What does education really look like beyond your own school experience? This module opens new perspectives on how education works, with a particular focus on secondary schools.

Starting with your own experiences, you’ll explore what education means, how it differs from schooling, and how its purpose has evolved over time. You’ll examine how education is shaped locally, nationally, and globally- through the English National Curriculum and a range of alternative approaches, including SEND provision, Montessori, and other progressive models.

With regular school visits, you’ll see secondary education in action, exploring how teachers plan, support diverse learners, and respond to issues such as inclusion, safeguarding, and sustainability. You’ll also consider education from different viewpoints - including students, teachers, families, and wider society.

Broaden your perspective, build your academic skills, and take your first step towards a career in secondary education.

Education is highly values-laden. Whether considering children’s health and well-being, their safety, how potential is measured or developed, whether children should be taught in ability groups, how anti-bullying or relationships issues are explore in classrooms, issues can often be contentious and cause heated debate. This module will explore these issues and more, including social justice, sustainability, and “what matters” in education settings.

This module explores the “Big Questions” in Education, drawing on key thinkers and theorists from across many periods of history and diverse locations across the globe. It will prepare you for undertaking your own research later in the degree, and provide broad horizons to challenge some of your preconceptions and expectations about education.

What would your ideal school look like? In the present day how would it be organised, what would be building be like, would it be actual or virtual, would there be rules? This module provides a creative and extended opportunity to explore a broad range of options and opportunities and to develop your own philosophical approach to learning and teaching.

What if you could gain real classroom experience while developing the skills to become a reflective educator? This module gives you the opportunity to take part in an extended paid or voluntary work placement and bring your learning to life.

Whether you choose a local school, an alternative setting, or even an international experience, you’ll immerse yourself in environments that support children’s learning and development. Along the way, you’ll observe teaching in action and explore how theory, policy, and pedagogy shape real educational practice.

A key focus of the module is reflection. You’ll learn how to use professional reflective models to critically evaluate your experiences, developing the mindset and skills needed to grow as a thoughtful, adaptable practitioner.

Gain valuable experience, think like a professional, and take a confident step towards your future in teaching.

Following focused input from your lecturers, this module provides the opportunity to explore a particular topic of interest to you, supported by a tutor. Whether you want to learn more about child development, pedagogy, approaches to behavior management or an aspect of the school curriculum, you will be supported to develop critical insights into real life practice.

In this module you will hone your skills in reflective practice, reflecting on contributions from a variety of speakers and experts in addition to visits to a range of learning settings for children of different ages. This will include both formal and informal learning settings.

Inclusion is a broad term understood in many different ways. In this module you will consider its meaning in a variety of locations and contexts as well as at different times in history. Diversity, equality, equity, gender, age, identity, difference and special educational needs and disabilities will all contribute to the breadth of areas explored.

Education systems and processes are continually changing: nothing ever seems to stand still! This module will support you to explore current issues and to develop your viewpoint and deepen your understanding drawing on the practical and theoretical learning you have gained in earlier modules.