Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education MSc

Buckinghamshire New University

Do you work in or aspire to pursue a career in education? Are you passionate about mental health and well-being? Our course will teach you important interventions, skills and research-based strategies to make you a positive influence and practitioner of psychological concepts for the benefit of those in education across the lifespan. Whether you want to build your skills in a current teaching role, or start a career in education, this course gives you the tools to apply advanced teaching techniques in a professional setting, benefitting students mental health and wellbeing as you do so.

Why study this subject? This course is suitable for a range of professionals engaged in mental and well-being in education, such as head teachers, teachers, social workers, school nurses, educational psychologists, police and youth justice workers. The course is designed for professionals and graduates wishing to understand and optimise the role of mental health and well-being in the education system.

This is essentially a training in awareness and practices that can be adopted in a student’s existing or future profession within a sector like education rather than training as a psychology professional.

Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?

What makes studying this course at BNU so attractive is the flexibility we offer our postgraduate students. You can study online, part-time which makes it perfect for anyone with a busy job or personal life. You can choose from a number of different study routes, opting to study this fascinating subject at PGCert, PGDip or as a full MSc. It really is entirely up to you and our hands-on teaching staff can help you decide what's best for you, both professionally and personally speaking. We offer a highly interactive distance learning format which challenges and engages our students with our professionally active teaching team. What’s more, we foster a culture of care within our Psychology department here at BNU meaning you’ll always be encouraged to strive towards fulfilling personal goals.

What will I study? This course offers a detailed exploration of mental health and well-being across the lifespan within education as it's setting. You'll develop a firm understanding of the unprecedented factors by which it may be influenced in learners of any age.

In parallel, the course will also examine how often individual action in the educational environment can be an act of leadership and influence towards change. In addition, you’ll explore research-based interventions in education, be introduced to the basics of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and positive psychology with a focus on research-based interventions in the educational environment.

You’ll learn about different research methods and skills focused towards your choice of professional context meaning you will always be able to apply your learning from day one. This approach will also help you decide on a specific subject area for a passion project – your final dissertation at MSc level.

How will I be taught and assessed? You have the option to study this course over three years and dedicate the third year purely to completing your dissertation – this flexibility means you can balance your studies confidently with other personal and professional obligations you might have.

As a distance learning programme, you'll access resources and taught modules via our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and be connected to other students in similar professions meaning you can learn from and support each other whilst building a network of like-minded people.

Over the course of the programme, you’ll be assessed in a number of different ways, such as literature reviews, reflexive logs, analytical reports, the design, planning and implementation of interventions, as well as a final dissertation project.