Information About Postgraduate Courses in Childcare?
Studying childcare as a postgraduate likely means that you have already decided to enter into a career as some kind of carer. This could be in a clinical, social or institutional format. The knowledge you will learn during your postgraduate studies will not enable you to easily cross over into a non-related field of work.
Postgraduate Courses in Childcare Trends
Childcare falls under the overall category of social studies. In 2015-2016 in Ireland, almost 300 students took a postgraduate course in social studies, which included Childcare. This meant that social studies was the 8th most popular subject for postgraduate students in Ireland in 2015-2016.
Research Subjects for Postgraduate Courses in Childcare
When you are thinking about the research topic you would like to work on, and the eventual thesis you will write, then it is important to know that research topics offered differ from university to university, depending upon the curriculum on offer. However, typical research topics could include:
- Children’s rights – research into the rights of children, and how they need to be adapted to work within the modern political and social environment.
- Pro-social behaviour and risk-taking in young people – research into how young people behave with regard to analysing risk and the divers of behaviour.
- Masculinity and emerging adulthood – research into how young males make the transition from adolescent to adult.
- Theories of child development – research into the many facets of child development, the how and why of it.
- Spaces and places of childhood – research into how the environment can shape young people.
- Political theory, children, and young people – how young people have a place in politics and how their rights can be protected and improved.
Specialisations in Postgraduate Courses in Childcare
When you choose to study for a postgraduate qualification in childcare you will have to choose a specific specialisation that your studies will focus upon. Typical specialisations include:
- Childhood practice – focusing on the general practice of providing childcare.
- Adolescent, child and family health – concentrating on matters that affect the health of a child, and how the family unit relates to this.
- Child and adolescent mental health and well-being – focusing on the mental health issues, rather than general health issues of young people.
- Specialist child care practice – a specialisation which focuses on the practice of providing healthcare to children with special needs.
Studying Postgraduate Courses in Childcare for Professional Reasons
A postgraduate qualification in childcare shows that the student cares about young people and the way they interact with society. This qualification has a narrow footprint with regards to commercial sectors for which the skills are applicable. Put simply, studying childcare as a postgrad generally means the student intends to go into a childcare related career.
Job Roles Which Completing Postgraduate Courses in Childcare Will Potentially Open Up
A postgrad in childcare opens up a number of potential career possibilities, although these are primarily within childcare related fields, such as:
- Working with children who suffer from some form of disability and illness, or those that are being reared in a vulnerable setting.
- Community welfare and social care, working with young people in the community, either as a direct carer or some form of counsellor.
- Supporting disadvantaged children and families within the community, providing direct care either in the home or within a clinic.
In Conclusion
Studying for a postgraduate qualification in childcare does not offer a very wide range of career options. People who study for a postgraduate in childcare generally intend to work in the field, rather than switch to a related field.
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