Youth Work and Community Development MA/PG Dip

About the course

The Youth Work and Community Development course has a broad and generic focus on informal education, particularly for those involved in inter-professional work, in relation to work with young people and communities. The Course offers a flexible, yet coherent, programme of study, with a professional qualification in youth and community development work upon graduation, which enables successful graduates to practice as a qualified health/youth and community development worker in the UK.

It is suitable for staff in local authorities, the NHS, voluntary and third sector who use group work, informal learning and activity, outreach and community work especially those working with young people and adults often labelled as hard to reach. This very flexible distance learning course can be studied part time or full time.

The Youth Work and Community Development course attracts staff from across the UK from a variety of settings such as:

• Parenting education
• Youth work
• Children’s centres
• Sexual health roles
• Drug abuse
• Housing and homelessness
• Youth offending
• Mental health
• Community development
• Domestic violence

• Being professionally validated by the National Youth Agency (NYA) and recognised by the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC)
• Our reputation for academic excellence. Which is endorsed by the Endorsement and Quality Standards Board for Community Development Learning
• Developing your practical and professional skills, and putting theory in to practice with dedicated work placement modules
• Our range of specialist optional modules which have been designed for staff in local authorities, the NHS, voluntary, third sector and NGOs; ensuring your learning is relevant to current practice
• Our international reputation in the field, or more than 50 years’ professional training experience
• Our teaching which draws on the practical and research-based experiences of our diverse academic team
• Developing innovative, progressive practitioners, who are able to engage reflectively with concepts and practices of social justice and equality

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Key facts

Duration: Two–three years part-time/distance learning

Location: Distance learning, with occasional attendance at De Montfort University

Attendance: One teaching block week in October is compulsory. Further teaching days are dependent on the specialist modules chosen. Some modules are launched over weekends.. The second teaching block in February is dependent on module choices (if you enrol in February the whole week will then be compulsory). All module launch days are compulsory.

Start date: October 2014 or February 2015

Entry and admission criteria

• You need to demonstrate that you can work at master’s level which can be achieved through having a first degree, normally 2:2 or above, or by having a range of academic and work experience
• You may be required to undertake pre-registration modules before starting or complete an agreed portfolio of learning in the form of a 2,000–2,500 word pre-course assignment, determined at application or interview stage
• You must be engaged in at least 12 hours’ appropriate work, paid or unpaid, per week
• You will need to attend an interview – telephone interviews can be arranged if needed.

You must complete a declaration form and enhanced CRB disclosure application form (if you are overseas you will also need to submit a criminal records certificate from your home country), before starting the course, which need to be cleared in accordance with DMU's admission policy. Contact us for up-to-date information.

If English is not your first language an IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent when you start the course is essential. English language tuition, delivered by our British Council-accredited Centre for English Language Learning, is available both before and during the course if you need it. To find out more, please visit dmu.ac.uk/international|

Teaching and assessment

The distance learning course works to build a learning community, from the initial contact on selection day and in the induction periods onwards. Assessment is usually by written assignment of 4,000 words per 15-credit module.

Field practice assessment requires written evidence, assignments and reports of competence from the supervisor. Contributions to online seminars are compulsory and also an attendance requirement.

Course modules

The course consists of four core modules, one core field placement module, and three specialist modules taken from a list of some 12 modules. You may then seek to exit with a PG Dip, or remain on the course to complete your dissertation for an MA. All core modules and most option modules are launched during one of two block teaching weeks held each year (usually in October and February). Attendance at launch days is compulsory.

These are supported by a wide variety of written material, individual and corporate tasks. You are required to engage in a number of online seminars in each module. You are required to identify a supervisor who will primarily support your field practice, but may also provide a dialogue partner to discuss wider issues arising from the course. You will complete a minimum of 592 hours of field practice, of which 442 hours will be based in your own workplace and 150 hours must be outside of your employing agency.

Core modules include:

• Issues of Health and Well-being (15 credits) introduces key concepts, and explore these in relation to practice, policy and the national occupation standards
• Theory and Practice of Community Development (15 credits) focuses on community development and will introduce key concepts in relation to practice, policy and the National Occupation Standards
• Health and Social Research Methods 1 (15 credits) introduces a limited number of strategies and methods of social science research
• Field Practice (15 credits) is practice-based (150 hours) and provides you with the opportunity to further develop your experience and understanding of the role of the informal educator at JNC Professional Range in a youth and community work setting different to your usual workplace
• Management of Services and People (15 credits) seeks to enhance self-confidence and performance as a manager through critically examining some of the central issues in project management.

Specialist modules (15 credits) include:

• Mental Health looks at the main concerns surrounding mental health services and a consideration of the potential role they might play within their practice of youth work and community development work
• Peer Health Learning recognises the growing importance of peer-led educational initiatives, especially in the field of health education
• Designing, Delivering and Assessing Learning aims to support and improve your knowledge and skills for designing, delivering and assessing learning of your staff and/or clients
• Supervision in Youth and Community Development seeks to enable you to examine and develop your own supervision practice in the light of critical consideration of meaning and context
• Social Exclusion, Disaffection and Youth Work is designed to further the skills and knowledge of professional practitioners to take account of the emerging and changing policy agenda for work with young people
• Faith and Community Development will consider the ways in which religious beliefs are expressed in individual and corporate behavior
• Global Issues in Youth and Community Development gives the opportunity to globalise theory and practice of community development
• Managing Race and Diversity aims to analyse concepts of oppression, discrimination and inequality
• The Negotiated Module provides an opportunity to study in an area which is important to your academic and professional development
• Anti-Oppressive Practice analyses concepts of oppression, discrimination and inequality and develops effective anti-oppressive and anti-discriminatory practice
  Young People, Active Citizenship and Participation supports critical engagement with issues of citizenship, identity and belonging, rights and responsibilities when applied to the contexts of young people’s lived experiences.

Academic expertise

We benefit from one of the largest teams in the UK, with more than 50 years’ experience. The team continue to work for a range of organisations that work with young people, including charities, voluntary and statutory agencies at local, national and international levels.

Thematic areas of interest include a specialist expertise and interest in global youth and community development work (resulting in numerous conferences and publications by Dr Momodou Sallah|, a leading expert in this area).

Work with black young people (again, resulting in key conferences and texts by Carlton Howson and Momodou Sallah|).

Youth participation and citizenship (including an evaluation of a beacon councils initiative and ongoing partnership work with the Centre for Social Action|).

Anti-oppressive practice (Dr Jagdish Chouhan|).

Hospital and other health related work (Dr Scott Yates) and the context, management and operation of children and young people’s services (Mary Tyler, and recent high profile work undertaken by visiting professors Bernard Davies and Bryan Merton).

In the last five years seven books have been published by authors in the division with a further two forthcoming titles.

The research activities of the division influence our teaching. Many of the core and specialist modules on the postgraduate courses draw directly from the research activities of the teaching staff.

Graduate careers

Graduates follow a wide range of senior posts in youth work, and health and community development work in both the statutory and voluntary sector. An MA is a recommended qualification for workers to hold senior positions.

Fees and funding

UK/EU Full-time £5925 Part Time Year 1
£2765 Year 2
£1580 Year 3 Dissertation Fees
£1580 International
Full-time £12,200

Scholarships

As part of the universities commitment to enhancing the personal and career development of our graduates. We are pleased to announce the launch of the 2013/14.
Alumni scholarship programme. For more information visit Health and Life Sciences Alumni Scholarships >|