Return to selection page.Education Studies Course Booklet
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Last updated 16.03.11.
A warm welcome to the University of Winchester from the education studies team
If this is the twentieth prospectus or course booklet that you have picked up in the last few weeks then you have our sympathies. It’s a daunting and challenging task trying to make the right decision for the next three years of your life. You may not be sure what you want to study, nor where to study, nor even perhaps whether studying is the right thing for you. It’s probably true that in most cases decisions are made on small but important impressions about the course as it is portrayed in the prospectus and on the web. We hope that you will find sufficient information in this course booklet to be able to make a reasonable judgement about what life will be like with us if you choose Education Studies at the University of Winchester.
We believe that a course of study in Higher Education is more than just its content. What we offer in Education Studies is a vision of higher education which places as much importance on the personal, social, ethical and spiritual development of the student as it does on becoming a specialist in a particular subject discipline. Higher education in our view means learning about ourselves at the same time as we learn about our subject. We hope that our students, in addition to studying, will also want to embrace learning as a way of life, and that these experiences together will constitute the relevance and substance of what is ‘higher’ in Higher Education.
Putting this vision into practice means, first, offering you the chance to challenge your ideas about the world against perspectives which shape the way we live. Second, support for your learning so that you always know that someone is interested in your development. Third, encouragement in helping you to achieve beyond your own expectations. If we are successful, you will be more aware at the end of your third year of the possibilities that the world offers you and of the ways in which you can serve the wider community. Many of our graduates tell us that they leave with a faith in learning, which lasts them well beyond the institution.
If you are prepared to accept the challenge of this ‘higher education’ we look forward to seeing you.
why study education studies?
The answer to this question ought to be obvious. After all, education is arguably one of the most significant influences on our personal development and on the world around us. To study education is therefore at root to study ourselves. Consequently Education Studies at the University of Winchester ensures that the course does not just teach about education but is in itself intrinsically educational. We take the view that all ‘higher education’ should aim to create thinking, questioning, and caring people able to play a fulfilling and critical role in all aspects of their lives.
Teaching and learning are not something we just study, they constitute the experience of higher education, because what we learn and how we learn are intrinsically related. We know that excellent teacher/student relationships are the key to motivation, enjoyment and success, and to feeling valued as an individual within educational institutions. We hold these relationships to be the cornerstone of everything we do.
Education Studies uses tutors’ personal and academic strengths to meet student needs in ways which are appropriate to the content. Teaching may be didactic, discussion based, led by student presentation, provoked by debate or facilitated through the ambiguities of the student /teacher relationship. Equally, students experience learning in a number of different ways, including listening and talking to tutors and their peers, independent research from books, journals, the web, and session handouts, from quiet reflection and questioning, and from the thinking and preparation required for the successful completion of assignments whether they be written, oral or visual.
A recent development is that the curriculum is now presented to students on our individually designed web pages. This provision has proved to be very popular with students, including as it does lecture notes, bibliographies and assignment details. In addition our Bulletin Board is source of up to date and relevant information.
Our External Examiner for the undergraduate programme has commented that ‘this is an outstanding course that serves its students extremely well. It is not just a BA in Education Studies that aspires to and achieves very high standards: it is itself an educative undertaking. This is both unusual and remarkable.'
A Career in Teaching?
It is well publicised that there remains a shortage of teachers. Our course takes very seriously its responsibilities in trying to prepare students who intend to take a subsequent PGCE. We will encourage you to gain experience in local schools in your second year, and support your applications. We do not aim to pre-empt the training in the classroom that a PGCE will give you: what the profession needs as much as technical proficiency is vibrant, enthusiastic and creative teachers who are committed to a view of education as serving the needs of others. Education Studies explores the ethical and vocational dimensions of teaching and of schooling and you will be encouraged to enter the profession having thought through an educational philosophy which can most effectively combine your strengths with your pupils’ needs. Underpinning our approach is the view that teachers must first be learners as only then can they pass on a love of learning to others.
what qualifications do I need?
We welcome a range of students from standard ‘A’ Level entrants and Mature/ACCESS candidates with a variety of subjects and experience. We are particularly interested to recruit students who have both an interest in the way that education shapes many aspects of modern culture and an intellectual curiosity about the significance of learning for personal growth and development. You will not need to have any specific experience in research as support is offered according to individual need. Nor do you need to have any particular knowledge regarding schools, the national curriculum, nursery provision, etc. Education is something we all have experience of in our lives and your own experiences will be the starting point for your course of study.
It may be that you already have the practical experience of working with children or adults in some capacity within an educational setting but now wish to deepen your understanding of the theories behind this practice with a view to career development. If so we believe our course is particularly suitable for you. A range of credits for prior experience and learning are available.
flexible study options
We offer Education Studies as Single Honours and Combined Honours degrees. The course specialises in analysing how gender, ‘race’, power, citizenship and representation apply to education both in school and in wider cultural contexts. Our course allows students to choose modules to suit their own interests. In Levels 2 and 3 there are only two compulsory modules, which all students must take. The remainder are chosen individually by students. Single Honours, Main and Joint students also have the opportunity to pursue independent study in subjects of their own choice.
The Combined Honours is particularly appropriate for those intending to take a primary or secondary PGCE at the end of their degree. It is necessary for these students to choose another National Curriculum subject as their field of study, and they can choose those modules, which are most relevant for their intended pathway. PGCE providers differ in the entry requirements they have. Some require 50% national curriculum subject – this is especially true for secondary PGCEs. Others see non-National Curriculum subjects, including Education Studies as an acceptable Higher Education experience for intending teachers. We will help you make the relevant enquiries in your second year.
single honours
This degree is relevant for anyone wishing to study modern processes of education in depth. Modern, philosophical, cultural, social, psychological and historical perspectives are all used as analytical tools to help us explore the world of education. Our modules concentrate in particular on the way these perspectives help us to understand policy and practice in nurseries, classrooms and lecture halls, as well as to explore the relevance of issues surrounding identity, culture and truth.
The degree enables all students to interrogate the educational process as a whole, and to seek answers to questions about the purpose, the value, the misuse and the difficulties of education and learning. The degree offers a rigorous, intellectually challenging , yet very supportive environment that seeks to provide its students with a love of learning and a critical imagination which they can take with them into the future.
combined honours
If you take Education Studies in combination with another subject you will need to take it on what is called a Joint pathway where each subject contributes 50% of the degree.
As a Combined Honours Education Studies student you can choose to shape your own curriculum by selecting those areas which most interest you or are most relevant to your intended career. Broadly speaking, students can construct two different pathways through the course for themselves. For those whose interests are mainly in understanding and evaluating the current education system, and especially if they are considering a primary or secondary PGCE, there are a variety of modules dealing with many aspects of the education profession. These include the national curriculum, government policy, schools and their organisation, gender and ‘race’ in relation to education, theories of learning and teaching, the nature of childhood, citizenship, and some philosophy, psychology and history as they relate to educational theory and practice. The alternative pathway is available for students who wish to study education at a more theoretical and philosophical level. Modules in this pathway look at issues in the wider context of education and culture and in relation to history, philosophy, and social and political thought. Students are encouraged to reflect upon the importance of education within the themes of modernity, postmodernity, identity and marginality. This range of modules offers an exciting approach to current cultural issues, combining as it does theoretical perspectives with concrete application in the broad field of education and enlightenment, and challenging as it does students to consider their own identities within such contexts.
The list of modules offered is available on the module outline page, but you should note that the following are mandatory for this programme:-
Level 1
· Reflections on Autobiography
· Great Educators
· Principles in Education
· ‘44 and ‘88: the Acts
Level 2
· Theories of Teaching and Learning
· Education and Social Theory
individual study programme
The Education Studies course has a carefully thought out model of intellectual progression. As we will encourage you to develop your own ideas and philosophies of education, so we think it important that the course reflects our own philosophy of education. Our model has three stages. In Level 1 we ask you to reflect upon your own educational experiences, to compare them with those of others and to comment on how they have influenced or affected you. We will provide various contexts in which these discussions can take place. In Level 2 we ask you to suspend the personal in order to engage with many social, political and cultural perspectives. We see Level 2 as a vital building block in developing a more informed, thoughtful and authoritative student voice. This voice begins to emerge in Level 3 when the newly acquired knowledge of perspectives is concretely applied as critique in the real world (if you wish to read about our philosophy of education in more detail, you could read the article ‘What is Education Studies’ in Educational Studies Vol 27, No 1 March 2001 pp. 3-15).
assessment
We use many methods of assessment and in Level 1 you will be introduced to all of them. In Levels 2 and 3, because of the wide availability of student choice over their modules it is also possible for students to choose those methods of assessment with which they enjoy most success. There are examinations in each year and help and support with examination technique is available throughout the year both from Student Services and from Education Studies tutors.
assessing us
We are pleased to be able to offer comments from a range of people associated with the course.
In May 2001 Education Studies was reviewed by QAA and we were very proud that the course was awarded full marks, i.e. 24. This means that six aspects of our provision, including the curriculum, teaching and learning, student support, learning resources, and the progression and development of individual students were all given maximum marks. The reviewers commented on the way that ‘coherence, flexibility and student choice...[enabled] students to exhibit work of outstanding quality.’ We were pleased that they agreed that ‘all staff are approachable and supportive’ and that ‘the high level of student satisfaction with the quality of tutoring bears a direct relationship to the exceptional level of commitment by tutors and of a tutoring process that emphasises guidance not prescription.’ Overall they commended the ‘critical ethos, infectious enthusiasm, and collegiality of the staff team.’ Our former students confirmed that the skills learned on the course are ‘relevant and transfer effectively to the world of work and further study.’
The other major quality assessment takes place each year by an External Examiner from another university. In September 2000, our External Examiner described the course as ‘genuinely outstanding’ and concluded that this was ‘one of the finest courses of its kind in the country.’
One recent graduate has commented that ‘the Education Studies course has been an extremely good basis for my PGCE’ and another has recently written to us saying ‘I know that the teaching philosophy within the Department is very open – and this is borne out in many areas – but in particular it is the hard-working support and encouragement from all the tutors in all our academic achievements/struggles which strikes a very fond chord and which cannot be underestimated.’
career opportunities
Education both in theory and practice is fundamentally about the care and development of others. The QAA reviewers noted how many of our graduates were employed or were seeking employment in professions that involved care and service. Such graduates have entered a range of employment including lecturer in Higher Education, Childline Officer, Management Consultancy, Accountancy, ADHD Support, Social Services, Governor and School Management Support Officer (LEA), Children at Risk, Student Support Officer, missionary work, and dyslexic support in Higher Education. We also have a growing number of graduates who having completed a PGCE after their degree are now teaching in primary and secondary schools, and a small number of students who go on to study for higher degrees both at masters and doctoral level.
the teaching team
The tutors work very closely together, both in the production of modules and in the support of students. One of our strongest beliefs is that good relationships between tutors and students is the key to educational success.
The Team consists of Dr Stephanie Spencer who is Head of Department. Her areas of interst are in women’s history and oral history. Professor Nigel Tubbs' specialist modules explore power in the classroom and the philosophical but difficult identity of ‘the teacher’. Marie Morgan is the Programme Leader, and her interests extend from the nature of Higher Education, the study of 'discipline' and the difficulties posed by 'Holocaust' education. Derek Bunyard is Route Leader of the Early Childhood pathway within Education Studies - his research area is in art and representation in education. Dr. Emile Bojesen also works on the Early childhood pathway, his specialist interests being literature and philosophy. Dr. Wayne Veck has specialist interests in special and inclusive education. Simon Boxley offres specialisms in Marxism, ecology, and early childhood.
The teaching Team is supported by Jenny Hadley, who is the Course Administrator. Jenny provides the first point of contact for student enquiries and answers questions about the Programme.
finding out more
Apart from coming along to one of our open days and meeting a member of staff, we have a website that offers general information and comment - at present largely about Education Studies - and more detailed information for the use of our students.
The site URL is http://www.winchester.ac.uk/edstudies/
Alternatively you could contact any of the tutors or the administrator by email at the following addresses:
Derek.Bunyard@winchester.ac.uk
Stephanie.Spencer@winchester.ac.uk
