Education
Why study Education at Emmanuel?
Education is one of the most powerful means for social transformation and justice, human flourishing, and knowledge development in the contemporary world. If you are interested in areas such as psychology, philosophy, politics, social justice, or diverse socio-cultural contexts of education and learning, you can study all that as part of the Education course.
This is a rigorous and rewarding interdisciplinary course that ranges from the psychology of learning to the transformative power of literature and the arts, to the changing nature of knowledge in the information age, and to issues of social justice and inequality in our local communities and in the world.
Core areas you may study as part of this course are:
- Introduction to Education Systems and Disciplines
- Learning and Human Development
- Education, Creativity and Culture
- Education and Social Justice
- Education, Literature and Postcolonial Cultures
- Education and Development in the Global South
- Children’s Literature
- Education, Neuroscience and Society
- Play, Creativities and Imagination
How will my day be organised?
In the first year, you will attend four to six lectures and seminars at the Faculty of Education, and one or two hours of one-to one and/or small group supervision, organised by the Emmanuel college, per week. A similar pattern of work will continue in the following two years, with a myriad of optional papers available for you choose from in order to design your preferred specialisation pathway into the field of Education. In the third year, all students will also submit a research dissertation around a topic of choice connected to the field of Education.
Students are assessed at the end of each year and depending on the papers studied, this will be through written examination, coursework, or a combination of both.
What qualities do successful Education students have?
The Education Tripos will suit any student who is interested in a flexible course that enables the study of more than one discipline, that is, a student who enjoys interdisciplinary thinking. It is also a degree that involves deep critical thinking, and group work and discussions.
Generally, students in this degree come from a wide range of previous educational backgrounds, school subject choices, and career interests. It is useful (but not essential) for students in this degree to have experience and/or interest in studying subject areas in the social sciences, psychology, arts and/or humanities.
Where could/will an Education degree lead?
Students have the opportunity to choose their own pathway in this degree, which will allow them to specialise on one area, or pursue a multidisciplinary approach, allowing them to follow different career paths.
The career options for Education graduates are extremely varied and they find employment in a wide range of occupations in the UK and abroad. As well as further study at postgraduate level (Masters and Doctoral research programmes) and/or initial teacher education level, Cambridge Education students have gone into research consultancy, publishing, and the Civil Service. Others now work in government policy and administration, the media, theatre, heritage and museum education, Human Resources, business and consultancy, charities and NGOs, and international development.