Module Information
Module Identifier
EDM7320
Module Title
Childhood: Theory and Professional Practice
Academic Year
2016/2017
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1
Other Staff
Course Delivery
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Essay 2,000 word essay, focusing on an aspect of the theoretical perspectives covered in the early part of the module. | 30% |
| Semester Assessment | Written account 4,675 word Structured account of placement experience to include learning objectives, professional standards, theoretical framework, participant observation of mentor?s activities, plan of interaction, reflective account of interaction or activity and self-evaluation. | 70% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Essay All failed elements of the assessments must be re-taken if the student?s average mark falls below the required pass mark of 50%. 2,000 word essay, focusing on an aspect of the theoretical perspectives covered in the early part of the module. | 30% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Written account 4,675 word Structured account of placement experience to include learning objectives, professional standards, theoretical framework, participant observation of mentor?s activities, plan of interaction, reflective account of interaction or activity and self-evaluation. | 70% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the skills, competencies and attributes required by a professional working with children in their chosen field of work and/or study.
Critically evaluate policy and practice in relation to workforce development and professional practice.
Apply the skills, competencies and behaviors studied during the module to working with children in the context of a structured placement.
Evaluate their own practice and demonstrate an ability to use reflective and/or evidence-based practice to improve these.
Demonstrate an advanced understanding of psychological and sociological debates relating to the nature of childhood.
Aims
Childhood, and how it is understood, has been a subject of much debate in recent decades. The `new sociology of childhood? has argued that childhood is socially-constructed and defined (Wagg, 1992), and that children'r experience is, itself, a valid means by which social meaning is produced. Such perspectives have posed a challenge to long-established developmental explanations where childhood is defined with reference to the staged achievement of predetermined milestones in cognitive development and the gradual attainment of adult-defined logical competence (James & Prout 1997).
The first part of this module will offer an opportunity to explore these perspectives on the nature of childhood, and will then move to focus on how key principles in these debates can be applied in professional practice.
The range of children'r services, along with the workforce of professionals working with children and young people, has expanded and diversified over the past decade. Over the same period, legislation and government policy (most notably the 1989 and 2004 Children Acts) has required professionals to involve children in planning their services, to work together across organizational and sectoral boundaries to secure and safeguard children'r rights and entitlements, and to act at all times in the best interests of children'r welfare and wellbeing.
The over-arching aim of the module is therefore to challenge students to evaluate the extent to which the debates relating to the socio-cultural nature of childhood (Aasen and Waters 2006) have informed and influenced the ways in which childhood is (and has been) organized in practice.
The first part of this module will offer an opportunity to explore these perspectives on the nature of childhood, and will then move to focus on how key principles in these debates can be applied in professional practice.
The range of children'r services, along with the workforce of professionals working with children and young people, has expanded and diversified over the past decade. Over the same period, legislation and government policy (most notably the 1989 and 2004 Children Acts) has required professionals to involve children in planning their services, to work together across organizational and sectoral boundaries to secure and safeguard children'r rights and entitlements, and to act at all times in the best interests of children'r welfare and wellbeing.
The over-arching aim of the module is therefore to challenge students to evaluate the extent to which the debates relating to the socio-cultural nature of childhood (Aasen and Waters 2006) have informed and influenced the ways in which childhood is (and has been) organized in practice.
Brief description
This module is designed to provide students with an overview of recent academic debates about the nature of childhood, and how these debates have influenced policy and professional practice.
It will also offer students an opportunity to reflect critically on concepts such as a coherent children'r `workforce?, professionalism and `professional behaviors? in children'r services, and interdisciplinary working in the sector. Students will have the opportunity to develop skills via a five-day structured placement in a Children'r Service setting.
The structured placement would include identifying a mentor who the student would shadow and observe for the first two days of the placement. The third would include the planning, in partnership with the mentor, an interaction (such as a learning session, activity or structured task) with children, based on the nature of the work and the setting. The fourth and fifth day would involve undertaking the interaction and reflecting, with the mentor on the outcomes, both those of the cohort of children with whom the interaction took place but also in terms of the learning outcomes of the student.
It will also offer students an opportunity to reflect critically on concepts such as a coherent children'r `workforce?, professionalism and `professional behaviors? in children'r services, and interdisciplinary working in the sector. Students will have the opportunity to develop skills via a five-day structured placement in a Children'r Service setting.
The structured placement would include identifying a mentor who the student would shadow and observe for the first two days of the placement. The third would include the planning, in partnership with the mentor, an interaction (such as a learning session, activity or structured task) with children, based on the nature of the work and the setting. The fourth and fifth day would involve undertaking the interaction and reflecting, with the mentor on the outcomes, both those of the cohort of children with whom the interaction took place but also in terms of the learning outcomes of the student.
Content
Session 1 ? Psychological perspectives on Childhood.
Session 2 ? Sociological perspectives on Childhood.
Session 3 ? Reconceptualizing Childhood and Children.
Session 4 ? Participation and Practice.
Session 5 ? The Children'r and Young People'r Workforce: core competencies?
Session 6 - Beyond Professional Boundaries: Integrated and Interdisciplinary Working.
Session 7 ? Defining and Locating Effective Practice (Part 1): Evidence-based Professional Practice.
Session 8 ? Defining and Locating Effective Practice (Part 2): the Reflective Practitioner.
Session 9 ? Communication and Engagement: Applying Theoretical Principles to Professional Practice.
Session 10 ? Childhood, Disadvantage and Demography.
Session 2 ? Sociological perspectives on Childhood.
Session 3 ? Reconceptualizing Childhood and Children.
Session 4 ? Participation and Practice.
Session 5 ? The Children'r and Young People'r Workforce: core competencies?
Session 6 - Beyond Professional Boundaries: Integrated and Interdisciplinary Working.
Session 7 ? Defining and Locating Effective Practice (Part 1): Evidence-based Professional Practice.
Session 8 ? Defining and Locating Effective Practice (Part 2): the Reflective Practitioner.
Session 9 ? Communication and Engagement: Applying Theoretical Principles to Professional Practice.
Session 10 ? Childhood, Disadvantage and Demography.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | Occasional descriptive statistics in lectures and sources. |
| Communication | Communication techniques are a vital element throughout lectures and seminars. Spoken communication throughout seminar activities. Written communication throughout written assessments. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Feedback from the written assignment and personal reflection during seminar tasks encourage improved performance |
| Information Technology | Written assignments will be word-processed and one of the seminar tasks requires the development of a PowerPoint presentation. Management and protection of data will also be addressed during the module, and applied in the some placement contexts. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Opportunities to work in a children’s services setting will be a key aspect of the module, as will the opportunity to reflect critically on resultant personal and professional development. |
| Problem solving | An essential element in the process of critical assessment, as well as in the planning, organizing and completion of a structured placement. |
| Research skills | Research is required for the main assessments and will be some of the seminar tasks. |
| Subject Specific Skills | Students will be challenged and encouraged to develop a range of sector- and subject-specific skills and competencies according to their placement context. These will, in all likelihood, include skills such as identifying desired learning outcomes for children and young people, planning and delivering services for children and young people, planning and managing the input of other professionals, consulting with colleagues and children, understanding and adhering to relevant procedures and professional standards. |
| Team work | Team work, in form of key professional behaviors and interdisciplinary working procedures, will be an important skill that will be both studied and applied in the placement context. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7