BA Child and Family Studies(no longer recruiting)

Year 5

(Award available for year: Bachelor of Arts)

Learning outcomes

LO 1: Critically evaluate the cultural, historical, and contemporary features of policies, institutions, and agencies at the local, national, and global levels, and their impact on the development children and families, as well as the concept of childhood in general.
LO 2: Demonstrate a critical comprehension of the interconnections between political, economic, cultural, and ideological contexts in the lives of children, their families and communities.
LO 3: Collaborate with others to lead, support, and effectively work in teams with parents, carers, and professionals, while demonstrating an understanding of team dynamics. Maintain a commitment to ongoing personal and professional development and engage in critical reflection to improve one's practice.
LO 4: Evaluate the ethics of researching children, their families and communities, demonstrating the ability to make informed judgments on complex ethical and professional issues in a contested field, and adhere to relevant ethical and professional codes of practice. Engage in critical reflection to inform ethical decision-making.
LO 5: Undertake ethical empirical studies on child and family contexts using various methods of data collection. Analyse the collected data and present and evaluate research findings related to children, families and childhood.

Transferable (key) skills

On Completion of the Child and Family Studies Programme, students will be able to demonstrate skills in:
a. Using digital technology and social media appropriately in a range of contexts and reflect on the experiences to become more independent, resilient, responsible and pragmatic and develop as an autonomous learner.
b. Presenting information to others in appropriate forms, including having a sense of audience, online or offline and use the communication skills to converse, debate, negotiate, persuade and challenge the ideas of others, with reasonable adjustments to include others as required.
c. Demonstrating empathy, active listening skills and developing strategies to protect against burn out from ‘emotional labour’ while being sensitive to contextual and interpersonal factors, to take account of the complexity that might shape behaviour and social interaction and form the basis of problems and interpersonal conflict.
d. Offering and justifying an informed point of view, drawing upon a range of theoretical positions
e. Generating, defining and refining questions and making critical judgements and evaluations
f. Reflecting on different perspectives, and critically evaluating them to arrive at supported conclusions and then communicating these reflections and understandings with others.
g. Engaging with research and practice and the uncertainties of developing knowledge and understanding to access, retrieve, organise and use a range of sources of information, including primary sources, and critically evaluating their relevance.
h. Insight and confidence in leading and working collaboratively with others and be sensitive to the importance of enhancing cooperation to maximise the effectiveness of individual skills.
i. Writing and producing resources for different purposes, including but not limited to persuasion, explanation, description, evaluation and judgement, recount, recap, hypothesis and summary.
j. comprehending and using data effectively and engaging in critical evaluation and analysis.

Assessment

Achievement will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will include opportunities to: 

i. Connect life and work experience to academic research. 
ii. Develop digital skills to engage in academic study. 
iii. Undertake authentic modes of assessment, including but not limited to, simulations of professional tasks that professionals undertake when working with children and families.
iv. Produce a variety of written, verbal and visual work which is informed by the analysis of contemporary issues, case studies and cultural texts, by academic research and theory, and by professional practice. 
v. Undertake self-reflection and action planning, informed by reflective models and professional careers and skills guidance.
vi. Work with others and develop team working skills.
vii. Learn to identify their own areas of interest and expand understanding of them through research.
viii. Develop increased confidence in planning and carrying out different types of research for different purposes.