BA (Hons) Primary Education Bachelor's degree at Plymouth Marjon University

This module introduces you to the big themes and ideas in education today – schools, learning, the curriculum, the influence of politics – and prepares you with the crucial foundation for your studies over the three years. Engage in debate, share your thinking and hone your academic skills.

You'll get to grips with two of the key themes in education today, creativity and inclusion. Through practical projects, you begin to reflect on your own opinions about these important ideas and how practitioners can develop a learning environment that supports them effectively.

We live in an age of complexity and nowhere is this more evident than in the diverse range of schools that exist. But education doesn't happen only at school, and in this module you explore the nature of learning environments in the widest sense, taking account of formal and informal positions in relation to education.

How do children develop and learn? What are some of the key factors in their socialisation and acquisition of language? Why do children play? This module aims to answer these questions and many more as you delve into the critical years of child development.

In this module, you begin to develop your knowledge and understanding of children's literature and how this shapes their worlds, their language and their imagination. Alongside this, you consider how literature can be brought to life through drama – in particular within the context of practical activity that you lead in a local primary school.

This is an opportunity to get stuck into practice and test out some of the theory you have been looking at in the first year. Choosing from a range of projects, you collaborate with your peers to design and lead learning sessions for children, either in their schools or on campus. Deep and guided reflection on these allows you to grow as a practitioner.

Some people love Maths, and some people hate it, but there is no denying its fundamental importance to children and to their life opportunities. In this optional module, we explore the nature of primary school Mathematics, how it is taught, how children learn and why it is so important.

This module brings you outside the classroom and encourages you to consider the value of outdoor education for primary children. From woodlands to beach settings, how can the outdoors be used as a vehicle for development and learning. Explore the theory and the practice of creativity in the outdoors.

In an ever-changing world, the environment has become a critical issue for the future. This module invites you to consider the role of learning about sustainability within education. How do we encourage a sense of citizenship and responsibility through educational settings?

Teachers teach in many different ways and there are a wide variety of philosophical positions about how to teach successfully. From child-centred approaches to traditional didactic practice, why do teachers do what they do, what philosophical outlook underpins their practice and how do you perceive yourself to be as a practitioner.

Learning is undoubtedly a complicated and controversial idea and in this module we unpick some of the issues connected to broad aspects of learning. What is resilience? How do children develop this? Can it be taught? How do children become independent in their learning?

This is the first of two opportunities to engage in an independent experiential placement in a school, or other educational environment or setting. Initiate contact with the setting, devise a plan for your professional development, engage in aspects of practice and then reflect on all of this under the guidance of experienced staff.

Equipping you with knowledge and understanding about research design and process, this module enables you to begin thinking about yourself as a researcher, planning and developing ideas for your third-year research. Begin to investigate an area of interest to you and submit a proposal for your third year.

Building on your second year placement, engage in further professional development in a school or other setting. This is a chance to consider elements of practice fully, and to reflect on what is happening and why applying critical theoretical perspectives to the issues you see and experiences you have.

What kind of practitioner are you? By this point in your degree, you will already have a sense of your own ideas about education, and how your own values and experiences shape you. In thinking about your future development and next steps, this module enables you to ground your experiences and thinking, developing a sound and well-conceived philosophy of education.

We live in a world where performance is measured and this is as true of educational contexts as it is of the world of business. But how do we manage these pressures as professionals working with young people, and how do we make the most of complex systems which can be challenging to operate in?

Children and young people need to be supported in myriad ways. Whether it is a special educational need, issue related to child protection, or medical condition, teachers and practitioners are on the front line, supporting children, young people and their families day in day out. On this module, you consider the principles and practices involved in this support.

Following on from the submission of your research proposal, the Education Project allows you to engage in primary research, collecting and analysing data under the close supervision of a university tutor. This module encourages autonomy and independence, and gives you scope to develop your researcher skillset.