BA in Working with Children and Young People: Social Pedagogy
Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
BA
DURATION
3 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
GBP 9,250 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* UK students: £9,250 per year | international: £15,800 for the first year
Key Summary
About: Studying Social Pedagogy at Kingston gives practical foundations to support children and young people. You'll learn to care for, empower and safeguard young people via a combined education-and-care approach, covering child development, ethics, diversity and relationship-based practice. Field trips, workshops and two placements provide experience. The course is endorsed by the Social Pedagogy Professional Association and awards the title Social Pedagogy Practitioner.
Career Outcomes: Graduates work in youth, health, social care and education. Roles include youth worker, family support worker, nursery practitioner, teaching assistant. It prepares you for postgraduate study such as Master of Social Work or MSc Nursing.
Studying Social Pedagogy at Kingston will give you strong foundations for a career that makes a real difference to young people’s lives.
You’ll learn how to care for, empower and safeguard young people, developing the skills you need for professional opportunities in settings like health, social care, education and youth justice.
Through field trips, workshops and two work placements, you’ll gain practical experience and deepen your understanding of child development, life transitions, ethics and diversity and relationship-based professional practice.
Because this course is endorsed by the Social Pedagogy Professional Association (SPPA), you’ll graduate with the professional title of Social Pedagogy Practitioner.
During the course, you’ll take a combined education and care approach. You’ll emphasise the responsibility of families and society in the upbringing of children, and the importance of young people taking charge of their lives.
You will get familiar with the range of services for children and young people, benefiting from the expertise of lecturers and professionals from many different disciplines.
Why choose this course?
While you study, you’ll benefit from top quality teaching at Kingston University. We’re ranked Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework, and 95.5% of students on this course thought staff were good at explaining things (NSS 2023).
We collaborate across Kingston University and with external organisations to solve social care issues. This means you’ll have the chance to try out your learning on real-life problems.
Our expert teaching staff will encourage you to explore different ways of working through innovative workshops. You’ll develop research skills, think creatively and produce exciting ideas to benefit children, young people and their families.
Outside of the University, you’ll spend time applying your learning in real practice environments on placement. Placements will be in settings such as youth justice, early intervention, health services, schools and children's centres. There’s also the option to find your own placement in a field you feel passionate about.
You’ll even have the opportunity to study abroad in one of our European partner universities.
We want to ensure anyone with potential and drive has the opportunity to study with us, no matter their background or financial situation. That's why each year, we provide a number of bursaries to help our undergraduate students gain their degree.
- The Kingston bursary
- Bursaries for care leavers
- Bursaries for estranged students
- Bursaries for young adult carers
- Bursaries for Sanctuary Scholars
- Chancerygate Foundation bursary
- Salutem scholarships
- AVSH scholarship
What you will study
Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list. Those listed here may also be a mixture of core and optional modules. Some modules are taught alongside our social work students.
Year 1
In Year 1 you will learn theories and concepts of human growth, development and life transitions, and gain awareness of ethics and diversity.
Core modules
- Social Pedagogy Practice Values and Ethics
- Working with Children and Young People: Professional Roles and Contexts
- Preparation for Practice with Children and Young People
- Children And Young People's Development, Relationships And Social Contexts
Year 2
In Year 2 you will develop in-depth social pedagogic knowledge, an understanding of children's law and rights, and the importance of safeguarding.
Core modules
- Children and Young People: Rights and Responsibilities
- Social Pedagogy
- Practice Experience: Local and International Contexts
- Interprofessional Perspectives: Safeguarding and support for children, young people
Year 3
Year 3 will inform your future career through further work placement opportunities. You will work in groups designing an idea which will benefit children and young people and will develop a deep understanding of the research, systems and professional practice that impact children's lives.
Core modules
- Practice Experience 2: Planning for your future career
- Developing Creative Approaches to Working with Children and Young People
- Working with Children and Young People: Capstone Project
- Working with Children and Young People in Context: Relationships and Professional Practice
Please note
Optional modules only run if there is enough demand. If we have an insufficient number of students interested in an optional module, that module will not be offered for this course.
After you graduate
When you enter the workforce, after graduating from this course, your study and placement experience will have prepared you for effective interprofessional working with children and young people in a variety of roles such as:
- Youth offending team officer
- Youth worker
- Family support worker
- Social work assistant
- Nursery and Early Years practitioner
- Teaching assistant
- Healthcare support worker
- Maternity support worker
- Nursing support worker
- Speech and language support worker
This course is also excellent preparation to progress onto study at the postgraduate level on our professional courses:
- Master of Social Work (2 years)
- MSc Nursing (Adult, Child, Learning Disability, Mental Health) (2 years)
- PGCE Primary Teaching (1 year)