MEd specialisation at the Wits School of Education
The Master of Education specialisation in Education and Work is aimed at those interested in improving their insight into education and the economy, education and social and economic development, and education and the world of work.
The package is of particular value to researchers investigating these areas, public sector workers, people with experience or interest in working in colleges, conducting or organising workplacebased training, working in development-oriented NGOs, SETAs, development organisations, or other educational settings, who are interested in the complex intersection of theory and practice around education / work relationships in policy, training, and workplaces. Courses offered enable the development of powerful conceptual resources, focused on policy and implementation, as well as theoretical analysis and research, and will contribute to career development of researchers, educators, practitioners, and policy workers.
An MEd by coursework at Wits requires students to take three courses, as well as Research Design, and the writing of a research report. Three courses are offered in the Education and Work specialisation, with others currently under development. Alternatively, courses that complement the specialisation can be choosen from those on offer in the School of Education.
Staff at the REAL Centre supervises students and assists them to design and conduct a research project in their specific areas of interest.
Current research
The current research streams in the Centre for Researching Education and Labour include Occupational and Professional knowledge; Economy and Education Relationships; Industrial Policy, Industrial Relations, and Skill Formation Systems; Political Economy of Skill; Vocational Pedagogy; Sectors and Skills; Youth Unemployment; Barriers to Work and Learning; Youth / Work Transitions; Social Inequalities and Labour Markets; Skills for a just transition; Skills to support a green economy.
Dr Presha Ramsarup (Director)
Tel: +27 (0)11 717 3074
Email: presha.ramsarup@wits.ac.za
Glynnis Vergotine (Masters Coordinator)
Tel: +27 (0)11 717 3072
Email: Glynnis.Vergotine@wits.ac.za
Physical address: Wits School of Education
Thembalethu building
27 St Andrews Road
Parktown, 2193 Johannesburg, South Africa
Postal address:
Centre for Researching Education and Labour, Wits School of Education (Faculty of Humanities)
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Private Bag X3
Wits 2050, South Africa
www.wits.ac.za/real/
@Wits_REALCentre Wits Real centre
Centre for Researching Education and Labour (REAL) Wits School of Education Masters in Education: Specialisation Education and Work Contact us
About the REAL Centre MEd Courses
The Centre for Researching Education and Labour (REAL) is a research centre in the School of Education at the University of the Witwatersrand. The REAL Centre conducts research into areas of major theoretical and policy concern, focused on the complex relationships between education, knowledge, work, the economy, and society.
The REAL Centre provides an organisational base for bringing together researchers from different disciplines, building theoretical and systemic insights from consolidated empirical research, improving the quality of empirical research, developing insights across different research areas, and contributing to policy debates.
Education systems and economies involve systems and institutions that have developed separately,
EDUCATION, SKILLS, AND DEVELOPMENT
This course will introduce learners to the main debates about the role of education and skills in economic and social development. It will explore the relationship between education, state formation, and patterns of economic growth and social development, as well as relationships between education systems and labour markets, and education and work. It will introduce a range of concepts from the social and political sciences, with a focus on development literature, that assist the understanding and analysis of the relationship between education, learning, and international development in low and middle income countries, as well as a critical interrogation of the role of education in the development of what are now rich countries.
ECONOMIC CONCEPTS FOR RESEARCH IN EDUCATION, SKILL FORMATION AND WORK
This course introduces students to critical debates in two key aspects of economic theory: development economics and labour market economics Theories about economic development are crucial to understanding debates and theorisation of the role of education in economic and social development. Theories about how labour markets operate are crucial to understanding how education interacts with labour markets, and the different ways in which education and qualifi cations are valued by and used in labour markets – the economic returns to education. Key concepts include the labour process, labour power, and the reserve army of labour; Human Capital Theory and alternative theories about the role of education in labour markets; industrialisation, industrial policy, development, and de-industrialisation; historical political economy of the South African labour market during apartheid and today; contemporary issues in labour markets including the national minimum wage, gender, labour markets, and informality.
KNOWLEDGE AND WORK
This course aims to develop a critical understanding of the ways in which forms of work organisation impact on understandings of what constitutes socially useful knowledge, why learning should be valued, and where and how knowledge production and learning take place. It will critically consider arguments about the ‘knowledge society’, and the idea that society has entered a new era where knowledge and learning are at the heart of the production process and of global competitiveness, as are new technologies for generating and disseminating knowledge and information. Will most workers need to become more continuous learners in a new knowledge-based economy or will much of their learning be ignored or devalued in relation to their work? Will most workers need to become more continuous learners in a new knowledge-based economy or will much of their learning be ignored or devalued in relation to their work? The course will also critically consider the history of education, skills, and work in South Africa. The course will introduce key concepts with which to think about education and work: division of labour; the labour process; the labour market; different conceptions of ‘skill’; and different conceptions of knowledge.
