Child and youth studies

Child and youth studies is in the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport. We draw on various approaches and methodologies, including those from developmental psychology, childhood and youth studies, sociology, anthropology, and cultural studies. Childhood and youth studies researchers have good contacts with nurseries, preschools, primary and secondary schools, young people, and families. We are an active interdisciplinary group in various research clusters and centres.

Entry requirements

Minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) and an MA or research methods training at MA level (or equivalent). If you are not a UK citizen, you may need to prove your knowledge of English.

Potential research projects

We are interested in research topics related in some way to the themes noted below:

• Children and young people: experiences, identities, spaces, voice, and agency
• Young people: gender relations, masculinities, and femininities
• The impacts of social and cultural change on children and young people
• Learning, education, disability, and technology
• The development of thinking, social relationships, and representations
• International perspectives on childhood and youth
• Child and young person-led research projects, including rights-based work, learning and support for families experiencing a serious illness
• Children's health and well-being in body, mind, and media

Current/recent research projects

• The scientific resilience of KS3 students
• The relationships between teachers’ pedagogical stance and their uses of ICT in teaching practices
• The impact of the primary national curriculum on the progress of disadvantaged pupils
• Experiences of outdoor play and learning by pre-school children with a disability
• Mindfulness programmes in primary schools
• Learning from children's perspectives in the search for fun
• Inclusive practice in Early Years settings
• The role of humour in children's books
• Young migrant children's 'funds of knowledge'
• Parents' perspectives and practices around the schooling of their children
• Supporting pupils with Asperger's syndrome
• Co-teaching in a bi-lingual school
• Inclusion and exclusion in early years settings
• Self-reported and enacted multi-age practice in early childhood
• Peer coaching and peer observation in secondary schools
• The assessment of progress for students with severe learning difficulties
• Childhood bilingualism
• Collaborative learning in early years

Potential supervisors

• Dr Victoria Cooper
• Dr Jane Dorrian
• Dr Amber Fensham-Smith
• Dr Pam Foley
• Dr Naomi Holford
• Dr Karen Horsley
• Dr Paul Ibbotson
• Dr Joanne Josephidou
• Professor David Messer
• Mr John Oates
• Dr Lucy Rodriguez-Leon
• Professor Kieron Sheehy
• Dr Mimi Tatlow-Golden
• Dr Eleonora Teszenvi

Fees and funding

PhD fees

Professional doctorate fees

Some of our research students are funded via The Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership; others are self-funded.

For detailed information about fees and funding, visit Fees and studentships.

To see current funded studentship vacancies across all research areas, see Current studentships.

Links

• Childhoods, Youth and Sport Group
• Children's Research Centre
• Centre for Children’s Wellbeing: Body, Mind and Media
• Centre for Literacy and Social Justice