Professional Studies in Education: Advanced Professional Practice – (M.A.)

These award-bearing continuing professional development programmes are aimed at all postgraduate and post-experience professionals who work in an educational context. They are flexible and modular so, should you have to leave the programme at any stage, you may claim the award for which you are eligible. All courses are also attuned to national and local initiatives in teachers' career development.
The following courses are available at our Kingston Hill site:

* Advanced Professional Practice
* Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
* Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties (BESD)
* Early Years Education
* Inclusion and Special Education Needs
* Leadership and Management

Partnership pathways

Programmes have been validated for the following courses. These are currently only available to teachers employed in the Surrey Local Authority and are normally taught in specialist schools and centres.

* Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
* Speech and Language Difficulties

The following programmes have also been validated and can be made available under partnership agreements.

* Multi-agency Working
* Multimedia Education

Many of our staff in the School of Education are research active. This ensures they are in touch with the latest thinking and bring best practice to your studies.

Education research at Kingston focuses on:

* practitioner research – subject pedagogy, curriculum design, comparative curricula, educational leadership, school improvement, policy making and policy analysis;
* promotion of partnerships and networks – in response to changes in the relationship between higher education and schools as providers of teacher education;
* local management of schools; and
* professional practice – for policy makers and practitioners involved in education, teaching or related areas.

The Centre for Professional Education Research and Consultancy (CPERC) is based on the considerable expertise within Kingston University – and the School of Education in particular – in respect of teacher and other professional education. CPERC takes a wide focus to explore the changing nature of work and the professions, with an emphasis on inter-disciplinary approaches and professional education in globalising, national and local situations.

We also support an interdisciplinary research group on public sector management. This has addressed issues such as the management of primary schools, including:

* the links between schools under local authorities; and
* the changing role of women primary schools heads.

Conference attendance

Members of the School of Education regularly attend international conferences, such as:

* the American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual meeting;
* the Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association (APERA) international conference; and
* the Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP) biennial international conference.

The latest ideas from these conferences then feed back into your teaching.

Student research

You may be able to publish any research you undertake on the Kingston University Research and Innovation Reports (KURIR) website. This site gives anyone associated with Kingston University the opportunity to publish articles, which will be permanently available to the academic community.