Details of our new Masters in Education have been published. The degree starts in September 2015 and we welcome enquiries from prospective students.

‘The MA in Education offers practicing and aspiring educators opportunities to learn, apply and produce critical knowledge in the interdisciplinary field of Education, and to use this to inform and transform future thinking, practice, policy and institutions. The programme includes core courses in the philosophical, social and historical foundations of progressive education and educational politics, the relationship between education and social justice, methodological approaches to research in education, and critical pedagogies and curriculum.

This Master’s enables you to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to design and create democratic, inclusive, co-operative and experimental learning communities in all educational settings. The content and curriculum are designed to facilitate the integration of theory, research, practice and social engagement and to create effective strategies for practice.

This programme is organised around the core themes of education and social justice, critical perspectives on current educational issues, pedagogies and curriculum design for critical thinking and inclusive learning, and methods for practitioner, school-based and academic research.’

Dr. Sarah Amsler’s new book, The Education of Radical Democracy, will be published in April 2015.

The Education of Radical Democracy explores why radical democracy is so necessary, difficult, and possible and why it is important to understand it as an educative activity . The book draws on critical social theory and critical pedagogy to explain what enables and sustains work for radical democratization, and considers how we can begin such work in neoliberal societies today.

Exploring examples of projects from the nineteenth century to the present day, the book sheds light on a wealth of critical tools, research studies, theoretical concepts and practical methods. It offers a critical reading of the ‘crisis of hope’ in neoliberal capitalist societies, focusing on the problem of the ‘contraction of possibilities’ for democratic agency, resistance to domination, and practices of freedom. It argues that radically democratic thinking, practice, and forms of social organization are vital for countering and overcoming systemic hegemonies and that these can be learned and cultivated.

Reviews

“This is a beautiful, necessary and powerful book. Inspired in Ernst Bloch’s philosophy of hope, the book explores and discusses counter and post-capitalist and democratic possibility, thus bringing light to the darkness of the present. This book is opening a new path in the field of radical education.” (Dr Ana Cecilia Dinerstein, University of Bath)

“This is a stunning, scholarly and passionate book. It provides a clear-sighted analysis of where we find ourselves today, as well as offering intellectual and practical strategies for the urgent task of opening up spaces of possibility and hope. Everyone should read it.” (Keri Facer, Professor of Educational and Social Futures, University of Bristol)