1. Demonstrate knowledge and systematic understanding of key perspectives of childhood and how these may impact on children’s life chances.

2. Critically evaluate children’s rights, policies and practice to make appropriate judgements as a practitioner.

Presentation (LO 1 and 2) Design a podcast on a perspective of childhood informed by research identifying the impact on life chances. This will be informed by current policy and practice. Informed by children’s rights the podcast will discuss unheard children and how policy and practice impacts on them. The podcast will also allow for reflection on what a practitioner can do to enable the rights of all children.


Formative assessment opportunities include;

Group discussion and debate

Critique of key documents

Tutorials and draft feedback

This module is focused on the key question – Do all children have an equal voice in modern society? Students will be introduced to the importance and requirement for children’s rights and their voice regardless of life chances. Consideration will be given to children’s culture, background and societal standing and the impact on children’s voices due to societal construction. Additionally, there will be an exploration of policy discourse, and how this informs constructions of the child. Students will be encouraged to consider the practical implications of the subject matter and identify what they can do to have a positive impact on the rights of all children.

This module will help you to explore the importance of children's rights and voice regardless of life chances. You will consider children's culture, background and societal standing including societal construction and the impact on children's voices. The study will assist in helping you identify what you can do as a practitioner to have a positive impact on the rights of all children.

The teaching, learning and assessment strategy has been carefully developed for this module. It recognises you may bring practical experience and knowledge of specific contexts to share with others. This pool of practical experience will be used to promote discussion and debate, which will build upon existing knowledge to encourage reflection and critical thought. You will be an active participant in your learning and engage with online learning, some¿face to face¿content, group activities and individual tasks set.¿ You will be encouraged to be a critical thinker and apply your learning in an academic and professional context.¿ Some sessions require prior reading and independent research to inform the sessions.¿

A digitally enabled approach will be used to support both virtual and face to face opportunities.¿¿

University workshops will draw upon your experience and help you to interpret that experience in the light of current thinking on teaching, learning, assessment and schooling in relation to literacy and numeracy. You will also be asked to use the ideas explored in the sessions in planning your future work. You will also be asked to collaborate with others in preparing and presenting your work.¿¿

The methods are designed to provide practical contexts for the analysis of contemporary issues and problems of a practical nature. The following strategies will be adopted to ensure that you have a supportive teaching and learning environment, providing a range of learning opportunities¿¿

Work Related Learning – You will be required to reflect on values, practices, assumptions and work-place policies in your taught sessions. Work-based activities either as class based simulated tasks or in the workplace help students to establish connections between the workplace and issues raised by the programme.¿

Lectures - You will be given lectures which will provide theoretical underpinning on key educational concepts. These may take the form of face-to-face, digital or virtual sessions¿

Tutorials – You will be given the opportunity to discuss work-related and academic concerns in small group tutorials and/or individual tutorials. This will support the development of theoretical understanding.¿

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Guided reading and supported self-study – You will be provided with booklists and reading tasks in order to enable you to engage with relevant and appropriate debates.¿

This module will also provide opportunities for you to:¿

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Work¿with others¿

develop interpersonal skills¿

demonstrate the capacity to plan, share goals, and work as a member of a team¿

communicate and present oral and written arguments¿

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Jones, P. and Walker, G. (2011) Children's Rights in Practice. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Murray, J. (2019) Hearing young children’s voices, International Journal of Early Years Education, 27, (1), pp.1-5

Unicef (1989) The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Available at: https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/

Wall, K; Cassidy, C; Robinson, C; Hall, E; Beaton, M; Kanyal, M; and Mitra, D. (2019) Look who’s talking: Factors for considering the facilitation of very young children’s voices. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 17, (4), pp.263–278.

Unless otherwise stated, all books are available online through Staffordshire University library website when logged in using your university username and password.¿ If you have difficulty accessing these, please contact the¿University¿library.¿There is also an online reading list for each module on this course.¿ To access this, go to¿http://staffs.rebuslist.com/¿and then type in the module code in the search box.¿ Do not worry if this list seems excessively long.¿ You may wish to focus on texts which are most relevant to your education sector.¿ This module covers a wide range of¿texts¿and you may find that you only need to read short sections of the texts listed (or from other texts that you may find in libraries or journals). Your tutor will also advise you on the relevant texts and sections of texts to read.¿ Remember that it is important to show you have considered views from a wide range of sources.¿ When referring to texts in your assignment, always use¿https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/refzone¿for guidance.¿¿



There are many versions of Harvard referencing systems in use around the world, but for Staffordshire University,¿Refzone¿Harvard system is the only correct method to use.¿¿

Study skills:¿

For guidance on academic writing, remember that the Staffordshire University library holds a wealth of resources to support study skills at¿https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/study-skills. The study skills team can also provide 1 to 1 support.¿¿



VLE Resources¿

Your¿University¿VLE will enable you to¿have¿access¿to course materials, lecture notes, PowerPoint presentations and reading lists.¿¿Your VLE offers opportunities to engage in group work and independent learning¿by the use of¿such things as synchronous/asynchronous discussion boards, video links, blogs and wikis.¿¿