MPhil in Education (Primary Education) Master of Philosophy - MPhil

The part-time Primary Education route is intended for education professionals, policy makers and researchers at any stage of their career. Many students have relevant international experience and interests. We aim to fuse research and theoretical understanding about primary or elementary education with current priorities in policy and practice.

On the Primary Education Masters course you will have the opportunity to:

* enhance your educational understanding and practice through critical reflection, study and research;

* critically engage with the best quality national and international educational research that has relevance to primary education;

* carry out an individual and collaborative critical enquiry into significant educational issues and practice; and

* develop your thinking in order to contribute to informed policy and practice analysis and improvement in the primary phase and your own work setting.

The educational aims are to:

* examine the theoretical frameworks used in the study of education and its constituent disciplines;

* provide training in research methods appropriate to education;

* advance students' capacity for professional reflection and judgement;

* cater for a range of specialists interested within the field of education or one of its constituent disciplines.

Course modules:

* Critical perspectives on primary education policy and practice

* Creative approaches to the curriculum

* Pedagogy, talk and learning

* The school and communities

(Note: Pairs of modules run on a rolling programme. In 2027-2028 the course modules will be the bottom two on the above list)

## Learning outcomes

By the end of the programme, students will have:

* an understanding of research techniques, and a thorough knowledge of the literature applicable to their specific educational domain;

* demonstrated originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in their field;

* shown abilities in the critical evaluation of current research and research techniques and methodologies;

* demonstrated self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and acted autonomously in the planning and implementation of research.