| This diploma programme is to develop students as professional, self-reflecting individuals able to meet the demands of employers in the early education and care sector and adapt to a constantly changing world. The qualifications aim to widen access to higher education and enhance the career prospects of those who undertake them.
YEAR1
Unit 1: Personal and Professional Development through Reflective Practice
Learning objective: students will explore what it means to be a professional in early childhood education and care, and how this is evidenced through providing the best care possible for the children in their settings. Reflective practice is an excellent way to maintain and continuously improve the quality of practice and students will apply reflective skills during their learning in this unit. This will include taking a balanced view of their practice, recognising and celebrating their strengths and what works well, and demonstrating that they are able to work towards continuous improvement.
Unit 2: Protecting Children in Early Education and Care Environments
Learning objective: students will review their home country’s legislation, guidance, policies, practices and procedures that underpin the protection of children through the provision of a healthy and safe environment. Through this unit, students will apply the knowledge gained by demonstrating the skills needed across a range of technical or professional work activities for protecting children and encompassing the ongoing need for health and safety practices in an early childhood education and/or care setting.
Unit 3: Play and Learning in Early Childhood
Learning objective: This unit will support students’ understanding of historical and theoretical perspectives and how the dominant discourses that influence play may require updating and application in practice. Students will examine the complexities and challenges that play provides in early childhood practice. They will be encouraged to challenge perspectives on play and see the reasoning behind developing a deep understanding of play. Practical skill development in recording quality observations of children’s self-chosen play is an essential part of this unit.
Unit 4: Supporting and Promoting Children’s Development (Infants and Toddlers)
Learning objective: This unit will explore and question the theoretical evidence base which justifies approaches adopted to work with infants and toddlers in the early years sector. Students will consider how biology; neurological brain development and environmental experiences play a major role in influencing children’s development and learning. Students will demonstrate how they can implement, and support others in implementing best practice that supports positive long-term impacts on children’s holistic development?
Unit 5: Supporting and Promoting Children’s Development (Young Children)
Learning objective: Students will learn about perceptions of children’s development and factors that influence the way children develop. Students will explore theories of development and examine how these influence policy and practice. This unit will also cover key milestones of children’s development up to twelve years.
Unit 6: Promoting Healthy Living
Learning objective: students will reflect on their roles in relation to supporting children’s health and wellbeing, towards developing the skills and behaviours in themselves and others they may lead, which demonstrate they are able to work in respectful, ethical and inclusive ways with children, families, caregivers and other professionals.
Unit 7: Preparing for Research
Learning objective: This unit explores and promotes early childhood practitioners as researchers within the field and introduces students to essential research skills. It is anticipated this will then inform their practice as well as support their academic competence through the sourcing, reading and analysis of contemporary literature. This unit will promote students’ critical thinking and writing skills, as they explore and assess a broad range of texts around their chosen research topic. This unit will also explore data collection methods that are currently used in educational research with a view to students conducting their own action research at a later date.
Unit 8: Promoting Inclusive Early Education and Care Environments
Learning objective: The purpose of this unit is to ensure that students develop a clear understanding of what inclusive education and care look like within provision; and the importance of this in relation to ensuring the best possible outcomes for children from the earliest opportunity. Students will be encouraged throughout to explore and share their own thoughts on
inclusion and the fundamental role they play in supporting the children and families they come into contact with in their role. They will reflect on the significance of parents or other primary caregivers as partners in relation to supporting children’s needs, and as such ensure they are a valued part of processes both in the setting and as part of any relevant multi-agency involvement.
YEAR 2
Unit 1: Investigating Childhood: Action Research for Early Childhood
Practitioners
Learning objective: This unit aims to support students in evaluating practice and initiating a small change to practice in their settings, based upon the reading and research they have undertaken. They will explore what is meant by action research and what it might involve. They will consider a range of research methods and data collection tools before deciding upon and justifying an action research project in their settings. Students will also explore the ethical implications involved in undertaking their research project, referring to own institution’s ethical guidelines and the literature on ethics in research.
Unit 2: Improving Quality in Early Education and Care Environments
Learning objective: This unit explores quality from these different perspectives and encourages students to reflect critically on their role, the role of others in settings and how broader factors impact on quality. The unit will introduce students to a range of evidence and data to encourage them to develop a critical awareness of how quality information can be used and interpreted. An important aspect of this is learning to ask questions about evidence, such as why the evidence has been collected, how effectively it was collected, any potential biases or political influence. This will enable students to make informed judgements about quality in different contexts.
Unit 3: Innovative Approaches to Children’s Play and Learning in Practice
Learning objective: This unit will support students to explore new initiatives in global practice and reflect on how this could impact on their own practice. Practical skill development in the use of observation as a research technique and how to comply with complex ethical procedures will be supported. Students will use observation in practice to create a small-scale innovative change. Students will be encouraged to reflect on this experience with reference to key literature. The voice of the child is a strong focus in this unit. This unit is designed to continue students’ knowledge of how play and learning develops and the way in which innovative practice can support quality practice. An exploration of key research perspectives of innovative practice from around the world introduces the unit. This continues with a focus on research in areas such as digital literacies; funds of knowledge; schema; social interactions; mathematical graphics and mark making; and working with families to create change. Using observation to consider these in practice, with an opportunity to implement change, will enable students to develop important practice skills.
Unit 4: Managing and Leading People in Children’s Early Education and Care Environments
Learning objective: This unit will develop students’ understanding of the relationship between leadership and management and the methods by which these are applied in early year settings. Through examining their own role, students will use knowledge gained to develop appropriate opportunities to effectively lead and manage people and a team in a children’s early education and care environment including promoting a positive culture, clear communication, a shared vision and setting shared objectives and monitoring these. Students will reflect on their own role and responsibilities when working with others and evaluate their own working relationship with colleagues.
Unit 5: Supporting Social Work with Children and Families
Learning objective: In this unit, students will investigate some of the commonly researched contributory factors that can lead to difficulties for children and families, reviewing possible outcomes where intervention is lacking or ineffective. They will also learn to reflect upon approaches taken within their role as well as ways that organisations in social and community development work together to support children and families.
Unit 6: Trauma in Childhood: Addressing the Impact of Adverse Experiences on Child Health and Wellbeing
Learning objective: In this unit, students will learn about the range of ACEs and how the associated trauma impacts upon the developing brain and children’s health and wellbeing. This unit will give students the opportunity to explore the range of strategies that are available to alleviate the impact of trauma. Resilience is an important factor in allowing children to bounce back from adverse experiences and students will consider the importance of building resilience in all children. Interventions aimed at reducing children’s exposure to ACEs will be reviewed by students undertaking this unit. |
