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Unleash Your Potential: Why You Should Pursue a BA Degree (Hons) at Goldsmiths, University of London

Embarking on the journey of higher education is a monumental step in shaping your future. And choosing the right university can make all the difference. If you’re considering pursuing a BA (Hons) degree in Education, Goldsmiths, University of London, stands out as a landmark of opportunity and innovation. Here’s why you should seize the chance to study at Goldsmiths:

Goldsmiths has a rich history of academic excellence dating back to its founding in 1891. Over the years, it has cultivated a reputation for nurturing creativity, critical thinking, and academic rigor. With a commitment to pushing boundaries and challenging conventions, Goldsmiths continues to set the standard for excellence in higher education.

At Goldsmiths, you’ll become part of a vibrant academic community that thrives on diversity, creativity, and collaboration. As a student of Education, you’ll find a supportive network of peers and mentors who share your passion for learning and discovery. The exchange of ideas and perspectives will enrich your educational experience and broaden your horizons.

One of the hallmarks of a Goldsmiths education is its distinguished academic staff. Comprised of accomplished scholars, artists, and professionals, the Department of Education brings a wealth of expertise and experience to the classroom. They are not only leaders in their respective fields but also dedicated mentors who are committed to nurturing the next generation of thinkers and innovators.

Located in the heart of London, Goldsmiths offers unparalleled access to one of the world’s most dynamic and culturally rich cities. London is a melting pot of cultures, ideas, and opportunities, providing a stimulating environment for intellectual growth and personal development. From world-class museums and galleries to cutting-edge industries and vibrant neighborhoods, London becomes your extended campus, offering endless possibilities for exploration and experiential learning.

Goldsmiths is known for its interdisciplinary approach to learning, encouraging students to explore connections across different fields of study. Whether you’re combining art and education, politics and education, or technology and education, you’ll find course material that will speak to your unique interests and career aspirations. This interdisciplinary perspective fosters creativity, innovation, and adaptability, preparing you for success in a rapidly changing world.

In conclusion, pursuing a BA degree at Goldsmiths, University of London, is more than just an academic endeavour—it’s a transformative journey of personal growth, intellectual discovery, and professional development. With its legacy of excellence, vibrant academic community, world-class faculty, London location, and interdisciplinary approach, Goldsmiths offers an unparalleled educational experience that prepares you to thrive in an ever-changing world.

So why wait? Seize the opportunity to unleash your potential at Goldsmiths and embark on a journey that will shape your future.

Written by Dr Amina Shareef. April 2024.

Learn more about Dr Amina Shareef’s teaching and research.

Learn more about the Staff at the Educational Studies Department.

Learn more about BA Education at Goldsmiths.

Producing a dissertation in the department of Educational Studies will change your life!

In our BA (Hons) Education programme, our students write an undergraduate dissertation.

Embarking on the journey of an undergraduate dissertation may seem daunting at first, yet it is a transformative experience that holds immense value. Beyond the requirement for academic fulfilment, undertaking a dissertation offers a myriad of benefits that extend far beyond the classroom.

Firstly, it fosters independent thinking and research skills. Unlike regular coursework, a dissertation demands self-initiative, critical analysis, and problem-solving abilities. Students are tasked with formulating research questions, gathering data, and drawing conclusions, all of which cultivate intellectual autonomy and confidence.

Moreover, a dissertation provides an opportunity for in-depth exploration of a subject of personal interest. It allows students to delve into areas they are passionate about, enabling them to become experts in their chosen field. This depth of understanding not only enhances academic knowledge but also prepares individuals for future careers or further study.

Furthermore, the process of conducting research and writing a dissertation hones a range of transferable skills highly sought after by employers. These include time management, organization, communication, and the ability to work independently under pressure. Such skills are invaluable in today’s competitive job market, positioning graduates as adaptable and capable individuals.

Additionally, completing an undergraduate dissertation instils a sense of accomplishment and pride. It signifies the culmination of years of study and demonstrates perseverance and dedication. This achievement can boost self-esteem and provide a solid foundation for future academic or professional endeavours.

This is why joining our BA (Hons) Education programme holds out the promise of academic growth, equipping students with essential skills, preparing them for success in their chosen paths.

Our BA (Hons) Education programme is a gateway to great personal and intellectual development.

See you around the Department!

Written by Dr Amina Shareef. March 2024

Learn more about Dr Amina Shareef’s teaching and research.

Learn more about the Staff at the Educational Studies Department.

Learn more about BA Education at Goldsmiths.

The value of an education degree

Discover the joy of an education degree!

In a world brimming with diverse career paths and opportunities, one field stands as the cornerstone of social, political, and economic progress: education. The pursuit of an education degree is not merely a journey towards personal growth; it is a commitment to re-shaping the social world, one child at a time. As we navigate through the complexities of social inequalities, of racism, sexism, nationalism, and other isms, the value of an education degree cannot be more important now than ever.

Education is the foundation upon which societies thrive. At its core, an education degree equips individuals with the knowledge, skills, and insights needed to foster learning environments conducive to growth. Whether in a classroom, a community centre, or a virtual setting, educators play a pivotal role in nurturing the intellectual curiosity and critical thinking abilities of learners. They are architects of inspiration, guiding students towards realizing their fullest potential.

Beyond the transmission of subject matter knowledge, an education degree cultivates essential competencies such as communication, empathy, and adaptability. Educators serve as mentors, counsellors, and advocates, championing the holistic development of their students. By fostering socially just spaces where identities are affirmed and recognised, they lay the groundwork for a more socially just society.

Moreover, an education degree serves as a catalyst for social, racial, economic, and political change. In an era characterized by growing inequalities, the need for socially just approaches to education has never been greater. Educators equipped with a solid understanding of critical pedagogies are better positioned to address these historical challenges and creating opportunities for radical transformation.

Furthermore, the value of an education degree extends far beyond the confines of traditional classrooms. Beyond preparing individuals for careers in teaching, it opens doors to a myriad of professional pathways. From educational leadership and curriculum development to educational technology and policy advocacy, the possibilities are limitless. By empowering graduates to effect change at systemic levels, an education degree becomes a catalyst for broader educational reform.

In conclusion, the value of an education degree cannot be overstated. It empowers individuals to re-shape the social, political, and economic opportunities through education. By fostering socially just learning environments, driving social change, and opening doors to diverse career opportunities, an education degree enables the radical transformation of tomorrow.

Written by Dr Amina Shareef. February 2024.

Learn more about Dr Amina Shareef’s teaching and research.

Learn more about the Staff at the Educational Studies Department.

Learn more about BA Education at Goldsmiths.

Four ways education can make the world more socially just

It was a very rainy cold night in New Cross, London, but it was warm in the Margaret McMillan Building on the Goldsmiths Campus! Several Educational Studies staff, former and current students, and prospective students had gathered both in the building and online to discuss a vital issue for our times: how can education make the world more socially just?

It is a huge topic, but a very important one to consider. The discussion was very fruitful and a few key points emerged by the end of the evening, which I’ll sum up here.

ONE: Make every voice count.

If there was one strident point to emerge from the evening, it was this. If we are going to institute social justice in the world, then both formal and informal educational settings need to foster listening cultures where everyone feels they can be heard and listened to with respect, kindness and consideration. This is not to say that there shouldn’t be disagreements, but the crucial issue here is that people should feel their opinions, their thoughts, their feelings, their experiences count. This is something that all the programmes at Goldsmiths encourage. The BA Education as Dr Amina Shareef, a lecturer and tutor on the degree, pointed out, is all about giving students the confidence to articulate their views, and to listen to other people. Equally, within the Masters’ programmes in Educational Studies, this theme was a constant. Dr Chris Millora, module leader on globalization and education on the MA Education, Culture, Language and Identity, highlighted what happens when people are not given a voice. He showed us a photograph of a bulldozer ploughing down homes in the Philippines, where he is from, in order to build a resort, and pointed out that while for some the bulldozer is a symbol for helping communities become richer by building a resort that fosters tourism, for other people, particularly the local community, the bulldozer represents losing their homes. His module and others on the MA interrogate these issues. Whose voice really counts in the world? Who is listened to and respected? Too often, the voices of the economically disadvantaged and of marginalized groups are ignored at best, and at worst obliterated.

TWO: Help everyone become critical and creative thinkers.

Professor Vicky Macleroy, Head of the MA Children’s Literature, talked powerfully about the ways in which her MA explores the ways in which people, children and the world are represented in children’s literature. This MA is innovative in the way it helps students on the degree become critical and creative thinkers simultaneously. They read so many wonderful children’s texts – written by staff on the course like Professor Michael Rosen and alumni like Dean Atta – and then are given space to respond both critically and creatively with their own analytical essays, podcasts, pictures, and creative writing. On the MA Creative Writing and Education, students are encouraged to use creative writing in all sorts of educational ways: to use it as a form of self-healing, to get communities writing poems, plays and stories about the injustices they see around them. Seb Duncan, alumni of the MA Creative Writing and Education, is just about to publish a novel, The Book of Thunder and Lighting, which explores these issues in some depth. His time-travelling hero undergoes a fantastical psychic and physical journey through London’s past and learns about the injustices that have happened throughout the ages to emerge as a changed person.

THREE: Foster the spirit of rebellion against injustice.

This was a theme that was raised initially by a student on the MA Creative Writing and Education, Denise Dixon Roberts. She’d run a wonderful workshop earlier in the term for the general public on Creative Rebels. She pointed out that it is often the rebels that change the world for the better. We talked about artists like William Blake and Linton Kwesi Johnson (Goldsmiths’ alumni) who fostered this spirit.

FOUR: To use research as a tool for social justice.

This was another theme that came up again and again. Dr Chris Millora talked about his own research into literacies in the Global South, and how the label ‘literacy’ can be oppressive when used in certain ways, if, for example, certain people and communities are labelled ‘illiterate’. Emeritus Professor Eve Gregory spoke about her research into literacy which had highlighted a similar issue in the United Kingdom and London. Her research conducted with many other academics over the years has shown that there are many hidden literacies amongst groups who are often labelled as lacking literacy skills, such as the Bangladeshi community and the white working class in the East End of London.

Exciting research within the Educational Studies Department with Social Justice as a key theme:

BeLiFS: www.belifs.co.uk

‘Becoming literate in faith settings: Language and literacy learning in the lives of new Londoners’ (BeLiFS) is a research project funded by the Economic and Social Science Research Council. This is a 3-year long project on four faith groups: the Pentecostalist community from Ghana, the Catholic community from Poland, the Muslim community from Bangladesh and the Hindu community from South India/Sri Lanka.

Multilingual Digital Storytelling Project (goldsmithsmdst.com)

The Critical Connections Project, initiated in 2012 with funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, is about enabling young people across the primary and secondary age range to create and share multilingual digital stories. It offers an approach to language learning, literacy and citizenship which recognises that communication is enhanced when plurilingual and digital resources are drawn upon purposefully and creatively. Consistent with Project Based Language Learning (PBLL), the value of a wider cross-curricular orientation, particularly in relation to the arts (drama, music, visual art) is also viewed as highly significant.

Other MAs in the Department of Educational Studies which you might be interested in are:

MA Education: Culture Language and Identity, soon to be MA in Social Justice

The MA Education: Culture, Language and Identity has been developed into the MA Social Justice in Education (new from September 2024). We build very much upon the strong and popular basis that is the MA Education: Culture, Language and Identity drawing upon the expertise of talented and knowledgeable academics. This programme is designed for you if you are interested in how questions around social justice impact upon education as well as lived aspects of our lives. In part, this new MA aims to address issues faced by those in informal learning contexts as well as formal educators at all levels, international settings and related fields.

You can find full details about this very popular MA on the website here:

MA Children’s Literature

You can find full details about this very popular MA on the website here:

MA Children’s Literature: Illustration Pathway

You can find full details about this very popular MA on the website here:

MA Arts and Learning

You can find full details about this very popular MA on the website here:

MA Multilingualism, Linguistics and Education

You can find full details about this very popular MA on the website here:

MA in Creative Writing and Education

You can learn more about the MA in Creative Writing and Education here.

The BA Education Studies at Goldsmiths is the ticket to a golden future…read a student’s testimony!

Learning all about learning on the BA Education Studies, and secure a bright future!

When choosing a university degree to pursue, we oftentimes find ourselves asking, what do I want to do with my life? What kind of career do I want to pursue? Where do I see myself in three years? Asking these questions is perfectly normal. After all, for many of us, what we study is linked to what we do after graduation.

That is why a BA degree in Education is a good option. Our program nicely positions our students for pursuing a master’s and doctoral degree in the future. Our degree prepares students to go off and work in a variety of positions in the education sector such as education consulting, community education, further education, learning mentorship, education mental health practice, and, of course, teaching.

Our degree prepares educators with a robust understanding of educational systems, giving them answers to questions such as what is education? How is education experienced by young people? How do educational systems intersect with other axes of domination such as race, class, gender, and nation? Whose knowledge counts as knowledge? How are identity and belonging produced through education? These frameworks prepare our students to take up education-related jobs and perform them well.

Our current, third-year student, Zubida, testifies to the strength of our BA degree in preparing students for work in the education sector:

“My experience with Education, Culture, and Society course is that it is a very rewarding and informing course. We take a range of modules which can lead to a number of roles and careers in the future.”

Going through the BA program at the Department of Educational Studies, Zubida attests that the modules she has taken will widening her career prospects.

But beyond preparing students for a life of work, our BA degree gives students critical and ethical frameworks for understanding education and educational institutions and therefore equips them with the tools necessary to do education differently and to do so with commitments to social justice broadly conceived.

Take again the words of Zubida. She says that the BA program gave her critical perspectives on race and gender and to contemporary political events, making her experience with our BA program rewarding and informing:

“The fact they teach about the struggle of race and gender is another plus—especially for me as a brown girl in a male-dominated society. They also talk about major world issues and conflicts.”

For Zubida, learning critical perspectives and bringing in current political issues is what allows her to enjoy our BA degree.

To sum up, our BA program delivers the demands that students are looking for in a degree: a degree that translates into employment success and a degree that offers opportunities for developing critical perspectives for understanding the social world.

“I genuinely can’t fault this course as I have enjoyed the three years learning from it,” said Zubida.

Check out our website at https://www.gold.ac.uk/educational-studies/ for more information about our BA degree.

Hope to see around!

Amina Shareef, January 2024.

The BA Education Programme at Goldsmiths is an amazing journey!

For many young people, going to university for the first time is a daunting experience. For some, it may be the first time away from home. For others, it may be the first time leaving the well-known neighbourhoods, routines, and cityscapes of childhood. For many, going to university is a first step into the “real world,” the world of being independent, thinking about and planning a career, and living on your own.

Whatever the situation, it is all the more necessary that young people have a supportive university environment in which they can learn and learn what excites them, speaks to their passions, and learn in ways that acknowledge their ways of knowing and being, brings their personal biographies, communities histories, and personal aspirations into the learning experience. It is also equally important that young people have an environment where they are valued as a individuals, their emotional needs are paid attention to and taken care of and they can seek pastoral care if necessary.

The BA program at the Department of Educational Studies provides just that kind of environment. The Goldsmiths BA program encourages students to re-think what they know about education and pay attention to its relationship to culture, identity, social justice, race and racism, citizenship, democracy, and much more. The program is led by well-accomplished scholars in their respective fields who understand how to make learning thought-provoking, culturally relevant, and transformative. At the same time, the small size of the program provides a tight-knit community that is nurturing, caring, concerned for wellbeing. In the BA program, tutors know students by their names and show genuine concern and care. The friendships made last a lifetime.

Nora Khan, a third year student, shares her reflections of the BA program:

“The BA program was an amazing journey! The classes were intellectually stimulating and well-structured. The professors were knowledgeable, approachable, and friendly, which created an environment conducive to learning. Interacting with peers was fun and enriching. The academic atmosphere within the department was one of diligence and camaraderie, creating a close-knit family. Overall, the BA program exceeded my expectations and offered a rewarding educational experience.”

For Nora, the BA program was not just a course, but a journey of traveling through ideas, concepts, and news ways of thinking and being. For Nora, the BA program was marked by the tutors who created a learning environment that was fun yet enriching.

Nora is not the only student to share such views about the BA program in the Department of Educational Studies. There are many others.

So, if you are thinking of a career in education, know that the BA program in the Department of Educational Studies will offer you a stimulating academic experience as well as a validating and comfortable social environment.

Hope to see you here!

By Amina Shareef, Lecturer in Education at Goldsmiths.

Undergraduate BA programmes

Log on here to find out more:

https://www.gold.ac.uk/ug/ba-education/

MAs in the Department of Educational Studies which you might be interested in if you already have a degree are:

MA Education: Culture Language and Identity, soon to be MA in Social Justice

The MA Education: Culture, Language and Identity has been developed into the MA Social Justice in Education (new from September 2024)

We build very much upon the strong and popular basis that is the MA Education: Culture, Language and Identity drawing upon the expertise of talented and knowledgeable academics.

This programme is designed for you if you are interested in how questions around social justice impact upon education as well as lived aspects of our lives. In part, this new MA aims to address issues faced by those in informal learning contexts as well as formal educators at all levels, international settings and related fields.

You can find full details about this very popular MA on the website here:

https://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-education-culture-language-identity/

MA Children’s Literature

You can find full details about this very popular MA on the website here:

https://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-childrens-literature/

MA Children’s Literature: Illustration Pathway

You can find full details about this very popular MA on the website here:

https://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-childrens-literature-illustration/

MA Arts and Learning

You can find full details about this very popular MA on the website here:

https://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-arts-learning/