BA Working with Children, Young People and Families

This module will focus on developing an understanding of the need to work in partnership ?with© children, young people and families in different contexts in order to promote participation and to challenge deficit assumptions about those with whom we work. It will critically analyse different theories and approaches to participation and begin to challenge the power that practitioners exercise when making decisions that affect children, young people and families.

This module explores the use of creative approaches and methodologies in engaging with children, young people, and families. It aims to develop students’ understanding of how creative activities can foster positive multicultural relationships, support wellbeing, and address challenges within diverse family and community contexts. Students will engage with theories of creativity and practical strategies to inspire and facilitate meaningful participation and self-expression.

This module aims to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to work effectively and sensitively in culturally diverse contexts. It emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural identity, recognizing biases, and fostering inclusive practices when supporting children, young people, and families. Students will critically examine how culture influences perspectives, communication, and practices, and develop strategies to promote equity and respect in professional settings.

This module will explore the historical context for discrimination in the UK, who has the power to discriminate and how discrimination is experienced. The module will critically evaluate theories of discrimination, including Hegemony, Critical Race Theory and Feminist Theory through a Personal, Cultural and Structural model of understanding discrimination. The module will focus on exploring discrimination of different groups in society and the intersection and overlap of inequalities. A central focus of the module will be on the policy response to discrimination in the UK, the roles and responsibilities of institutions in relation to discrimination and examining the extent to which the issues have been addressed.

This module will enable students to explore the stages human development through the life course from pre-birth to later life and death and will consider how the lives of individuals and families are shaped by physical and environmental factors. Students will reflect upon life course stages through the lens of their own diverse, lived experiences, and consider the implications of life course for practice in working with children, young people and families.

This module will enable students to develop an understanding and analysis of disability that builds on the concepts they engage with in ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’ and ‘Understanding Discrimination’.
The content of the module will be based on a human rights model and will encourage students to see issues relating to mental ill-health, physical and learning disabilities in their social, political and ideological context. The module will enable the students to understand that issues of special educational needs and disability are best understood through an anti-discriminatory, values-led approach and not via a diagnostic or medical perspective.

This module will develop students’ research literacy with a view to helping them understand where, why and how research was developed and its relationship to practice. It will focus on strengthening the knowledge, understanding and skills needed for students to proceed with their Capstone module at level 6. The module will help students to explore the Capstone options so that they can make informed decisions/choices.

This module will explore the role of creativity and play in how children and adults make sense of their lives and worlds, and the role of practitioners in facilitating this process. Working with children, young people and families is a holistic and participatory discipline. Good practice should seek to develop a social pedagogy which treats children’s, young people’s and families’ cultures as inherently valuable, and practitioners should support, in a person-centred way, those they work with to optimise their dignity, choice and wellbeing in their own lives. Creativity is foundational in this process. The module will seek to give students a broad foundation in the theory and practice of creative working current in the field. Drawing on concrete examples of children and young people’s cultures and making use of arts, crafts, life skills, sports, games, religion and the natural world, it will help students to build their confidence in this mode of working. The key threshold concept will be an awareness of the tension between valuing children’s activities as developmental or therapeutic and valuing them for their own sake. It will encourage students to hold this tension through a reflective remembering of their own childhood lifeworld.

At levels 4 and 5 students will have been introduced to notions of inclusive practice, the effects of discrimination and the need for practitioners to understand what lies behind the concept of social justice when it comes to working with children, young people and families. This module offers students at level 6 the chance to develop their thinking about how they can best work with children and families to alleviate or overcome barriers to equality and justice in service design and delivery. The context for this will be an exploration of the concept of ?anti-oppressiveÊ practice and will include an examination of the skills needed to work in this way.

This module will provide students with the opportunity to explore historical and contemporary concerns that have served to shape policy and practice. Students will explore current legislation and its implications for practice for all those working with the young and vulnerable adults. A clearer understanding will be gained of the different roles and responsibilities of those working in the area of safeguarding. Consideration will be given to the impact that abuse can have on the lives of victims and their families.

This module will provide students with the opportunity to explore current legislation and its implications for practice for all those working with children, young people and adults with care experience. The module will seek to examine the rhetoric within policy and initiatives concerning children who are in Care and the underlying political ideologies around the role of the state in caring for children. Students will investigate the range of provision for people with care experience including models popular in other countries. A wide view of the diverse needs of children, young people and adults with care experience will be presented, underlining the challenges in balancing protection and support with learning and development and the associated importance of partnership and collaborative working.

This module provides students with the opportunity to explore an area of particular interest through undertaking a small scale research project supported by a member of staff from the subject area (or elsewhere) with appropriate specialist knowledge.

This module provides students with the opportunity to explore an area of particular interest through undertaking an evaluation of a particular policy or practice areas related to “professional practice” Related to working with children, young people or families.