Early Childhood Education, MA

This MA offers you the opportunity to explore current issues within early childhood education in national and international contexts, and can open up a wide range of career opportunities in areas including childcare management, lecturing and research. It focuses on the crucial role that experiences in early education play in producing happy, healthy and successful children. Drawing on your own professional experience, practice and interests you'll be able to research and develop specialist areas of expertise within this field. Specifically, our re-validated course provides an exciting new opportunity to: Engage in rigorous and critical professional development Explore issues of relevance to your own workplace Enhance your skills in research and critical enquiry Investigate the latest research Innovate and lead practice The MA attracts a wide range of graduates from a variety of backgrounds not necessarily Early Years related but those who wish to expand and deepen their knowledge of young children from birth to 8 years. Throughout the course you will have the opportunity to engage in extracurricular activities hosted by the University such as conferences, open lectures, and visits to early years settings. The course is based at our Medway campus and can be studied on a full or part-time basis. “The decision to study on the MA Early Years programme (whilst on an extended period of maternity leave) is one that has genuinely changed both the direction of my career and my confidence and knowledge as a practitioner. The opportunity to reflect on, and study in depth, areas of education that are of most interest to me, has allowed me to develop a professional expertise that I might otherwise not have pursued in any detail. In addition, my final dissertation year project has resulted in a long term venture which is now running as a Community Interest Company delivering outdoor learning opportunities in the form of a Beach School. The support of the tutors proved invaluable along the way and the links with CCCU by no means ended with the completion of the programme. Having self-funded my study, I was particularly keen for it prove professionally worthwhile and, having now graduated, I am thrilled with the impact not only on my career but on my perspective of what 21st Century education should look like.” (Joanna Sutton MA 2015)