Application and Contact Details

Programme Director: Junnine Thomas-Williams
Phone: 01792 482063
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or Lesley Morgan
Phone: 01792 482070
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Programme Length:
Two to five years part-time.

Programme Description

This is a modular postgraduate degree programme. Modules are designed to be school and classroom focused and allow teachers to use their daily experience as a teacher or manager as a key part of the study.
The programme consists of four strands including School Leadership and Management; Learning and Teaching; Language and Literacy; and Special Educational Needs. Students may choose modules from one or more of the strands to build up their portfolios and gain their Masters.

To complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCertEd) teachers choose two modules which are completed over one school year. In the second year, the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDipEd) can be achieved by completing a further two modules chosen from the portfolio.

Students who wish to complete the MA will be required to take the compulsory module, Research Methods: Teachers as Researchers, in preparation for the research portion of the dissertation.

The Ma (Ed) Programme is designed to -

• develop individual awareness of the national, regional and local educational context within which schools operate;
• provide an up to date and coherent overview of current educational issues affecting schools;
• enable an interchange of ideas amongst participants from different schools and normally, different LEAs facilitated by tutors with a broad experience of educational issues;
• to develop a structure of critical friendship within the group and between the participants and other colleagues;
• establish a process of professional development profiling which will assist participants in recording and reflecting on the school focused issues they experience while following the programme;
• enable participants to manage change effectively and reflect on the process of management;
• enable participants to become more confident in their work in their school(s) and to take forward examples of good practice gleaned from their experiences on the programme.

Programme Content and Structure

The programme is divided in two parts:

The first part of the programme (the taught element) consists of four 30 credit modules; (120 credit units at Masters level); the second part of the degree comprises the dissertation, equivalent to two 30 credit modules; (60 credit units at Masters level).

There is one compulsory module to be taken by all candidates in Part 1 (Research Methods). A second research module can be taken in Part 1 as an independent study with individual supervision.

Candidates will take three further modules from the following (depending on what is offered):

·         Learning and Teaching

·         Thinking Skills and Assessment for Learning

·         Developing Literacy

·         Developing Effective Teaching with ICT

·         Inclusion: a Focus on Education for Racial Equality

·         Inclusion: Dyslexia in the Mainstream Classroom

·         Inclusion: a Focus on Behaviour Management

·         Supporting the Bilingual Learner

·         Middle Leadership

·         Continuing Professional Development

·         Leading the Learning

·         Mentoring in Educational Contexts

·         Developing effective teaching with ICT

·         Early Childhood Education, the Foundation Phase and Implications for Educational Practice  

Named Awards*

Postgraduate Certificate: PGCE and Induction

The certificate is open to individuals who have studied for their PGCE at SMU. New teachers who have gained master's level credits at other universities and who are working in one of SMU's partner schools will be considered for credit transfer.

Each route involves three 20 credit modules. Two of the modules are taken during the PGCE year and the behaviour management module is taken during the induction year.

Secondary route

• Professional Studies 2
• Curriculum Studies 2
• Behaviour Management for Newly Qualified Teachers

Primary route

• Educational and Professional Studies: Critical Reflections on Issues in Teaching 1
• Educational and Professional Studies: Critical Reflections on Issues in Teaching 2
• Behaviour Management for Newly Qualified Teachers

Postgraduate Certificate in Early Professional Development

The certificate is open to individuals who have studied for their PGCE at SMU. New teachers who have gained master's level credits at other universities and who are working in one of SMU's partner schools will be considered for credit transfer. The following 20 credit modules are designed to be studied during early professional development years.

• Improving learning and teaching through Reflection and Action Research
• Developing thinking for learning
• Developing assessment for learning

Post-Graduate Diploma in Early Professional Development

Students who have successfully completed the six 20 credit modules from the PGCE year, the induction year and the EPD years are eligible for the post-graduate diploma. Alternatively they may complete a research module and proceed to part 2 of the MA (Ed.), the dissertation.

Post-graduate Certificate in Language and Learning

Students who successfully complete the following two 30 credit modules are eligible for the post-graduate certificate in language and learning.

• Language and Learning
• The Developing Bilingual Learner

Post-graduate Certificate in Mentoring and Coaching

This award is open to mentors in SMU partner schools. Successful completion of the two 30 credit modules below will lead to the certificate award:

• Mentoring in Educational Contexts
• Modelling practice, mentoring and coaching

Postgraduate Certificate Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia)

To achieve this award, candidates must complete three 20 credit modules at Level 6:

• Causation and Recognition of Dyslexia
• Assessment and Teaching Methodology (Dyslexia)
• Theory into Practice (Dyslexia)

 and one 30 credit module at Level 7:

·         Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia): Assessment for Intervention.

*subject to validation

Assessment

In the first part of the programme, each module is examined by means of course work assignments of maximum 6,000 words or equivalent at Master's level. The second part is examined by a dissertation of no more than 20,000 words.

Entry Requirements

Participants will normally be teachers or associate staff in the participating school(s) who meet the entry conditions of the University of Wales.

The Programme Director will determine the suitability of participants for work at Masters level; an interview with the Programme Director will normally be necessary for participants.

Current Modules:

Thinking Skills and Assessment for Learning

Language and Learning

Research Methods: Teachers as Researchers

Foundation Phase and Early Childhood Education

Leadership and Management: Social, Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties

To be read in conjunction with this page