BA Early Childhood Studies (Top-Up) with Professional Practice

This double module for Professional Practice Top-Up students provides an opportunity for students to explore the concept of quality practice with the content being framed around the standards for the Early Years Educator (NCTL, 2023) and the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (DfE 2023). The module also requires students to work alongside professional practitioners in Early Years settings/schools/organisations to further develop their knowledge, skills and competence of working in practice with children, families and other professionals. Students will be required to identify and attend an appropriate setting/school/organisation, in negotiation with the student, the tutor and the setting. in order to experience, participate in and develop competence in a range of tasks associated with education and care in an Early Years setting/school/organisation. Alongside the practical experience, students also attend taught sessions around aspects of Quality Practice in Early Childhood Education and Care. Settings are provided with guidance in the form of an Employer Handbook which provides information on all aspects of the Placement including the aims of the placement, the role of the setting in supporting the students, information as to what students need to undertake whilst on placement and contact details of tutors. Students also have access to a handbook which includes information as to the purpose of placement, their role in terms of professional conduct and an overview of the taught sessions and the assessment.

This module provides students with the opportunity to critically reflect on the holistic lives of children from conception to 5. Journeying from conception through the key milestones of development, this module provides opportunities to examine key issues on a micro level which are experienced by children 0-5, influenced by social and biological factors. Students will consider the impacts of key issues on the holistic lives of children and reflect on the range of appropriate services available within the sector. Further macro influences on a child’s life are also recognised through this module. Students are encouraged to recognise the importance of the family as well as wider society and will critically explore the growing, wider influence of media (film) and government campaigns that influence the holistic world of a child 0-5.

Since the late 1990’s, Early Childhood has been identified as an area of special interest for successive governments who have identified this period of a child’s life as providing an opportunity to have a significant impact on their progress in terms of their education, care and general well-being as well as presenting the opportunity to tackle issues such as child poverty and social exclusion. In light of this, Early Childhood has seen an unprecedented level of social policy reform and developments in the way in which practitioners collaborate with children and their families to achieve these aims. In particular, Early Childhood practitioners have been positioned in a primary role to support children and their families and take the lead in co-ordinating collaborative responses in partnership with families and a range of agencies. This module will therefore engage students in a critical analysis of current social policy in this area and the range of services and agencies involved in collaborative working and the legal and regulatory frameworks in which they operate. This module will provide students with the opportunity to gain a critical understanding of the issues around leading collaborative work with children and their families. They will be encouraged to critically reflect on the opportunities and challenges around supporting families and explore the nature of these provisions in terms of the underlying philosophies and political ideas. Students will be encouraged to critically reflect on the impact of political ideology on government intentions for social policy, and how such intentions serve to shape practice. They will also be encouraged to begin to understand and locate their own position in terms of the underlying philosophical and political values.

In this module we invite students to select a topic of personal interest to be explored through field research or a desk-based study (depending on route) and reported in a written study of 10,000 words. The Research Project is designed to enable students to investigate educational phenomena that hold particular interest for in them and actively encourages the exercise of originality and personal autonomy. It requires students to identify and apply an appropriate research design, addressing ethical principles, and employing systematic research procedures. Students will present and analyse their findings with critical reflection on their research question, methodology, management and organisation and analyse limitations of their study. They will identify the implications for policy and practice, where appropriate. The module aims to draw and build upon students’ previous knowledge and experience at certificate and intermediate level study.