Early Childhood Studies Online (Hons) University of East London

Overview

Studying by distance learning allows you to study at your convenience. It gives you the flexibility to study from any location within a structured and supported framework. It also gives you the opportunity to combine gaining an academic qualification with your work or family commitments.

The Early Childhood Studies Online (Hons) course from University of East London will give you a fascinating insight into the way children experience their childhoods and how that experience influences them as they develop. You'll look at childhood from a range of different critical perspectives and explore the factors that influence the childhood experience. You'll examine issues such as health, early-years legislation and global inequalities in childhood.

Students on the online learning course come from all over the world, including the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australasia, as well as the UK.

What you'll learn

Early Childhood Studies prepares you to be a thoughtful and flexible early years practitioner, working with and for children and families in a range of settings and professional roles.

You'll come to understand that there are many different ways of understanding early childhood. We give you a range of academic and professional perspectives on childhood, then ask you to explore the deeper philosophies, beliefs and attitudes that underpin them.

You'll learn how children develop, from conception onwards, how they experience life and how that experience forms the basis of their later development.  You'll develop an understanding of the factors that influence childhood, and of how this knowledge is critical in supporting the learning and development of children. 

You'll also benefit from field-based learning as you carry out the third-year research project which you'll devise yourself.

Your future career

Early Childhood Studies gives you the skills and knowledge to work in a wide range of jobs with children and for children and their families. 

Graduates have taken jobs in local government, the NHS, charities, housing associations and day nurseries. 

Their roles have included childcare project managers, family support workers, play co-ordinators, out-of-school project managers and classroom/education assistants.

The University of East London has strong and trusted relationships with local schools, childcare organisations and loyal alumni. This means you'll have plenty of contact with potential employers through work placements, mentoring and guest lecturers. 

If you already work, the degree will enhance your enjoyment and boost your progress because you will have a deeper understanding of what you do. You may find it easier to move into a management role, for example. 

Early Childhood Studies also equips you with transferable skills such as working to a deadline, giving presentations and project management, which are beneficial in many other careers. 

You may wish to further your journey in childhood studies on one of UEL's postgraduate courses. For example, this degree allows you to qualify as a social worker by taking an approved postgraduate degree, or as a primary school teacher by taking a PGCE. It also prepares you to train as a speech and language therapist.