MBH4000 Early childhood education and care as a research area Course description

Knowledge of recent research on children and early childhood education and care (ECEC) is essential to be able to contribute to enhancing this field of practice. This course provides a historical overview of ECEC research and presents the most recent research about children's everyday lives and ECEC centres as an institution in society. The course will provide insight into current research projects at the Department of Early Childhood Education and draw close thematic links to everyday activities in ECEC centres. ;

Early childhood education and care as a research area also looks at how different governing documents and plans influence ECEC centres, and their staff and the children who attend them, and presents different directions in ECEC research, arts research and research ethics.

Kunnskap

Studenten har:

• kunnskap om sentrale begreper og tradisjoner innenfor sosial administrasjon og planlegging og samfunnsplanlegging samt teorier om organisering og ledelse
• kunnskap om sentrale begreper innen New Public Management, New Public Governance og teorier om bakke, - skjerm, - og system byråkraten og bakkeorganisasjoner
• kunnskap om teoretiske perspektiver på tverrfaglig samarbeid og hvordan de kan fremme eller hemme samarbeid mellom ulike faggrupper
• innsikt i noen sentrale filosofiske spørsmål om velferdsstatens normative grunnlag
• kjennskap til forskning innenfor emnet

Ferdigheter

Studenten kan:

• analysere sosialt arbeids status i dag ut fra ulike samfunnsdiskurser
• diskutere sosialt arbeids oppgaver og utfordringer i et internasjonalt samfunnsperspektiv
• diskutere ledelse og organiseringens betydning for utøvelsen av sosialt arbeid og forholdet mellom organisasjon, profesjon og bruker
• diskutere noen sentrale spørsmål om velferdsstatens normative grunnlag

Generell kompetanse

Studenten:

• har forståelse for det dynamiske forholdet mellom kunnskapsutvikling og samfunnsutvikling
• har bevissthet om betydningen av tverrfaglig samarbeid og samhandling mellom ulike sektorer
• kan vurdere og reflektere over sosialt arbeid i en global/internasjonal sammenheng og har kjennskap til relevante internasjonale organisasjoner
• kan reflektere over sin fremtidige yrkesrolle og etiske utfordringer i yrkesutøvelsen

Knowledge

The student;;

• has an advanced understanding/knowledge of children’s everyday lives in ECEC centres, as well as of the ECEC centre as an institution in society
• has in-depth knowledge of ECEC as a research area;
• has in-depth knowledge of scientific and artistic approaches to the field of ECEC
• has in-depth knowledge of current research and knowledge development in ECEC in a historical and current perspective

Skills

The student;

• can analyse recent ECEC research with particular weight on issues relating to children’s everyday lives in ECEC centres: play, learning, care, well-being, organisation and management
• can analyse relevant issues on the basis of ECEC research
• can analyse and take a critical approach to different research methods and research designs

General competence

The student;

• can analyse relevant research ethics issues related to ECEC research
• can apply knowledge of Norwegian and international ECEC research to structure, formulate and disseminate scholarly arguments;

Teaching activities comprise lectures, seminars, seminar group work, supervision, practical work and assignments between the teaching sessions. Work in seminar groups and between sessions will be related to relevant issues that have emerged in connection with the teaching activities. This work, along with the supervision, is intended to support the students’ work on the exam, and students are expected to participate in seminar groups and submit assignments between teaching sessions.;

Emnet avsluttes med en muntlig eksamen. Kandidater som ikke består, eller har gyldig fravær ved ordinær eksamen, kan fremstille seg til ny/utsatt eksamen.

The exam comprises an individual written semester paper based on the required coursework with a scope of about 4,000 words (+/- 10%).;

Resit/rescheduled exams;

Resit/rescheduled exams are organised in the same way as ordinary exams. Students can submit a reworked version of the semester paper for the first resit or rescheduled exam. A new assignment must be submitted for subsequent attempts. It is the student’s responsibility to register for any resit/rescheduled exams by the deadline.

Gradert skala A-F.

Det benyttes intern og ekstern sensor til sensurering.

Blanka Storen-Vaczy