Young People, Social Inclusion & Change
Programme structure
The Master of Science in Young People, Social Inclusion & Change comprises of four core-courses, two option courses and a dissertation, which will total 180 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF).
Core courses
Perspectives on Youth and Young Adulthood
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This course introduces students to some of the key concepts used to understand the lives of young people in late modernity. Drawing on the work of influential social scientists such as Beck, Giddens and Sennett and utilising up-to-date empirical studies, the course seeks to promote an understanding of the changing lives of young people in a wide range of contexts including education, employment and unemployment, dependency and family relations, youth cultures and lifestyles, identities, values and beliefs, health and health related behaviours, crime and politics and civic engagement.
Young People, Learning and Development
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This course draws on social, emotional, cultural and pedagogical theories and considers the development and transitions of young people and their learning experiences particularly with reference to health and well-being, family, social and economic status, pedagogy, schooling and the curriculum, literacy and language, learning outside school and the various physical, social, emotional and educational transitions they experience. Policies designed to influence these experiences, the research and/or assumptions on which they are based as well as the research into the effects of the policies are also examined.
Modern Educational Thought
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This course explores significant concepts, debates and discourses on theoretical issues that are important for students engaged in the study and practice of education. This course is focussed on central questions around the aims and purposes of education and ways in which modern educational thought plays out in professional practice and/or policy contexts. In addressing these questions, we will take as a starting point the claim that the development of rational autonomy, that is the Enlightenment project, is the central aim of education. Thus the course will begin with key readings in the history of ‘liberal’ thinking on education. It will encourage a critical reading of texts in the history of modern educational ideas, taking into account critiques of the liberal tradition from positions that include Marxism, postmodernism, communitarianism and feminism.
Introduction to Educational & Social Research
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This course is an introduction to educational and social research. The overall aim of the course is to provide students with a fundamental level of research literacy. The aims of the course are:
- introduce students to current concerns in the philosophy and political economy of research
- provide students with experience in reading and critically reviewing research
- prepare students to conduct a research project of appropriate scope
- inform students about the intersections between method, methodology and approaches to enquiry
- ensure that students have the preparation they need for further study of research methods and methodology
- develop understanding of applying enquiry methods to a specific problem.
Option courses
Students have a choice of two of the two following options. Please note that options maybe subject to change.
Developmental Psychology
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This course aims to assist students to: explore the developmental changes experienced from infancy to adolescence; evaluate critically the main theoretical perspectives on how development occurs; engage in the debates surrounding the roles of nature and nurture in development; emphasise the particular methodological complexities associated with research in this area; review critically empirical evidence relevant to each of the areas discussed.
The Disabling Society
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This course is designed to give students fresh insights into the concepts associated with disablement in modern society. Disability as an equal opportunities issue is explored through the study of contemporary organisations and institutionalised practices. The primary aim of this course is to introduce students to the historical and theoretical roots of disablement in modern society. It will provide a basic grounding in modern disability theory and will explore disability and disablement as an equal opportunity issue through the study of contemporary organisations and institutionalised practices. These include education, work, access to health and healthcare, cultural representations of disabled people and the provision of social support.
Sexualities & Society
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
The primary aim of the course is to introduce students to sexualities in contemporary society - Scotland and the UK, in international perspective - and their contested relationships to conceptions of 'equality' and 'human rights', and 'citizenship'. The course will explore theoretical approaches to sexualities in sociology, drawing contrasts with biological and psychological theories, and also explore the relationship of these approaches to contemporary debates over law and policy with some reference to research in socio-legal studies, social policy and politics. Inter-relationships between sexuality and other dimensions of inequality such as gender, 'race', class and 'age' will be analysed. There will be a particular focus on themes including young people and childhood, the legal regulation of young people’s sexual behaviour, sexuality and religion, queer theory, transgenderism, sexual violence and human rights.
Crime & Community Safety
20 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
This course is designed to provide students with a broad knowledge of youth crime and anti-social behaviour, their consequences and the endeavour to manage these problems in various urban arenas. Specifically, students will be encouraged to critically analyse the causes of these phenomena and utilise these insights to evaluate national and local strategies designed to combat specific youth behaviours and the public anxieties they are assumed to generate. Overall, the module requires students to investigate the multiple relationships between crime, community and safety.
Dissertation
60 credits at masters level 11 (SCQF)
The dissertation gives students the opportunity to investigate an area of young people’s lives in-depth. Students are encouraged to follow their own interests in the design of the dissertation and will be fully supported by their allocated supervisor throughout their research.