Childhood, Youth and Education

Entry requirements

A 2:2 (or above) UK Honours degree or an equivalent internationally recognised qualification.

Applicants with other degrees along with relevant experience will be considered on an individual basis.

Months of entry

September

Course content

This interdisciplinary Masters applies a comparative, cross-cultural approach to understanding the relationship between childhood, youth and education.

The first of its kind in the UK, the degree draws on insights from anthropology, geography, development studies, education and sociology. This interdisciplinary approach will equip you with the top-notch analytical skills you need in the contemporary world to pursue careers in education and teaching, government and the civil services, international development and aid work, counselling, educational and child psychology, youth services, community and social work, advocacy and policy making, community outreach, healthcare and paediatric specialisms, non-governmental agencies, and much more.

The degree will appeal to those intending to work with or for children and young people, within or outside of educational settings across the globe, as you seek to understand the contemporary issues, debates and challenges that impact upon current and future generations.

Teaching for this degree is research-led and the curriculum is continuously updated in response to contemporary global events that impact on childhood, youth and education. A combination of lectures and interactive seminars, presentations and debates will challenge you to critically address questions about:

• How ideas about ‘childhood’, ‘youth’ and ‘education’ differ across cultures
• Learning, identity and social difference
• The way children’s everyday lives impact on their education
• Child rights and child labour
• Young people and migration
• Class, race and gender
• Youth cultures and subcultures
• Education, inequality and social reproduction

Through cross-cultural comparison, you will interrogate these kinds of issues, along with prevailing assumptions about the relationship between childhood, youth and education.

As well as undertaking rigorous intellectual training, you will have the opportunity to carry out your own ethnographic fieldwork in the UK or overseas. In recent years, Brunel students have carried out fieldwork in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Philippines, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, China, Morocco, and New Zealand, as well as within the UK and the rest of Europe.

Information for international students

English language requirements

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
• Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT: 63% (min 58% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 90 (min 20 in all)

You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our English Language Requirements page.

Fees and funding

Learn more at the postgraduate funding page.