Child, Youth and Community (MA) (Pdip)

The MA in Child, Youth and Community, with an emphasis on programme planning and evaluation, is the first of its kind in Ireland. It was developed by the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at the School of Political Science and Sociology. This programme emerges from one of the School’s core disciplinary orientations, Applied Social Science, and its established strengths in child, youth and family research, programme planning and evaluation.

Professionals involved in the delivery of services to children, young people and communities are increasingly required by funders and central government to provide scientific, robust evidence, to measure the social impact of these interventions. This one year full-time/two-year part-time blended learning MA Programme will enable students to be proficient in programme planning, implementation, monitoring and research evaluation methodologies in the context of child, youth and community services. The programme will allow students space to critically engage with the discourses and debates on ‘evidence’ and explore, through their integrated assessments, new lines of research and the accommodation of both in the real world of practice. 

Subjects in this course includes:-

• Children, Youth and Families: Sociological Perspectives and Policy Issues (10 ECTS)
• Programme Planning and Evaluation (10 ECTS)
• Human Rights and Social Justice (10 ECTS)
• Community Development and Organising (5ECT)
• Research  Methods (5 ECTS)
• Research Workshop (10 ECTS)
• Option Module x 2 (10 ECTS) or Professional Experience (work placement module) (10 ECTS)
• Final Research project (30 ECTS)