BA Education, Leadership and Culture / Course details

The BA Education, Leadership and Culture considers education in a range of formal and non-formal contexts and cultural settings. You will learn about the opportunities education has to offer in addressing some of the key social and cultural challenges of 21st century.

This involves exploring educational research and practice across different areas, including schools and universities; urban spaces; digital and social media; creative industries; art and heritage; the world of work; multicultural communities; and more.

By looking at educational leadership cultures and styles that enhance social responsibility and justice, you will gain knowledge and develop skills in innovative leadership practices.

Building on world-leading expertise at the Manchester Institute of Education, it helps you develop as culturally responsive and ethical leaders who collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders to tackle ‘real-world’ challenges.  

Delve into ‘culture’ as a key concept and explore authentic and creative forms of learning, development, and problem solving that meet the complexities of 21st century life.

The course draws from shared experience and professional advice of both academic and non-academics working in educational and/or cultural institutions and communities across Manchester.     

A key feature of the course is that you can put our theory into your practice and gain invaluable hands-on experience through placement in the second and third year. This is facilitated by project-based and collaborative learning with Manchester based public and third-sector partners such as; museums and heritage institutions, civic organisations, community groups and charities, schools, colleges and universities, and other stakeholders with a cultural and educational mission. 

The programme will support you to:

• Gain key insights and build experience in education and educational leadership in a wide variety of cultural contexts  
• Develop your own educational leadership practice, working towards equitable and sustainable social change  
• Engage with progressive theoretical debates and be enabled to apply your knowledge collaboratively in both formal and non-formal educational contexts  
• Obtain knowledge on inclusivity, sustainable leadership, and the purposeful curatorship of knowledge/information in increasingly diverse, complex, and often conflictual socio-cultural spaces 
• Benefit from practical experience in collaborative work and cultural co-production for the purposes of civic and democratic inquiry and practical problem solving in local, national, and global contexts.

• Inform students of education occurring in both formal and informal settings
• Develop theoretical understanding of education across cultural, generational, and institutional boundaries
• Provide opportunities for students to engage in real-life education projects that create meaningful social and cultural change
• Build ability to approach educational challenges through creative, collaborative, and inclusive means
• Develop understanding of the relationship between education, citizenship, and culture across communities, sectors, and industries
• Value knowledge developed through student’s own and others’ reflective thinking, practice, and experience

• Build-in field work and study trips
• Placement periods in second and third year of study
• Collaboration opporutunities with educational, creative and cultural organisations in Manchester and beyond
• Alternatives to written and exam-based assessment 

Based on the problem-solving, community/ place-based, collaborative, and employability-focussed ethos, teaching, learning and assessment approaches on the programme are ‘real-world-’ and project-oriented.

This includes peer-to-peer and group work, as well as engagement with relevant public and third sector stakeholders in Manchester, charitable organisations and interest groups, policy makers, and local communities (with the additional aim to forge sustainable university-city/civic relationships ).  

In line with the teaching and learning approaches, the programme will go beyond exam and essay-based assignments by adopting ‘authentic’ methods of assessment where students can emphasise real-world impact and communication of findings.   

Assessment of core course units will encourage collaborative group and project-based work and will seek to develop your confidence and a sense of professional identity. For example, you will communicate with both academic and non-academic audiences; write and communicate for different socio-cultural contexts; explore and analyse different media and communication channels. Supported by critical and research-based teaching and learning, you will be encouraged to develop your own interests, content, and experiences through a variety of educational formats (e.g., podcasts, blogs, journals, e-books, etc.).  

The programme values and makes use of a range of feedback approaches including formative feedback from tutors, peer-to-peer feedback, and feedback from professionals or external collaborators in the field of Education, Leadership and Culture.

This course is taught by the Manchester Institute of Education (MIE), which has an incredibly strong heritage - education has been a field of study at The University of Manchester since 1890.

You will benefit from studying within an environment that has a national and international reputation for quality in teaching, scholarship, and research in this field.  

We pride ourselves on close staff-student relationships and guided, one-to-one supervision.

The Institute promotes equality and diversity, and you will study in an environment that embraces values of cultural diversity and is fundamentally committed to equality of opportunity, regardless of race, disability, religious or other beliefs, sexual orientation, or age.MIE provides opportunities for progression to taught and research master's degrees, as well as our Ofsted 'Outstanding' Primary PGCE.