MEd Psychology of Education

This unit covers a range of psychological perspectives in child and adolescent development.

This unt covers a range of themes in developmental psychology, including cognitive and social child development topics. These broadly include developing thinking, social and emotional skills, developing relationships and understanding of others, understanding key milestones in child development and impacts on later outcomes.  

Relevant considerations of child development for education will be aligned with key topics.

The course unit is delivered over 9 sessions and using a variety of methods including lectures, tutorials, video clip analysis and independent research activities. 

• To provide coverage of the BPS Syllabus core area of developmental psychology.
• To develop understanding of theory and research in psychological aspects of human development and applications thereof.
• To develop individual and co-operative research, learning and presentation skills.

The module forms part of the MEd Psychology of Education programme and conforms to the QAA discipline benchmark for Psychology required for accreditation by the British Psychological Society (BPS). Students will have the opportunity to develop employability skills. These include small group work in sessions, critical thinking of both psychology theory and supportive research within child development educational applications and receiving feedback from the written assessment and formative assessment tools. The unit will also engage students in the development of their key skills in self-awareness and reflections on normative and cultural values in unit themes including attachment, parental practice, professional educational practice, and meta-cognitive development. 
Core knowledge is comparable to other Psychology degrees and therefore underpins further training for careers in the areas of applied psychology (e.g. Educational Psychologist, Clinical Psychologist, Health Psychologist, Occupational Psychologist, Counselling Psychologist etc). The content is specifically related to educational settings and as such immediately applicable to careers outside of the subject discipline (e.g. teaching, teaching assistants; SENCo; support workers).

Indicative curriculum content

• Introduction to Developmental Psychology
• Theories of Cognitive Development
• Emotions and Emotional Development
• Attachment Theory
• Social Development: Understanding and Interacting with Others
• Language and Communication
• Adolescent Development
• Contemporary Themes in Child Development: Social media use in adolescence
• Contemporary Themes in Child Development: Metacognitive development and critical thinking.
   

The course unit will be delivered in a variety of ways including lectures, and group tutorials. Guest speakers from specialist research areas within child development will be utilised appropriately to enhance student experience. Students will be required to work both independently and in small groups and student participation will be encouraged at all times.

Independent study is expected and supported by guided reading, independent reading, guided activities, and additional materials on the VLE and Reading Lists Online.

Lecture PowerPoint slides and additional resources are also available on the VLE. Additionally, the unit makes use of electronic tools and digital platforms to provide further opportunities for student engagement.

The reading list online is reviewed each year. A general unit reading list is provided with suitable textbooks recommended. Individual session readings are also provided and broken down by teaching week to make it easier for students to see relevant sources of information, key recommended readings and further readings themed to sessions. 
 

• Critically examine key theory and research in developmental psychology.
• Discuss and debate chosen topics in developmental psychology.

• Critically evaluate applications and extensions of developmental psychological theory.

• Examination and interpretation of current literature and subsequent production of information for a specific audience.
• IT skills (word processing, accessing electronic databases and library facilities)

• Written communication (assignment).
• Self and peer evaluation.
• The use of constructive feedback skills.

Unit Feedback and Student Engagement

Student representation at both the programme and unit level plays an important role helping the quality of provision be upheld.  MEd student representatives liaise between staff and students on matters of concern to either side; provide two-way feedback on the course and on teaching quality, and promote student involvement in course development.  Student representatives participate in course review meetings (including a confidential meeting with external examiners) and feedback information from these meetings to other students.

At the end of each semester all students are asked to complete an on-line evaluation questionnaire for each course unit they have taken.  This anonymous feedback is circulated to unit leaders and supports quality assurance.

Formative assessment and written feedback to students is a key feature of this unit. Students are provided with an opportunity to complete an outline in advance of the submission deadline for assessed work and formative written feedback is provided when marking has been completed.

Core texts

Keenan, T., Evans, S., & Crowley, K. (2018). An Introduction to Child Development (3rd Edition). Sage.
Provides a comprehensive overview of the main areas of child development, from infancy through to adolescence. With coverage of topics that represent both classic and cutting edge work, alongside an appreciation of the critical issues. This third edition has been updated to include topical research examples from current literature in psychology, education, and medicine and expanded sections covering key contemporary issues in cognitive, emotional and social development. The text is accompanied by online student resources (https://edge.sagepub.com/keenan3e) including videos, weblinks, journal articles, and quizzes. Available as an e-book via Reading Lists Online.

Thorton, S. (2008). Understanding human development: biological, social, and psychological processes from conception to adult life. Palgrave Macmillan.
This text covers a breadth of topics exploring a range of processes which shape the human development, but also produce the rich variety of individual diversity. Available as an e-book via Reading Lists Online.

Crowley, K. (2017). Child Development: a practical introduction (2nd Edition). Sage.
Very similar to Keenan above, focuses on the earliest years (0-8), to provide a comprehensive overview of the research, theory, and current practice in the field of child development. A brand new companion website including a selection of journal articles, annotated further readings, weblinks and useful online materials (https://study.sagepub.com/crowley2e).

Smith, P.K., Cowie, H. & Blades, M. (2015). Understanding Children’s Development. (6th Edition). Wiley Blackwell.
Very much an introductory text, but will take you through most of the topics studied in the unit. Interesting case studies and illustrative material are also included.

This is a semester one unit.