MA in Education
With 30 crore children, 15 lakh schools and 90 lakh teachers, India needs trained professionals in education. Explore all our programmes in Education.
Bengaluru | Bhopal
Introduction
We believe that education can and should contribute to human development and well-being. India has one of the largest education systems in the world and the education sector requires capable and competent practitioners who can work towards the improvement of the quality of education.
Today, there is a dire need for teacher educators, curriculum and textbook developers, school administrators, and researchers and policy implementers, who can help implement the reform initiatives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The Master of Arts in Education (MA Ed) programme at Azim Premji University aims to develop reflective educational practitioners who can reform the education system.
More than 1,000 MA Ed students have graduated so far from the University and are contributing to different areas of Education action and intervention in the country, leading Curriculum Design, Programme Management, Teacher Education, Curricular Material Development and more.
The programme also encourages students to become social entrepreneurs who are capable of innovative thinking and implementing path-breaking solutions. In addition to elective courses on social entrepreneurship, the University has also established a Social Enterprise Cell to assist students with innovative enterprise ideas. More than 30 of our alumni have established their own social enterprises.
Is the Right to Education critical for an inclusive democracy? Is a skilled workforce for a global economy more urgent for us to consider? How do children think and feel in different contexts? What ideas have shaped the learning process over time? What is the complex history of public education in India?
Our flagship programme is designed to address a big gap in the education sector, and to train students to meet the large demands for professionals with skills for problem-solving and innovation.
Educational practice and work
While there are several teacher education institutions in the country, there are few that provide a view into the full spectrum of the work involved in educational practice, apart from teaching. Our programme is one such.
Training professionals
We believe that there is a need for professionals who can take on a variety of responsibilities, ranging from classroom teaching to policy formulation and implementation, to theoretical or conceptual analysis in education. Our programme of study includes theory, research, practice, research, policy and planning in education. Our vision is to cultivate social concern and motivation that can be a basis for action.
Forging connections
Our programme helps you forge connections with the larger context of education in India. You will be exposed to a diversity of educational practices, policies, settings and contexts in India. You will interact with learners, learning communities and school systems.
Association with Azim Premji Foundation
You will benefit from working in close association with Azim Premji Foundation and its work in education with six state governments in India in shaping and implementing policies and programmes at the grassroots.
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Navigating the Educational Landscape
MA Education students share their Field Practice experiences
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Faculty Speak | Developing change makers for the education system
Addressing the gap in the education sector by training students to meet the demand for professionals, with skills for problem-solving and innovation
We help you understand educational theory
Several disciplines contribute to the theoretical and conceptual basis of understanding educational issues. Some of these are teaching, curricular material development, curriculum planning, assessment, schools and the schooling system.
Learn about education practices in the Indian context
You will learn and reflect on diverse learners, communities and systems in the in the Indian context.
We offer a theory and practice continuum
We help you evaluate theories in terms of ground realities and ensure that your practice is informed by an understanding of theory.
Plan and implement independent educational interventions
You will be able to plan independent interventions in various roles – for example, as a curriculum developer, textbook and resource developer, teacher educator, or researcher.
We nurture your professional development
We help you develop the capabilities for self-motivated professional development.
There is a popular perception that the only way to contribute to the education system is by becoming a teacher. While the education system does need teachers, there are so many other aspects that need trained professionals. We encourage you to become social entrepreneurs to implement path-breaking solutions to social problems.
Almost 100% placement record
There are innumerable work opportunities in the education sector. We have had a successful placement record with many institutions.
Teaching
India needs over five lakh teachers in the public schools to fulfil the RTE norms.
Government teacher education
There are over 50% vacancies in the government teacher education institutions.
NGOs
There are thousands of NGOs working towards primarily education and health in India.
CSRs
Corporate Social Responsibility works extensively through various initiatives in educational sectors.
Roles
Curriculum designer / School Leader / Teacher Educator / Designer of learning materials / Researcher in education / Programme manager of educational interventions / Policy implementer / Associates working to address issues of access and equity in education.
Explore
Azim Premji Foundation / Educational Initiatives / Eklavya Education Foundation/ Going to School / Humana People to People India / Educate Girls Foundation / Kaivalya Education Foundation / Bodh Siksha Samiti / The Teacher Foundation / Magic Bus Foundation / Mantra 4 Change / Akanksha Foundation / Kotak Education Foundation / Indian School Leadership Institute / Pratham
Alumni stories
Know more about what it is like at our Campus.
Know more about the Bengaluru campus here.
Know more about Azim Premji University at Bhopal here.
Course structure
Our broad-based programme includes theory, practice, research, policy and planning in the field of education. We help you make connections with the larger context of education in India in a programme that is informed by the principles and practices of Education Studies today.
Our course structure includes a strong foundation for research including a wide range of electives to choose from. You will have a strong field component in which you can practice what you study in the classroom, and the flexibility of choosing your focus areas in your second year.
You will learn and understand educational theory to address a range of issues across teaching, curricular material development, curriculum planning, assessment, schools and the education system as a whole.
We ensure that you are able to evaluate and critically probe theories while using them for practice. We encourage you to develop capabilities to plan independent educational interventions in various roles.
The teacher, the content and the learner are central to the practice of education. With these three actors at the core of our thinking, we ask: What is education? Why is there a need for it? How do we determine if learning objectives and educational aims are being attained?
Answering these questions involves looking at socio-political assumptions, philosophical assumptions, and psychological aspects of education. It includes a study of the concepts of justice and equality, and ideas of human nature and knowledge. It involves a close understanding a child’s mind and development in language and emotions.
We contextualise these enquiries within history to ensure that you are able to develop a strong analytical and theoretical basis for educational judgement. These core courses will introduce you to key issues in educational thought, critique and practice.
Curriculum Studies
Core
The word ‘curriculum’ has its origin in the racing tracks of ancient Greece, to mean, quite literally, a course.
Philosophy of Education
Core
A course going over the concepts, methodologies and interdisciplinary intersections that determine educational action in various contexts.
Sociology of Education
Core
How are the issues that surround education and its practices related to social processes?
Teacher Professional Development
Core
A look at the profession of teaching and the role of the teacher across contexts and time.
Child Development and Learning
Core
Understanding developing children in school contexts.
Introduction to School System in India
Core
Understanding the factors that shape the school systems in India.
Schools as Organisations
Core
Studying schools as the most basic unit of a formal education system
Field Research in Education
Core
Identify research problems in education practice.
Consolidation of Programme Experience
Core
This course aims to help students link, integrate and synthesise their experience across the programme.
An elective in a focus area allows you to pursue an extended exploration in a subdomain of educational theory and practice, which will include a field internship in a related topic.
You can select courses from a broad area of theoretical, practical or procedural knowledge in particular fields of education and supplement your understanding developed through the core courses. The electives form an interplay between school curricular knowledge, subject knowledge and pedagogy.
You are required to choose four compulsory electives, from one among the school subject areas below:
- Early Childhood Education
- Language Education
- Mathematics Education
- Science Education
- Social Science Education
This is an indicative elective list.
Early Childhood Education
You will learn about the appropriate experiences and practices necessary for young children that foster overall development. You will understand how to work with the age group of 3-8 years, mainly the preschool and early primary years of schooling.
You can also choose to conduct an independent study in which you work with a faculty mentor to draw up a plan of study that is theoretical or field based. You will have to create a rigorous proposal and produce a scholarly article, a teaching learning material, a research report or project proposal.
Early Childhood Education: Policies, Principles and Practices
Elective
Early Childhood Education (ECE) is the teaching of children of ages up to eight years.
Curriculum and Pedagogy in Early Years I
Elective
A course bringing knowledge of child development and curriculum studies to understand the linkages between theories of development, children’s developmental trajectory in early years and pedagogy with reference to early years of a child’s education.
Curriculum and Pedagogy in Early Years II
Elective
A course to bring your knowledge of child development and curriculum studies to understand the linkages between theories of development, children’s developmental trajectory in early years and pedagogy with reference to early years of a child’s education.
Planning and Management of Early Childhood Education Centres
Elective
A course to familiarize students with the working of various Early Childhood Education Centres run by voluntary organizations.
Language education
You will understand pedagogic approaches and perspectives to support language learning in Indian classrooms, by developing a sensitivity to the varied cultural and linguistic contexts in which children grow up.
Introduction to Language and Literature Education
Elective
A course designed to equip MA Education students with a rigorous understanding of the nature of language and literature; as well as ways to navigate these with knowledge and nuance in curricular and pedagogic spaces.
Curriculum and Pedagogy in Language Education
Elective
A course to deepen, integrate and extend upon the understandings of developing curricular materials.
Advanced Language and Literature Pedagogy
Elective
Coherence between the ideas introduced in the course will be built through the pedagogy, such that the teaching of literature and writing can be meaningfully connected to the critical teaching of languages.
Curricular Material Development in Language
Elective
A nuanced understanding of the things that shape curricular decisions.
Mathematics Education
Mathematics is an abstract discipline with its particular ways of knowledge construction, definitive procedures, rules and symbols. These courses will help you understand the history and nature of the subject, its content, and curriculum and pedagogy in relation to elementary grade mathematics.
Knowledge in Mathematics
Elective
A course likely to offer a window into the processes employed in the discipline to generate knowledge together with a glimpse of the organization and structure of some of the significant mathematics ideas.
Curriculum and Pedagogy in Mathematics
Elective
A course intended to help students think about mathematics and think mathematically.
Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching Elementary Mathematics
Elective
This course is aimed towards preparing students to broaden their understanding of elementary grade curriculum and content of mathematics and engage with aspects of teaching and learning this content.
Curriculum Material Development for Teaching Mathematics
Elective
How are curricular materials for mathematics different from other subjects?
Science Education
Scientific endeavours are full of a sense of wonder, curiosity, explorations beyond the obvious. But school science has been fraught with struggles to teach children and engage them through meaningful pedagogic practices. These courses are for an understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge and practices, the issues and ideas concerning the learning and teaching of science, and the study of the conceptual and practical demands of good science teaching. This will help you conceptualise pedagogic practices and learn how to plan to teach at school by developing curricular materials.
Nature of Science
Elective
This course introduces science to the education students: science itself is the object of this course.
Curriculum and Pedagogy of Science
Elective
This course will enable students to be meaningfully associated in the future, with curriculum development, pedagogic practices and teacher education of science in the discipline.
Pedagogical Content Knowledge in School Science
Elective
This course will present broad linkages between core ideas in each of the sub-disciplines, drawn from their history of development and engage with the required pedagogical content knowledge
Curricular Material Development in Science
Elective
A nuanced understanding of the interplay between the nature of science, the purposes of science education, content, pedagogy and development of curricular materials.
Social Studies Education
You will explore the main features of history, geography, political science and economics. You will discuss and debate what to teach in school in the classroom in these subjects and how to teach them, and we focus on seeing social studies in an integrated manner. The key part of these courses is to establish connections between the nature of knowledge, curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.
Knowledge and Curricular Debates in Social Studies
Elective
This course will enable students to gain a critical perspective to deal with these issues and orient themselves towards meaningful intervention in practice.
Pedagogy and Content Knowledge of History and Political Science
Elective
This course will deal with the pedagogy of Social Studies and the contribution of two academic disciplines, History and Political Science, respectively, to it at various stages of the curriculum, with a focus at lower elementary, upper elementary and high school levels.
Pedagogy and Content Knowledge of Sociology, Economics and Geography
Elective
This course provides students with the necessary knowledge of a few key areas of content knowledge and prepares them to teach these subjects effectively.
Social Studies Teaching and Material Development
Elective
An introduction to the academic and curricular debates in the subjects that will also give them opportunities to translate their learnings into school contexts through curricular materials.
We believe that spending time in the field will help you develop a deeper understanding of the theoretical and conceptual ideas that you encounter in the course of your study.
We ensure that you are able to engage with a variety of field settings in the Indian educational context. We think this will help you address and understand dimensions of educational realities and tasks. You will be able to understand educational contexts and organisations, including work culture and ethics, and subject area knowledge.
Weekly practicums
You will have weekly practicums that relate to course work that will help you hone your communication and negotiation skills as well as conceptualise and plan some educational practice. You will visit public and private schools, preschools and anganwadis or NGOs that work with children.
Field practice
You will also have longer, sustained field engagements of two to three weeks in the first and second semesters. You will visit schools and NGOs to understand different aspects of the government education system. You will interact with teachers and children in the classroom setting and in teacher professional development centres in field offices of the Azim Premji Foundation.
In the third semester, you will participate in a 12 week field internship at Azim Premji Foundation field institutes, experiencing and understanding different aspects of school education. During this time, you will engage in field research. Know more here.
Why did Esperanto emerge as a language? What goes into the making of a documentary film? And have you ever wondered whether bamboo is a grass, food, or a tool for furniture?
Learn the history and evolution of cinema as art forms, watch film noir, or appreciate the music of Indian films. Walk through the city to experience it with a new lens or understand the built world around us in a class on architecture for non-architects to. Talk about Indian classical dance in dialogue with a dancer. What wrought Carnatic music into the form it exists in today? Listen to music, read science fiction, star gaze, write poetry, or explore the city in which you live.
In our open courses, you can explore one or two courses outside of your main programme. You will work with visiting faculty who are artists, writers and experts in the field spanning literature, the fine arts, cinema, science, and history. Apart from this, students have to take an open course (mandatory), offered by the School broadly in an area pertaining to Art and Aesthetics in Education.
We offer creative courses for you to choose from every semester. Courses are updated each year.
Total 80 credits
