Expand+Entry Requirements / Prerequisites:

• FETAC level 5; leaving certificate or equivalent qualifications; and/or relevant work experience or placement.

•Competent knowledge of English as well as basic typing skills is required, as all assessment...

Hide-Entry Requirements / Prerequisites:

• FETAC level 5; leaving certificate or equivalent qualifications; and/or relevant work experience or placement.

•Competent knowledge of English as well as basic typing skills is required, as all assessments will be typed prior to submission for correction.

•As this programme is delivered through distance learning or eLearning, students must be capable of studying on their own initiative.

•If you take this course by eLearning you will need basic IT skills and have access to broadband.

Expand+The aim of this QQI Child Psychology course is to provide the learner with the necessary theoretical knowledge relating to child psychology, as well as an understanding of how that theoretical knowledge is relevant in applied contexts as reflected, f...

Hide-The aim of this QQI Child Psychology course is to provide the learner with the necessary theoretical knowledge relating to child psychology, as well as an understanding of how that theoretical knowledge is relevant in applied contexts as reflected, for example, in best educational practice being tied to the cognitive level of the child. Thus, until a requisite developmental level has been achieved, certain educational goals, such as basic mathematics, may not be obtainable.

Furthermore, the child’s social and emotional development shall also be explored. By the end of the course the learner will have a broad understanding of child psychology and how it forms a foundation for adult psychology and lifespan development. The course content will thus be applicable to any job role where children and their care is a focus, and where child development and growth is fostered with an aim towards wider societal goals.

Learner Profile:
Although interest in psychology is common, it is envisioned that the following learner profiles will form the bulk of the course:

•Childcare workers and Crèche personnel who wish to gain a greater understanding of child psychology to inform their work and thus enable best practice.

•Individuals interested in psychology broadly, and child psychology in particular.

•Parents, or prospective parents, who wish to gain a greater understanding of their child’s development, and ways to foster optimal cognitive and socio-emotional growth.

•Other learners working towards a major qualification of which child psychology is a component.

Expand+Topics Covered:

Unit 1: Child and Developmental Psychology

•Provides a context for further elaboration in later units and introduces the main themes of development such as change and continuity, nature and nurture, and the situation of the chil...

Hide-Topics Covered:

Unit 1: Child and Developmental Psychology

•Provides a context for further elaboration in later units and introduces the main themes of development such as change and continuity, nature and nurture, and the situation of the child in a wider ecology. E.g.,

•What is Child and Developmental Psychology?

•Influences in development and the ecology of development (e.g., Biopsychosocial interaction; Bronfenbrenner)

•Research Designs and Methods (e.g., cohort designs)

•Ethical issues in child research.

Unit 2: Early Socialisation

•Discussion of the major milestones in social and emotional development and their relation to parental and familial interactions. (E.g., social smiling; stranger anxiety etc.)

•Understand the nature and importance of attachment via the theoretical perspectives of John Bowlby and other researchers, as well as critical perspectives on maternal deprivation in light of more recent research on children and their resilience.

•Appreciate the Strange Situation as a measure of attachment in infancy.

•How important, therefore, is early experience for later life and adult relationships? Sexist language aside, is the child father to the man, as Freud believed?

•What role does play and positive emotional interaction have in childhood? Should we take play seriously?

•The biological reminder: the role of genes and biology.

Unit 3: Cognitive Development

•Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.

•Consider and contrast with other approaches to development, such as Vygotsky and Bruner.

•What are the educational implications for these various theories? Do they conflict or complement one another? What lessons should we derive from the research to date for best practice in child-related work contexts?

•Extended from the previous, critically examine the research and theories on language acquisition. Are there advantages and disadvantages for cognitive development for bilingualism.

•The biological reminder: the role of genes and biology.

Unit 4: Social Development

•Psychodynamic theory (e.g., structure of the personality; psychosexual stages).

•Learning theory (e.g., classical and operant conditioning; the case of Little Albert; observational learning – Bobo Doll experiment).

•The cognitive-developmental approach (e.g., how the child’s developing thought processes impacts their social and emotional development, such as via perspective taking).

•The biological reminder: the role of genes and biology.

Unit 5: Social Behaviour

•Moral development (psychodynamic, social-learning and cognitive-developmental approaches). Are there gender differences in moral reasoning?

•Gender development: Linking with above, the unit will continue with a discussion of gender development as distinct from biological sex. Thus we shall consider: gender identity; stereotypes; and sex differences in behaviour. What factors influence gender role development? What theories and evidence enter in to this debate most strongly? How do these issues link with wider societal issues, such as adoption laws and homophobia?

•Self and Others: self-concept and esteem; social transitions and self; theory of mind. A focus on autism as a developmental disorder which may exemplify certain theoretical perspectives (e.g., theory of mind) and yet which is treated or managed from other perspectives, such as applied behavioural analysis (ABA). Is there a theoretical conflict here (cognitive versus behavioural), or a deep unity at the level of the brain? Autism in an Irish context.

•The biological reminder: the role of genes and biology.

Unit 6: Adolescence and the Road to Adulthood

•Is adolescence a time of storm? – physical and psychological changes; traditional and sociological views.

•What is the nature of adolescent identity formation? (e.g., Erikson; Marcia)

•How do parents influence identity formation via parental style?

•Adolescent experience I: cognitive growth and existential awareness.

•Adolescent experience II: peer relationships and their function.

•The road to adulthood and beyond: Erikson’s psychosocial development; Levinson etc. Young, Middle, and Late Adulthood. From this content, which goes beyond childhood and adolescence briefly, the learner will be able to critically evaluate and reflect on their own attitudes, beliefs and values regarding best practice in light of the theory covered in past units, as well as to reflect on how their own childhood and life-stage is illumined by the lifespan theories. By seeing themselves in a wisdom role perhaps the learner may see how such matters return full circle to the child, thus leaving them with a new sense of responsibility armed with knowledge.

•The biological reminder updated: nature and nurture entwine.

This distance learning, FETAC accredited course means that Students can study flexibly at home, or at any convenient place and time, and can gain an Internationally Recognised Qualification. Students receive a comprehensive Course Manual, Assignments, Efficient Studyguide, and unlimited one-to-one Tutor Support for the course duration.

Expand+Assessment:

Assignment 40%
Project 60%

Assignment:

•There will be two assignments required. Both assignments shall be theoretical and will relate to a topic from the content covered e.g. Discuss Autism and It’s Management. The two assignmen...

Hide-Assessment:

Assignment 40%
Project 60%

Assignment:

•There will be two assignments required. Both assignments shall be theoretical and will relate to a topic from the content covered e.g. Discuss Autism and It’s Management. The two assignments carry equal weighting at 20% each.

Project:

•The project will enable learners who may work in relevant contexts to gain skills in case formulation and working with multidisciplinary teams by simulating a needs assessment for a child. Other learners with different backgrounds will still benefit from the simulation.

The Project will be written up in the form of a needs assessment report. The brief will set out a scenario where the learner is part of a group meeting with a social worker in order to help assess the needs of a particular child. The history of the child will be presented in the brief, and key features mentioned from which the learner will devise a needs assessment based on evidence and relevant theory from the indicative content covered. This project carries 60% of the total marks.