Education (Leadership) MA

University of Bedfordshire

This course equips you with the knowledge and skills required to analyse practice, lead change and inspire excellence. Through your studies, you have the opportunity to think critically and creatively so you can effectively navigate the evolving demands of leadership within education. The course is made up of core and optional units, providing you with the flexibility to design a programme which meets your individual needs.What will you study?Studying our part-time Education (Leadership) MA course will provide you with in-depth knowledge and skills in the combined fields of education, leadership and management to support aspirations towards more senior roles in academic settings. The core unit for this course, Educational Leadership in Context, critically explores the distinction between leadership and management, and a range of theoretical perspectives. Leadership elements are also explored in depth in the unit Leading Change in Education, which looks at the application of change management concepts to the changes needed to support development in schools. The unit, Exploring Coaching and Mentoring, highlights in particular the interpersonal skills required of leaders to support the development of their team.As well as having substantial units focusing on aspects of leadership, the course also allows you to select from a range of other optional units available across our part-time MA Education pathways depending on your research interests. To better understand children and their needs, our unit in Children’s Voice: Researching and Analysing Children’s Lives will allow you to examine children’s lived experiences based on tensions within family, welfare and education policies. This may involve considering how low pay or long working hours of parents could place constraints on family time available to children, and the implications of issues such as this for policy and practice.Another crucial area to your educational practice involves Meeting Diverse Needs, and you will do this by engaging with research literature on how diverse needs can be supported in educational settings to promote inclusion in your professional practice. More importantly, you will adopt a reflective approach in our Enhancing Practice in Educational Settings unit that will enable you to identify your strengths and areas for development to be responsive to student needs. Finally, you will complete a Dissertation in Education (Leadership) in a research area that interests you. To help you with this, our Research Methods in the Workplace unit aims to develop your research skills through a range of activities.CareersFor existing professionals this Master’s qualification will enhance your chances for promotion to senior positions in the field of education and in particular senior management roles within schools. It acts as an important indicator of your ability and understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a senior leader in educational settings. It is designed to help you critique key issues in education as well as to identify and justify recommendations for further action.As a Master’s graduate therefore you will have the confidence knowledge and critical skills to prepare and present a strong application to senior posts in the field of education. It is also an ideal base from which to progress to study at Doctoral level.Part time course over 3-5 years.

School of Education