PA230-5-AU-CO:
Professional Practice in Careers with Children

The details
2023/24
Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
15
21 August 2023

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)

 

(none)

Key module for

BA L520 Childhood Studies,
BA L521 Childhood Studies (Including Year Abroad),
BA L522 Childhood Studies (Including Placement Year),
BA L523 Childhood Studies (Including Foundation Year)

Module description

Overall this module aims to extend the student's awareness of their place within the field of childhood studies and childcare practice, developing knowledge of alternative approaches and extending their awareness about employability and career development in this sector. The module comes in two parts.

Part one will introduce students to ways of approaching their own employability. Students will initially reflect upon their current career position and explore their future career goals through the lens of psychoanalytic theory, motivational psychology and positive psychology. In addition to a reflective and theoretical approach to understanding employability, students will also adopt a pragmatic approach by directly engaging with a range of different professionals relevant to their degree subject. To complement a growing orientation to the world of work, students will learn about the wider context of the graduate labour market, in particular statistics, trends and routes into different relevant professions.

Part two of the module broadens student's awareness of alternative approaches and therapeutic interventions. As such it covers a range of modern theories and applications to therapeutic practice other than psychodynamic. It will provide basic underpinning ideas and orientation to enable students to be more professionally aware of the field in which they practice and it will support their capacity to understand, communicate and work effectively with other professionals. Students will read about 5 different approaches and hear presentations about their underpinning theory and how this is expressed in practice.

Module aims

The aims of the module are to

1. encourage students to consider their own career development
2. examine the current and classic employability theory and research in relation to wider citizenship/human development
3. gain a deeper understanding of the graduate labour market and how to skilfully navigate a path(s) through it
4. critically reflect upon how theory, practical knowledge and experience informs career/self-development
5. bring to students the awareness of other orientations and facilitate constructive relationships with children’s services
6. enable students to understand where psychodynamic thinking is situated in a wider range of approaches
7. lay the foundations for students to be able to make informed judgements as to what is the most appropriate intervention in particular cases

Module learning outcomes

On completion of the module students will:

1. be able to discuss sections of the graduate labour market that are relevant to a career of interest
2. be able to reflect on theory, job market knowledge and self to inform career choice
3. be able to understand and discuss non-psychodynamic therapeutic approaches to children
4. acknowledge the relationships between psychodynamic and other methodological approaches
5. have sufficient knowledge and respect of other orientations to support constructive professional networking and collaboration
6. be able to listen carefully to professionals, critically assess, debate, persuade, and challenge ideas and approaches

Module information

No additional information available.

Learning and teaching methods

10 x two hour sessions (mixture of lectures, seminars, presentations and panels) Weekly office hour during the teaching term (no appointment necessary)

Bibliography

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting
Coursework   Career Research Project    45% 
Coursework   Essay    55% 

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Ebenezer Cudjoe, email: e.cudjoe@essex.ac.uk.
Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies and Employability and Careers Centre
Student Administrator Room 5A.202 telephone 01206 874969 email ppsug@essex.ac.uk

 

Availability
No
No
No

External examiner

Prof Heather Montgomery
The Open University
Professor of Anthropology and Childhood
Resources
Available via Moodle
Of 20 hours, 20 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.

 

Further information
Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies

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