Early Childhood Studies

You’ll gain knowledge and understanding of:

• Social, cultural, historical, political and economic contexts of early childhood
• Approaches to working with babies, young children, families and communities
• An understanding of global issues and debates, such as young children as active participants in the lives and practices of families, societies and cultures
• The processes which shape early childhood and young children's lives, including ethical principles and children's rights
• Educational research and enquiry methods
• Skills which support participation, critical engagement, and intellectual independence.

In addition to this, you’ll gain skills that will make you attractive to employers. You’ll learn to present your ideas confidently in a variety of forms, use ICT for various professional purposes and work collaboratively.

Year one
Year one will introduce to you contemporary and global issues in childhood, the education and care of young children from birth to eight years, and the importance of reflection as a professional tool. Through your studies and placement, you’ll explore theoretical and research perspectives underpinning how children develop and learn. This includes a focus on children’s creativity, wellbeing, rights and participation.

Year two
During your placement and studies in year two, you'll develop your professional identity as an early childhood educator and gain a deep understanding of the care, development and learning of children between birth and eight years old. You’ll question how current social, political and cultural perspectives impact the lived experiences of children and their families, and critically examine issues such as equity and social justice, diversity and inclusion and digital technologies.

Year three
In year three you’ll continue in placement and gain an understanding of leadership in early childhood settings. Alongside this, experiential learning will support your knowledge of effective ways of leading a team, reflective practice, and working with parents, carers, families and communities. You’ll analyse concepts such as play and playfulness, ethics and democracy. Through balancing independent work with one-to-one support, you’ll carry out research in a chosen, specialist area and prepare for your future career.

You’ll be assessed through coursework. There are no exams.

Assessments could include essays, group presentations, research-based reports and portfolio-based work. We’ll provide you with regular feedback on how well you're doing and give you regular guidance on how to improve your skills, knowledge and understanding.

Teaching is through a mix of lectures, seminars and individual tutorials. Seminars are usually more informal than lectures – they're opportunities for you to discuss, ask questions and get involved in activities and debates.

You’ll be taught by experienced and respected University staff. Throughout the course they’ll introduce you to their specialisms and research interests.

You’ll also benefit from visiting speakers – these include early childhood setting leaders, play therapists, children’s services, educational advisers, specialist researchers and international visitors.

You’ll have the opportunity to study in a wide range of locations around the world. Our students have completed exchange programmes in a variety of countries including Spain, Sweden and the USA.

Some of our students complete educational placements as part of our international education modules. Each year students will visit a different country which offers a rich context in which to understand international development and education.

Placements occur in each year of the programme (25-30 placement days/year) in a range of early childhood settings as part of the Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner Competencies. These extended placements also enable you to collect practice-based evidence for the accredited vocational qualification ‘Early Years Educator’. 

Optional modules provide further placement opportunities for you to work with young people both locally and internationally. The Institute for Education Partnership Office will arrange each placement for you. We try to ensure you are located within a reasonable distance from where you live; however, you should normally expect to travel using your own or public transport.

Previous students have worked with charities, youth centres and third-sector organisations such as museums, as well as in schools and early years settings.

Early Childhood Studies will provide the basis for you to work with young children in different early years settings and contexts. You may choose to work in educational and training advisory roles in a range of organisations including local community, businesses, local authorities, non-government organisations, charities, museums, art galleries and libraries.

You’ll also be able to apply for PGCE courses in teacher training (Early Years Initial Teacher Training or Primary and Early Years) – but if you know at this stage that you want to be a teacher you should consider our early years specialised teaching pathway.

This optional placement year provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.

By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.

Before your Professional Placement Year, you'll work to secure your placement, constructing a development plan with your module leader and your placement coordinator from our Careers and Employability team.

On your return to University for your final year, you'll submit your Placement Portfolio, detailing your development on your placement.

The Early Childhood Studies degree is taught on Newton Park campus.

You'll have access to a range of excellent facilities including:

• Newton Park Library
• Commons building
• Twiverton and Compton teaching buildings
• Virtual Learning Environment

You can hire out equipment using SISO, Bath Spa University’s free equipment loan service. We provide a huge variety of equipment, from cameras to laptops.