Education, BA (Hons)

Course summary

Do you wish to become a driving force for a better and more just world? BA (Hons) Education informs, supports and promotes those looking to become innovators, pioneers and leaders of societal change. Educators can have a lasting impact on people’s lives. Whether you are interested in teaching, professional and personal development, social justice including special needs, equality, diversity and inclusion, working in the social or care industries, community development and creativity this is the course for you.It’s about a community of friends, students, and staff together, exploring the far reaching influence and power of formal and informal education, across our lifespan and not just in schools, to forge a flexible path to challenging and rewarding careers. This degree will help you make a difference to adults' and children's wellbeing and our global future – it is about becoming the change you want to see.

• We are about exploration: around Plymouth, but also further afield. Within the course there is the opportunity to broaden your understanding of education in different environments and cultures: residential trips; an option to do an international study exchange for one or two semesters in the second year; work based learning placements, and more.

• Learning and working with others: students are given space and tools to develop your individual voice, critical insight, and knowledge over a wide range of the education field. We encourage you to engage with different views and ideas about meaningful, inclusive, and socially just forms of education. We further encourage strong close ties with each other and our programme student / staff body – we are a community and wish to make sure all feel they ‘belong’.

• Enriched student experience: there are many additional opportunities to nourish a thriving student experience, such as benefitting from visiting speakers; wide ranging free public lectures/performances; Makaton training; teaching English as a second language; safeguarding training and qualification; and a wide range of volunteering experiences and placements in schools and the community.

• Developing confidence and critical thinking: we encourage and foster students’ knowledge and understanding of yourself and others, to develop confidence and conviction in personal opinions and beliefs and to have these challenged, as well as to build the courage to step outside of your comfort zones and to embrace new things.

• Becoming a researcher: students arrive imagining they might enter teaching, or social work, etc, at the end. Often, however, as you develop as an academic researcher, new opportunities open up and you catch the research bug! Doing research also helps to build confidence and skills which are useful for many work disciplines in the years ahead.

• Individual journeys and development: one of the things we particularly prize is the way we work to nurture, challenge and encourage personal growth and development. The course has the journey of 'you' at its heart: the person you wish to be, providing you with the enthusiasm and knowledge you need change the world around us.

• Early Childhood options: you can dip your toe into another course; as well as the BA (Hons) Education course, you will have the opportunity in your second and third year to take one or two modules from the Early Childhood Studies course.

• Other learning opportunities: take advantage of paid or unpaid work based learning module/s to help you stand out when it comes to starting your career. You can also participate in education-related volunteering; or pursue the myriad of opportunities available to all University of Plymouth students on our extensive, exciting city centre campus.

In the first year key areas are introduced including: issues of social justice, sustainability and policy plus action for social change, alternative education, disability and inclusion, and education for sustainability. Equality sits at the heart of your learning, helping you develop an understanding of the practical, political and social issues in education today. Placement opportunities allow you to develop specific areas of expertise. In the second year you are introduced to research and can take additional modules in outdoor learning, early childhood education, therapeutic interventions, and inclusive practices. Focus on vocational or postgraduate pathways, while workbased learning allows you to use paid/ unpaid work to enhance your graduate profile. You can also opt for a year or semester studying abroad. In the final year your main focus is educational research. Career-related option modules are available in years 2 and 3, linked to your personal development as an educator and member of society. There are opportunities to go on course-related residentials in selected modules. The modules shown for this course or programme are those being studied by current students, or expected new modules. Modules are subject to change depending on year of entry and up to date information can be found on our website