Course Summary
Delivered through blended learning, you can work full-time and study this MA in Early Childhood Care & Education. As with any other profession holding a Masters Degree elevates your knowledge, qualifications and career opportunities offering you the opportunity to build further on the strong foundation you have acquired from your undergraduate studies.
College Link
Career Sectors
This course prepares you for working in the Career Sectors below. Follow the links to get a fuller understanding of the sectors you are preparing for.
Entry Requirements
There are entry criteria available to students with differing qualifications however students must hold a relevant honours degree (at least 2:2) and it is preferable you work within the early childhood workforce.
Some of the modules require an observational visit to a setting offering care and education for children from birth to six-years-old. Where you’re not working directly with children you will need to be able to commit to this component of the programme.
Applicants who do not meet the criteria, may be eligible for advanced entry into the BA Ord or Hons in Early Childhood Studies. This programme is available through Portobello Institute.
Please note places on this course are restricted and places only confirmed once tuition fees have been received. Early Application is advised.
Application Details
Entry to this Masters is by direct application to Portobello Institute.
Start Date: 14th October 2023
Fees
Course Price
Per academic year.
€4,315.00
Exam Body Reg. Fee
Per academic year.
€435.00
The Student
Career Interests
This course is typically suited for people with the following Career Interests. If these interests do not describe you, this course may prepare you for work you may not find satisfying.
Social
The Social person's interests focus on interacting with the people in their environment. In all cases, the Social person enjoys the personal contact with other people in preference to the impersonal dealings with things, data and ideas found in other groups.
Many will seek out positions where there is direct contact with the public in some advisory role, whether a receptionist or a counsellor. Social people are motivated by an interest in different types of people and like diversity in their work environments. Many are drawn towards careers in the caring professions and social welfare area, whilst others prefer teaching and other 'informing' roles.
Career Progression
As our society has become more diverse, there is a growing awareness of the importance of early years settings and the service provided not just to children and families but also to society as a whole. This has resulted in a growth in the number and variety of job positions available in the sector, some of these are new roles not previously imagined.
Broaden your career opportunities with a Masters
Employers in every sector are raising the educational requirements for emerging roles, the early years sector is not immune. A masters in Early Childhood Studies can open up a range of job opportunities for you both in and out of the early years setting that you may not have previously considered or even been eligible for.
Consider areas of administration, working as part of the inspectorate, tutoring on level 7 degree programmes, policy development, research into the early years sector, working as a Standards Verifier of external results; The opportunities are much wider than you possibly are aware of and all of these opportunities put your expertise and experience of the early years sector to good use, enhancing your career opportunities.
Be a leader of the early years sector
With an MA Early Childhood Studies, you have the opportunity also to lead and enhance the early years sector and gain the recognitions deserved for the early years profession. You will continue to have an impact on children at a critical part in their lives, but you can develop how and where you do this; taking on advisory and consultation roles, lecturing roles and inspectorate roles to lead change in the sector.
Command a higher pay scale
A Masters degree will immediately increase your earning potential due to the wider range of career opportunities that will now be open to you. This Masters in Early Childhood Studies qualification will elevate your employability and give you the opportunity to command a higher pay scale than your less qualified peers.
What will a Masters mean to me in practice?
All of the knowledge you will gain together with the experience you have, you will find beneficial when you are working with children or you have children or grandchildren of your own. Understanding why children behave in a particular way, how to support them during difficult times, being aware of what they are doing and why they do these things. You will see the bigger picture. As you advance through your Masters –everything that you absorb – psychology, research techniques, theory, curriculum design, classroom management, diversity, complexities of childhoods in context – will all come together to give you a well-rounded understanding of childhood learning and development.
Develop your leadership skills for quality provision
You will further develop your skills of reflective practice, leadership, innovation and quality provision. You will continue to develop and strengthen your powers of observation and assessment. Watching and assessing children is a big part of our practice, especially at early childhood level. Assessment of progress in these early stages relies solely on your sense of where their needs lie and will rely on your powers of observation. Your engagement with psychology and child development will enhance this area of your skills, making you a valuable asset to any part of the early years sector. This Masters will help you to become a careful, dispassionate observer of young children, effectively appraising their progress and highlight potential areas of concern.
Exit points on this Masters
After completing the two modules delivered in the first year of this course you will be awarded a Post Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood Studies should you wish to exit the programme and not continue to second year. If you wish to exit the programme after completing a further two modules (four in total), you will be awarded a Post Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Studies. Students who complete four modules and the required dissertation project will be awarded a Masters in Early Childhood Studies.