and is a Level 6 module that develops students’ understanding and experience of research methodologies in parallel with the active research which underpins their dissertation project.
• Project
  This module builds on several previous modules that have developed skills in literature reviews, ethical approval, case study and small-scale research. By planning and implementing their own research students will consolidate skills already learnt to develop a more sustained and in-depth study. Students are supported with 1:1 supervision, developing their own research in a chosen area of interest. The module provides students with practical research experience that will lead into a range of postgraduate studies. The module also helps develop a range of appropriate academic skills such as evaluating validity and developing a questioning approach to the status quo in education.

You’re guaranteed an interview for teacher training after you graduate from this degree, and have excellent employment opportunities if you want to start your career in an educational or related setting. You’ll also be very well prepared to take a PGCE or employment-based route into teaching, or to carry your studies on to Masters level.

Employability Service

At LSBU, we want to set you up for a successful career. During your studies – and for two years after you graduate – you’ll have access to our Employability Service, which includes:

• An online board where you can see a wide range of placements: part-time, full-time or voluntary. You can also drop in to see our Job Shop advisers, who are always available to help you take the next step in your search.
• Our Careers Gym offering group workshops on CVs, interview techniques and finding work experience, as well as regular presentations from employers across a range of sectors.

Our Student Enterprise team can also help you start your own business and develop valuable entrepreneurial skills.

You will experience a range of learning approaches including lectures, small group discussions, online materials, and interaction and placements. Study Skills will be embedded throughout the modules as well as a specific Study Skills module.

Personal Tutoring

As an undergraduate Law and Social Science student, you will be allocated a named tutor during your first semester at LSBU.  The role of your tutor is to be your primary contact for academic and professional development support.

Your tutor will support you to get the most of your time at LSBU, providing advice and signposting to other sources of support in the University.   They should be the first person at the university that you speak to if you are having any difficulties that are affecting your work. These could be academic, financial, health-related or another type of problem.

In your first and second year, you will have three 1-1 tutorials with your personal tutor.

In your final year your dissertation supervisor will arrange to meet with you as required.

You can contact your tutor/supervisor for additional support by email or phone.

• 96 UCAS points
• CCC at A Level or equivalent
• BTEC Level 3 Qualifications or a combination of A-Level and Level 3 BTEC qualifications
• All Level 3 qualifications welcome, including the Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of  21 Level 3 credits at Merit
• Plus five GCSEs including mathematics and English
• Applicants must be employed in an educational setting in either a paid or a voluntary capacity.
• English language qualifications for international students: IELTS score of 6.0, TOEFL - 550 (print-based), TOEFL- 80 (internet-based), Cambridge Proficiency or Advanced Grade C.
• While a GCSE in science is not an entry requirement to this degree, candidates must note that a GCSE in science or equivalent is required for application to a PGCE or School Direct Teacher Training programme.

For more information, including how and when to pay, see our fees and funding section for undergraduate students.

Please check your fee status and whether you are considered a Home, EU or International student for fee-paying purposes and for our regulatory returns, by reading the UKCISA regulations.

See our Tuition Fees Regulations (PDF File 226 KB) and Refund Policy (PDF File 775 KB).

Possible fee changes

The University reserves the right to increase its fees in line with changes to legislation, regulation and any government guidance or decisions.

The fees for international students are reviewed annually and the University reserves the right to increase the tuition fees in line with the RPIX measure of inflation up to 4 per cent.

Scholarships

We offer several types of fee reduction through our scholarships and bursaries. Find the full list and other useful information on our scholarships page.

The individual fee for this course is shown above. For more information, including how and when to pay, see our fees and funding section for postgraduate students.

See our Tuition Fees Regulations (PDF File 226 KB) and Refund Policy (PDF File 775 KB).

We have a range of PhD Scholarships available in partnership with businesses and organisations; read notices of PhD studentships.