MA Educational Leadership

Fees for entry in 2027 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2026 were as follows:

• MA (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £13,700
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £29,400

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International student CAS deposit

Self-funded international applicants are required to pay a deposit of £2500 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. Some applicants will be required to pay a higher deposit. More information on tuition fee deposits .

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

• Learn more about - student finance options for UK students .
• Learn more about - fees and finance for international students .
• Graduates of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University can receive a 10% discount on their master's degree tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

The course unit introduces major classical and contemporary schools of thought in teaching and learning theory, and asks participants to apply one or two of these theories in depth to a learning experience they have had. 

The unit aims to:

Develop students’ knowledge and understanding of classic and contemporary theories of teaching and learning, and to enable them to reflect upon the application of these theories in the context of their own learning and/or teaching experience.

The course unit content and its assessment are intended to raise awareness of the place of theory in learning and teaching. Many of the students will be familiar with some of the theories and theorists, not least from awareness of theories of language learning. This unit seeks to widen the theoretical base of the students by introducing them to a wide array of authors, and so provide a broader theoretical platform from which educational policies and practices at local, national, and international levels can be examines and critiqued. The notion of there being underlying theories of instruction in formal and informal educational settings is intended to be thought-provoking. Enhanced critical thinking skills will be developed by the possibilities, as demonstrated in the course, of constructing, adapting, using, and critiquing theory, as well as by the demonstration of how theories change over time, and both achieve and lose dominant status. It is expected that these theories will be used and usable far beyond the confines of this course. The same can be said of the critical and analytical skills that the course encourages. General outcomes achieved through instruction and classroom activities will include the ability to understand and discuss major schools of thought, analyse theories for strengths and weaknesses, and find the implications for the application of theory.

Syllabus (indicative curriculum content):

The syllabus is divided into two parts, starting with classical theories and ending with contemporary theories. There is therefore a roughly chronological structure to the course. The syllabus below is indicative as the expertise and availability of staff, and trends in learning and teaching theories, may change year on year.

Any of the themes and theorists below may take up more than one week.

Introduction to and overview of the course; what it means to discuss teaching and learning; what it means to construct, use, and critique a theory.

Piaget and cognitive constructivism: schema and child development.

Vygotsky, social constructivism, social learning theory and its influence.

Bruner and the role of scaffolding in teaching and learning.

Modern perspectives on and studies using Dewey’s transactional pragmatism.

EDI perspectives on learning, with special reference to bell hooks and Patricia Hill Collins.

Mayer’s theories on multi-media learning (MML).

Bourdieu, Freire, critical theory, and social reproduction in sociological thinking.

The course unit is structured around classroom times consisting of eleven two-hour lectures and eleven one-hour seminars.

The course’s VLE holds not only course readings but also reading guides and a series of podcasts produced by the course lecturers, so that students have a variety of starting points into the theoretical content.

Summative assessment is supported by unassessed formative assessment in the form of a template-based assignment proposal on which students receive feedback.

• Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the theoretical content and potential for application of one of the themes or theorists
• Understand the key ideas and aims underpinning theories of teaching and learning

• Think critically and analytically in relation to the form of various teaching and learning theories 
• Critically examine the implications of applying teaching and learning theories for learners and teachers in different social and cultural learning contexts

• Contribute to conceptual debates about teaching and learning in different institutional, policy and socio-cultural contexts
• Examine educational practices in the light of emerging understandings of teaching and learning theory

• Analytical skills
• Information handling
• Presenting a case

On Turnitin, within 15 working days

   
The reading list for the course is relative to the syllabus, and each subject or theorist will have their own specific lists. We have adopted two volumes (Aubrey & Riley; and Illeris) that are recommended to support the course, and general reading for the course is as follows:

Aubrey, K., & A. Riley (2022) Understanding and Using Educational Theories, 3rd ed., London: Sage.

Illeris, K. (ed.) (2018) Contemporary Theories of Learning: Learning theorists … in their own words. London: Routledge.

Pollard, A. (ed.) (2014) Readings for Reflective Teaching, 2nd ed. London: Continuum.
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