Early Years, PgCert

University of Aberdeen

The programme aims to provide a response to the continuing professional development needs of fully qualified educationalists wishing to advance their skills and knowledge, enhance their professional practice, and extend their capacity to lead and shape change in a range of educational settings through part-time study by e-learning.The programme has a strong focus on Early Years Education through transformative professionalism – an enhanced and extended professionalism which has at its core the need for practitioners to take evidence-based action to generate professional knowledge and move practice forward.This form of professionalism, in contrast with older formulations, is characterised not by self interest and external regulation, but rather by the motivation to contribute to the collaborative development of practice and make informed contributions to professional debate.The aims of the programme are to enhance and extend the skills, knowledge and understanding of the participants in the following ways:developing advanced knowledge and understanding of educational issues and theories in Early Years Education (0 – 8)developing the capacity to analyse critically evidence and arguments to support professional judgements in complex and ambiguous situations relating to Early Years Educationmaking an informed contribution to current educational debates and discussions concerning Early Years Educationapplying advanced knowledge and understanding of a range of theoretical perspectives and approaches to enhance personal professional practice in a variety of Early Years settingsdeveloping the capacity to shape and lead change in a variety of policy and practice settingsexploiting opportunities to use research to generate professional knowledge and enhance policy and practice.