Narratives Of Childhood

This unit examines children’s lives and education through historical, sociological and philosophical perspectives. It explores the ways in which children and young people’s social and learning worlds are experienced by them and constructed, surveyed and regulated by adults. It draws on different theoretical perspectives to investigate notions of childhood and interrogate the subjective realities of children’s lives and learning across the different spaces and places of family, community and school. It explores how social, economic, technological and cultural change, alongside difference and diversity shape various narratives around contemporary childhood experience and raise critical questions for policy and practice about children’s care, welfare and education.

The unit is relevant to students who intend to work with children, young people and families. It provides a broad understanding of the theories underpinning the studies of childhood and youth and education that is relevant to professional practice across family, school and community contexts. 

Understanding Human Learning

How educational institutions understand learning and behaviour and what may lie at the root of a learning or behaviour difficulty in an educational institution has a very strong influence on the way in which they respond. Across time a range of social or psychological understandings have underpinned interventions. It is really important to recognise these in order to evaluate their likely appropriateness for use in supporting individuals’ learning and progress in context. For this reason a number of models of learning and behaviour will be introduced, discussed and critiqued. 

'Need' In Special Educational Needs And Disability

This unit will serve two purposes: an introduction to degree level study that will be integrated into the support that is given to the preparation, drafting, editing and submission of assignments, and discussion and reflection on definitions and consideration of ‘need’ in a variety of contexts. Reflective activities will be introduced to make the contextual links.

There will be a particular focus on ‘need’ in the educational context: Who might decide whether a learner has a need, and what that need might be? What makes a ‘special’ need ‘special’? What is the legal definition of ‘need’ in legislation across the UK? 

Historical Development And Current Legal Context For Special Educational Needs And Disability

This unit aims to contextualize current provision and practice in relation to special educational needs and disability through an examination of its historical development. It illustrates the association between the national political contexts and contemporary policy and practices in education in general terms, and in relation to those learners who experience difficulties in particular.

Some of the overarching questions that frame this unit are: how did we reach this position in relation to current policy and provision for learners identified as having special or additional needs in educational contexts? What should be, and has in the past been, done with children who make little or no progress and who were/are thought to be holding others back?

It is also designed to address the following questions that are pertinent to all those interested in legal accountabilities in relation to young people who experience special educational needs and/or disabilities:

·         what are teachers legally obliged to do in relation to learners with special educational, or additional support, needs? 

·         What are settings, schools, colleges and local authorities required to do? 

Is this any different from what educational institutions are obliged to do for other learners?

Investigating The Social World

This unit aims to equip students with an understanding of different quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigating the social world and, professional settings in particular. More specifically, the unit will seek to:

• Develop your understanding of both quantitative and qualitative research methods and the ways in which research data can be collected, analysed and reported.
• Promote your understanding of the ethical issues involved in undertaking research in professional settings and on sensitive issues.
• Develop your skills in designing and implementing all aspects of a research project.
• Equip you with the knowledge and skills you need to undertake your dissertation at Level 6 where you may use both qualitative and quantitative methods

Approaches To Understanding And Addressing Communication, Interaction, Cognition And Learning Needs

This unit aims to raise further awareness, and deepen understanding, of issues around addressing needs in classrooms that are associated with communication, interaction, cognition and learning difficulties in ways that assume children are active agents in their own learning.

A high proportion of individuals identified with difficulties in communication, interaction, cognition and learning difficulties in the UK raises issues and debates around the most effective ways of meeting the needs of such individuals in an inclusive society. 

Difficulties In Literacy Acquisition

This unit aims to enable course participants to support the participation in educational and other contexts of young people who experience difficulties in literacy acquisition, including dyslexia. It will enable them to raise achievement in schools through developing their skills, knowledge and understanding of models of pupils’ literacy learning and dyslexia, and ways in which educational institutions can facilitate literacy acquisition and achievement.

Send Placement Unit

This unit provides you with the opportunity to observe theory and research in relation to the education of children and young people with special educational needs and disability in practice, and apply your knowledge of special educational needs and disability to the world of work.

The placement is designed to enable you to gain knowledge and an understanding of how children and young people with a range of needs learn, and will enable you to identify some of the challenges to do with educational provision in this field. 

Understanding And Meeting Social, Emotional And Mental Health Difficulties And Sensory And/Or Physical Difficulties

This unit aims to raise further awareness, and deepen understanding, of issues around addressing needs in classrooms that are associated with approaches to understanding and addressing social, emotional and mental health difficulties and needs, and sensory and/or physical difficulties and needs in ways that assume children are active agents in their own learning.

The unit adopts a view that all young people, including those with challenging behaviour and/or needs related to social, emotional and mental health difficulties, and/or sensory and/or physical difficulties have a fundamental need to belong. Some behaviour may be associated with factors within the learners. However, at the same time, making the assumption that learning environments or social events are often very influential over classroom and school behaviours and learning can puts teachers in a very strong position to take positive action to make changes in their own classrooms with resultant improvements to learners’ progress and behaviour. 

A high proportion of individuals identified with social, emotional and mental health difficulties, and/or sensory and/or physical difficulties in the UK raises issues and debates around the most effective ways of meeting the needs of such individuals in an inclusive society. 

Children's Literature

This unit examines the ways in which children’s literature provides insight into and opportunities to explore the lives of children and young people and their transition to adulthood. The unit uses a range of literature to frame the social, educational and cultural contexts of children’s lives. It examines a variety of literary forms and genres, including illustration and drama, to explore the ways practitioners can innovatively engage children and develop creative ways for them to access, develop and investigate cross-curricular themes. The unit also seeks to explore the role of popular fiction for teenagers in relation to issues of culture, identity and agency.

Dissertation

To plan, carry out and write up an independent research project with guidance from a dissertation supervisor. This will involve you in identifying a topic that is of interest to you, relevant to your course and is important in the context of wider research and policy and practice debates. Undertaking individual research offers the opportunity to develop a variety of skills in planning and managing a project, including ethical issues and working with participants, gathering, analysing and reporting data.

Assessment And Planning

Assessing the needs of young people of young people who experience barriers to their learning and progress is of the essence in making appropriate, meaningful and sensitive provision, but this requires good background knowledge of assessment theory and approaches to developing learning and behaviour plans.

The unit aims to address a number of questions that are highly relevant to assessing educational needs and planning ways to address these in educational institutions. These include: what is the place of assessment in addressing learning and behavioural needs? How can we ensure that assessment of individual needs is appropriate to the age of the learners, the kind of difficulties that are either experienced or are a matter of concern for the learners, family, or teachers, and the curriculum area?

Differentiation In Classrooms

Differentiation, that is, adapting teaching and pedagogy to meet the needs of all young people in classrooms, including those who experience difficulties in learning and behaviour, is fundamentally important to the well-being, progress, achievement and future life chances of all learners. The unit aims to enable enhanced understanding of, and engagement with, issues and practice that are inherent in adapting pedagogy to include all learners in classrooms.

Difficulties In Numeracy Acquisition

This unit aims to enable course participants to support the participation in educational and other contexts of young people who experience difficulties in numeracy acquisition, including dyscalculia. It will enable them to raise achievement in schools through developing their skills, knowledge and understanding of models of numeracy learning and dyscalculia, and ways in which educational institutions can facilitate numeracy acquisition and achievement.

The major question that this unit addresses is: how can teachers and others understand difficulties in numeracy in ways that enable them to support numeracy acquisition for these young people in settings/schools and colleges, and at home?

Uses Of Ict To Support Young People's Special Learning Needs

This unit aims to enable course participants to support greater participation in educational and other contexts of young people who experience difficulties in learning and/or behaviour. It will enable them to raise achievement in educational contexts through developing their skills, knowledge and understanding of the various forms of ICT that have been developed to support the learning, achievement and inclusion of young people who have been identified as having special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Professional Practice Year (Education And English Language)

The unit aims to provide you with the opportunity to gain formally recognised appropriate work based learning. It will allow you to develop your employability skills and reflect on your personal and professional development as part of a four year degree course. The experience of work that you gain can be applied in your final year of study.

Individuals In Society (Education)

This is the first of two subject studies units that enables you to develop your underpinning knowledge and understanding for the courses that you will be studying when you enter your degree.

You will be studying aspects of sociology and thinking about how the underpinning theory relates firstly to you and the society in which you live and then to the subject area that you will be focussing on during your degree. The starting point will be you as an individual and relating your personal experiences, values and beliefs to sociological theory.

This serves the combined purposes of developing knowledge and understanding that will form a foundation for your degree studies; developing the ability to apply theory to real world examples and becoming familiar with some of the issues, skills and techniques that you will meet in your degree studies.
For this unit you will study a common core relating to sociology in a broader context and then apply that to sport and education or business as appropriate. You will complete work throughout the units which you have the flexibility to tailor to your subject interests

Throughout the course, you are encouraged to make links between units, and to apply, where appropriate, what you have learnt in one unit to the tasks and discussions set in others. In particular, you are encouraged to apply what you learn in this and the other subject-specific unit to the general studies units.

Contemporary Society In A Global World (Education)

This is the second subject studies unit that builds on the knowledge and understanding that you gained in semester one in relation to sociology and social structures and broadens the perspective to the subjects of diversity, inequality, health and well-being. As with your semester 1 unit, you will gain knowledge and understanding of the core subject and related theory and then apply that to a range of topics, issues and examples from your chosen subject area.
In semester 1 the focus was mainly on local and national contexts, this unit broadens the perspective to look at the broader, global context.

Examining Research (Education)

This unit applies subject knowledge and critical thinking that you have developed through your other units of the Foundation Year and gives you the experience opportunity to think about how:

• information about education and sport is developed through research;
• how different people in your subject area may use a diverse range of methodologies and methods to go about the research process.

You will examine some research that has been done in relation to a subject that you will be studying on your degree. This is your chance to unpick what the researchers have done and assess its strengths and weaknesses

As this is an introduction before you get the opportunity to study research design and methods in more depth, the aim is to give you the opportunity to look at a variety of examples and to develop an informed understanding of different approaches. There are also opportunities to examine and evaluate how many people encounter ‘information and knowledge’ though non-academic sources such as the media and the internet.

Studying For He (Education)

In this unit you will be introduced to what academic study in Higher Education is all about, both generally and related to studying specific subjects. You will be given opportunities to develop the skills, attitudes, confidence and strategies to help you succeed in the course and thus to meet the entry requirements for university study.
You will be supported in identifying where you have scope to develop skills and abilities and in planning for your on-going personal development and what works best for you. The module has a series of short core and option blocks of learning activity and tutors will guide you towards the options best suited for the subject area you are hoping to study in your degree and your own experience.
As you go through the year you will notice that you will be able to link the learning that you do in this module with other parts of the course and apply the learning to the assessments you will be doing.