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Syllabus

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of the programme, students will:
  • Be effective, critically reflective practitioners
  • Demonstrate analytical skills and knowledge across the spectrum of inter-related subject areas
  • Understand and critically reflect on the inter-relationship of these core issues and the impact on teaching and learning and the role of the teacher in today’s schools and classrooms
  • Possess high-level subject-specific knowledge that can be applied critically and strategically to education
  • Be able to provide a supportive and flexible learning environment that reflects current good practice, builds on student experiences, and encourages a shared learning community
  • Be able to adopt an evidence-based approach to develop independent, critical and reflective approaches to professional practice
  • Foster an awareness and application of current research knowledge and practice in the field
  • Be able to assess the reliability and validity of research and draw conclusions from such to enhance practice
  • Possess the necessary skills and knowledge to undertake independent learning and professional development for the enhancement of teaching and learning through research

 

Syllabus

Hibernia College’s Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning consists of the following modules.

For details about the structure of the programme and how the individual modules lead to the award of various certificates and a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning, click here.

 

 

Foundations in supporting additional learning needs

This module aims to develop the student’s understanding of the different models of disability and the factors creating barriers to learning potential. Students will be empowered to use their instructional skills so that children with additional learning needs may be given opportunities for success whilst being part of the regular classroom.

Promoting inclusion

This module aims to describe and justify ways of promoting a welcoming school in which there are suitable sources of support for all the learning community: teachers, teaching assistants, students and pupils, administration and resource staff, parents and families, the local community and the wider educational community. The module will raise awareness of the rights of children and improve knowledge of recent legislation and special education policy.

Language support

This module aims to support students to analyse the needs of children and young people requiring language support while seeking ways to enhance achievement, inclusion and parental involvement. The module focuses on language development, English language support for speakers of English as a second language, speech difficulties and speech therapy.

Engaging with i-learning

This module aims to evaluate current practice in i-learning, critically engaging with current systems and practice, and to examine how this relates to learning theories and learner engagement. The module examines how to engage learners with i-learning, motivations, moderation, learning histories, practicalities, Salmon’s 5-stage model and assessment methodologies. Integral to the module will be a personal audit and analysis of the existing and potential use of i-learning within each student’s own educational setting.

Technologies for i-learning

This module aims to critically evaluate a wide range of technologies, both hardware and software, that can facilitate the inclusion of i-learning in learning programmes. A close analysis of web-based technologies will form a major part of this module and the aim will be to arm the student with evaluative techniques that will enable him/her to select appropriate technologies for specific learning outcomes.

Implementing i-learning

This module aims to examine the professional, ethical, legal and strategic issues surrounding the implementation and embedding of i-learning in an educational setting. The module aims to give students the practical skills required to address these issues when designing, deploying and evaluating i-learning programmes. A key feature of this module is the requirement for participants to engage in the process of i-learning design and, in so doing, gain an overview of the design cycle.

Development education

Development education deals with world development, human rights, justice and world citizenship. This course will equip the learner with the necessary skills, knowledge and mindset to bring a development education dimension to the school curriculum.

Intercultural education

Considering culture in its widest form, this module considers the make-up of the pupil population today and provides an overview of different cultures in terms of international communities as well as different home cultures including different religious groups, the traveller community and so on.

Education and disadvantage

With an inclusive focus, this module supports the student to consider, apply and reflect on the close relationship between educational outcomes and social background. This module will examine research and policy on this issue and will promote the concept of equality of opportunity and strategies to support this in the whole school and the classroom.

A contemporary understanding of testing

This module focuses on different types and purposes of testing. It considers the benefits of testing and how this informs teaching and learning. It also looks at the different types of tests, understanding the results of these and applying the findings to support the pupil.

Managing behavioural difficulties

This module provides the learner with an overview of the cause and effects of stress, trauma and chaos on a child as well as emotional and behavioural difficulties. It considers the behavioural outcomes and how these can be effectively managed in the classroom.

Managing relationships within the school

This module considers all aspects of student/student relationships as well as teacher/student relationships. It addresses issues such as bullying and inappropriate behaviour, promoting effective interpersonal skills and conflict resolution. In the context of theoretical frameworks, it highlights the importance of teachers, their decision-making in the classroom and their interaction with colleagues and pupils alike.

Research methods I

This module equips the student with the knowledge and skills needed to conduct a research project, complete a research proposal and commence a thesis. It raises issues related to research tools and methods. It also provides the student with the tools to successfully critique a piece of research, assessing its value and applying this learning to their own research practice.

Research methods II

This module further develops the student’s critical understanding of educational research and how this contributes to reflective and reflexive practice. Furthermore, it prepares the student to undertake small-scale educational research making critical use of general and discipline-centred research in their area of practice.

Thesis

This 15,000-20,000 word research dissertation affords students the opportunity to engage in empirical research in a chosen discipline or course aspect relevant to their particular educational environment. Students develop conceptual and academic rigour in applied research and gain experience in the practical problems associated with sourcing and using primary and secondary data.