BA (Hons) Education and Special Educational Needs

Program Overview

This BA (Hons) Education and Special Educational Needs degree equips students with the knowledge and skills to support individuals with special educational needs and disabilities throughout their learning journey. Through a blend of face-to-face and online learning, students develop a critical understanding of education and inclusive practice, preparing them for careers in education, social care, health, and social work. The program emphasizes the importance of working effectively with parents, and explores concepts such as neurodiversity and its implications for education. International opportunities, work placements, and dedicated support services provide students with a well-rounded educational experience.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

This BA (Hons) Education and Special Educational Needs degree is designed for students who want to support individuals with a range of special educational needs and disabilities throughout their learning journey. The program aims to develop a critical understanding of education and inclusive practice, leading to a diverse range of careers.

Objectives:

• Develop a critical understanding of education and inclusive practice.
• Gain knowledge and skills to support individuals with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Prepare students for careers in education, social care, health, and social work.

Description:

The program is taught by a team of passionate and experienced lecturers who use research, practice, and community links to shape the learning experience. The program emphasizes the link between theory and practice, enabling students to become critically informed and reflective practitioners.

Outline:

Level 4:

• Core Modules:
• Learners and Learning in Contemporary Society (20 credits): Introduces key concepts in the psychology of education, particularly as they relate to learning.
Explores how changes in culture and society have impacted the nature of learning.
• Education and Society (20 credits): Introduces key concepts in the philosophy and sociology of education, as applied to issues in the relationship between education and society.
• Snapshots of Education (20 credits): Introduces key developments in education.
Draws upon historical sources and sociological research in education to develop a conceptual understanding of developments in education. Develops and enhances skills necessary for undertaking independent learning and study in higher education. Introduces issues relating to disability, special educational needs, and inclusion. Provides a historical overview of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), introduces students to SEND provision (past and present), key legislation, and broad areas of need.
• Exploring Inclusive Practice (20 credits): Provides students with knowledge and understanding of the differing educational provision for those with SEND, in addition to exploring the role of the SENDCo and other key professionals, with a key emphasis on inclusive practice.

Level 5:

• Core Modules:
• Professional Project Enquiry (20 credits): Develops knowledge of practices used within educational settings/environments.
Engages students in reflections of the block professional placement and supports the development of student enquiry. Students will reflect on their experiences and engage in the processes necessary to identify an area of research for further exploration.
• Student Enquiry into Research Methods (20 credits): Taught through a combination of lectures, workshops, and online study.
Topics are covered with introductory lectures followed by workshops involving group work and practical activities. Students engage with online materials to support their understanding and scaffold their reading and reflection on research issues.
• Disability and Identity (20 credits): Develops awareness and knowledge of the dynamic and changing relationship of identity and disability over the life course.
Many contentious, topical, and ethical considerations will be debated and critically discussed. The roles and responsibilities of a range of professionals who collaborate with, and support, these individuals and families will be explored.
• Optional Modules:
• Contemporary Issues for Young People (20 credits): Provides an introduction to the nature and importance of the concept of youth.
Develops a critical understanding of the nature, causes, and effects of problems, issues, and concerns experienced by young people, alongside analyzing the role of government legislation and initiatives in dealing with the issues faced by young people.
• Study Semester Abroad - Education studies (60 credits): Allows students to replace one semester of their LJMU program with a semester of full-time study at an approved overseas partner institution.
• Schools and the Curriculum (20 credits): Enables students to learn about schools, the remit and role of the teachers, and key issues in contemporary compulsory education.
Learning activities will allow students to apply their knowledge and skills in the study of education to contemporary issues in schools, including those relating to the curriculum, learning and teaching, and the controversial issues surrounding schools and society.

Level 6:

• Core Modules:
• Dissertation (40 credits): Allows students to research a topic of their choice, which relates to their program of study, using a range of data sources and appropriate research methods.
Research is supported through introductory lectures followed with workshops for group work and practical activities. Students are allocated a supervisor who will meet with them over the research period. Online materials are also available to guide and support independent study.
• Education, Culture and Identity (20 credits): Enables students to develop their own critical response to current debates about the cultural significance of education, particularly its role in society and influences on individuals and identities.
Students are encouraged to reflect on their own philosophy of education and to examine global perspectives shaping contemporary debates on connections between education, the individual, and society.
• Optional Modules:
• Parents and Schools (20 credits): Introduces the crucial importance of working effectively with parents, and potential barriers to effective parent-practitioner relationships according to social class, gender, ethnicity, and special educational needs.
Enables students to develop a conceptual understanding of key developments relating to home-school collaboration, and how to develop the engagement of parents that they meet as future practitioners. Considers controversy surrounding 'problem' parents and intervention from the state, as well as relevant strategies (used in the classroom and beyond) which may develop parental involvement and home-school collaboration.
• Working Therapeutically within Early Childhood (20 credits): Provides students with a knowledge and understanding of therapeutic practice with children and their carers in the UK.
Develops the ability to critically analyze what reflective practitioners offer therapeutically, in a variety of contexts, appropriate to the needs of children, their carers, organizations, and society. Discusses therapeutic theory and practice for working within early childhood.
• Informal and Non-formal Education (20 credits): Introduces students to alternative educational environments that they may choose to access and contribute to in their voluntary or paid work.
Adds to their understanding of the breadth of settings in which learning and education take place. Engages with radical theories in education and approaches the field from more of a contextual perspective.
• Supporting Vulnerable Children and Young People in Education (20 credits): Develops students' understanding and knowledge of the issues and potential consequences vulnerable children and young people may experience in education.
Provides the opportunity to explore and critically evaluate a range of Government and multi-agency strategies implemented to support vulnerable children and young people in education.

Assessment:

Assessment varies depending on the modules chosen, but will usually include a combination of exams and coursework. A wide range of assessments are used throughout the three years of study, including presentations (individually or as part of a group), poster presentations, portfolios, artefacts, and essays. Feedback is provided within 15 working days of submitting a piece of work.

Teaching:

• Teaching Methods: The program adopts an active blended learning approach, meaning students experience a combination of face-to-face and online learning.
This enables students to experience a rich and diverse learning experience and engage fully with their studies.
• Faculty: The program is taught by a team of passionate and experienced lecturers who use research, practice, and community links to shape the learning experience.
• Unique Approaches: The program includes guest speakers from a wide range of organizations who come in to talk about their role and that of the organization (e.g., Portage, Children and adult mental health Services, bereavement counsellors from a children's hospital and a children's hospice).

Careers:

• Potential Career Paths:
• Teacher (following a PGCE/PGDE course)
• Special educational needs coordinator
• Inclusion support coordinator
• Behaviour support worker
• Learning mentor
• Disability inclusion officer
• Local authority disability coordinator
• Disability support worker
• Counsellor
• Roles in community or charitable organizations
• Opportunities: The program provides a good set of work-related experiences that enhance career options.
Students have the opportunity to undertake a four-week block placement or project in the second year (Level 5) within a wide range of organizations. There is also an opportunity to gain international work experience.
• Outcomes: Many graduates choose to continue their studies at Masters and Doctorate level.
LJMU graduates who meet the entry criteria are guaranteed an interview for their chosen PGDE course.

Other:

• The program has links with local organizations and schools who provide a range of interesting work placements, including Sure Start Centres, International Schools, Children and Adult Mental Health Services, and bereavement support organizations.
• The program is based in the Education Building in the heart of the Mount Pleasant campus, which features a wide range of cutting-edge facilities, including a pedagogy room, lecture rooms, computing facilities, and a nearby Forest School for outdoor learning.
Students also benefit from independent study spaces, a close-by cafeteria and library, and access to student welfare and support.
• The program explores the concept of neurodiversity and its implications for education.
• The program encourages students to reflect on their own philosophy of education and to examine global perspectives shaping contemporary debates on connections between education, the individual, and society.

Home full-time per year: £9,250

International full-time per year: £17,750

All figures are subject to yearly increases. Tuition fees are subject to parliamentary approval.