MA in Education (Early Childhood Studies)

A key theme embedded in this master’s degree is social justice. This course is aligned with our Education for Social Justice (ESJ) framework to ensure equity in our curriculum practice.

This degree aims to introduce you to key academic and professional debates within the field of education and an opportunity to focus on early childhood and the early years, helping you to develop a professional perspective and standpoint. Upon successful completion of this course, we hope that you will feel enthused about continuing in the sector and feel intellectually empowered to initiate change.

Why choose this course

1. This MA will provide you with opportunities to develop and enhance your professional skills and knowledge so you can progress within or embark on a career within the early childhood studies sector. This course is likely to appeal to students with an undergraduate degree in early childhood studies.
2. This diverse course covers a range of disciplines, drawing from areas such as curriculum theory, psychology of learning and human potential, identity and self in the early years, sociology of gender, social class, race, philosophy, and the critical discourses in early childhood studies.

1. Modules / Assesments: -

   • All assessment is carried out through coursework. In most cases this takes the form of either one essay of between of around 4-5000 words, or two shorter assessments, to enable assessments to build on each other and provide feed-forward opportunities for the final assessment.
   • The Research Methods in Education module requires the students to submit a research proposal of around 4,000 words. This research plan will form the starting point for the dissertation module the following semester.
   • To complete this Master’s degree, you’ll be required to carry out a small-scale research project focusing on an area of interest and relevance to yourself. This research project will have to be written up in the form of an academic dissertation of around 15,000 words.
   • The first part of the dissertation module will comprise of taught sessions to support the research and writing process of the various sections of the dissertation. Later in the semester, students will then move to having individual or small group supervision meetings with a dissertation supervisor as they make their way through the writing process.