Special Educational Needs (Interdisciplinary Studies)(MA)

About the Course

*This is a combined course, please choose a subject from the list below.

** Available Part-time for January 2023

By studying at Liverpool Hope University, you will be joining an academic community with a strong record in educational research. You will study in a supportive learning environment and be encouraged to develop your own research profile. This block is part of the ‘Interdisciplinary Studies in Education’ suite of research-informed Master’s provision. It offers each student a choice of awards that means they can tailor the available provision to their own research interests.

The delivery pattern of the MA programme is flexible to suit the needs of our students. Normally our classes run in the evenings and/or some Saturdays. The number of evenings you attend will depend on whether you choose to study the course full time or part time.

The combined MA is a 180-credit course of which this block forms 60 credits. Please choose one other 60-credit block subject from the list indicated below (the third 60 credits will be the dissertation phase).  Please note each block is made up of two 30-credit modules.

Our Special Educational Needs block must be combined with one of the following blocks and indicated on the application form:

• Advanced Mentoring and Coaching 
• Developmental Psychology
• Early Career Teacher**
• Early Childhood
• Education
• Education Leadership and Management**
• Pedagogy (part-time only)

Curriculum Overview

The full Master’s award requires you to gain 180 credits. You will complete another 60-credit block* and a 60-credit dissertation. The following modules are studied as part of the 60-credit Special Educational Needs block.

Critical Disability Theory (30 credits)

Focusing on critical theory from the modern and postmodern eras, this module provides a basis for an interrogation of Disability Studies and Special Educational Needs. From Freud to Foucault, Goffman to Garland-Thomson, Derrida to Davis, McRuer to Murray, and so on, the module follows the progression of critical disability theory from the early twentieth century to the present day. Though explicitly theoretical, the content of the module is grounded in experiential knowledge. Concepts such as stigma, the normate, panopticism, normalcy, narrative prosthesis, dismodernism, crip theory, aesthetic nervousness, autistic presence, and the metanarrative of blindness are explored in relation to social, cultural, and individual attitudes toward impairment, disability and education.

Segregation, Integration and Inclusion (30 credits)

As Baglieri and Knopf (2004) suggest human differences are ordinary, yet education continues to mark out some human differential characteristics as 'abnormal' and in need of 'special' education. Therefore, this module intends to map out how learner's differences have been conceptualised across time and examine the range of influences that have been significant to the changing landscape of what we now call SEN.

Dissertation (60 credits)

The Dissertation component of your degree is not only very important, it is often both the most challenging and the most enjoyable. It is where you consolidate your knowledge of the two discipline areas and use it to design, generate and report on a research project. Research capability is also one of the most valuable and transferable skills for further study and career advancement. Research is the way in which we discover more about the world in order to understand or change it, and is critically important for Master’s level study. The taught components and recommended readings introduce you to the principles and practicalities of research, which will enable you to engage with other people's research in a sophisticated way and prepare you to develop your own research project. You will conduct your investigation, under the guidance of a supervisor.

* For course details for the other 60-credit block/s please follow the links to the individual blocks on the overview page of this course.

Entry Requirements

Normally a First Class or Upper Second Class Honours Degree in a relevant discipline. 

Please note that a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (formally the Criminal Records Bureau – CRB) is required for students where they are required to visit settings other than their own.

International Entry Requirements

For students whose first language is not English there is a language requirement of IELTS 6.5 overall with 6.0 minimum of all components. In addition to this, we also accept a wide range of International Qualifications, for more information please visit our English Language Requirements page.

For additional information about country specific entry requirements visit the your country pages. 

Teaching and Research

Research in the Faculty of Education is organised around two Research Centres and one Forum:

• Centre for Culture and Disability Studies (CCDS)
• Centre for Education and Policy Analysis (CEPA)
• Childhood Research Forum (CRF)

Students taking a Masters in the Faculty of Education may find their work aligns with any or several of these groups, as the award is designed to allow individuals to study areas of education and teaching and learning in a wide variety of settings and contexts.

UK/EU Tuition Fees

Tuition fees for Home/EU students for 2022/23 are £5,200

Funding

We offer a number of scholarships and loans to help fund your postgraduate studies. Visit our scholarships pages for more details.

International Tuition Fees

The International tuition fees for courses starting in the 2022/23 academic year are £12,500 per year.

If you are an international student, visit our international scholarships pages.

Careers

You will be able to structure your award to enhance your personal interests, career specific opportunities and potential for promotion to senior management and leadership. It will enable you to evaluate adults' and children's learning through research and postgraduate study. For qualified teachers, this course will enhance opportunities to move beyond the threshold and become an 'excellent teacher'.

Students completing the MA will also be well placed to go on to a doctorate (EdD or PhD) at Liverpool Hope. 

Please note - this course does not offer you a teaching qualification to teach in British schools but is an academic study of Education.