Childhood Studies 2A: Theory (U01524)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 8 ? Acronym : EDU-2-CST

Childhood Studies Theory 2A will take place in semester one. It asks students to relate their own ideas concerning children and young people to articles on childhood drawn from a wide range of subjects (e.g. History, Sociology, Psychology, Geography, Women's Studies, Ethnicity, Anthropology, Fictional Literature, etc). The course will encourage students to investigate, compare and contrast a diverse number of representations of childhood in academic writing, literature, film, drama, art, news papers and so forth. The central aim will be to develop the students' understanding of and ability to utilise different theories of childhood to understand their own and other people's everyday values, taken for granted assumptions, patterns of behaviour and work practices. Students will be asked to identify how topical aspects of childhood relate to different representations of childhood within childhood studies literature.

Particular emphasis will be placed on sociological and psychological understandings of social action, socialisation and development. These perspectives will be contrasted with representations in the media and literature of children as passive, vulnerable, good, evil, unruly and in need of protection. This theoretical perspective will form the basis for semester two exploration of including children in decision making processes, self-evaluation and research methods for working with children. It will also underpin later courses that explore childhood and the family, childhood law & policy and practical work-based modules concerning project evaluation, working in, developing and managing organisations.

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : This course is available to students who are working with children/young people in a voluntary or paid capacity and are able to carry out the work related assessment.

? Prohibited combinations : BA Childhood Studies Only

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Education, (The Moray House School of Education, Schedule C)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 2nd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

? Additional Class Information : Contact course secretary

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course students will be able to:
- Analyse their own and other people's perspectives of children and young people.
- Demonstrate knowledge of a variety of contrasting academic writing on childhood.
- Identify, analyse and synthesise opposing topical and historical representations of childhood.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the social construction of childhood and the development of the sociology, psychology, history, geography and anthropology of childhood.
- Demonstrate the ability to contrast a variety of non-academic representations of childhood within art, books, film, and wider media.
- Relate theoretical perspectives of childhood to concrete everyday settings (e.g. their work place).

Assessment Information

Teaching will involve a combination of direct and independent learning including: tutorials, short set lectures, project work, web-based research, group collaborative discussion and the setting of individual study tasks that encourage students to contribute to the curriculum by sharing knowledge.

Students will be required to keep a journal of how their perspectives of children and young people have developed throughout the course. They will be required to develop a 2500 word portfolio that:
- Compares three contrasting theories of childhood;
- Contrasts two representations of children in either art, books, film, and/or wider media;
- States how their perspectives of adults, children and young people have been influenced by this information
- Relates theoretical perspectives to concrete examples from everyday settings.