Education (Top Up)

Program Overview

The BA Education (Top Up) program at LSBU is designed for working professionals seeking further education while maintaining employment. Its practice-based approach emphasizes linking theory and practice, developing reflective practitioners. The program offers modules in alternative educational settings, contemporary issues, and research, along with specialized facilities and guaranteed teacher training interview opportunities.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

This course is designed for individuals already working in an educational setting who wish to pursue further studies while maintaining their employment. The BA Education (Top Up) is a one-day-a-week program for professionals who can engage in academic work during their working week. Students are expected to connect their academic studies with their daily experiences in the workplace. This work-based approach allows students to develop transferable skills, gain recognition for existing knowledge, and enhance their professional effectiveness. The program aims to support students in developing their professional approach within their workplace. It provides opportunities to link theory and practice, critically analyze different approaches, and cultivate the skills necessary to become reflective and innovative practitioners. The program also promotes wider participation by accommodating career changers and mature students with family commitments.

Key Features:

• Practice-based approach: The program emphasizes a practical approach to learning, incorporating collaboration with psychologists to create engaging modules.
• High student satisfaction: LSBU ranks 3rd among London competitors for Student Satisfaction in Education (Complete University Guide 2022).
• Specialized facilities: LSBU offers specialist facilities equipped with resources found in a typical primary school setting.

Outline:

Program Structure:

• The program is delivered over one day per week.
• Students are expected to reflect on their academic studies in relation to their workplace experiences.

Modules:

• Alternative Educational Setting Placement - work based: This module involves a placement in an alternative educational setting, providing students with the opportunity to work with children, families, and communities in a different educational context.
This experience helps students develop their knowledge and understanding of education in a broader sense.
• Contemporary Issues in Education: This module allows students to critically explore the role and purpose of education in contemporary Britain, examining factors that influence government educational policy and the expectations of parents, communities, and children.
The content is subject to change based on current concerns, such as the relevance of the 2014 national curriculum to children growing up in the 21st century.
• Educational Autobiography: This module equips students with the framework, theory, and methodologies to critically reflect on their own educational journey.
Through lectures, seminars, and workshops, students analyze their experiences in primary, secondary, and tertiary education, culminating in the creation of a critical educational autobiography (educational autoethnography). Students apply previous learning, such as theories of education and pedagogy, barriers to learning, and personal and social interaction, to their own experiences. The module also encourages reflection on wider social and cultural issues like equality, culture and identity, and social justice in a personal context. The assignment builds upon skills developed through reflective journals completed at Levels 4 and 5, and contributes to students' understanding and experience of research methodologies in preparation for their dissertation project.
• Project: This module builds upon previous modules that have developed skills in literature reviews, ethical approval, case study, and small-scale research.
Students plan and implement their own research, consolidating previously learned skills to conduct a more sustained and in-depth study. Students receive 1:1 supervision to develop their research in a chosen area of interest. The module provides practical research experience that prepares students for postgraduate studies and helps develop academic skills such as evaluating validity and adopting a questioning approach to the status quo in education.

Assessment:

• The program utilizes a variety of assessment methods, including:
• Interactive displays
• Essays
• Reflective journals
• Research dissertation

Teaching:

• The program is delivered by an academic team with extensive experience and expertise in teaching practice and education research.
• The program emphasizes a practice-based approach to learning.
• Students receive 1:1 supervision for their dissertation project.

Careers:

• The program provides strong employment opportunities upon graduation.
• LSBU has extensive links with schools, alternative educational settings, and the creative industries, as well as organizations such as The British Dyslexia Association, Achievement for All, and researchers in the field.
• The program offers a guaranteed interview for teacher training.

Other:

• The program is ideal for individuals already employed in an educational setting who wish to study while working.
• The program promotes wider participation by accommodating career changers and mature students with family commitments.
• The program emphasizes the development of reflective and innovative practitioners.
• The program provides opportunities to link theory and practice.
• The program offers specialized facilities equipped with resources found in a typical primary school setting.
• The program is delivered by an academic team with extensive experience and expertise in teaching practice and education research.
• The program provides strong employment opportunities upon graduation.
• LSBU has extensive links with schools, alternative educational settings, and the creative industries, as well as organizations such as The British Dyslexia Association, Achievement for All, and researchers in the field.
• The program offers a guaranteed interview for teacher training.

UK Fees: £9250 Int. Fees: £14900 Tuition fees are subject to annual inflationary increases. Part-time Full-time The fee shown is for entry 2024/25 UK fee: £9250 International fee: £14900 Total course fee: UK: £9250 International: £14900 Possible fee changes The fees for international students are reviewed annually and the University reserves the right to increase the tuition fees in line with the RPIX measure of inflation up to 4 per cent.