This module provides historical context to the major aspects of primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as education in informal settings. Focusing primarily on England, the module will focus on the development of education in the 19th, 20th and 21st era. The module will integrate the study of the contextual history of education with the ‘Self as Academic Student’. As a result, you will use your study of primary and secondary materials, formative and diagnostic reflections, and assessment planning, in order to build an understanding for what it means to be a student in higher education. Key study skills such as: referencing; academic writing for different audiences, and critical reading and reflection will be addressed. 

This module is structured around two key questions; 'What is learning and how do we learn?' and 'What is the role, purpose and function of education?' Question one is addressed primarily through the examination of a range of key psychological theories of learning and cognitive development. You will also examine how these theories have impacted on educational practice. Question two will be considered via contemporary issues relating to educational experiences and how sociological perspectives can provide a critical lens to understand these issues. Throughout the module you will consider the role, purpose and function of schooling in contemporary society. You will then examine the different outcomes of education systems to develop an understanding for why and how these outcomes may vary for different groups.

Introduces students to the discipline of psychology, an overview of five core areas: biological, cognitive, developmental, personality and social psychology.

This module looks at who is included and excluded within education in the UK and internationally. Using critical theory and lived experience, it encourages you to reflect on political, economic, social and cultural contexts to understand how and why inclusion and exclusion take place. Using concrete examples and contexts, you consider how educational inclusion can be created and the barriers that stand in the way.

Choose one module from the following:

• Global Comparative Education – Encourages you to look beyond UK borders by examining education systems around the world, utilising comparative frameworks and considering global conceptualisations of education.

• Music in the Life of the Primary School – Offers you basic, core practical skills in primary music education, supported by engagement with key contemporary debates regarding UK policy, practice, theory, and research into children’s musical development.

• Radical Education – Examines contemporary radical theories of education, particularly the arguments for ‘critical pedagogy’, and possible responses whilst studying contemporary examples of innovative education.

• Creativity and Education – Will equip you with an understanding of arts education policy, pedagogy, curriculum design, and assessment in a time of educational, economic, technological, and social change.

Choose one module from the following:

• The Practice and Policies of Primary Education – This module considers national perspectives on primary education and provides an insight into teaching and learning in contemporary primary classrooms.

• Education and Equality: Class, Race and Ethnicity – Examines current debates concerning social class, race, and ethnicity, and social justice in education.

• Special Educational Needs in Education – Explores how primary and secondary schools support children who have special educational needs (SEN).

Choose two modules from the following:

• Human Sexual and Reproductive Behaviours – This module aims to provide you with an evidence base to understand certain sexual and reproductive health choices and how to reduce the harms associated with any high-risk behaviours.

• Forensic Psychology – The aim of the module is to encourage and develop your understanding of criminological and forensic psychology.

• Psychology of Health and Illness – This module allows you to build on your understanding of social, differential, and developmental psychology and to apply your knowledge of psychology to the area of health-related behaviours and chronic illness.

• Psychology of Eating Behaviour – The overall aim of this module is to develop your understanding of human appetite and eating behaviours from a variety of psychological perspectives.

• Perception – This module is designed to give you an up-to-date view of perception research and to enable you to critically evaluate current vision science literature.

• Psychology and Education – This module aims to introduce you to key issues in educational psychology, to allow you to develop an in-depth, critical understanding of theories, research, and debates relevant to education in a global context.

• Cyberpsychology – The module is designed to introduce the academic discipline of cyberpsychology, with specific focus on how you interact with the Internet and how the online world affects psychological processes and behaviour.