COURSE CURRICULUM

The MA in Early Childhood Leadership and Practice in Year 1 offers a comprehensive, research-driven foundation designed to develop reflective and effective leaders in early childhood settings. The program integrates theory, research, and professional practice to enhance leadership capacity and pedagogical innovation. The Mental Wealth: Critical Reflection on Leadership of Practice module encourages students to critically reflect on leadership, wellbeing, and professional identity within early childhood contexts, promoting sustainable and ethical practice. The Action Research: Leading Change module focuses on methodologies for initiating and managing change in real-world settings, introducing critical perspectives such as post-humanism and social pedagogy. Through a small-scale action research project, students apply theory to improve practice in meaningful ways. The Research Methods module builds essential skills for independent academic inquiry, guiding students through topic selection, research design, ethical approval, data collection, analysis, and preparation for the final dissertation. Complementing this, the Work-based Learning module bridges theory and practice by examining early childhood settings as dynamic learning organisations. Students explore concepts such as communities of practice and professional knowledge formation, applying them through live, practice-based projects. Collectively, these modules equip students with advanced research competence, critical leadership skills, and the ability to lead informed, reflective change within diverse early childhood environments.