Danielle Dickenson

Like many people considering university I was unsure about exactly what I wanted to do afterwards, so chose a course that offered a wide variety of modules to keep my career options open. The BA (Hons) Childhood & Youth Studies degree at Edge Hill certainly does that, with the modules around social work, policy and youth offending being especially interesting.

Another key reason I came to this university was the opportunity to take part in the Erasmus+ programme. Through this I was lucky enough to spend two semesters abroad; first at University College Absalon in Denmark and then at University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia in Spain. Both gave me the opportunity to study childhood and discover very different perspectives to those in the UK.

In Denmark, I studied ‘children at risk’ which looked at young people living in high risk situations. Most of our learning was through group work, while also including trips to refugee camps and nursery schools to experience people’s situations first-hand. I met so many people from different backgrounds and gained very valuable cultural insights.

In Spain, I covered different subjects which included teaching English, nursery education and psychology. The Erasmus+ students were taught alongside the Spanish students which was very interesting and meant I got to experience a variety of learning styles. The highlight in Spain though was the week I spent voluntarily teaching English to young children. Their grasp of English was amazing, even from children as young as 3, and it was great to have proper conversations with them.

I learnt so much from studying my degree and my Erasmus+ experiences including seeing other cultures, understanding different perspectives and meeting lovely people. Together they  prepared me for progression onto an MA and a future career in social work.

To find out more about studying this programme, please view full course information for BA (Hons) Childhood & Youth Studies.