Education and Early Childhood Studies
The Centre for Education & Early Childhood Studies (EEC) provides a range of quality programmes.
Underpinning the philosophy of the Centre of Education & Early Childhood studies is a passion for social justice and equality. The team is dynamic and energetic, and strives to provide excellence in research, teaching and learning.
Teaching
There are six single undergraduate programmes that are wholly managed within the Centre:
- Early Childhood Studies
- Education Studies and Early Years
- Education Studies and English (Closes in one year)
- Education Studies and Physical Education
- Education Studies and Special & Inclusive Needs
- Mathematics and Education Studies
Collaboration with other Schools and Centres within the University and external agencies has enabled the team to draw on strengths of the programmes and develop extended products within the portfolio to produce the Higher Education Diploma Safer Schools Police Officers with Merseyside Police.
The Centre has also developed a range of CPD short courses based in Nepal in conjunction with the University of Kathmandu. This is part of a policy to develop the international basis of the Centre’s work. The Centre is also working with the social enterprise organisation Aspire – based in the Wirral to further develop these links, specifically in India.
An Erasmus/Socrates agreement for students is in place with the University of Oldenburg in Germany.
Research & Scholarly Activity
Enterprise
The Centre is a newly created unit within the Faculty and as only been in existence since September 2010. Though the Centre is new there is a strong foundation for the Centre to develop and grow both in terms of its undergraduate provision but also in the area of research and publication. There are a number of on-going research projects within the Centre, for example:
- The educational needs of female ex-hard drug users
- Home education and the special needs child
- Islamic home education
The wide range of expertise within the Centre is a real strength and we are developing a national reputation for the quality of our research and writing. A number of colleagues are already capable of being entered into the coming REF; it is a Centre target that 75% of the Centre’s membership will be including in the REF.
The Centre is about to embark upon the publication of occasional papers on a range of subject in electronic format. The Liverpool Papers will address research and policy questions across a range of areas with a focus on education.
Colleagues in the Centre have published collectively with the Open University Press, Routledge and Continuum. Book publishing is an on-going activity in the Centre and there will be a number of books published in the year 2011. Specific research interests of this team include the education of looked-after children, student support in Higher Education and supporting siblings of disabled children.
The ability to attract funding allows us to work very closely with a range of agencies in interdisciplinary areas of work such as childhood studies and creativity are growing in strength, as demonstrated by our work this year with the Brouhaha project in Liverpool.
International collaboration with two institutions in Nepal and one in Cambodia has resulted in the Centre gaining funding from the British Council for a project to develop peace building education in both countries in conjunction with Kathmandu University, Search for Common Ground (Nepal) and Paññasastra University of Cambodia.
Professor Patrick Carmichael is part of the Centre and his international research project forms part of the profile of the Centre. The project examines technology, Web2 resources and educational pedagogy across a range of disciplines including journalism, education and archaeology. Professor Carmichael works with a number of institutions including University of Sydney, City University, MIT and Cambridge University. There is also a possibility that as part of the development of the Centre is developing teaching resources based on the project for our undergraduate programmes.
Enterprise
As a new Centre we are in the process of developing our enterprise profile. One of the most exciting enterprise possibilities is in relationship with Merseyside Police through the Safer Schools Police Officers course. Both Merseyside Police and LJMU are looking to work with, initially, other forces throughout the UK in delivering the course SSOs across England, developing CPD based on the modules aimed at the private and third sectors. The LJMU Business Development Unit has also indentified possible international markets for the course.
The Centre has an enterprise advocate who is leading the development of our enterprise activities.
