Postgraduate & Research

The application for entry into the postgraduate courses below use this application form. This should be dropped or emailed to the contacts below with completed requirements. Candidates begin with a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), which comprises AL400 Research Methodology and any other three postgraduate courses in Education. A GPA of 3.0 in an undergraduate degree in Education from a recognized tertiary institution is required to enter PGDE.

After the PGDE, a candidate can choose from three pathways: i) undertake 4 more postgraduate Education courses for a Master of Education (coursework). This MEDCW requires a GPA OF 3.0 or above in the PGDE. ii) undertake 2 more postgraduate Education courses and complete a Supervised Research Project (SRP) of 20,000 to 25,000 words. This MEDSRP requires a GPA OF 3.5 or above in the six postgraduate courses passed. The third pathway is to undertake a full Masters thesis of 35,000 to 50,000 words after the PGDE. This MA in Education requires a GPA of 4.0 or above in the PGDE. The PhD would usually be 80,000 words to 100,000 words in length. These word counts include the references and appendices. The School of Education staff with doctorates and their areas of expertise are provided here. This will help with your choice of topic and your initial conversations with our staff to discuss your topic of study. In order to enroll into the PhD programme, students must have a masters in education degree (By research or thesis) from a recognized institution. In some cases, students who have an exceptional GPA of 4.0 or above in their masters in education by coursework (MEDCW) from a recognized institution may be allowed to enroll in a bridging research programme called the Directed Research Project (DRP). Successful completion of the DRP allows students to register provisionally into the PhD programme.

Those who are beginning their thesis (SRP, MA, DRP and PhD) would need to send in quickly their Research Intent. This intent can briefly tell us what you intend to investigate. This will allow us to allocate you a supervisor (s) promptly. The supervisor (s) will then help guide you develop a Research Proposal. When the proposal is completed, combine it with the ethics application form and submit it to your supervisor. The supervisor will arrange for an oral presentation of your research proposal. A small panel of experts will evaluate your oral presentation and provide feedback if required. Once this process is complete, your proposal (with ethics application) is ready to be uploaded to the Postgraduate Research Portal. Your proposal is then approved at the Faculty level and a letter will come from the Faculty. Once university approves your proposal and grants you ethics clearance, you may be required to obtain a research permit from your respective Ministry of Education to conduct research in schools. Candidates are expected to produce a progress report at the end of each semester, preferably mid-May and mid-September.

Preferably, attempt to complete most, if not all, of your SRP in a year, MA in two years and a PhD substantially by the third year. If at any stage you are not satisfied with the way you are supervised, do discuss it with your supervisor and also indicate so to the Chair of the School of Education (SOED) Research Committee, whose contacts are below. If you feel a change is necessary you can send in an official request with a change of Supervisor Form.

Once your thesis is considered examination-ready, the Masters thesis will be sent to two examiners while a PhD to three examiners. Examiners have a maximum of three months to submit their examination reports. The format of the completed thesis can be found here. When it has gone through Faculty and University approvals, the thesis will have to be in this format when it is deposited at the library.

The SOED encourages its candidates to present orally their thesis either at one of postgraduate symposiums it organizes or through its Talanga: The School of Education seminar series. When you have graduated, we also encourage that you publish your thesis with your supervisor(s) as co-author (s) at our Directions Journal or other reputable journals, as book chapter or a book. It is the SOED ethos that our candidates do not just graduate but are also publishing and speaking at seminars and conferences, where possible.

We trust that you will have a rewarding journey with us. Do not hesitate to contact us.