Postgraduate Programme “Educational Sciences: Creative Educational Environments and Playing” Master of Arts (M.A.) in Education

Eleni Xiradaki: Model of the solar system (photo by Ilias Karasavvidis)

We learn about play. We learn through playing. We explore the ways in which play subsists and can be active in scientific and artistic practices. We investigate the meaning of concepts such as "creative teaching" and "creative learning", and examine them critically, through different perspectives.

The programme “Educational Sciences: Creative Educational Environments and Playing” utilizes current trends and theoretical elaborations developed by pedagogical science, as well as the findings of cutting-edge scientific research from related fields, aiming at the postgraduate specialization of students in the field of education, with an emphasis on experiential learning.

At the core of our MA programme is the deepening into the pedagogical, psychological and sociological dimensions of creative learning and the educational aspects of play. The programme has been designed as a multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach to pedagogical play and creative learning, with the contribution of faculty members of the Department of Early Education of the University of Thessaly and important invited collaborators.

The classes, the seminars and the writing of the MA dissertation lead to a high level of theoretical knowledge, but also provide the means to experiencing a creative relationship with several artistic and scientific fields.

By the successful completion of the program, the students will be able to utilize experiential learning as a teaching practice and develop modern, creative learning environments in formal and non-formal education. At the same time, having participated in advanced research processes they will have acquired solid research skills, useful for their further academic development.