EdD in Early Childhood Education

This is a distance-learning, taught programme based around residential weekend study schools. The weekends are held in Sheffield and run from 4pm Friday through to Sunday lunchtime (October, February and May each year) with an Induction Day for new students on the Friday of the first October weekend. The programme incorporates six structured modules with a substantial thesis involving sustained research on a particular issue or topic related to early childhood education. This is a broad and flexible research based programme that will be relevant to a range of professional and managerial careers and is especially suited to part-time study.

The EdD ECE examines a variety of aspects of educational research and is for those who wish to research their practice in early childhood education in more depth, whether working in early years settings with, or offering other services for young children and their families. The course aims to provide students with both a thorough grounding in the philosophy, principles and practice of educational research, and a critical understanding of key contemporary issues in relation to early childhood education.

The course aims to enable students to:

• Conduct high quality research into early childhood education in a supportive environment, with leading scholars in the field
• Explore practice, policies, theories and new ideas relating to early childhood education
• Acquire theoretical and applied knowledge of contemporary issues in early childhood education and develop a theoretical lens to look at specific issues
• Gain a doctorate in a supported manner, while still working full-time