BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies with Foundation Year

This module aims to increase your understanding and practical skills necessary to develop your work with babies and young children. During the module you will be able to develop your knowledge of your own roles and responsibilities within an early years setting. The module aims to develop your competence and confidence as a reflective and ethical early years practitioner, with opportunities to enhance your communication skills and work effectively as part of a team. During the module you will learn about the importance of creating an inclusive, learning environment and promoting children's holistic development. You will also gain the practical skills of planning and implementing activities for children’s individual needs.

This module introduces you to a range of theoretical concepts to explore what ‘childhood’ means in modern society. By exploring the interactions between children, young people, families and society, you will consider how the concept of ‘family’, and family practices, are shaped by wider social influences and social policy. In this module you will also explore the the ways in which a family is seen as a ‘haven’, and children as ‘happy and innocent’, match the reality of children and young people’s lives. You will engage with issues that focus on living in a society where diversity and inclusion are key to community harmony and how social policy interventions can affect life chances.

This module supports you in engaging with different perspectives on power, rights, diversity and inclusion in relation to supporting children, young people and families. When developing your own knowledge and understanding, you will also consider what constitutes inclusive practice and equity within our society. By drawing upon research and literature you will be able to recognise and understand the importance of challenging inequalities when working with children, young people and families. Therefore you will have the opportunity to reflect on your own learning of inclusion, diversity and power relationships which will enhance your practice when supporting children, young people and families.

This module will provide you with the opportunity to question and evaluate the role of play in childhood by examining historical and contemporary theories and concepts. You will also explore the body of knowledge that has accumulated in recent years, which identifies the importance of play as a fundamental right for children. You will be required to use your placement/workplace experience to investigate the role of play in curricula frameworks, the family as well as explore international perspectives. You will also examine your own principles and values in relation to working with children to facilitate play activities by researching the role of the professional, the use of play spaces and planning and assessment. This will enable you to gain knowledge of ways to develop quality play provision and how the quality of play can be evaluated.

As part of your learning on this module you will be introduced to current debates around safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults. You will be encouraged to explore how policy, legislation and research evidence inform safeguarding practice. You will also consider the roles and responsibilities of all professionals to safeguard children, young people and vulnerable adults, and as part of this you will be encouraged to reflect on how professionals need to work together. You will explore how risk is managed and how families are supported by multi-agency teams, to ensure the well-being of all children, young people and vulnerable adults.

In this module you will explore how babies and young children develop their communication, language and literacy skills. You will gain an understanding of how social and cultural aspects influence the role of the adult in supporting children’s communication, language and literacy development. As part of this module, you will also critically evaluate different ways in which children learn to communicate, and develop language and literacy skills and the range of pedagogical approaches which can support development. You will also analyse how adults interact with children to develop their language, literacy and communication skills. You will have the opportunity to develop your own professionalism and decision making based on your own value systems.

This module aims to increase your understanding, knowledge and the practical skills required to work with babies, young children and their families. You will learn about policy and health standards to achieve the health and wellbeing of babies and young children in early year’s settings. You will also gain of knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of an early year’s practitioner when promoting health and wellbeing. By drawing upon literature and research you will develop a critical understanding of the importance of creating a healthy environment, and how you can meet the needs of individual children to enhance their health and wellbeing. This will include the development of planned activities and interventions that promotes babies and young children's health wellbeing and safety that enable them to flourish.

This module gives you the opportunity to undertake a placement in a area relevant to an aspect of your professional practice building on your previous experiences of working with babies, young children and families. You will have the opportunity to further develop your knowledge of the current curriculum (for babies and young children birth to eight) and policy requirements in early years settings and how these are applied in practice. You will also observe and evaluate an aspect of children’s learning and development and you will use research and literature to inform your reflective practice skills in terms of your personal and professional learning.

Within this module you will develop a critical understanding of how children learn, the role of the adult and how learning environments can influence children’s understanding of the world around them. You will compare theories, concepts and principles of children's learning by drawing upon literature and research. In this module you will learn about children's cognitive development and you will be able to apply these theories to practice in early years settings. You will also be able to critically evaluate aspects such as child centred and adult directed pedagogy, creativity and critical thinking, children's choice and needs. You will be able to analyse different teaching and learning approaches which are part of the curriculum for children up to eight years.

This module focuses on inclusive early-years provision for children with developmental difficulties by exploring key concepts, such as early identification and intervention, developmentally appropriate practice, inter-agency collaboration and parental involvement. By examining the policy-to-practice context and relevant research perspectives about these processes, you will promote your critical understanding of opportunities and challenges associated with such provision. You will also learn about the early-years curriculum framework and how this influences family-centred professional practice.

This module will enhance your knowledge and understanding of the role of the practitioner when working with children, young people and families. You will explore and show critical understanding on the impact of adverse childhood experiences and other social issues that may affect young lives. As part of your learning you will develop a critical understanding of how policy impacts on a range of diverse and vulnerable families and the challenges that policy may present for you, the practitioner, in your day-to day role. Key theories and therapeutic interventions will be evaluated as your professional knowledge and skills of family support are enhanced.

This module will consolidate your knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage for children aged birth to five and the Primary National Curriculum in England. As part of your learning you will reflect upon a range of key theories, pioneers and research and their influences on different pedagogical approaches to the curriculum and curriculum design. You will also critically reflect on your own value systems and you will have the opportunity to relate this to your own practice and professional goals. As part of your learning you will also make critical judgments regarding early years and educational policy and the challenges that practitioners face in implementing a creative curriculum. This will be supported by a reflective and critical approach when comparing the curriulum in England to that of other countries.

The module enables you to critically appraise your leadership skills when developing high quality early years provision that supports babies and young children’s development. As part of you learning you will critically evaluate concepts, theories and principles related to leadership and how this can be applied to high quality practice in early years settings. You will also be able to critically reflect on your own professional development as a leader in an early years setting. The module aims to develop your competence and confidence as a reflective practitioner, with opportunities to enhance your communication skills and your ability to take the lead, support, plan and work collaboratively with others.

This module offers you the opportunity to learn about child and youth provision and support from an international perspective. You will have the opportunity to critically compare provision currently offered in the United Kingdom and globally. You will appraise reasons for the diverse approaches adopted in different countries from social and cultural perspectives. You will also be able to critically analyse government policy, curriculum ideologies, professional training and evaluate provision in relation to theories, research evidence and national guidelines/standards.

This module will increase your knowledge of learning in the outdoors for children from birth to 8. You will consider how developing opportunities for learning in the outdoors relates to relevant curricula frameworks. You will research and critically review a range of key theoretical ideas and pioneers in order to evaluate their influences upon pedagogical approaches concerned with learning in the outdoors. This will be supported by reflective and critical investigation considering global pedagogical approaches to learning in an outdoor context. You will apparaise the challenges that practitioners face in developing and providing opportunities for learning in an outdoor context. This module will also develop your own value systems and you will have the opportunity to relate this to your own practice and professional goals.

Within this module you will explore the ways in which early childhood professionals make provision for play and playful approaches to learning and teaching, how they design play/learning environments, and all the pedagogical decisions, techniques and strategies they use to support or enhance learning and teaching through play. You will also be able to enhance your understanding of critical issues on play pedagogy in theory and in practice by drawing on research and literature that focuses on different types of play, different aspects of play behaviours, child-centred play, and interactions in communities or groups of players. You will also have the opportunity to critically reflect on your own role as an early childhood practitioner in planning for play, using playful pedagogical approaches in adult- and child-initiated activities, and engaging with children on their terms and with respect for their meanings.

The module explores the historical, social, cultural and economic contexts of children and childhood. You will appraise how the changing social and cultural constructions of children can impact on the lives of children living in diverse communities and societies. You will make critical judgments of issues relating to rights, diversity, equity and inclusion when working with children, families and communities in the UK and globally. You will also be able to recognise and critically analyse what meaningful participation looks like for children and how their voice and sense of place can be promoted.