MA

Childhood Studies and Early Years

Teaching & Learning

Distance learning

We understand that full-time study does not suit everyone. That’s why we offer courses which give you the opportunity to decide where, when and how you can get involved in learning. Studying a distance learning course offers the convenience and flexibility to make education work for you. Whether you’d like to fit your studies around childcare, develop your skills while working or, quite simply, want to learn from the comfort of your own home, we can help you gain a qualification at a time and pace that suits your lifestyle.

Like our students on campus, you’ll have the same excellent teaching and learning resources, however you’ll find these online instead of a lecture theatre. Not only are all the modules taught online, but you’ll also have access to an online community and more than 140,000 books and journals in our online library.

Technical requirements for distance learning study are detailed in the full guide. Visit our distance learning website for more information.

We’ll support your learning on this course by a combination of pre-recorded, live lectures, weekly webinars, audio-visual materials, additional online reading and an online learning tutor. Your lectures and webinars will take place in the evenings and you’ll be able to access them from anywhere in the world via Microsoft Teams. If you’re a distance learning student or are studying from outside the UK, we offer occasional webinars and online 1-1 tutorials at times to suit you. All sessions will be recorded and made available to you.

What you'll learn

Develop an understanding of the ways in which discourse works to construct different ways of thinking about childhood and early years. You will learn to identify dominant, competing and contradictory discourses of childhood and the ways in which they are encoded in a range of cultural texts.
Gain the skills to critically assess the work of others, and the knowledge to begin conducting your own research.
Negotiate, plan, conduct and evaluate a research project that is relevant to the theoretical and professional content of this course.
Explore the ways in which childhood has been conceived of by a variety of different disciplines, and the contribution of the social studies of childhood towards advancing our understanding of contemporary childhood.
You will be encouraged to think about children's interests and priorities as expressed through their playful engagements.
Explore the ways that children develop concepts of social identities from early years to adolescence. You will investigate the ways in which social, political and cultural forces influence children's identities and the extent to which identity is assumed or enforced.
Develop an understanding of the ways in which discourse works to construct different ways of thinking about childhood and early years. You will learn to identify dominant, competing and contradictory discourses of childhood and the ways in which they are encoded in a range of cultural texts.
Gain the skills to critically assess the work of others, and the knowledge to begin conducting your own research.
Negotiate, plan, conduct and evaluate a research project that is relevant to the theoretical and professional content of this course.
Explore the ways in which childhood has been conceived of by a variety of different disciplines, and the contribution of the social studies of childhood towards advancing our understanding of contemporary childhood.
You will be encouraged to think about children's interests and priorities as expressed through their playful engagements.
Explore the ways that children develop concepts of social identities from early years to adolescence. You will investigate the ways in which social, political and cultural forces influence children's identities and the extent to which identity is assumed or enforced.

What you'll learn

You will be encouraged to think about children's interests and priorities as expressed through their playful engagements.
Explore the ways that children develop concepts of social identities from early years to adolescence. You will investigate the ways in which social, political and cultural forces influence children's identities and the extent to which identity is assumed or enforced.
Conduct a detailed and in-depth study in a topic of your interest.
Explore children's engagement with and participation in cultural phenomenon and cultural texts produced by and for children.
You will be introduced to recent theoretical developments in the field of childhood and early years that have sought to 'reclaim' physical, biological and material aspects of childhood as significant elements of children's experiences of the world.
This module focuses on young children's early language development and communication. You will explore children's linguistic development; language diversity and multimodal communication; and the importance of quality provision and practice at home and in early childhood education and care settings.
Explore how resilience is formed in a student by looking at attachment theory, the effect of cognition and the neurobiology of resilience. You will examine ways other schools have tried to develop the resilience of their students, for example, grit, growth mindset and meditation. You will evaluate the 'trait' vs 'learned skill' of resilience as an argument, audit your own school’s resilience practices and complete an analysis of where your school is in terms of resources, benefits and limitations.
Explore a range of effective, research-based approaches and interventions that promote learning and participation amongst individuals with literacy difficulties and dyslexia in inclusive settings.
Consider a range of effective, research-based approaches and interventions that promote learning and participation amongst individuals on the autism spectrum in inclusive contexts.
You will be encouraged to think about children's interests and priorities as expressed through their playful engagements.
Explore the ways that children develop concepts of social identities from early years to adolescence. You will investigate the ways in which social, political and cultural forces influence children's identities and the extent to which identity is assumed or enforced.
Conduct a detailed and in-depth study in a topic of your interest.
Explore children's engagement with and participation in cultural phenomenon and cultural texts produced by and for children.
You will be introduced to recent theoretical developments in the field of childhood and early years that have sought to 'reclaim' physical, biological and material aspects of childhood as significant elements of children's experiences of the world.
This module focuses on young children's early language development and communication. You will explore children's linguistic development; language diversity and multimodal communication; and the importance of quality provision and practice at home and in early childhood education and care settings.
Explore how resilience is formed in a student by looking at attachment theory, the effect of cognition and the neurobiology of resilience. You will examine ways other schools have tried to develop the resilience of their students, for example, grit, growth mindset and meditation. You will evaluate the 'trait' vs 'learned skill' of resilience as an argument, audit your own school’s resilience practices and complete an analysis of where your school is in terms of resources, benefits and limitations.
Explore a range of effective, research-based approaches and interventions that promote learning and participation amongst individuals with literacy difficulties and dyslexia in inclusive settings.
Consider a range of effective, research-based approaches and interventions that promote learning and participation amongst individuals on the autism spectrum in inclusive contexts.