Childhood Studies (Top-up)

The course offers you the opportunity to build on the work you have undertaken in a Foundation Degree. You will also continue to explore topical and contentious issues in your work-based setting in relation to national and international concerns. You will look critically at your professional knowledge and experience and, through critical debate, gain a greater understanding of your practice.

You will be taught by a dedicated team of staff many of whom have a background in school teaching and who will continue to help support you on your academic journey. We look forward to working with you.

"As a parent, I have found the course manageable and achievable as sessions are one evening per week. This has meant that I have been able to continue working full time and balance my various responsibilities both at work and home." BA Student

The underlying focus on the BA Childhood Studies is your role as a ‘practitioner-researcher’. Both the first and last modules (‘Independent Enquiry’ - comprising 50% of the overall year) focus on the proposal and completion of a piece of practitioner-based research.

For CCCU students the Year 2 ‘Independent Study’ provides a very useful introduction to this and may also provide a starting point for your year 3 research. Students from outside CCCU have usually engaged in similar work in year 2.

We would encourage you to start considering the following scenarios on which to base your year 3 work:

1. The findings from the Independent Study’ provide a starting point for additional research in year 3.
2. Your professional practice requires you to carry out a specific intervention or work with a specific individual or small group. This could provide an opportunity to combine your academic study with your role and use the research findings to evaluate the intervention.
3. You have responsibility for a specific area or role. Your research could provide an evaluative framework.
4. You are interested in something and have always wanted to study it in more depth (ensuring that it is related to your employment setting).

You could use your independent reading to consider some of the generic theoretical process related to research by considering the process and debates around the following:

• Research strategies such as ‘impact/evaluative’ studies, ‘action research’ and ‘case studies’.
• Research paradigms such as ‘qualitative’ and ‘quantitative’ processes and their variants.
• Ethical issues.
• How we ensure the ‘reliability’ of research (for example, the role and process of ‘triangulation’).

Your welcome and induction event will take place on Saturday 14th September for students from all campuses (Canterbury, Medway and LSEC), from 9.30-12.30 at Augustine House (AH.3.31). This replaces the Sunday event at Medway.

*If studying with one of our partners you will receive further information regarding your welcome activities and teaching timetable from your colleges.

Your pre-arrival Padlet contains relevant information on your BA (Top-up) Childhood Studies course, including welcome information, timetabling, an overview of your study modules, campus information and student services available at Canterbury Christ Church University.

BA (Top Up) Childhood Studies (Generic and Special Educational Needs Routes) (padlet.org)

We will be adding any new or relevant information to the Padlet in the run up to the course starting, so please keep checking back for updates.

The texts below are available online (for CCCU students) and offer and excellent introduction to the issues outlined above.

• Blaxter, L., Hughes, C., and Tight, M. (2010) How to research. 4th edn. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill / Open University Press
• Newby, P. (2014) Research methods for education. 2nd edn. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
• Oliver, P. (2010) The student’s guide to research ethics, 2nd edn. Maidenhead: Open University Press / McGraw-Hill

It is useful to note that the University Bookshop offers 10% discount on most titles in print and have some price-beating book bundles. They also price match Amazon on core texts recommended in the module handbooks you will receive when you start in September. UK deliveries are FREE for orders over £10 and are usually dispatched within 48 hours.