Early Years Education

This module begins from the premise that the organisation of education and schooling can be explored as a political matter. Through engagement with substantial political theory, students will develop a conceptual toolkit that will enable them to critically examine key developments in the history of education from a political standpoint. In doing so, it will enable students to engage critically with questions such as: how we educate; what good education looks like; why we organise schooling in particular ways; and how major policy and political events continue to influence and shape education to this day. In doing so they will come to reflect more on their positionally as political beings.

This module introduces important policy, theory and debate in the fields of special and inclusive education. As it considers perspectives on various impairments, the module draws on insights and ideas from medical literature, and sociology. It then questions the very concept of disability from philosophical and ethical standpoints. In this way substantive questions in special and inclusive education are addressed. We will explore how educational institutions might most effectively respond to students with impairments, for example through the roles of professionals and relations with parents and carers. This exploration will lead us to investigate the implications of different theoretical perspectives on disability, and thus what it might mean to be an inclusive educator.

This module introduces important policy, theory and debate in the field of early childhood education and care. Through a range of scientific, historical, sociological, philosophical and culture perspectives, conceptualisations and representations of childhood and early childhood education and care are investigated and their implications for children and their development explored. Students will be equipped with a critical awareness of the ways in which notions of childhood, the education of young children and their care impact upon their development in a wide range of ways.

The role of the educator, and the purpose of education can be conceived of in a wide range of forms. This module introduces students to a variety of ideas and theories advanced by various thinkers concerned with education. Some of the ideas encountered will offer ideas about education directly in relation to schooling whilst others offer insights into education in its broader sense. The range of concepts examined will introduce students to the breadth of content they will encounter during their studies. Drawing on a diverse range of figures from various fields, including the arts, religion, sociology and philosophy, the first half of the module asks students not only to engage with the insights and teachings of each of the individuals they encounter, but also with the very question of what it means to be an educator and to educate. In the second half of the module, students will undertake their first placement in an early years setting. The taught element of the module in semester two will turn to supporting the development of students’ foundational skills in early years practice.

This placement module focuses on your developing professional practice in your second year of study. The taught elements of this module will develop your ability to critically explore and evaluate the professional role of the early years educator. To aid your developing expertise you will explore the ways a wide range of issues, such as relationships, attachment, safeguarding and a wider understanding of the impact of adverse childhood experiences impacts on a child’s development and their experiences of early years education and care. Working in partnership with practitioners in early years settings, you will develop and implement a range of core practice skills including observational skills, planning, differentiation, assessing and the ability to work effectively with families, parents and care givers.

This module sets out to engage with key theoretical debates around early years education, with a view to relating them to key developments in policy and provision in the early years. The underpinning theme is the ‘nature/nurture debate’, which comprises a continually growing body of theory and argument that attempts to identify a set of fundamental causes said to 'determine' human nature, with the debate getting its name from these two supposedly opposed sources of causation. This highly topical debate provides a general reference point for most theoretical studies of early childhood education because the child is either thought to be 'plastic' and malleable in terms of possible outcomes (the nurture assumption), or relatively fixed in its characteristics – even pre-determined – before its birth (the nature assumption). The module will go on to examine current key early years, primary and inclusion policy initiatives and examine a range of influences on policy and strategy formation and the impact of policy on provision. Students will be helped to understand policy within social, historical, political and economic frameworks. The focus will be principally on policy and strategies relating to the United Kingdom and England in particular, but wider perspectives will be addressed through international research and case studies to encourage students to begin to adopt a global stance.

Through this module, students will explore the significance of play as a fundamental part of early childhood education theory, practice and policy, and its relation to the multiple contexts in which young children learn. It addresses the role of adults towards creating an enabling environment and activities that supports optimal opportunities and development for all children in addition to consideration of curriculum, policy and procedure. Students will be encouraged to reflect upon and discuss their knowledge, skills and understanding of a how a range of contexts such as: alternative formal/informal education settings, the outdoor space, recreation activities, community groups and cyberspace can all be used effectively to support learning.

This module introduces a range of theoretical perspectives that enable a robust analysis of the contested concept of inclusion in education. It introduces theoretical perspectives as a way of understanding inclusive education practices and policies in diverse contexts such as compulsory schooling, early years education and post-compulsory education. Students will be challenged to engage with concepts such as disability and inclusivity in a rigorous and critical fashion, through multiplicity of meaning and perspective, in order to envisage multiple possibilities through which education and educators may lay claim to the description of inclusive.

The dissertation will be an extended independent study undertaken by the student resulting in an 8,000 – 10,000 word written assignment, on a self-chosen topic relevant to the programme of study. Students undertaking a professional practice route will undertake an original independent empirical investigation into an aspect of childhood. Students taking a theoretical route will undertake an entirely desk-based (non-empirical) project relating to education. Throughout, students will be supervised and supported by a member of the tutor team with relevant expertise.

This final placement module enables you to further advance the skills, attributes and expertise of your professional practice developed at levels 4 and 5. You will extend your professional knowledge to develop and demonstrate a critical understanding of the centrality of effective teamwork, leadership and management in delivering high quality learning experiences in early years settings. You will expand your existing skill base in areas such as observation, planning, assessment, working with families, carers and communities to enhance your development as a highly skilled practitioner.

Early Childhood Education (ECE) raises important theoretical, political, economic and practical questions about the meanings, relationships and choices made by educationalists, practitioners, politicians, parents, children, researchers and all other actors in the UK and beyond. This module examines key theorists across a range of perspectives and policy materials, including the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), to provide the basis for critical analysis and application in relation to current debates, ideas and practices in the education and care of young children. Drawing from a range of studies and lenses across a variety of contexts, students will explore the conditions and life chances of children and critically analyse the implications these have for how early childhood education and care is conceptualised and implemented to support the positive development of children to help them flourish.

• Inclusions and Exclusions in the Modern World
• Education In/With/For Nature
• Education and Diversity for a Changing World