100% online MA Early Childhood Education

Can children learn while playing? Is play embedded in early years pedagogy? This module encourages students to examine play as a core method of learning for children and teaching for early years practitioners. It introduces students to the contemporary theories and practices surrounding the introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and how these are reflected in historical and contemporary policy debates. It also explores national and international literature, engaging students in the analysis of how teachers use play to facilitate learning, as well as scaffold and extend children’s knowledge. This module also aims to enable students to apply a range of critical theories and recent research on young children’s learning to their own contexts.

This module foregrounds the significance of reflective practice in enabling practitioners to develop informed insights and perspectives on key philosophical, social, cultural, and political debates about education/workplace settings. Students engage actively with a variety of associated theories and methods – with more thoughtful reflection posited as the key to effective practice – and consider an aspect of their own activity, as well as developing an action plan. Students are assessed through a reflective assessment developed over time, related to critically analysing an aspect of their practice.

This module explores changing patterns of education and work, the dynamic relationship between these two institutions, and how it has developed over time. It examines the wider social, cultural, and economic contexts that shape both educational and work institutions, and how these affect the lives and identities of those involved in them. It considers how wider changes linked to globalisation, post-industrialism, education reform and marketisation, and related social and economic shifts, have affected people’s experiences of education and employment, their social relationships, and their sense of self. It draws upon a range of concepts and approaches, including: globalisation; post-industrial society; credentialism; human capital; gender; and theories of self and identity. It critically examines evidence about the changing labour market, and its impact upon educational institutions.

This module examines the changing world of education in the context of social, political, economic, and cultural globalisation. It reflects on the ‘nature’ of international identity, both for teachers and students, and critically explores what ‘international’ means, educationally, in this context. The module aims to enable students to understand, and reflect critically on, the expansion, origins, tensions, and challenges experienced in international education. It invites them to critically examine the primary aspects of globalisation and their impact on education in any setting, and to explore the concept of professional identity in the context of a globalised education policy and practice.

This module explores a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, acting as an introduction to the advantages and pitfalls of these as research tools. Students are supported throughout to reflect on their own understandings of the social world and how it can be known, and the implications of these for developing justified strategies for carrying out a research project. The module aims to enable students to develop concrete plans for the development of the methods and approaches for researching in relation to their proposed thesis topic.

This module introduces students to key issues and methodologies underpinning research in the social sciences. It explores how to construct a research project, including how to develop and build research questions and how these might be operationalised in individual study. Students are encouraged to begin close planning of their own projects. This module also looks at a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, exploring the advantages and pitfalls of these as research tools. Students are supported throughout to reflect on their own understandings of the social world and how it can be known, and the implications of these for developing justified strategies for carrying out their research projects.

Child development and child learning theory and research are utilised in many fields and professions which seek to improve the lives of children. One of the most common ways that these theories are leveraged is in interventions which are designed to remediate or prevent developmental, social, or educational issues. This module is designed in two sections. The first introduces the foundational principles of intervention design and evaluation with children; it’s critically important to ensure that the work we do with children is as beneficial as it can be. The second section provides overviews of how theory has been applied in a variety of contexts, which may include: how children learn, healthy and unhealthy relationships, children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and more. Where possible and appropriate these sessions include material from guest speakers who practice in these fields so students can learn first-hand what it is like to apply theory in these contexts. The assessments are configured around designing and evaluating interventions with children utilising skills that those working in the field need – presenting, designing and evaluating projects, and communicating with different audiences.

This module encourages students to think critically about the concept of childhood as a social and historical construction. It explores a range of institutional and other discourses in which childhood is encoded – including media, literature, art, and the law – but there is a particular focus on state policies and education. Through a critical review of a range of recent interventions, strategies, and agendas, including Every Child Matters, Sure Start, Inclusion and Creativity, and their enactment through the early years and primary curriculum, it explores the role of the state in current constructions of childhood, parenting, and associated rights and responsibilities.

In this module, students specifically focus on the structure of their final dissertation. They are supported to develop specific sections of their dissertation which include: writing an introduction; conducting a literature review; writing a methodology chapter; choosing an appropriate approach to data analysis; and drawing conclusions. Students are also introduced to research ethics and supported to complete a research ethics application which is compulsory to start data collection.

The dissertation module provides you with the opportunity to carry out and write up an original piece of research at master’s level. You will draw on the knowledge you developed in the Research Methods module, as well as knowledge and skills gained throughout your postgraduate study in other modules, to conduct your research. The project could be empirical, text-based or a combination of both approaches. You will design and undertake your project in close collaboration with your supervisor and submit a dissertation upon completion.