Early Childhood and Politics BA (Hons)

EARLY CHILDHOOD

The undergraduate programme in Early Childhood Studies provides a higher level of academic study that will extend your knowledge and understanding of children in their early years. We hope to ignite your curiosity as we explore young children’s development and interaction with the world and that in understanding the inequalities that children face locally and globally, you will grow as advocates for young children’s needs and rights.

The Early Childhood team aim to provide a stimulating and supportive learning environment for all our students through a high level of tutor support, access to exceptional University resources and engagement with our multidisciplinary teaching team with wide experience in research, practice and policy in the field. Together with the vital ingredient of your commitment as a student, these elements will enrich your learning experience. We also aim to enhance this where possible through engaging invited speakers and field visits to relevant spaces in Liverpool, a city rich in community connection and cultural experience.

The degree is taught by academics from a wide variety of backgrounds, including Sociology, Education, Philosophy and Psychology. The teaching team are all actively involved in research and have published in their specialist fields. They are all members of the thriving Liverpool Hope Childhood Research Forum and contribute to a range of research conferences both nationally and internationally. This experience provides an informed and supportive learning environment for the student characterised by depth and challenge.

For Single Honours students there is a compulsory placement as part of your degree. The placement will enable you to enhance your understanding of key themes and provides you with an insight into the professional context. For Combined Honours students the placement is optional. The Single Honours programme also offers the option to obtain separate professional certification as a graduate practitioner through assessment against the Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner Competencies.

POLITICS

Politics affects all of us. It is central to human life and human affairs. It is fundamental to how we organise and govern ourselves and to how we resolve conflicts. The decisions we make as political communities, who makes them and how, have consequences for how we live, from questions of war and peace, the distribution of wealth, our rights, freedoms, responsibilities, our access to education, transport and health care.

In this rapidly changing world, new challenges are constantly arising – from climate change to new technologies, from identity politics to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic – and the study of politics needs to respond. At Liverpool Hope, therefore, we seek to engage with politics and political issues in the real world as they evolve and change over time. In doing so, we actively encourage debate and discussion amongst our students, encouraging a stronger awareness and appreciation of different points of view.

On this programme of study, you will explore key ideas, institutions and politics in an international, national and local context. You will be taught by staff who are experts in their fields, who will teach you to engage with political research and develop the capacity to be an independent, critically-minded scholar. The course also aims to equip you with transferable skills to take into the world of work.