Университет Миддлэссекса, BA (Hons), Education Studies with Philosophy

Year 1: In this year the student looks at historical and contemporary approaches to education policy and psychological approaches to learning; the student is also introduced to the study of philosophy and its specific concerns and vocabulary, as well as the place of education in the discipline of philosophy; the modules are as follows: psychological approaches to learning; introduction to philosophy; key themes in western philosophy; education policy: historical and contemporary perspectives. Year 2: education studies modules in years 2 and 3 develop all of the areas covered in year 1, looking systematically at education from a legal and social point of view, while philosophy modules focus on the major moral and political philosophies in the Western tradition, including reflection on the role of education in these; the modules are as follows: utopia and human nature: moral and political philosophy; education and equality; curriculum studies Key Stage 2 and beyond (optional); special needs, disability and inclusion (optional); comparative education and related issues (optional); working and researching in organisations 1 (optional). Year 3: in this year, the student also works on an independent education studies project investigating a topic of their own choosing and using methods which they select in discussion with a supervisor; there is also an opportunity to take up a work placement in a relevant field; philosophy modules examine the nature and status of truth and objectivity in all fields of enquiry, and look at modern psychoanalytic, existential and deconstructive accounts of the nature of human existence; the modules are as follows: philosophies of meaning and truth; war, terror and global justice; children's rights (optional); children's literature (optional); working and researching in organisations 2 (optional); disaffection and counselling in education (optional); proposition module (optional); education rights and the law (optional).

This course combines the study of education with the study of philosophy; in education studies a variety of disciplines including sociology, history, psychology and law form the basis of the programme and from this standpoint the student learns to critically evaluate contemporary education policies, practices and philosophies; philosophy is taught in thematic modules, providing training in the critical and rigorous practice of thinking through a study of traditional and contemporary philosophical questions, and in the study of major texts from the history of philosophy; as the programme's emphasis is on the practical application of these skills, it helps the student gain a higher participation in contemporary ethical and political debates and to questions about the nature of the human being.