Good early childhood education practitioners can have an enormous impact on the education of young children. When successful, they can lay the groundwork for a child’s ongoing education at a critical time when they are learning emotional and social skills that enable them to interact and form partnerships with parents, teachers and peers.
In order to achieve this, effective early childhood educators need to be able to combine a deep understanding of broader educational theory and practice with theoretical and practical experience of education in the early childhood context specifically.
This 100% online MA Education with Early Childhood degree from North Wales Management School has been created specifically for busy working professionals in early childhood education roles. It enables you to reinforce your practical work experience with the education and early childhood theory, tools and techniques that will help you to achieve career success as a practitioner in early childhood education.
The MA Education with Early Childhood provides professionals who are working within the early years sector with a critical understanding of how educational research, theory, policy and practice intersect with the context of early childhood education in general, and with its specific professional and cultural contexts.
The education with early childhood master’s is one of a family of uniquely flexible master’s programmes that can be studied at any time, on a range of desktop and mobile devices and from anywhere in the world. It is designed to cater for busy working professionals and fit around the challenges that you face in your everyday lives, from full-time work to family commitments. You don’t need to take a costly study break and can continue to earn as you learn and apply newly acquired skills and knowledge to your current role.
It is this careers-focused content and delivery that sets the online MA Education with Early Childhood programme apart, making it the smart option for early years education professionals who want to become more effective as educators and more successful in their careers.
The distance learning MA Education with Early Childhood programme promotes critical reflection and evaluation of learning in early childhood education in relation to global contexts and within the contexts of your needs and interests. The postgraduate course will enhance your ability to conduct rigorous practice-based research and policy analysis, and to disseminate your work.
It covers fundamental elements of education and early childhood theory and practice, including:
There is also a 30-credit research project at the end of the programme where you will have the opportunity to apply theory to practice-based research.
A key benefit of the simple fact that more than half of our students studying part-time is a deep-rooted expertise when it comes to flexible learning. The delivery of this MA Education with Early Childhood exemplifies that experience, knowledge and expertise. The programme is studied entirely online in a collaborative and engaging online learning environment. It enables you to study at your own speed, when it’s convenient. Six start dates per year mean that applicants aren’t restricted to the traditional academic year and can start within weeks, and a pay-per-module option gives you financial flexibility and removes the need for large upfront costs. There are even postgraduate loans, for those that are eligible, to cover full programme costs.
The MA Education with Early Childhood has been specifically created to develop the skills and expertise required to succeed and flourish as an early childhood educator. North Wales Management School makes full use of its close relationships with major employers and education providers to develop a programme that focuses on the practical and targets specific career outcomes in this specific professional context. This exemplifies the culture and capabilities of the university as a whole, which has been ranked in the top 10 UK universities for part-time students.
North Wales Management School online MAs are designed to be affordable, saving time and money. Tuition fees are calculated per eight-week module. You can enrol in and pay for each consecutive session as your studies progress. Payment is accepted through the online student portal and must meet the payment deadline.
This module gives you the opportunity to explore and evaluate contemporary issues in early childhood education. You will reflect critically on your own value-based roles and responsibilities within the international context of multi-professional and integrated environments. You will develop autonomy in investigating and reflecting upon an issue of professional interest and develop subject knowledge through a reflective approach in complex situations. You will demonstrate a critical awareness of current problems and new insights associated with exploring contemporary issues in early childhood practice.
The aim of this module is to critically analyse and evaluate concepts of well-being and resilience within the context of your own cultural background. You will explore factors and influences inside and outside of educational settings that both positively and negatively impact on well-being and resilience. You will apply your research to your own practice and critically evaluate local and national policies that guide professional practice. The module will provide an opportunity for you to demonstrate a critical awareness of theories and models of well-being and resilience.
This module encourages critical reflection and evaluation through an evidence-based approach to practice and continuous professional development. It enables you to develop your knowledge and to enhance your writing, research and study skills, following academic conventions. The module gives you the opportunity to analyse and evaluate literature, research, policies and developments in your own professional context.
This module develops critical awareness of issues relating to inclusion and additional learning needs, enabling reflective and progressive practitioners to develop positive attitudes, policies and practices which support the engagement and achievement of all individuals in education and community settings.
This module fosters a critical understanding of the value of mentoring and coaching in developing and improving professional practice. It explores the importance and purpose of peer observation of learning and teaching and gives you the opportunity to reflect critically on good education practice. It identifies the potential impacts of professional development through coaching, mentoring and classroom observation on raising standards and improving pedagogy and the ability to enhance the quality of learning and teaching through advanced professional activity.
This module enables you to develop a critical and systematic analysis of the links between the study of philosophy, education, research and academic practice. You will critically evaluate philosophical approaches and relevant theories that currently influence education in your context. You will critically reflect on your own educational values and how these serve as a reference point for your own practice. Underpinning this module is the need for you to critically reflect upon the role of your personal philosophical perspectives in your own evidence-based educational practice, research and professional learning.
This module critically evaluates the meaning and role of learning technology in education. It enables you to critique learning technology from within your own contexts and experiences by analysing relevant literature, policy, legislation and practice. You are invited to critically examine the role of technology in making education accessible for all.
This module explores the relationship between formal education, informal education and critical pedagogy. It critically examines how education can be used to constructively challenge inequalities and imbalances of power in society. It allows you to reflect on your own practice to ensure that you are working in an inclusive, democratic and anti-oppressive way.
This module explores the philosophical and theoretical frameworks that underpin educational research. You will examine, critique and evaluate different research methodologies that will be considered when proposing and conducting the research project module.
As a result of studying this module, you will be able to put forward a coherent research strategy where you can align concepts of philosophy, ontology and epistemology in order to pose and answer a research question that relates to your own work-based practice.
This module enables you to prepare to engage in a significant work-based research project. You will be able to demonstrate a deep level of understanding of the philosophical roots of educational research by proposing an area for research, researching an initial question and by arguing the case for a coherent research design for your chosen research question.
This module enables you to critically and systematically apply research theory to practice-based research. You will demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate existing research using a range of current texts and seminal sources. You will collect and analyse research data, demonstrating critical skills of analysis and evaluation. The research project enables you to draw together your skills at master’s level to demonstrate critical analysis, evaluation, synthesis and reflection on your own practice, supporting your own professional learning in your educational context.
QAA Cymru - Uk Quality Assured Sicrwydd Ansawdd y DU
TOP 10 in UK for employability - for UK-base graduates from part-time first degrees (HESA PI E1b 2015/2016)
2nd in the UK form teaching quality - Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022
Link with Major Employers including Toyota, Kelloggs and the BBC
