Is there such a thing as a meta-degree – a degree about the degree you’re taking? A Shrek degree if you will, in that Shrek is a fairy-tale about fairy-tales.
And whilst Shrek may lambast the trappings and aesthetics of its genre, it still dogmatically follows these patterns and tropes in its story-telling. The film, therefore, both scrutinises and celebrates fairy-tales at the same time, and understands the merit of holding both opinions at once. If anything, its critique comes from a place of love. A desire to understand and improve the thing that it is.
I had initially looked into studying Education at York because I wanted to become a teacher. Whilst it is true than many students do go on to a career in teaching (and absolutely become better teachers for having studied Education). To simply view the degree as a teacher-training course spread out over three years would be wrong.
Sociology with Education
For example, I did Sociology with Education at York. This meant that my module selections tended to skew towards those that took a broader look at the role that Education plays within society. How education shapes and is shaped by society (ooh, so that’s why it’s called Sociology? They need to label these things more clearly). They focused less on the practical side of Education, and more on its philosophical or historical aspects. At no point did it ever feel like my degree was being spent studying two separate fields that bore little relation to one another. It felt cohesive, relevant, and essential. Sociocation, if you will… I know, I’m working on it.
That’s not to say that there aren’t aspects of the degree that consider teaching. I took a wonderful module in my final year that focused on theories of lessons seen through the lens of analysing novels, plays, and poems. It allowed us to not only conduct close textual analysis of the chosen texts, but then actively apply that to a hypothesised classroom and learning environment setting.
I hadn’t considered it before I applied, but this is undoubtedly my favourite part about studying Education at York. At every turn, theory is applied to the real world in the form of examples of it occurring. Or uses potential outcomes of theories to illustrate a point. You are forced to consider what would happen or what did happen because of the inherent nature and structure of the degree. It feels as if you are constantly engaging with the world outside of the classroom. Which I feel is really important; especially when it comes to a university degree.
Putting theory into practice
When we were learning about Pierre Bourdieu (a name you will come to know and love) and his theory of habitus (a theory you will come to know and reference in every essay). Whilst it was explained clearly to me when we studied it in Sociology. “Inequalities are perpetuated by the embodied mannerisms and valued capitals of different social groups”. It wasn’t until I saw very clear examples of this in Education that the theory truly stuck and made sense in my mind. From seeing it in the smallest day-to-day interactions, to broader institutional and policy decisions. Every example seen whilst studying Education at York not only made the theory clearer, but my understanding of the world a little better.
It not only made me a better student of Edusociolation (hmm…still not there yet) but a better person too. Maybe that’s a little grand. But if your university degree doesn’t make you feel at least a little bit like that, then I have a horrible feeling you’ve picked the wrong degree.
Do I regret studying Education at York? Does a baby regret learning how to walk? Does an apple regret having fallen from a tree? Does Donkey regret shouting his particular breakfast request at Shrek without warning? Of course not. He’s having waffles again, and again, and again. It’s how he met his best friend after all.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time studying Education at York. From what I learnt on the course, to the people I met whilst doing it.
Educatiology! Of course. It was right in front of me the whole time.
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