Islamic Education: Theory and Practice (MA) (2024 Entry)
Explore our Islamic Education: Theory and Practice, taught Master's degree.
Islamic Education: Theory and Practice MA facilitates a critical dialogue between Western and Islamic approaches to education and enables teachers and Muslim educators to become research-based reflective practitioners. Join Warwick's flexible MA and engage with a transformative teaching and learning experience that nurtures your academic formation and your personal and professional development.
Course overview
The programme is designed for opening up professional development pathways for diverse groups of educational practitioners, Muslim educators and faith leaders who work within the context of formal and informal Islamic and general educational settings. The programme is open to mainstream education practitioners who wish to deepen their knowledge and understanding of Islam, facilitate critical Islam literacy and be able to respond effectively to the educational needs of Muslim children and young people under their care.
Islamic Education is a new exciting interdisciplinary field of scholarly study, empirical research professional development. It has growing national and international interest among Muslim and wider education practitioners.
The programme enables students to develop critical academic competence in theory and practice of Islamic Education facilitating reflective practice among a specialist community of educational practitioners and researchers. Students will explore diverse perceptions of education and pedagogic practice in historical and contemporary Muslim societies, engage with modern educational theories, pedagogic models and develop essential research skills necessary to be able to identify personal areas of further research in the field. The course adopts an integrative approach to pedagogy which facilitates student engagement through strategies of self-organised and blended learning i.e. combining online resources, platforms as well as face to face workshops, seminars and lectures.
The emphasis on the course will be on the importance of contemporary educational research into Islamic Education, especially research springing from the Social Sciences directed towards pedagogy and curriculum development. The course will enable students to develop the competence to ‘think educationally’ about Islam and critically examine the theory and practice of Islamic Education in the modern Muslim world and across the Muslim communities in the West.
Students will have the opportunity of critically examining the existing Islamic Education textbooks, curriculum and the syllabuses. Furthermore, they will discuss the educational challenges facing Muslim communities in the Western Diaspora with special reference to exploring the educational needs of Muslim youth. The course will critically examine how best to develop appropriate educational strategies to tackle religious extremism and address issues concerning the faith development of Muslim young people in Britain.
The course attracts a wider range of practitioners within the field of faith-based and religion-related practitioner education by explicitly identifying and responding to the professional development needs of practitioners engaged in Islamic Education. As such the programme, in a distinctive way, opens professional development pathways for diverse groups of Muslim educators, faith leaders and those who wish to engage with Islamic Education as an area of further academic development.
This programme will also be of interest to RE practitioners and teachers who are interested in improving their understanding of Islam and the educational needs of Muslim children and young people under their care.
Skills from this degree
- Critically analyse and explain the origins and sources of Muslim Educational thought and practice as well as evaluate critically current theory, literature, research, advanced scholarship and methodologies in Islamic Education, Islamic Pedagogy and Education Studies
- Identify and critically analyse the contemporary educational issues and challenges facing diverse Muslim communities in contemporary Muslim majority and minority communities such as educational reform, gender gap in educational leadership within national educational systems of global Muslim societies
- Application of research skills in developing and evaluating scholarly and empirical research in Islamic Education
- Develop competence to identify areas of research and structure personal research interests and projects in the field
- Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences
- By adopting a learner-centred, inquiry-based delivery strategy, students will develop competence for reflective practice
- Demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level
General entry requirements
Minimum requirements
2:2 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a related subject or successful completion of the Islamic Education PGA.
Minimum 3 years of teaching experience within formal and informal Muslim education settings. These institutions include Islamic faith-based schools, supplementary Mosque schools (Madrassahs), Islamic higher education institutions/Islamic study circles, chaplaincy and couching related youth work and community development centres. The candidates need obtain references from these institutions substantiating their formal and informal teaching and work experience relevant to the MA Islamic Education programme.
English language requirements
You can find out more about our English language requirementsLink opens in a new window. This course requires the following:
- Band B
- IELTS score to 7 overall, no more than two components at 6.0/6.5 & rest 7.0+
International qualifications
We welcome applications from students with other internationally recognised qualifications.
For more information, please visit the international entry requirements pageLink opens in a new window.
Additional requirements
There are no additional entry requirements for this course.
Core modules
Foundations of Islamic Education
This module helps you to explore philosophical, historical and theological foundations of Islamic Education through engaging with modern educational theories and pedagogic models. You will develop knowledge, understanding and critical insights into the fundamentals of Islamic educational thought, practice and values and begin to form your own philosophy of education by critically engaging with both the Islamic and Western traditions of education thought and practice.
Research Methods in Education (alternative online module available for part-time students if required)
This module encourages students in understanding, designing and implementing research in the field of education. It will introduce you to a range of established research strategies and techniques, including data collection and analysis. These skills will enable you to design and carry out a dissertation research project, as well as to disseminate its findings. As part of this module, you will present your research design and have the opportunity to receive feedback ahead of completing your dissertation.
New Perspectives in Islamic Pedagogy
This module aims to enable students to engage critically with the concept of Islamic pedagogy through exploring historical formation of Islamic traditions of learning and teaching and assessing their contemporary applications in diverse educational settings. Students will be taught the principles of historical, cultural and pedagogic analysis in relation to selected texts, context(s) and topics in particular research projects in the inter-disciplinary field of Islamic Education.
Dissertation
The dissertation is an opportunity to explore, in depth, an area of academic and/or professional interest related to your degree. Building on the knowledge and skills developed during the Research Methods module, and your other modules, you will conduct an independent research project, developing a deeper understanding of your chosen topic. From your research project, you will produce a dissertation, with guidance from a supervisor who will be allocated to you. Through the dissertation, you will demonstrate the ability to analyse and synthesise relevant literature, produce coherent arguments supported by relevant evidence and logical discussion, and acknowledge sources of ideas and information.
Optional modules
This programme has a number of optional modules to choose from. Our optional module lists are subject to change each year to keep the student learning experience current and up-to-date.
Teaching
For full-time students, all of our modules are delivered in-person at our well-equipped university campus. Please note that if you wish to study on a part time basis you should be aware that most modules are taught during the normal working day and there is no out of hours provision. If this is a consideration for you please contact us prior to applying so that we can advise you further. Part-time students are able to complete some of their modules as asynchronous distance-learning modules.
Most modules include weekly teaching sessions, giving you the opportunity to join with your colleagues to discuss and debate the topics being explored. These sessions are delivered in a range of formats that suit the module (these may include lectures, seminars, group work and practical workshops, for example). In addition, you will be given various pre- and post- session tasks and readings to support your learning.
Typical contact hours
You will attend one or two 3-hour seminars each week during the Autumn and Spring Terms of modules plus research methods training lectures and seminars throughout all three terms.
Assessment
Assessment types vary depending on modules selected but may be a mixture of assignments and oral presentations. You will also complete a dissertation based on an individual research project, with support from a research supervisor.
Additional course costs
You may wish to undertake some research with children or young people that may require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check or a Certificate of Good Conduct for students from outside of the UK. A Certificate of Good Conduct can vary in price.
Please contact your academic department for information about department specific costs, which should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below, such as:
- Core text books
- Printer credits
- Dissertation binding
- Robe hire for your degree ceremony
Find out more about our additional course costs.
Your timetable
Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you and you will be able to choose your optional modules when you join us.
Your career
Islamic Education is a fast-growing area of teaching, research and policy development within the context of UK and beyond. It has a growing international appeal. This is a new programme. Most of our graduates so far have gone into senior roles in Islamic schooling, community-based education sector and research/policy development related job opportunities in private and public sectors to further their carriers.
Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Careers Consultant offering impartial advice and guidance together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:
- Careers in Education
- Careers with Children and Young People
- Warwick careers fairs throughout the year
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Tuition fees
Tuition fees are payable for each year of your course at the start of the academic year, or at the start of your course, if later. Academic fees cover the cost of tuition, examinations and registration and some student amenities.
Fee Status Guidance
We carry out an initial fee status assessment based on the information you provide in your application. Students will be classified as Home or Overseas fee status. Your fee status determines tuition fees, and what financial support and scholarships may be available. If you receive an offer, your fee status will be clearly stated alongside the tuition fee information.
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Additional course costs
As well as tuition fees and living expenses, some courses may require you to cover the cost of field trips or costs associated with travel abroad.
For departmental specific costs, please see the Modules tab on the course web page for the list of core and optional core modules with hyperlinks to our Module Catalogue (please visit the Department’s website if the Module Catalogue hyperlinks are not provided).
Associated costs can be found on the Study tab for each module listed in the Module Catalogue (please note most of the module content applies to 2022/23 year of study). Information about module department specific costs should be considered in conjunction with the more general costs below:
- Core text books
- Printer credits
- Dissertation binding
- Robe hire for your degree ceremony
Scholarships and bursaries
Scholarships and financial support
Find out about the different funding routes available, including; postgraduate loans, scholarships, fee awards and academic department bursaries.
Living costs
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Applications will close on 2 August 2025 for students who require a visa to study in the UK, to allow time to receive a CAS and complete the visa application process.
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