Unit information: Children in a Global Context in 2020/21

Unit name	Children in a Global Context
Unit code	SPOL32008
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Twum-Danso Imoh
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	Nonechi
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School for Policy Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will adopt sociological, anthropological and social policy approaches to explore conceptualisations of childhood, child development and children’s rights within global processes, policies and programmes and examine how these interact with the reality of children’s lives in diverse social, political, cultural and economic contexts.

Aims

• To explore conceptualisations of childhood, child development and children’s rights within global processes as articulated within international laws, global social policies and the efforts of international agencies and institutions.
• To examine how global processes, policies and programmes shape and influence child-focused initiatives in a range of social, cultural, economic and political contexts.
• To assess the responses of children and their families to these global processes, policies and programmes upon encountering them in the contexts in which they live their everyday lives.
• To illuminate the values, norms and factors which inform and shape the responses of children and their families to global processes, policies and programmes.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit students will:

Teaching Information

Teaching will be delivered through blended learning involving a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including weekly lectures provided via narrated powerpoint presentations, practical activities supported by study-group sessions and self-directed exercises. The narrated power point presentations will cover more conceptual and theoretical aspects of the module whilst more applied, substantive, in-depth and extended learning will take the form of self-paced, material delivered electronically, and undertaken individually or supported by pair and group work. Students will receive regular feedback from the module convenor as well as their peers. We will make use of online forum and collaboration tools to foster a collaborative, creative and community mindset. Feedback will be provided for formal assessments, preparation for which will be supported through online activities and in study group sessions with the module convenor

Assessment Information

Part 1: 1500-word portfolio (50%)- this will assess learning outcomes 1, 3, 4.

Part 2: 1500 word essay (50%) - this will assess learning outcomes 1-3

Reading and References

Ansell, N. (2016 second edition), Children, Youth and Development, London: Routledge.

Twum-Danso Imoh, A., Bourdillon, M. and Meichsner, S. (eds.) (2018), Global Childhoods Beyond the North-South Divide, New York: Palgrave.

Penn, H. (2005) Unequal Childhoods: young children’s lives in poor countries. Oxon: Routledge. HQ792.2 PEN]

Wells. K. (2009) Childhood in a Global Perspective. Cambridge: Policy Press. [HQ767.9 WEL]