MA Education (Early Childhood Studies)

Course overview:

You follow this specialist route if you are a practitioner working or intending to work in the early years sector. You draw on your own personal and professional experience, practice and interests to explore an area of early childhood studies that is particularly relevant to you and your career development. If you have previously studied this area at undergraduate level, you can build on the knowledge you have already gained.

This MA has a full-time and a part-time route. Both routes have taught sessions which are scheduled to enable working professionals to attend. You study 180 level 7 credits made up of four modules plus a final dissertation. The core modules enable you to update your knowledge and skills and give you the opportunity to reflect on your professional practice whilst developing your understanding of theoretical models and current debates. There is a strong emphasis on the application of your studies to your professional context. You study two modules; Using the Literature to Inform Educational Research and the Dissertation. You choose your topics which should be around current debates and issues in early childhood studies.

How you learn

You share experiences and perspectives on aspects of practice. You study with students from other programmes who are from a variety of educational settings and backgrounds – this sharing gives you the opportunity to develop a systematic and critical understanding of the breadth and depth of knowledge in educational research and practice. You can develop a sense of belonging to the programme while being able to discuss and explore your own area of interest.
Peer-led discussion on research and practice issues raised in sessions provides the opportunity for interprofessional discussion and debate, and the opportunity to consider relevant issues from the perspective of other professional educational groups which supports you to integrate and synthesise a diverse range of knowledge. You share taught sessions with the Education Doctorate, enhancing the range and type of discussions held within sessions as well as encouraging you to consider your progression after the programme.

How you are assessed:

Staff have a wide range of educational backgrounds and specialist interests to support for your cross-disciplinary interests and multi-agency working. Another important element is how we support your transition to studying at level 7. You are offered academic support to help you understand the requirements of master’s level study; to develop your skills in academic writing and referencing, critical thinking and critical writing; and in the key IT skills such as literature searching. The assessment allows you to reflect on your own practice and context, and produce assessed work that benefits your working context. Student feedback on the programme has consistently highlighted the level of support from the staff as a major contributor to their success.