Studying Education Studies at Winchester
I have met lots of people who really like the idea of teaching, but they want to keep their options open. Equally, you might know you’d like to work in education, but you’re just not sure yet what exactly you’d like to do. Or, you might be like me: I started Education Studies wanting to be a primary school teacher.
This is the beauty of Education Studies here in Winchester. In Education Studies, you really explore what education means to you, why it is important to you and to others, and consequently, what aspect of education can become your career. You are encouraged to find your own interests and expertise; you may find that you become interested in...
- early childhood education
- inclusive education
- technology and education
- physical education
- culture and education
- ecology and education
- history of education
- politics of education
- Holocaust education
- education of refugees
- philosophy of education
These are just a few branches of interest that you could pursue in Education Studies at the University of Winchester. Some disciplines such as politics or philosophy can sound daunting (they did to me!), but you might not realise how political or philosophical you already are in everyday life!
Students from Education Studies have gone into a variety of careers such as teaching, SEN schooling, coaching, social work, speech therapy, learning administration, publishing, and politics. Many do continue on the path to becoming a teacher and they have either completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) or they have completed a School-Based Initial Teacher Training course (SCITT or Schooldirect).
Our fantastic Careers Centre at Winchester can help you decide the best route for you and we even have a tutor specialising in employability on the Education Studies team. In addition to these career paths, there are an increasing number of students completing Masters Degrees and PhDs because they find that they want to explore some of the things that they have learnt on the undergraduate degree further. Some of my friends have done the MA Education, MA History, MA Dance and Education, and much more. I decided to do this and have since completed an MA in Philosophy of Education and I have just started a PhD!
We have a great group of PhD students who studied Education Studies at an undergraduate level and we are building a close community of research and teaching.
A huge benefit of Education Studies is that all of our tutors are research active and the modules are based on their research expertise. This means that you will get the latest, freshest knowledge available. You can find some of their research online, for example Seeing Education on Film by Dr Alexis Gibbs, or Dr Caroline Stockman’s Decoding Technology Acceptance in Education, or The Stranger by Dr Shaun Best. Or Prof Stephanie Spencer’s work on gender and the history of education: Gender, Work and Education in Britain in the 1950s.
The University of Winchester has a small campus with a friendly atmosphere. In Education Studies, we pride ourselves on the learning community in the programme. Both tutors, as well as second and third year students, really rally together to help first-year students settle in and be successful.
About the author:
Laura Watson, graduated in 2017, BA (Hons) Education Studies
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