Education and Child Studies: Parenting and child development
Welcome to the specialisation Parenting and Child Development, which is part of the Master’s Degree Programme in Education and Child Studies. Language of instruction in this specialisation is English.
Everyone will agree that it is highly important to promote optimal child development from the very start of life. Parents and professional caregivers have a profound influence on the socioemotional and cognitive development of children through their caregiving. The master’s specialisation Parenting and Child Development focuses on understanding the exact nature of this influence and on preventing child and family problems by fostering optimal caregiving.
The master’s specialisation Parenting and Child Development focuses on child development in the context of different caregiving circumstances. The courses cover both normative and problematic caregiving. An important part of the curriculum is the study of evidence based prevention and intervention programmes to improve caregiving qualities of parents and professional caregivers.
The master’s specialisation Parenting and Child Development will provide you with a state-of-the-art, in-depth understanding of
family and caregiving factors that influence child development, such as caregiver-child attachment, parenting styles and practices used by (professional) caregivers and family functioning
historical trends in parenting advice and how these influence current advice
the new challenges and opportunities digital media pose in current-day caregiving
neural, behavioral, and social-cognitive development in early childhood with specific attention to the interaction between child characteristics (e.g., temperament or neurobiological make-up) and environmental factors
In addition, you will acquire the tools to
critically analyze the quality of (research on) parenting advice, parenting interventions, and child development
develop evidence-based preventive parenting/caregiving programmes
Finally, you will gain practical experience with
the work involved in conducting research in the field of parenting, child care and development during your master thesis (often involves training in observation of caregiver-child interactions, and/or using laboratory techniques such as attentional, behavioral or neurophysiological measures)
the work of professionals in the field of parenting and child development during your internship. Examples of internships institutions are companies providing parenting advice and courses on child development to (professional) caregivers, adoption agencies, youth health care institutions, childcare organizations.
Timetable
For the timetable of all courses please refer to MyTimetable
Registration
NOTE Registration for all courses in My Studymap is mandatory.
You do this twice a year: once for the courses you want to take in semester 1 and once for the courses you want to take in semester 2.
Registration for courses in the first semester is possible from July. Registration for courses in the first semester is possible from December. The exact date on which the registration starts will be published on the website of the Student Service Center (SSC)
The registration period for all courses closes five calendar days before the start of the course.
By registering for a course you are also automatically registered for the Brightspace module and for the first sit of the exam of that course. Anyone who is not registered for a course therefore does not have access to the Brightspace module of that course.
Also read the complete registration procedure
More information
For more information you can contact our study advisers.
For Dutch students
De Leidse Masterspecialisatie Parenting and Child Development voldoet, in combinatie met de Leidse Bacheloropleiding Pedagogische Wetenschappen, aan alle eisen die gesteld worden door de Nederlandse Vereniging van Pedagogen en Onderwijskundigen (NVO) voor de registratie Basis-Pedagoog. Studenten die elders een universitaire Bacheloropleiding Pedagogische Wetenschappen hebben behaald kunnen, soms na het behalen van één of enkele extra vakken, ook in aanmerking komen voor de NVO-registratie Basis-Pedagoog. Lees de Brochure Beroepsregistraties voor alle informatie.
NB Voor personen die via het Pre-master programma Pedagogische Wetenschappen in de Master instromen geldt een aparte regeling waarmee men zich kan kwalificeren voor de registratie Basis-Pedagoog.