As you all may (or may not) know, I am currently studying for a master’s degree in childhood and youth studies. I’m doing it part-time with the Open University and will hopefully be finished in 2025. I thought, this year, I would bring you along for the ride.
Master’s Degree in Childhood and Youth: The Modules
Studying part-time means that I shall be doing my master’s over three years. To give you an idea of what is normal, most master’s take one year. The number of hours required from me is 14 per week, or two hours a day. If last year was anything to go by, I usually study between two and three hours a day and then spend most of Saturday working. Below are the three modules which make up my degree.
Children and Young People’s Worlds
My first module, worth 60 credits, was called ‘Children and Young People’s Worlds’. I so enjoyed this module and ended up scoring an astounding (at least to me) 93% over all, which is a distinction. This was momentous to me because:
1. I didn’t realise I was capable of achieving such a high grade. After all, I only got a 2:2 for my nursing degree. I have always considered myself a middle of the road student. I always work ridiculously hard, but never really seem to get top grades.
2. The second reason I was so happy with this grade is that I need to get a distinction across the three modules to even be considered to do a doctorate, especially with my 2:2 degree. Do I want to do a doctorate? I’m not sure. But I’d like to have the option to do one.
Frameworks for Critical Practice
My second module is called ‘Frameworks for Critical Practice with Children and Young People’. This is the one I am currently studying. From what I understand from reading the text book, this module focuses very much on being able to reflect critically on one’s practices and change them accordingly. It is about reading the research, applying this research and reflecting on the positives and negative of such an application. In short, it sounds a little heavier than the first module. I’m not sure, as a stay at home mum, how I am going to apply this to me. However, I know the module has been created to be accessible to all, so hopefully my experience as a homeschool mum will count for something.
Research Module
My final module will be research based. This is either in the form of an extensive literature review or by carrying out original research myself. I am excited for this module as I may do a review of literature surrounding homeschooling. But first, I need to do well in the critical practice based module.
Balancing a Master’s Degree in Childhood and Youth with Everything Else
I am planning on sharing tips and hints to study as a homeschool mum, as well as sharing my struggles and (hopefully) successes along the way.
I feel incredibly blessed to have access to education like this, as well as the support of my family. The hours allotted for this degree are approximately 14 hours a week. That said, I know from last year that I will need to put in many more than this to stay on top of the work and my grades. I LOVE to study so this will not be a hardship at all for me. However, balancing being a good wife and mother, homeschool, running a small business from home and keeping the house to a bare minimum of cleanliness whilst doing a master’s degree in childhood and youth is going to be a huge juggling act. But I’ve done it before (minus the business) and I shall endeavour to do it again.
I hope you enjoy getting a peek into this side of my life.
Good luck! I have my masters in what we call Early Childhood Education here in the states that focuses primarily on children ages birth right up through 3rd grade (so about age 8 or 9). I already had a bachelor’s in child psychology so that helped tremendously in my master’s classes since there was a lot of overlap with child development. BUT….. I did all that before kids so it was much easier to manage my time.
Thank you! Hopefully it won’t be too hard to juggle given that the children are a bit older now. I’m looking forward to getting back into study mode again!