Teaching in the Department of Education
We pride ourselves on the high quality of professional support that we provide to all our students:
Undergraduate study
The School of Education and Social Work excels in the study of childhood and youth. In 2012, the Department of Education launched the BA in Working with Children and Young People. This multidisciplinary degree straddles not only the Department of Education and the Department of Social Work and Social Care, but also comprises modules from the Department of Anthropology, the Department of Sociology and the School of Psychology.
For more information, refer to Undergraduate study.
Postgraduate study
Our postgraduate taught degrees include the MA in Education Studies, the MA in International Education and Development and the MSc in Social Research Methods.
The School of Education and Social Work excels in the study of childhood and youth. In 2011, the Department of Social Work and Social Care launched the MA in Childhood and Youth Studies. This multidisciplinary degree straddles the Department of Education and the Department of Social Work and Social Care.
For more information, refer Postgraduate study.
Initial Teacher Education
Those wanting to train to become new teachers are likely to study one of our postgraduate initial teacher education (ITE) courses. These courses are grouped according to whether the participant wishes to teach 7-14 year olds or 11-18 year olds.
At Key Stage 3, those studying to teach 7-14 year olds can specialise in:
- mathematics
- modern foreign languages
- science.
The University of Sussex is one of only a few universities in the country offering this one-year course to those wishing to study a wider primary curriculum (Key Stage 2) in addition to their specialist subject.
11-18 teacher training is offered in these subjects:
- English
- history
- mathematics
- modern foreign languages
- music
- science.
ITE teacher training can also be undertaken by those who qualified to become teachers overseas and who need to achieve Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in order to teach in the UK. They will study on the Overseas Trained Teacher Programme (OTTP).
The Department of Education also offers subject knowledge enhancement courses for anyone needing a boost to their subject knowledge before – and in preparation for – undertaking an initial teacher education course. These courses are generally free to those who have been accepted on to an initial teacher education course on the proviso that they take a subject knowledge enhancement course. They are also subject to bursaries for participants.
For more information, refer to Initial Teacher Education
Research in the Department of Education
Those studying at doctoral level within the Department of Education can undertake one of three research-based degrees:
- the PhD in Education, which can be studied on a full- or part-time basis
- the Doctor of Education, a part-time PhD-level degree designed to be undertaken alongside participants' professional careers
- and the International Doctor of Education, a distance-learning course, which requires its participants to be on campus for just three to four weeks in the summer.
Research within the Department of Education is focused within three research centres:
- Centre for International Education (CIE)
- Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research (CHEER)
- Centre for Inquiry and Research in Cognition, Learning and Teaching in Sussex (CIRCLETS).
Most members of faculty within the Department of Education are affiliated with a research centre and very much view their roles as much research oriented as they are teaching oriented.
For more information, refer to Research.