Masters degree in Education
Open University
Key Information
Campus location
Online United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
Distance Learning
Duration
3 - 6 years
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
GBP 7,560 *
Application deadline
Request info
Earliest start date
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* total cost
Introduction
This flexible masters degree is suitable for education professionals who wish to acquire qualities and transferable skills that are highly prized by employers. You’ll have the choice of four specialist routes – learning and teaching; leadership and management; inclusive practice; and applied linguistics. You’ll also have the option to change your specialism after Stage 1, giving you the opportunity to study two specialisms within one qualification. Your final dissertation module (with the exception of the applied linguistics route) gives you the choice of a small-scale inquiry on a topic of your choice, or you can opt to complete an extended literature review and research proposal relevant to your own educational professional interests and practice.
Key features of the course
- Choice: a rich choice of specialisms to suit a range of interests.
- Flexibility: change your specialism after Stage 1 and complete in three or up to six years.
- Optionality: choose from a small-scale inquiry or an extended literature review and research proposal to fit with your own personal and professional circumstances.
- Opportunity: work your way up from a postgraduate certificate and postgraduate diploma to the MA in Education (MA Ed) or Master of Education (MEd). Plus you have the option to count your previous study towards this qualification, helping you pay less and finish sooner.
- Engage with issues, concepts and debates that enrich your knowledge and improve your professional practice.
- Develop and consolidate advanced scholarship and independent learning in the context of your own practice.
Program Outcome
The learning outcomes of this qualification are described in four areas:
- Knowledge and understanding
- Cognitive skills
- Practical and professional skills
- Key skills
Curriculum
Course details
To gain this qualification, you need 180 credits as follows:
You’ll choose ONE of four specialisms:
- applied linguistics
- inclusive practice
- leadership and management
- learning and teaching
And study one 60-credit module at each stage:
Stage 1
This is the first stage of any route and introduces some of the big ideas in education and their specialist domain(s). You will engage with concepts, current debates and issues in the area of education relevant to your chosen route. It focuses on generic learning outcomes but retains a subject-specific focus. There is an emphasis on collaborative learning and the development of digital information literacy. Students are encouraged to bring together their personal understanding of issues relating to specific aspects of education with the enduring and current body of professional and academic research publications relevant to their professional/personal agenda. It also provides for the development and consolidation of advanced scholarship through practice and refinement of independent learning inherent in the academic literacy and conventions of academic writing required for successful study at the master’s level.
Stage 2
This stage offers you the opportunity to progressively broaden your knowledge and understanding of your chosen aspects of education. You'll explore the full range of educational research in current practice and develop an understanding of the role and limitations of research for informing educational practice. You will explore conducting a literature review on a topic of your choice and have the chance to demonstrate your knowledge of the literature, ability to critically read and synthesize research, and write according to standard academic protocols. You will have opportunities to present your work/ideas to other members of the Masters and OU academic community through online collaborative activities. The flexibility within the qualification allows you to change your specialism after Stage 1 if you wish, giving you the opportunity of studying across two specialisms (However, if you intend to progress to the MA, your choice at Stage 2 will commit you to that specialism as your Stage 3 dissertation topic).
Stage 3
In the final module, you are required to submit a 12,000-word dissertation in a chosen area (based on what has been studied at Stage 2) that is situated in your practice and which will contribute to organisational development and/or effectiveness. This will take the form of either a small-scale inquiry on a topic of your choice situated within your own educational practice or setting. Or, for all pathways excluding applied linguistics, there is the option of completing an extended literature review and research proposal relevant to your own educational professional interests and practice, if undertaking a small-scale inquiry is not possible in your setting.
You should note that the University’s unique study rule applies to this qualification. This means that you must include at least 60 credits from OU modules that have not been counted in any other OU qualification that has previously been awarded to you.