Teacher Education (Taught)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.

The MSc in Teacher Education is a taught, part-time course for teacher educators, blending online learning and Oxford residencies. It focuses on developing practice, designing programmes, and conducting research in teacher education.

This is a professional development course for new and experienced teacher educators, ie those involved in leading pre-service teacher education and/or in-service teacher development. It is intended for all those interested in increasing their knowledge and the skills required for effective and inspirational teacher education, while working in such a role.

This two-year, part-time course is a world first, bringing together teacher educators in the UK, EU and internationally and provides an Oxford University master's-level qualification for anyone involved in leading pre-service and/or in-service teacher education:

• school-based teacher educators, including mentors, coaches, induction tutors, and initial (or pre-service) teacher training coordinators

• university tutors involved in teacher education, including those working exclusively on taught education programmes and those based in university subject departments with some teacher education responsibilities

• advisory teachers and fieldworkers

• professional development providers.

Course structure
The course focuses on developing teacher educators’ day-to-day practice, including emphases on the design and teaching of teacher education programmes, and the ability to conduct research to develop practice, and to engage critically in debates about teaching and teacher education in your own subject/phase. It is designed to be integral to your day-to-day practice as a teacher educator and blends online, distance learning with one-week residential components in Oxford in years one and two.

The three online units that make up the first year comprise investigations focused on your own practice and tasks that involve individual and group work. The first two units involve observation and interviews with learner teachers (beginning or more experienced teachers) in order to learn more about their existing knowledge and beliefs about teaching. Your findings are brought together with key literature and shared with your study group for discussion and analysis. They inform the third unit’s focus on the development and evaluation of a teacher education session. These tasks also contribute significantly to the assignments associated with each unit. The second year is devoted to a substantial research and development project.

You will be expected to participate in a course of instruction for six terms on a part-time basis. This will include two, one-week residential sessions in Oxford, and a series of online lectures and seminars. At the beginning of Hilary Term there will be an optional day’s induction to Unit 2. Students can attend in-person or remotely. A similar day is held at the beginning of Trinity Term in April for induction into Unit 3 and again, students can attend in person or remotely.

The University’s Virtual Learning Environment is used to support the work on each task and sustain critical discussion.

Research in the department is organised around three major themes:

• Language, Cognition and Development

• Policy, Economy, and Society

• Pedagogy, Learning and Knowledge.

Within each of these themes there are several research groups and centres. All staff and doctoral students belong to one or more of these research groups, each of which has its own seminar programme to which graduate students often contribute. In addition, the department as a whole sponsors regular seminars and public lectures which attract distinguished national and international speakers.