Part II

In the third year of the Education Tripos, students take the Research and Investigation in Education paper, plus a minimum of two further education papers. At least one the education papers will be in an Advanced Discipline in Education. The third paper can be either a second Advanced Discipline in Education or one of the Special Papers in Education. The Special Papers on offer may vary from year to year. Students’ fourth and fifth papers may be taken from any of the education Papers (both Advanced Subjects and Special Papers) or may be taken in their specialist subject.

Research and Investigation in Education

This paper introduces students to the methods of research, investigation and analysis of educational issues, including research methods in the social sciences. The taught course is followed by each student undertaking an individual enquiry-based study related to one or more of the areas of education covered in Part I of the degree, leading to the submission of a 10,000 word dissertation. The R&I may involve work in school depending on the topic chosen. In addition, if you are interested in teacher training, guidance will be available from the PGCE programme on you might develop an R&I topic that is most appropriate and relevant for your specific teaching discipline. Topics from previous projects are:

Advanced Disciplines in Education

History of Education

This paper looks at the development of the education system over time by studying the educationalists who pioneered innovation in teaching and learning, together with social movements which have placed the advancement of popular education at their heart. The course also looks more broadly at social change and how this has influenced educational provision in the twentieth century, particularly in relation to popular representation and media images of schooling, gender difference in educational provision, and teacher identities and classroom practices.

Philosophy of Education

This paper examines some philosophical perspectives that have been highly influential in shaping contemporary thinking. The focus will be on an analysis of the work of key thinkers whose contribution has been seminal to the following perspectives: conservatism; liberalism; existentialism; and pragmatism.

Psychology of Education

Within this paper courses are offered in areas such as: neuroscience, cognitive development and education, understanding children with learning difficulties and the social psychology of education, including topics such as inter-personal relationships, gender differences, prejudice, psychological issues in the classroom including understanding and dealing with disruptive pupils, and teacher stress and coping.

Sociology of Education

This paper looks at the social and political context of educational change and policy making. In particular it examines the relationship between the sociology of education and educational politics, policy and public debate. The course will also consider in depth the development of sociological theory in post-war British society. It explores the shifting political agendas in the UK of social democracy, the New Right, New Labour around the themes of social equality, integration and cohesion and considers the extent to which the experiences of young people, different ethnic communities and different social classes has changed as a result of educational and social policies. A second strand of the course focuses on the effects of poverty within communities and families, the educational experience and performance within such communities, and strategic responses by government to such conditions.

Special Papers in Education

The papers on offer will vary year on year. The listing below includes some of the papers confirmed for 2011-12.

Children and literature

This Part II course focuses centrally on key developments within children's literature in English, but it is wide ranging and also makes links to different kinds of written, film and visual texts produced in a variety of international settings. The course engages with broad critical questions and issues concerning the nature of children's literature, as well as with debates focused on the meaning and significance of particular texts that you will study in detail. You will encounter a variety of critical approaches to the study of children's literature – close reading, as well as literary, psychoanalytic, historical, semiotic, reader response and socio-cultural theory. But the emphasis throughout will be on developing a discriminating sense of the kinds of pleasure that children's literature affords the reader, on extending your knowledge of the field generally and on deepening of your engagement with particular children's texts.

Education, Inclusion and Diversity

This interdisciplinary paper explores contemporary challenges in educational and social contexts in times of increasing global and local diversity. Drawing on international research and policy, this paper explores issues of social justice, mobility, social inclusion, conflict and violence from an educational perspective. It will be of equal interest to students wishing to pursue a career in teaching or in NGOs focussing on educational equality and human rights.

Creativity and Thinking

This course explores 'creativity' in relation to how we learn to think about, engage with, and understand the world. The course examines how the concept of creativity is understood within different traditions of thought within the arts, humanities and sciences. It looks critically at theories suggesting there are creative elements in play in our ordinary communication with each other through language and in the processes whereby we attempt to grapple with new ideas, as well as within more obviously creative domains such as artistic production and design. The course also considers why creativity has recently become such a widely invoked concept within debates about education and education policy, probing some of the hidden agendas that underlie the often rather loose forms in which the concept is deployed. In addition to exploring the meaning of creativity in both historical and current educational contexts, a vital aspect of the course will be the opportunity that it offers to test ideas and theories in relation to creative projects developed by students themselves. These projects can be designed in a variety of different forms and disciplines and are part of the formal assessment process for the course.

Modern Drama and Theatre

This course is for students following the courses in Education with English and Drama, and Education with English.