Education Research MPhil – (M.Phil.)

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Research students are encouraged to play an active role in faculty research programmes, conferences and other research initiatives. All research students are offered a dedicated doctoral-level course in research methods, and access to lectures on key issues in educational methods and practice.

Externally-funded research projects administered by the Education Research Centre have included: two EU-funded projects comparing approaches to independent learning and children's literature with schools in five countries through IT linking; Arts Council-funded projects on art, photography and new technology (in partnership with Lighthouse and South East Arts); two Leverhulme Trust projects (in collaboration with Kings College London) on low achievement in children's numeracy; three Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded projects on pupil groupings in primary and secondary school classrooms and one on lifelong learning; Department for International Development (DFID)-funded research on gender and school achievement in the Caribbean; British Council-funded links with the Caribbean, South Africa and Mauritius; and a number of Teacher Training Agency (TTA), local education authority (LEA) and other funded evaluation studies.

The main areas of research within the Centre are literacies in education, higher education, pedagogy in schools, and religious studies and Education Doctorate in Education (EdD) This innovative award is targeted at senior professionals with responsibilities for education in organisations and educational institutions. The four-year, part-time programme combines taught elements of research methods with policy/ organisational issues in educational institutions. It is designed to produce researching professionals - professional practitioners equipped to use research methods to resolve emergent problems of professional practice, develop innovation in practice, and use the research findings of others in integrating their individual practical expertise with the best external evidence. This doctorate adds to the continuum of programmes for professional development already offered in the Faculty of Education and Sport.