This module emphasises the integrated nature of children’s learning and development and considers application of a range of developmental perspectives to inform understanding. Throughout this module, students will explore the theoretical underpinnings of children’s development across all domains; personal, social, emotional, physical and language development. This module also centres on the importance of understanding children’s temperaments, different learning dispositions and transitions, which are pivotal in providing quality care and education experiences in early years settings.

The module aims to enable students to:

1. Enhance their knowledge about the main theoretical perspectives that explain how children learn and develop.
2. Recognise integrated nature of children’s learning.
3. Reflect on influences and experiences in the setting which can impact on children’s personal, emotional, social, cognitive, linguistic and physical development and consider how these can be connected to theoretical perspectives.
4. Develop skills and competencies to design effective strategies to support development and learning.
5. Engage in peer learning and further develop team working skills.

The Learning Outcomes are:

1. Describe and constructively critique major theoretical perspectives on children’s learning and development. 
2. Critically evaluate provision and practice and discuss how practitioner’s perspectives and values related to developmental theories impact on children’s learning experiences.  
3. Explain integrated nature of children’s learning and outline how learning in one area can boost development in other areas.  
4. Design effective strategies to enhance children’s development and learning, drawing on major theoretical perspectives and taking into account children’s individual needs.  
5. Develop teamworking, communication and digital skills.  

This module provides orientation for students transitioning from further education to higher education level of study (HE). The student will gain an understanding of academic principles. The module considers differences of academic rigour and expectations at higher education. The student will obtain an understanding of various types of assessment, their format and structure, alongside the importance of referencing and how to use the Harvard referencing style. They will learn to use the library service to search for relevant materials, note-take and manage information.

The module aims to enable students to:

1. Understand the complexities of studying at a degree level and acknowledge challenges of combining study with responsibilities of work/work placement and family commitments.
2. Become aware of their emotional experiences and challenges as students.
3. Develop realistic strategies in terms of time management and target setting.
4. Understand conventions of academic study and academic writing.
5. Recognise importance of evidence-based practice rooted in research.
6. Become familiar with basic research methodology and tools and be able to use these tools to enhance practice.
7. Reflect on their professional values and standards and consider the impact of continuous learning and professional development on their professional identity.

The Learning Outcomes are to:

1. Reflect on their learning and professional experiences to enhance professional identity.  
2. Demonstrate ability to evaluate and plan for development of study skills and monitor achievement.   
3. Demonstrate ability to source and manage appropriate information.  
4. Show competence in referencing other people’s work in a precise and systematic way. 
5. Apply knowledge about major principles and concepts of research to design a coherent and ethically appropriate small-scale research project. 
6. Articulate and critically reflect on the impact of learning on development of their professional values.    

The module focuses on personal and professional development of students in a work-based context. It will equip learners with tools to construct knowledge about themselves as Early Years professionals. The learners will be actively involved in portraying what they know and can do in relation to meeting and promoting children’s well-being, learning and development as well as working collaboratively with parents, and other professionals.

The module will require students to undertake placement of a minimum 450 hours. Students who are employed in an ELC setting can do the placement at their place of work. The placement can be completed in an ELC setting or in a special education early year setting, or in infant classes of a primary school.  Placement can be taken as a block or on a weekly basis to suit the needs of students who are combining work and studies.

The module aims to enable students to:

• Further develop their critical reflection skills.
• Enhance and extend their understanding of effective ECEC practice.
• Evaluate their practice in relation to professional guidance, standards and regulation.
• Apply their knowledge about learning and development theories and approaches to working with children.
• Make critical connections between learning across modules and work context.
• Set professional goals and plan for personal growth and development.

This module focuses on evaluation and development of practice through the lens of inclusion and social justice. It emphasises legal rights to equality for practitioners and children within the workplace context of educational and care settings and fosters development of skills to demonstrate, model and lead anti-discriminatory practice. The benefits and challenges of working in diverse environments will be examined.  Students will explore national and international legislation and official guidance that nurtures equality and inclusion. Students will learn about the impact of inequalities on children’s life prospects and will be introduced to practical strategies for inclusion within their settings such as learning how to implement a listening culture in the classroom and modelling inclusion and anti-bias approaches.

The module aims to enable students to:

1. Extend their knowledge of legislation and professional guidance related to equality and inclusive provision.
2. Understand the impact of inequality and exclusion on children’s development, sense of identity and life prospects.
3. Evaluate practice and provision through the lens of inclusion and social justice.
4. Acknowledge their role as an agent of change and examine their own beliefs, attitudes and values.
5. Plan for improvements to enhance inclusive practice and provision in their setting.

The Learning Outcomes are:

1. Outline legislation and professional guidance related to equality and inclusive provision.  
2. Justify importance of inclusion for children’s development and life prospects.  
3. Critically reflect on their own role as an agent of change to promote the culture of inclusion.  
4. Examine, evaluate their own practice and workplace environment, and develop strategies to promote inclusion.   

The quality of leadership is directly corelated with the quality of provision. The module explores the complexities of leading and managing a setting within the system consisting of different layers: children, parents and practitioners, professionals from external agencies and legislators.  The module provides an overview of a range of theories and perspectives on leadership and explores distinctive features of leadership within the sector. Students are encouraged to evaluate their own role in leading and developing effective practice and reflect on their own leadership style. Their practical capacity to lead and manage organisations providing services for children and families will be fostered through in-depth study of the legislative and regulatory requirements in Ireland, both sector specific and those of general application.

The module aims to enable students to:

1. Appreciate the importance of good leadership and management for provision of quality services for children and families across all aspects of practice.
2. Develop professional knowledge for increased responsibility and accountability to all stakeholders.
3. Develop an in-depth knowledge of legislative and regulatory requirements in Ireland, both sector specific and those of general application and be able to comply with relevant reporting and inspection regimes.
4. Study the network of organisations involved in monitoring and supporting quality of services in Ireland and work effectively with their representatives.
5. Explore alternative tools for assessment of quality for self-evaluation and improvement of practice and provision.
6. Examine theories of leadership and management and reflect on their own leadership style.
7. Explore underpinning theory and practical knowledge for supporting individual staff members and teams.

The Learning Outcomes are:

1. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of relevant reporting and inspection regimes. 
2. Outline strategies which can be used to evaluate provision and practice.  
3. Critically evaluate their own role in leading and developing effective practice in partnership with stakeholders.   
4. Demonstrate ability to make realistic and achievable improvement plans in consultation with the stakeholders.  
5. Describe and analyse theories of management and leadership and their application when supporting teams and promoting high quality provision. 

This module considers the historical, cultural, philosophical, and theoretical perspectives on childhood and their influence. Childhood as a socially constructed phenomenon will be studied. The student will gain a knowledge of sociological concepts and sociological thinking and question how this shapes early years policy and practice. The representation of children and childhood in literature, media, policy, and professional guidance documents will be examined. Contemporary debates in relation to children, such as age and inequality; child work and child labour; education; consumerism; the media; digital technologies and social media will be deliberated, and the global, political, economic, and cultural context of these issues considered. Global inequality in relation to childhood across majority and minority worlds will be reflected upon.

The module aims to enable students to:

• Explore contemporary debates in relation to childhood in global, cultural, historical and economic context.
• Examine social constructions of infancy and childhood and the implications of these for early years policy and practice.
• Critically evaluate how children and childhood are represented.
• Develop digital skills and learn how to create digital content.

The module focuses on contemporary issues which are reflected in development of national and international policy and explores the impact of these issues on practice in settings providing services for children. It explores rationales for provision of early childhood education and care services with a focus on the rights-based approach to education which underpins universal access to early childhood carte and education services to children and families in Ireland. Some contested concepts are investigated such as quality of provision in relation to stakeholder perspectives, relationship between education and care in the early years, professional status of the Education and Care sector workforce, the influence of practice frameworks such as Aistear and Siolta (or their international counterparts) on quality of provision, the landscape and cohesion between organisations involved in provision of services for children and families

The module aims to enable students to:

1. Develop critical awareness of the themes, debates and factors which shape the national and international political and social landscape for policy development.
2. Understand how policy impacts practice in early learning and care settings and settings providing services for school-age children.
3. Explore their professional identity and reflect on the impact of their professional knowledge, values and competencies on provision and practice in their setting.
4. Develop an awareness of the complexity of the concept of quality with regard to evaluation of practice and provision.
5. Identify key trends for future development of the sector. Consolidate knowledge of the Irish curriculum and quality frameworks and make comparisons to international ECE models

The module encourages further extension of professional competence by focusing on interactions between adults and emphasising importance of sharing knowledge and empowering others within the sector to promote quality of provision for children and families. The module considers aspects of mentoring relationships in context of education and care settings and further promotes skills of reflection and self-evaluation, in particular in relation to their ability to receive feedback in a constructive manner and use it to understand underpinnings of their actions and decisions and make plans for personal and professional growth.

The students develop awareness about their personal responsibility to share knowledge and make contributions to the research base of the sector through disseminating results of their project dissertations.

The module aims to enable students to:

1. Understand the concept of mentorship in educational and care settings.
2. Use the opportunities to draw on their knowledge, skills and competence in context of reflective thinking and practice in order to support their colleagues.
3. Promote good practice and shared values.
4. Develop practical skills of structuring and presenting content in order share to knowledge.
5. Evaluate their effectiveness by reflecting on feedback and making judgements about their choices and decisions.

The module focuses on facilitating the students to draw on research in their practice and contribute to development of research base for the sector. Students’ practical research skills are fostered as they learn to plan, deliver and collate an individual research project relating to an area of their particular interest. Students will study academic literature and review different perspectives on their chosen topic of interest. Students will learn how major research methodologies and research tools can be used and subsequently, will learn how to design their own research project. Students will then discover how to gather and interpret data through different processes of data analysis and relate such findings to classical and contemporary literature. Ethical considerations are key to quality research. Students will learn about the importance of ethics in research and how to address these ethical considerations when conducting their own pieces of research. As well as developing their academic writing skills, students will also learn how to present their research and share the results of   their project with  colleagues and peers.  

Aims 

The module aims to enable students to: 

1. Develop further professionally by pursuing a line of enquiry arising from their personal or professional interest. 
2. Develop a critical understanding of the relationship between research and practice. 
3. Exercise autonomy and judgement in applying professional knowledge and skills in context of professional practice and study. 
4. Develop knowledge about research theory and research methodology relevant to educational research.   
5. Develop an understanding of stages involved in the research process and be prepared to deal with uncertainties and ambiguities of research. 
6. Consider ethical frameworks and challenges when designing a piece of research and apply ethics throughout the research process. 
7. Gain a practical experience in designing a piece of research, selecting appropriate methodology and research tools, gathering and analysing data. 
8. Prepare for entry to post-graduate programmes.  

Learning Outcomes 

1. Formulate research questions and set clear and realistic research aims related to the context of children and childhood.  
2. Apply ethical frameworks throughout the research process and act as an advocate for children and families. 
3. Describe, analyse and constructively critique research, theoretical perspectives. historical, social, political, cultural and philosophical context related to the research question(s) drawing on a wide range of appropriate sources.  
4. Demonstrate competence in research skills through selecting appropriate tools of data gathering consistent with the chosen research methodology. 
5. Discuss research findings using theory to analyse data and develop credible arguments. 
6. Demonstrate an ability to communicate and share knowledge by structuring and presenting content effectively.