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Childhood and Education in Diverse Societies (Online Distance Learning) MA

Learn about the course below

Childhood and Education in Diverse Societies (Online Distance Learning) MA

Code
PGX32E
Start
September 2024
Duration
1 year full-time
2 years part-time
Attendance
Full-time or part-time via online distance learning
Fees
£9,800 (UK)*
£12,600 (INT)*
Course leader
Lee Jerome

Why choose Childhood and Education in Diverse Societies MA at Middlesex?

The children’s workforce needs innovative and creative leaders who are confident in working with diverse communities to promote social justice. This distance learning course empowers you to transform the lives of children, young people and families, by working together to make social change.

This course is ideal for graduates with an interest in working with children and families in a wide variety of formal and informal roles. We welcome students from a variety of backgrounds and subjects, as long as you have a passion for education and change.

Other benefits and opportunities to studying this course are:

  • Practice making change through placements that give you real-world experience
  • Study completely online (with access to the Hendon campus) so you can study at your own pace
  • Undertake your own research project to explore a topic of your own choosing
  • Get support from a supervisor to plan a personalised path through the course, based on your career aspirations.

What you will gain

You'll learn how to think with theory to help tackle old problems in innovative ways. You'll understand how policy shapes practice, and crucially, how practitioners can work with policy to promote social justice.

You'll grow as a person and a professional, understanding your strengths and development needs so you can maximise your positive impact in working with others.

3 great reasons to pick this course

  • Excellent reputation
    Top 2 university in the UK – Times Higher Education Young Universities, 2022
  • Online campus
    Our experts can provide support academic and personal support online and you can interact with other students from the course
  • Strong education links
    We have a network of local schools, childcare settings, and nurseries for valuable experiential learning opportunities

Find out more

Sign up now to receive more information about studying at Middlesex University London.

About your course

The course is built around the following core ideas:

Diversity
You'll explore radical ideas about engaging with diversity to contribute to social justice. You'll look at the world through various lenses including feminism, anti-colonial perspectives and critical pedagogies of love and hope.

Social change
You'll practice making social change by working with children, young people and families through placements and work experience modules, which focus on having an impact in the real world.

Policy
You'll reflect on policies that affect children, young people and families, drawing on case studies from around the world. You'll understand how professionals engage with and enact policy to create spaces for social change.

Experiential learning
If you're already working, you can complete an action research project in your workplace to develop leadership skills – innovating and evaluating inclusive practice. If you're not yet working in your preferred sector, you'll be supported to find a placement in an organisation that works with children or families where you can gain valuable hands-on learning.

Modules

  • Modules

    • Interrogating Policy and Practice for Social Justice (30 credits) - Compulsory

      This module will investigate how policy works to define and reflect diversity, how professionals enact policy and how it affects children and young people by using case studies from around the world. You will develop your capacity to critically understand and work with policy to pursue social justice in a context that is relevant to your work interests.

    • Dangerous Ideas: Thinking with Theory to Problematise Childhood and Education (30 credits) - Compulsory

      This module will focus on a range innovative theoretical frameworks to question common-sense perceptions of diversity in order to generate new insights into practice with children and young people. You will focus on putting these ideas into practice, generating novel solutions to real-life problems.

    • Researching Children’s and Young People’s Lives (30 credits) - Compulsory

      This module focuses on practical research strategies for working with children and young people. You will encounter and use a range of strategies and examine the legal and ethical aspects of undertaking research. You will develop practical skills and devise a research proposal for an individual research project.

    • Communities of Change: Making a Difference through Service Learning (30 credits) - Optional

      This module is about volunteering or working within an organisation to contribute to improving children’s lives. Placements can be in informal education settings, charities, museums, community groups or any other relevant organisation. The focus is on learning through making a positive difference and developing advanced skills for employability.

    • Enacting Policy: Promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Practice (30 credits) - Optional

      This module will support you to evaluate the impact of an innovation you design and to report the findings to demonstrate your ability to have a positive impact on practice.

      This module is aimed at those who are already employed in a role working with children.

    • Individual Learning (30 credits) - Optional

      This module enables you to design your own unique learning project. A supervisor will help you identify your own learning objectives and guide you to structure a project that meets your own individual interests.

    • Professional Practice Research Project (60 credits) - Compulsory

      This module will give you the opportunity to devise and conduct your own research project with young people. The outcomes will be reported through a conference paper, presented at the university, and a research article, written in the format of an academic journal. Practical workshops and an individual supervisor will provide support to develop your practical skills and confidence required to communicate your findings in the required formats.

To find out more about this course, please download the Childhood and Education in Diverse Societies (Online Distance Learning) MA specification (PDF).

How we'll teach you

All teaching and learning on this course is online so that as many people as possible can participate. You will meet, work and study with other students and your tutors virtually so you can learn at your own pace, in your own time.

Almost all of our students have other responsibilities during their studies (whether it's work or caring responsibilities or both) and we have designed our course to ensure that it's possible to thrive while balancing your various commitments.

The course is delivered by our experienced academics and industry partners via digital platforms. Our learning activities include lectures, presentations, webinars, one-to-one tutorials and group projects.

This course starts in September and you can complete it full-time for one year or part-time for two years depending on your other commitments.

Where will you study?

For distance learning courses, you can study from anywhere with an internet connection.

Timetable

Whether you are studying full or part-time – your course timetable will balance your study commitments with time for work, life commitments and independent study. We will host a weekly 'live' online meeting and the rest of your online work will be at your own pace.

We aim to make timetables available to students at least two weeks before the start of term.

Teaching vs independent study

In a typical year, you’ll spend about 1200 hours on your course.

Outside of teaching hours, you’ll learn independently through reading articles and books, working on projects, undertaking research, and preparing for assessments including coursework and presentations.

Typical weekly breakdown

A typical week looks like this:

Learning

Hours per week

Online

7

Independent study

30

For placement, there may be additional hours.

Learning terms

Online learning: This is teaching that is delivered online using tools like Skype or Zoom, as well as work that you do yourself using online teaching resources.

Independent study: This is the work you do in your own time including reading and research.

Academic support

We have a strong support network online and on campus to help you develop your academic skills. We offer one-to-one and group sessions to develop your learning skills together with academic support from our library, IT teams and learning experts.

Coursework and assessments

All modules are assessed through coursework, spread throughout the year, and all coursework is supported by formal tasks and feedback from tutors. You will share your own research through a conference paper and journal article in order to develop your advanced presentation skills.

All the assignments will focus on developing your practical skills and applying knowledge to the real world.

Feedback

You'll evaluate your work, skills and knowledge and identify areas for improvement. Sometimes you'll work in groups and assess each other's progress.

Each term, you'll get regular feedback on your learning.

The Sheppard Library

Our library is open 24 hours a day during the term and includes:

  • Over 1,000 study areas with rooms for group study and over 600 computer spaces
  • 350,000 books and e-books and more than 24,000 online journals
  • Free laptop loans, Wi-Fi and printing.

Student support

We offer lots of support to help you while you're studying including financial advice, wellbeing, mental health and disability support.

Additional needs

We'll support you if you have additional needs such as sensory impairment or dyslexia. And if you want to find out whether Middlesex is the right place for you before you apply, get in touch with our Disability and Dyslexia team.

Wellness

Our specialist teams will support your mental health. We have free individual counselling sessions, workshops, support groups and useful guides.

Work while you study

Our Middlesex Unitemps branch will help you find work that fits around uni and your other commitments. We have hundreds of student jobs on campus that pay the London Living Wage and above. Visit the Middlesex Unitemps page.

Financial support

You can apply for scholarships and bursaries and our MDX Student Starter Kit to help with up to £1,000 of goods, including a new laptop or iPad.

We have also reduced the costs of studying with free laptop loans, free learning resources and discounts to save money on everyday things. Check out our guide to student life on a budget.

How can the MA Childhood and Education in Diverse Societies support your career?

The course will help you develop a career working with children, young people or families. This might be a career in children's services, teaching, youth work, social work, advocacy or campaigning work.

At the outset, you'll have the opportunity to plan your own personalised route through the course (with an experienced supervisor) to ensure you build the skills and competencies most suited to your career aspirations.

This plan will incorporate the assignments you complete, the research you conduct and the placements you are offered to ensure you build a coherent evidence base for future employers.

Our university's postgraduate courses have been recognised for their ability to support your career.

93% of our postgraduate students go on to work or further study — Graduate Outcomes 2022.

Career paths

Some of the roles our graduates have gone on to work include: educational psychology, teaching, youth work, fostering services. research and lecturing.

Our dedicated lifetime career support, like our business start-up support programme and funding for entrepreneurs, has been recognised with the following awards:

  • The top 20 UK universities for business leaders and entrepreneurs – Business Money, 2023
  • A top 10 university for producing CEOs – Novuana, 2023.

MDXworks

MDXworks, our employability service, will help you make the most of your experience and connections to achieve your career goals. You'll have unlimited access to one-to-one advice and support from specialists in your sector plus 24/7 online support. You can also make the most of events and networking opportunities, on and off campus.

Global alumni network

You’ll be studying with students from 122 countries who’ll become part of your personal global network. You'll learn how to work with a global mindset and make invaluable connections on your course for your chosen industry.

  1. UK entry
  2. International entry
  3. How to apply

The fees below refer to the 2024/25 academic year unless otherwise stated.

UK students*

Full-time students: £9,800
Part-time students: £65 per credit
Part-time students: £33 per dissertation credit

International students*

Full-time students: £12,600
Part-time students: £84 per credit
Part-time students: £42 per dissertation credit

*Course fees are subject to annual inflation so the total costs for part-time study are shown here as a guide.

For more information and to answer your frequently asked questions, please visit our postgraduate funding page.

Additional costs

We cover your costs for the day-to-day things that you need to do well in your studies.

  • Free – laptop loans, Wi-Fi and printing
  • Free specialist software for your course
  • Free online training with LinkedIn Learning.

Financial support

We offer lots of support to help you with fees and living costs. Check out our guide to student life on a budget and find out more about postgraduate funding.

Postgraduate scholarships

You may be eligible for one of our scholarships including:

  • The Alumni Postgraduate Award – for all UK/EU Middlesex alumni a 20% fee reduction
  • The Commonwealth Scholarship – full course fees, airfares and a living allowance
  • The Chevening Scholarship – full course fees
  • The European Academic Awards – £1000 to £7000 for students showing academic excellence
  • Regional or International Merit Award –up to £2,000 towards course fees

For international students, we also have a limited number of other awards specific to certain regions, and work in partnership with funding providers in your country to help support you financially with your study.

Find out more about our postgraduate scholarships.

Fees disclaimers

1. UK fees: The university reserves the right to increase postgraduate tuition fees in line with changes to legislation, regulation and any government guidance or decisions. The tuition fees for part-time UK study are subject to annual review and we reserve the right to increase the fees each academic year by no more than the level of inflation.

2. International fees: Tuition fees are subject to annual review and we reserve the right to increase the fees each academic year by no more than the level of inflation.

Any annual increase in tuition fees as provided for above will be notified to students at the earliest opportunity in advance of the academic year to which any applicable inflationary rise may apply.

Dr Nathan Fretwell
Course Leader / Senior Lecturer

Dr Fretwell researches the relationship between the state and children and families. Most recently, he has researched the advocacy work of parent campaigners.

Dr Lee Jerome
Professor in Education

Dr Jerome researches children’s rights and citizenship education. His most recent research is an investigation of the impacts of the Prevent duty in education.

Dr Jacqueline Harding
Lecturer

Dr Harding leads on the Research Methods module. She is a respected specialist in children’s television, developing innovative research strategies and consulting widely with television production companies.

Dr Mona Sakr
Module leader - Dangerous Ideas

Dr Sakr researches early childhood education. Most recently, she has developed a model of social leadership in early childhood through global dialogues.

Professor Jayne Osgood
Tutor

Professor Osgood researches early childhood education through a feminist new materialist lens. She edits the Bloomsbury series ‘Feminists Researching Gendered Childhoods’.

Dr John Barker
Module leader - Research Methods

Dr Barker researches childhood and youth from a children’s geographies background. His latest research investigates the experiences of university students with caring responsibilities.

Dr Lynette Morris
Module leader - Action Research

Dr Morris is a researcher in early childhood education with expertise in practitioner and action research. She researches the emotional dimension of working in early years.

Dr Leena Robertson
Tutor

Dr Robertson examines young children’s experiences of learning from a sociocultural perspective, with a particular focus on diverse and complex language contexts.


We’ll carefully manage any future changes to courses, or the support and other services available to you, if these are necessary because of things like changes to government health and safety advice, or any changes to the law.

Any decisions will be taken in line with both external advice and the University’s Regulations which include information on this.

Our priority will always be to maintain academic standards and quality so that your learning outcomes are not affected by any adjustments that we may have to make.

At all times we’ll aim to keep you well informed of how we may need to respond to changing circumstances, and about support that we’ll provide to you.

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