Postgraduate Module Descriptor


EFPM914: Education Studies

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Module Aims

  • To enable you to develop a strong understanding of the core approaches which underpin education, in order for you to be able to recognize the particular and distinct contributions that they make to this field of study
  • To advance your understanding of education as a complex, holistic, multi-dimensional field
  • To enable you to draw upon these disciplinary perspectives in a confident, structured and imaginative manner, in order to address a range of key educational questions
  • To provide you with the theories and analytical critical skills needed in order for you to apply these critical perspectives to your own areas of professional or research interest and to the other key educational phenomena, processes or practices which you will encounter during the rest of your MA study

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.

On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Describe, discuss and distinguish between the different theoretical approaches (sociology, psychology, philosophy and history) which underpin education studies
2. Draw on these different approaches to critically analyse a selection of key topics in education
3. Confidently apply these different disciplinary perspectives to an area of research or professional interest
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Critically engage with relevant sources of literature and current debates
5. Demonstrate ability to apply theoretical insights to a research problem or professional practice and to suggest a conclusion supported by relevant arguments
Personal and Key Skills6. Engage in critical and reflective debate
7. Synthesise and organize key ideas to present an argument

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Dufour, B. & Curtis, W. (eds.)(2011) Studying education: an introduction to the key disciplines in educational studies. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Furlong, J. (2012) Education: An Anatomy of the Discipline, Rescuing the University Project. London: Routledge.

Lauder, H., Brown, P. and Halsey, A. (2009) ‘Sociology of Education: critical history and prospects for the future’ Oxford Review of Education 35, 5, 569-85

Phillips, D. & Schweisfurth, M. (2014) Comparative and International Education: an introduction to theory, method, and practice, 2nd edition. London; New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

Hayes, D. (ed) (2004) The RoutledgeFalmer Guide to Key Debates in Education, London, Routledge.

Sheehy, N. (2003) Fifty Key Thinkers in Psychology, London, Routledge.

Ball, S.J. (2004) The Routledge Falmer Reader in Sociology of Education, London, Routledge Falmer.

Scott, J. (2006) Fifty Key Sociologists: The Contemporary Theorists, London, Routledge.

Black, J. & Macraild, D. (2000) Studying History, Basingstoke, Palgrave.

Jones, K. (2003) Education in Britain. 1944 to the Present Day, Cambridge, Polity.

Baggini, J. (2002) Philosophy: Key Texts, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Baggini, J. (2002) Philosophy: Key Themes, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

During, S. (2007) Introduction in The Cultural Studies Reader (3rd Edition), London: Routledge