These subjects enable you to study issues that impact children’s lives within the broader context of social structures. You’ll engage with a broad range of topics relevant to 21st century childhood and youth and investigate social life and the way it shapes our behaviour, beliefs and identity. You’ll examine the face-to-face interactions of daily life, large-scale social institutions, social movements and global processes to better understanding the social world’s impact on children and young people.

The fields of Childhood and Youth Studies and Sociology complement each other naturally. They support a combined approach to understanding the development of children and young people from social perspectives, whilst encouraging an understanding of these elements within areas that affect the lives of children and young people most, such as their education, their interaction with peers and adults, and their wellbeing. This course allows you to study Sociology as part of a joint honours degree (50% Sociology, 50% Childhood Studies and Youth).

Sociology investigates social life and the way it shapes people's behaviour, beliefs and identity. Its subject matter ranges from examination of the face-to-face interactions of daily life to large-scale social institutions, social movements and global processes. By understanding the social world, we gain a better understanding of ourselves and our own social situations. For the Childhood and Youth part of the course, you will follow innovative topics led by experienced education staff to develop your understanding of the history of childhood, children’s rights, the nature of childhood and the role of adults working with children in a national, European and international context. You’ll engage in academic study in the fields of psychology, sociology, social policy, education, health and welfare relating to children’s lives.

This is a Welsh-medium course. The UCAS code for the English-medium course is different.

Why choose Bangor for this course?

• 100% Student Satisfaction (Childhood & Youth Studies - NSS 2020).
• Issues in Housing module validated by the Chartered Institute of Housing.
• Work placements to develop your understanding of children’s needs and development.
• Professional and academic expertise across a diverse range of areas such as children’s rights, family law, bilingualism, education, social care, mental health, literacy, ALN and inclusion.
• Study all or part of your course through the medium of Welsh.

On this course you’ll study 50% Childhood and Youth Studies and 50% Sociology. The choices of modules in each discipline complement each other, giving you the option to investigate specific areas of study by examining children’s roles within differing backgrounds related to society, family and interaction with peers. You’ll be encouraged to consider the role and identity of children within environments that affect them most, including within the home and in education. You’ll study a choice of topics that reflects a balance from each discipline and the combined study of these modules will allow you to develop a pathway into fields related to care provision for young people, education and child-focussed services.

You can study 100% of your modules through the medium of Welsh, and choose to have a Welsh speaking personal Tutor and complete assignments through the medium of Welsh or English. As a bilingual speaker, you might feel more confident in writing in Welsh or in writing in English. On this course, you can follow modules through the medium of Welsh and submit work in English and vice versa. Whatever you decide, we will support you so that you develop your bilingual skills.

Study is supported by numerous opportunities to conduct research into fields that are guided by the course areas. This allows you the freedom to develop their interests in specific fields of sociology and to apply to, and combine with, issues that affect children and young people within their own spaces.

You’ll learn through a mixture of lectures, seminars, use of digital resources and practical workshops. Lectures and seminars make creative use of a variety of different digital resources and media in order to help you plan, record and to support your progress. An integral element of the programme is the range of guest speakers and educational visits that enrich and reinforce your learning.

The assessments vary from module to module and range from essays, presentations and film making to MCQ tests and exams.

Your Research

Research is an important aspect of this course. As part of your Research Methods modules, you’ll be taking part in practical sessions where you’ll learn how to design studies, run your own experiments, gather and analyse data and report your findings. These skills will give you a firm foundation ready for year 3 when you’ll conduct your own research.

• Workshops on issues as diverse as children’s literacy, children and technology and children’s rights supported by specialists in the fields.
• Use of digital media and resources to teach, to support research, to help record progress and to share work.
• Involvement with meetings and conferences on a range of issues relating to the course, including children’s voices and the role of childhood and youth within decision-making processes.
• Regular guest presentations by specialists in the field in areas related to the different Childhood and Youth pathways.
• Educational visits to the local area, to places of national significance and, in some cases, to international locations.
• Opportunities to work alongside employers and service providers in fields relating to childhood and youth, including education, care services and agencies that support provision for young people.
• Regular contact and support with institutions which are important to the field, including schools, social care organisations, children’s rights organisations. Maintenance of contact with these institutions to help develop ideas and pathways linked to individuals’ career aspirations.

The multi-disciplinary approach of the Childhood and Youth Studies and Sociology degree offers a broad range of career choices in education and allied professions in the public and private sector, including health, social care, youth and community work. Alternately, some students continue their studies on a masters programme or apply for a place on a PGCE Primary course. The study of sociology provides a sound foundation for a wide range of careers in the media, administration, personnel, teaching, and community and social work. The combination of the two disciplines, supported by opportunities to work alongside employers and service providers, will ensure that you are ready to excel and lead workforces centred on provision for children and young people as a result of your study and experiences on this combined course.

Our degree in Childhood and Youth Studies allows you to engage with issues relevant to 21st century childhood and youth. Our rich learning environment is a unique trait of the course, and gives you the opportunity to study childhood and youth from multiple perspectives.