Education

Education as an academic discipline is distinct from teacher training, though it informs it. It examines learning, teaching and schooling as social, cultural, historical and political phenomena, asking not just how education works but why it is organised as it is, whose interests it serves, and what it could or should do differently. It draws on sociology, philosophy, psychology and history to develop a critical and comparative understanding of educational practice and policy across different cultures and contexts.

At the University of York you will engage with the theories and debates that underpin education as an international field of study, exploring how people teach and learn and how education interacts with wider society through intercultural approaches and a range of disciplinary perspectives. You will examine the power structures that legitimise some knowledge over others and analyse the hidden curriculum, developing the ability to critique educational systems as well as to understand how education can empower individuals and communities. The programme runs over three years full time and includes a sandwich year in industry, a year abroad and work placement opportunities, giving you rich professional and international exposure alongside your academic study.

Graduates of education degrees enter careers in teaching, further and higher education, educational policy and administration, children's services, community development, international development, research and the charitable and voluntary sector. The degree is also excellent preparation for postgraduate study in education, social policy, psychology, sociology or related disciplines, for those who wish to deepen their expertise or pursue research. The critical analytical skills it develops are valued in any professional context that involves working with, or making decisions about, how people learn and how institutions serve them.