MA Special Educational Needs

Program Overview

The 2015 Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice (DfE/DoH) specifies that all teachers must be seen as teachers of pupils with SEN and take responsibility for the progress of all learners in their class.

With an estimated 20 per cent of our young people in school with special educational needs, it is important for teachers to have access to current research and to develop their understanding and confidence in this area.

The MA in Special Educational Needs is designed to critically engage with current thinking and ideas about inclusive and specialist education.

It will allow you to develop your knowledge of specific learning difficulties, and to become a reflective practitioner who is able to use research to inform your own practice.

This course will give you a firm grounding in understanding a range of special needs across a variety of age groups. Subjects include autism, dyslexia, social and emotional mental health issues, inclusion and leadership in SEN.

Program Outline

This course is relevant to both mainstream and specialist settings. The aim is to build the capacity of teachers and other professionals to respond effectively to the diverse educational needs of all learners, including those with special educational needs.

You will develop detailed knowledge of specific special needs, including autism, dyslexia and social and emotional mental health issues.

Throughout the course, you will be supported to develop a critical understanding of theory alongside the practical knowledge you will gain.

You will be encouraged to make links between theory and your own practice, and become a reflective practitioner who is able to think proactively and strategically about provision for pupils with special and additional learning needs.

You will learn through lectures, face-to-face tutorials and by working in small discussion groups and pairs.

The course is taught in the evenings from 5.30pm to 8.30pm.

There is a focus on collaborative learning, building on the strength of shared experience, knowledge and expertise. During taught sessions, you will be encouraged to interact with your fellow professionals, allowing you to explore theory and practice.

Group activities also help you to develop your ideas through discussion with others before your approach the assessment tasks.

Each module is supported by a virtual learning environment (VLE), where you can access key readings, additional materials and use the discussion board.

In addition to weekly lectures, you have access to the module tutor via email or in face-to-face tutorials. Our tutors have all worked professionally to a high level in the field, and have experience in supporting participants from a wide range of professional contexts and backgrounds.

Each module encourages you to link your developing knowledge and understanding to your own professional context. Professional learning is further developed through the Research and Methodology module, which prepares you to write a 14,000 word dissertation.

To complete the dissertation, you will carry out small-scale research within an educational setting. You can link theory and current research to an area of interest, which allows you to reflect on your own practice and plan for change.

There are no examinations on this course. We assess you on your coursework for the PG Cert and PG Diploma modules, and a dissertation for the master's module. Each module assessment will typically be a single submission portfolio of 5,000 words or equivalent. There will be a dissertation of 14,000 words.

For full time students, there are three terms with two modules to be taken in term one,

plus the dissertation module and one other module in terms two and three.

For part time students: it is one module per term for terms one to four and then the

dissertation module in terms five and six.