This Education MA will give you an understanding of contemporary education issues, including critical theories and perspectives, alongside the latest academic research, from the UK and around the world.

Whether you’re looking to improve your practice as an educator, take your next steps towards a career in education or strengthen your skills before pursuing a research career, this Education MA will equip you with a range of analytics, research and transferable skills.

You’ll be supported to critically reflect on educational practices, including your own educational role and experiences, and how to analyse and evaluate contemporary developments in education policy. You’ll refine your communication and presentation abilities and strengthen your analytical and research skills, which can inform and enrich practical innovation in the classroom.

This Education MA is a flexible course that combines interdisciplinary perspectives with the development of analytical and core research skills. You’ll develop a critical understanding of education policies and practices from around the world, in a way that promotes your capacity for critical reflection and action in the classroom, supporting you to come up with new and practical ideas for your work.

At the same time, you’ll build a suite of transferable skills that are desirable for a range of education-related careers. These include developing practical and policy-oriented insights as well as enhanced communication and presentation skills.

You’ll join the School of Education, Communication and Society, which is an internationally recognised centre of research and teaching excellence in the field of education. This means you’ll be taught by academics who are regarded as world-leading in a range of education-related specialisms, including the sociology of education.

Your master’s in education will start with a required module that explores the critical perspectives on education and how to link and apply these ideas to issues of educational policy and practice. You’ll have the opportunity to discuss key issues facing this field and examine the sociology of education, covering topics such as the purpose of education, education and social inequalities, and aspects related to knowledge, power, and identity.

This required module follows the flipped classroom approach, which means that you’ll familiarise yourself with the learning materials independently before joining your classmates to discuss the concepts in a more active and collaborative way.

Another required module on research methods will provide you with ESRC-recognised training in how to research a topic and report on your findings. This will prepare you to undertake your own dissertation, which is a required element of this Education MA. You’ll learn how to formulate and justify your research question, how to answer the question and collect your data and how to analyse and present your findings.

The rest of your syllabus will be chosen by you, as you’ll get to pick three optional modules. For example, you might want to develop a critical and constructive understanding of what is meant by social justice and the complexities involved in providing a socially just education. You might choose to look at how social relations of gender, race and class are constituted, reproduced and resisted within schools, universities and beyond — or focus on the relationship between language and power in the context of education. Alternatively, you could focus your learning on international and comparative education, education and international development, teacher development, environmental education, child health and development, global childhoods, and other related areas.

There are numerous opportunities to enhance your education and expand your network beyond the classroom. You’ll be invited to a variety of events, including expert lectures, dissertation workshops and group discussions. You’ll also get to learn more about careers in education, with alumni often being invited back to King’s to discuss their experiences after graduating.