Education and Child Studies: Child and Family Science

Welcome to the specialisation Child and Family Science, which is part of the Master’s Degree Programme in Education and Child Studies. Language of instruction in this specialisation is English.

This master’s specialisation focuses on the development of children within their families and in day-care centres. This is a topic of great social importance. All kinds of minor and major problems can occur in child-rearing which Child and Family Science experts can help prevent or resolve.

Children’s development is the result of a complex interplay of factors: the children’s genetic predisposition and the characteristics of their parents or other care-givers, and the environment in which children grow up. In this programme, students learn to unravel and analyse these factors.

Questions that occupy the minds of a Child and Family Science experts include:

• Which early experiences in child-rearing carry the risk of young children developing behavioural problems?

• Do the childhood experiences of parents impact the way in which they raise their own children?

• What circumstances are important for the development of adopted and foster children?

• What is the role of genetic factors and the interaction between genetic predisposition and environment?

• How does day-care influence the emotional development of children and their attachment relations with their parents?

• What are the causes and consequences of child abuse?

• How can child-rearing interventions contribute to the prevention and solving of learning problems occurring in child-rearing?

• In what way do neurobiological processes influence the behaviour of parents and children?

This master’s specialisation is aimed at students who wish to become experts in the field of children’s development within the family and in day-care centres. Students learn how attachment relations between children and parents or care-givers influence the children’s development, and what the influence is of child-rearing practices (for instance comforting, playing and setting boundaries) within the family and day-care facilities.

Please refer to our website for the timetable. For more information you can contact our study counsellors.

More information

More information in English is available on our website