Curriculum 2014 – ZYB214SJ (in English)

LAUREA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

Degree Programme in Social Services, Development and Management of Family-Centered Early Childhood,
ZYB214SJ

Ylemmät ammattikorkeakoulututkinnot

Laurea's Mission

Laurea is a student-centred, international, inspiring and innovative university of applied sciences whose mission is to
conduct education, research, development and innovation activities and produce new knowledge by applying the
principles of the Learning by Developing (LbD) operating model.

Laurea's focus areas are service business, expertise in nursing and coping at home as well as security, safety and
social responsibility. Education offered at Laurea as well as research and development activities are based on these
focus areas. Student entrepreneurship is a cross-cutting focus area. Student entrepreneurship is visible as an
entrepreneurial attitude, cooperation with companies and as concrete new businesses the establishing of which is
supported during the studies.

Competence Development in Master's Studies

Laurea's model of Learning by Developing (LbD) is based on authentic encounters with the world of work. The
typical characteristics of LbD include authenticity, partnership, experiential nature, creativity and a research-oriented
approach. Learning by Developing combines learning that produces competence with creativity through various
research and development projects.

In Master's degree programmes, the learning process comprises a future-oriented process of research and
development, in the course of which the students develop their competence by producing new knowledge and skills
related to questions that cannot be solved merely by relying on previously acquired knowledge and competence.
Learning is a way of creating new knowledge and competence that links learning to innovation activities in the
relevant field and area. For the students, the period they spend in education is a collective project for building up
their expertise and developing and exceeding themselves, aiming for a combination of knowledge that is relevant
and useful from the perspective of future workplace requirements.

The foundation for competence development is an enriching community. The community is an environment of
shared expertise in which the learner's role is to act as a specialist, a developer and an agent exerting influence.

The learners develop their competence by interacting with their environment and their sector. Resources for
competence development include a learning culture that favours creativity and goal-oriented action, expert guidance
and instruction, as well as a learning environment that supports competence development. Participatory instruction
is used to guide competence. Every teacher is a tutor whose expertise and operating methods support the
reinforcement of expertise. The learning environment consists of a competence network, an innovation environment,
a platform for developing competence and structures that support learning. When putting together learning
environments, empowering people and enabling their enthusiasm and their interaction is stressed to foster creativity.
Rather than focusing on presenting and repeating information and controlling the students' command of it, the
teaching strives for a learning process demonstrated as progressive problem-solving, continuous learning and
developing and exceeding oneself. The goal is at competence that is useful in knowledge-intensive service
organisations where work increasingly is a function of creativity and where a precondition for directing the
organisation is an ability to create a responsible, result-oriented management culture that is based on giving space
for the individual's creativity. Competence is demonstrated as impact and development competence.

DEGREE STRUCTURE IN EDUCATION LEADING TO A MASTER'S DEGREE

Scope and Extent of the Degree

The scope of the degree is 90 credits of which thesis forms 30 credits.The degree takes on average 1.5-2.5 years to
complete. In line with the international ECTS standard, one credit corresponds with 26.7 hours of work for an
average student.
Degree Structure

Master’s degree studies at Laurea consists of core competence modules including thesis, and complementary
competence modules. The modules comprise competence areas that are part of the degree.
The scope of the compulsory core competence modules is 60 credits in master’s degree. Complementary modules
make it possible to deepen or extend your knowledge. Complementary competence modules support individual
study paths and competence. Complementary competence modules that can be selected freely are offered on
Laurea's various campuses. The extent of complementary competence in a Master's degree is 30 credits.

ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING AND COMPETENCE

In the curriculum, the learning outcomes are described as the learner's actions, so that the development of
competence can be assessed with reference to the set goals. Competence is identified as knowledge, skills and
values related competence as well as experiential competence that includes the competence of an individual and a
community.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARABILITY OF THE DEGREE

Competence is at the centre of all activities at Laurea, and we recognize competence in a comprehensive sense.
General working life capabilities specified at the national level have been taken into account in the degree contents.

The level of the degree corresponds with level 7 of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and level 7 of the
European Qualifications Framework (EQF).

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

The curriculum is developed by using evaluation, monitoring and feedback data. Changes may occur in the study
units and implementation modes of the modules. The offering of the complementary modules is constantly under
development to match the requirements of the working life and thus the offering may change during the studies.
                                                               1. year        2. year
Y       CORE COMPETENCE                                                  40             20
B060    DEVELOPING FAMILY-CENTERED SERVICES
B0265   Social pedagogical and socio-cultural work approach              5
B0266   Developing family-centered services                              5
B0267   Family-centered work orientations                                5
B061    DEVELOPING AND MANAGING CHILD-ORIENTED
        WORK
B0268   Pedagogical management                                           5
B0269   Childhood in the light of multidisciplinary research             5
B0270   Developing communality in a child's world                        5
B068    OPINNÄYTETYÖ
B0291   Opinnäytetyö                                                     10             20
T       COMPLEMENTARY COMPETENCE                                         25             25
A868    RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COMPETENCE
A9322   Action Research and Participatory Methods                        5
A9323   Anticipating Future                                              5
A9324   Research Communications                                          5
A9325   Impact Research                                                                  5
G8302   Research and Development Methods
A869    MANAGING EXPERT COMMUNITIES
A9326   Change Management                                                5
A9327   Managing Networks                                                                5
A9328   Socially Responsible Management                                                  5
A870    USER-CENTERED SERVICE DESIGN
A9329   Digital in Services                                              5
A9330   User-Centered Design of Digital Services                                        10
                                                                         65             45
B060 DEVELOPING FAMILY-CENTERED SERVICES, 15 cr

Description:
In this module, the students will build up their competence in developing family-centered services. It will develop
their professional work approach in the social sector. The module looks at social pedagogy and socio-cultural
thinking as building blocks of professional identity.

After completing this module, the students will be able to analyse and develop family-centered early childhood
education services aiming to influence the changing circumstances in which children are growing up and support the
type of growth, development and learning that is in their interest.


B0265 Social pedagogical and socio-cultural work approach, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•evaluate and apply the operating practices and methods of exerting social influence
•apply socio-cultural and social pedagogical principles in family-centered early childhood education activities
•promote the inclusion of children and families in their own lives, their social inclusion and their experiences of
communality


B0266 Developing family-centered services, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•critically analyse and anticipate the social and cultural change in family-centered early childhood education and
future challenges
•assess the service system's possibilities of meeting the needs of families with young children
•evaluate and develop the impact and quality of work that promotes well-being in family-centered work
•renew expertise and draw on national and international networks as forums of development efforts
•apply the approach of research-oriented, reflective and workplace oriented development


B0267 Family-centered work orientations, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•create and apply various proactive, preventive and rehabilitating working methods and models
•operate in cross-sectoral networks with multiple actors


B061 DEVELOPING AND MANAGING CHILD-ORIENTED WORK, 15 cr

Description:
The study units of the module will develop the students' pedagogical leadership skills and build up their competence
in human resources management and competence management. Human resources management will be
approached from the particular angles of pedagogical and ethical leadership. The focus of competence development
will be on multidisciplinary research that examines the child's growth, development and learning.

After completing this module, the students will be able to manage and develop the staff's pedagogical competence,
analyse childhood from the perspective of multidisciplinary research and support a child's individual and communal
growth, development and learning.


B0268 Pedagogical management, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•implement the principles of pedagogical management in family-centered early childhood education
•manage and develop the staff's pedagogical competence
B0269 Childhood in the light of multidisciplinary research, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•analyse national and international research relevant to childhood and a child's every-day life
•evaluate the world and living conditions of children and the way in which they experience their lives
•apply research methods focusing on childhood and the child to develop and manage the work


B0270 Developing communality in a child's world, 5 cr

The student is able to:
•plan, manage and evaluate child-centered education that enables communality
•create and develop environments that support growth, development and learning
•use social pedagogical and socio-cultural working methods in the work and its development


B068 OPINNÄYTETYÖ, 30 cr


B0291 Opinnäytetyö, 30 cr

The student is able to:
•   tehdä itsenäisesti oman alan kehittämistyötä ja soveltavaa tutkimusta
•   soveltaa tutkimustietoa omassa opinnäytetyössä kriittisesti
•   hyödyntää sopivia tiedonhankinta- ja kehittämismenetelmiä
•   analysoida, dokumentoida ja raportoida
•   arvioida opinnäytetyön eettisyyttä, luotettavuutta ja käytettävyyttä
•   toimia asiantuntijana tutkimus- ja kehitystyötä tekevässä yhteisössä



A868 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COMPETENCE, 15 cr


A9322 Action Research and Participatory Methods, 5 cr


A9323 Anticipating Future, 5 cr


A9324 Research Communications , 5 cr


A9325 Impact Research, 5 cr


G8302 Research and Development Methods, 5 cr

The student is able to:
Opiskelija osaa
•   rakentaa tutkittuun tietoon perustuvan viitekehyksen
•   valita tutkimus- ja kehittämistyönsä kannalta mielekkäät tutkimus- ja kehittämismenetelmät
•   kerätä ja analysoida tietoa perhekeskeisen työn kehittämiseksi
•   arvioida tutkimuksen luotettavuutta ja eettisyyttä
•   raportoida tutkimustuloksista mielekkäällä tavalla



A869 MANAGING EXPERT COMMUNITIES, 15 cr
A9326 Change Management, 5 cr


A9327 Managing Networks, 5 cr


A9328 Socially Responsible Management, 5 cr


A870 USER-CENTERED SERVICE DESIGN, 15 cr

Description:
XX


A9329 Digital in Services, 5 cr


A9330 User-Centered Design of Digital Services , 10 cr