Montessori Early Childhood Studies (Graduate Practitioner) BA (Hons)

Play, Health and Wellbeing

Nowadays the link between lifestyle factors such as activity levels, diet and health is becoming increasingly clear, and greater importance is being placed on the need for children to access outdoor environments. It is crucial to get children making choices and enjoying a healthy balanced diet and active lifestyle from as young an age as possible. Play is recognised as being crucial to children's physical, mental, social and emotional well-being, yet opportunities and encouragement for free play are becoming increasingly limited. You’ll consider children’s well-being and how it relates to their rights. You’ll learn how well-being can be supported through healthy eating, regular physical activity and a play-based environment. The key topics will be: well-being, healthy eating and exercise, outdoor play and forest schools.

Researching Childhood

You’ll be introduced to essential research skills relating to children and learn about the importance of linking theory to your practice. The aim is for you to develop skills in child observation and apply general research methods to childhood studies. You'll be expected to work in small groups and share your experience and ideas with your class. The key topics will be: research methods, ethics involved in working with children, types of observation and studying children.

Theoretical Montessori Foundations

Understand the founding principles, philosophy and methodology of the Montessori Method. Through investigation and research, you'll take the journey of Montessori from its roots to the modern day. Explore the significance of a cosmic education and the child as a change agent. You'll examine the pedagogical approach through the lens of the dynamic triangle, the child, the environment and the teacher. Montessori advocated that the psychological characteristics of development when nurtured enable the child to reach their full potential. We'll encourage you to begin to inform your own personal pedagogy, supported by opportunities for self-expression and collaboration.

Montessori Curriculum 1

This is the first of two modules that focus on the Montessori curriculum materials. In the first, you’ll engage in activity and curriculum design in the areas of Activities for Everyday Living; Sensorial; Knowledge and Understanding of the World; and Babies and Toddlers. You’ll practice with the unique Montessori materials and their presentations while in your placement setting. Through exploration you’ll become confident in using the Montessori materials and understanding the importance of further Montessori activities that support the learning environment. The Montessori curriculum was developed to support children's understanding of their development potential and to harness a love of learning. You’ll develop a confidence in supporting children through the carefully prepared Montessori learning environment. You’ll consider the factors influencing holistic child development, alongside planning, observation and reflection.

Supporting Children's Learning: Comparing Curricula

This module is about the ways in which children play and learn and the means by which adults can mediate and support their experience. You’ll discuss pedagogic strategies and learn about the importance of creative practices and children learning through play. Different early years’ curricula (Steiner Waldorf, Montessori method, Experiential Education, High Scope, Reggio Emilia and Te Whariki) will be compared and contrasted with England’s curriculum. The key topics will be: early years’ curricula, learning through play, creative learning and pedagogy as well as documenting care and learning.

Ruskin Module

Ruskin Modules are designed to prepare our students for a complex, challenging and changing future. These interdisciplinary modules provide the opportunity to further broaden your perspectives, develop your intellectual flexibility and creativity. You will work with others from different disciplines to enable you to reflect critically on the limitations of a single discipline to solve wider societal concerns. You will be supported to create meaningful connections across disciplines to apply new knowledge to tackle complex problems and key challenges. Ruskin Modules are designed to grow your confidence, seek and maximise opportunities to realise your potential to give you a distinctive edge and enhance your success in the workplace.

Embracing Diversity

In this module, you'll discuss disability, differences and special educational needs in relation to debates on inclusion and exclusion, needs and rights, and the importance of seeing every child as an individual. You’ll explore different cultural practices to enable an empathetic understanding of how to help all children feel welcome in a setting. Theories for this module are drawn from different backgrounds such as psychology, sociology, and education. The key topics will be: history and language of inclusion, cultural differences and EAL, family structures and lifestyles, policy and legislation as well as special educational needs.

Safeguarding Children

In this module you’ll explore children’s welfare and well-being. You’ll learn about the complexities attached to the notion of risk, child abuse, protection and safeguarding. This module will offer a comprehensive cover of English legislation, policy and procedures for keeping children safe from abuse. You will gain an understanding of the range of provision available to support children’s needs. The key topics will be: child protection, support and intervention, policy and legislation, multi-disciplinary working and welfare and well-being.

Montessori Curriculum 2

You’ll now be fairly familiar with the Montessori materials and activities, you’ll continue to build on this knowledge in this module but with a particular focus on literacy, maths and creativity. We’ll support you in developing your knowledge of curriculum design and you’ll put this into practice in a Montessori early years environment. Observing learning on placement, you’ll analyse the learning journey and reflect on your own development needs. You’ll develop more in-depth exploration of the philosophy behind the presentations, the mathematical mind and the theory of abstraction. Montessori advocates the importance of the learning materials and on completion of this module you’ll have a firm foundation of knowledge of the materials and the presentations that interlink across the learning curriculum in a Montessori classroom.

Children's Rights

A critical exploration of children's rights with the focus on rights to education, protection, human rights, and participation. The legal position of children has been enhanced by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 1989 to encompass principles of protection, provision of services and participation. However, not all children's lives are the same and it is important that students of early childhood develop a broader perspective by using evidence from international and national contexts. Successful completion of this module will be relevant to your future employment in voluntary and statutory agencies working with young children.

Undergraduate Major Project

Your Undergraduate Major Project is a chance to raise and address significant questions relating to your chosen topic/issue. You will be supported by a tutor with similar interests and research profile. This module requires autonomous study, and it is your chance to demonstrate that you have met our University’s expectations and are ready to graduate.

Change and Sustainability in Montessori Context

Effective leaders are able to foster effective team development and foster an agency of change. Montessori was an envisioned leader who argued that adults, as leaders, should take direction from children as agents for change. You’ll reflect on the position of ‘self’ in how change can evolve and will explore styles of leadership that will support leadership concepts from the literature, including transformation, adaptation, service, humility and contextual elements. You’ll investigate Montessori’s philosophy of building relationships on trust and from a platform that advocates social justice. You’ll take this further by identifying an area of practice and propose and justify a strategy for improvement and change.

Montessori Leadership and Management

Here we build on the principle that good quality in Montessori early years provision requires creative and effective leaders, who can manage resources and foster effective team development. You’ll examine the context of leadership through a Montessori lens. Maria Montessori’s writings for a perspective on leadership aligned with her principles and practices. Her foundation of the prepared environment and the prepared adult supports the foundation for leadership and has influence beyond the classroom context. We’ll provide an opportunity to critically review the application of theory to practice to further your understanding of leadership and management in a Montessori and early childhood context.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives

This module will give you an overview of childhood from a range of different perspectives: geographical, historical, philosophical, psychological, sociological, educational and economic. It links concepts from different disciplines to contextualise childhood and update your knowledge of the subject at the end of the course. The key topics will be: how notions of childhood vary across time and place, philosophies and constructs of childhood, the psychosocial interface and the social, political and economic world.

Early Childhood Graduate Competencies

To help you meet the Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner Competencies, you’ll study this module across all years of your degree. You’ll take part in 85 days of placement (30 year 1, 25 year 2 and 30 in your final year) and reflect on your experiences. The Graduate Practitioner is an advocate for young children’s rights and participation and recognises that young children are active co-constructors of their own learning. As a Graduate Practitioner you’ll apply high-level academic knowledge of pedagogy and research evidence, of the holistic development of infants and young children (0-8), in a practice context that is respectful of the child, their family and community. This qualification will make you workplace ready with EYFS when you graduate.

Modules are subject to change and availability.