In the master programme in Education and Child Studies students can choose a specialisation in one of the sub disciplines of Education and Child Studies. All specialisations prioritize the students’ academic education.
The master programme in Education and Child Studies is an academic programme that focuses on the link between theory, research and practice. Students are taught to seek evidence based solutions to problems occurring in child rearing and education. Students choose a specialisation from the start. All specialisations have one course in common, a course on the practice of empirical research. The rest of the year is spent deepening the students’ scientific knowledge in the field of their choice, doing an internship and completing a master’s project in which students carry out their own research and prepare a written report of their research project.
Do you have solid knowledge in one of the sciences, do you enjoy sharing your knowledge, and would you like to deepen your insight in education and communication processes? Then the Master’s programme in Science Education and Communication may be your choice.
In this programme, you will gain theoretical insights and practical skills in both formal and informal educational practices. Your science discipline will be put in a broader societal perspective, and you will develop your own views on how your discipline should be relevant to secondary education and to the public at large. The internships and the research project in science education and communication will support you to develop as a skillful practitioner as well as an innovator.
This two-year programme can be your gateway to careers, such as:
After a joint first semester, you will specialise in one of the programme tracks:
As a graduate of this programme, you will have:
Apart from being qualified as a teacher in chemistry, computer science, physics, and mathematics, you are also qualified to teach Nature, Life and Technology, after completion of this Master’s programme (Teacher Degree)
If you already have an MSc in Science or Mathematics, you are eligible for admission to the one-year Educational Master’s programme Leraar voorbereidend hoger onderwijs (in Dutch), which also leads to a teaching certificate.
For this programme you may qualify for a contribution of €5000 towards your tuition. Visit http://www.mastersvoorhetvo.nl, the website of DUO (both in Dutch), or download the brochure (also in Dutch) for more information and the conditions that must be met.
In our overscheduled society is there still enough time for childrearing? How do families and childrearing change through the use of social media? How can we tackle polarization in multi-ethnic classrooms? What leads to game addiction and inactivity in our society? How do we make our schools inclusive? What do children need to find their own solutions to bullying at school? How do parenting support programs developed in Western countries fit into non-Western communities? How should the new frameworks for youth care in the Netherlands be structured? What can we learn from foreign approaches to education and youth services?
Do you want to make a contribution to these contemporary social challenges involving the relationship between children and youth and their guardians/educators? Do you want to help draft new policies that can improve the position, welfare and development of children, youth and their parents? Are you interested in making international comparisons? Youth, Education and Society (Dutch: Maatschappelijke opvoedingsvraagstukken) is the only Master’s programme in the Netherlands that specifically focuses on innovating pedagogical policy and practice, both nationally and internationally.
This one-year, intensive programme will teach you about:
We will also be looking beyond our borders. After all, global developments (such as globalisation, poverty and migration) have had a major impact on the quality of life for children and youth. And we will also be analysing pedagogical services through an international lens:
This programme also devotes attention to international humanitarian cooperation.
This Master’s programme will be led by the professors of Pedagogy, Dr Mariëtte de Haan, Dr Micha de Winter and Dr Paul Leseman. Together with a team of lecturers representing a variety of expertise in the area of pedagogy, they will teach classes and guide students during their internship and research. Contacts with the field constitute an important seedbed for the programme.
See, for example, a report on the current affairs programme Eenvandaag on Wednesday, 21 January 2015 about young Dutch jihadists in which Micha de Winter (pedagogy professor) is asked why we cannot seem to get a handle on these youth in the Netherlands.
This Master’s programme has similarities with the Youth Studies Master’s programme (Dutch: Jeugstudies), but mainly considers children and youth from a childrearing and educational perspective, for example at home, at school or via the media. This Master’s is also distinguished from the Master’s in Youth Studies by its so-called community approach. Alongside attention to the role of professionals, this programme focuses on the role of civil society. Critical analysis of the societal debate also typifies this Master’s programme. You will graduate as an educationalist, while those completing the Youth Studies programme will graduate within Interdisciplinary Social Sciences.
This programme somewhat overlaps the Master’s programme in Clinical Child, Family and Education Studies (Dutch:Orthopedagogiek) but is distinguished by a broader, more socially-oriented interdisciplinary view on pedagogy. You will graduate as an educationalist and acquire the NVO registration as a general educationalist. Unlike the programme in Clinical Child, Family and Education Studies, you will not focus on clinical issues, diagnostics or deviant behaviour from a need-based perspective but on pedagogy as a broader field oriented to society. This Master’s is also distinguished from the Master’s in Clinical Child, Family and Education Studies due to its so-called community approach. Alongside a focus on the role of professionals and policy, the programme centres on the role of society in childrearing and education. Critical analysis of the societal debate also typifies this Master’s programme.
This Master’s will enable you to develop yourself into an academic professional. You will learn to analyse, evaluate and solve practical problems in a theoretical and empirical way.
Are you interested in raising children? In the way their environment shapes their development? Would you like to learn how to support parents and educators, creating a context where children and youth can reach their full potential? Then this Master's programme may be just right for you!
The Master’s programme Clinical Child, Family and Education Studies (Dutch:Orthopedagogiek) challenges you to make connections between scientific research and practical issues. It addresses what is needed when problems arise in child and adolescent development, or in parenting or education of children at risk.
This Master’s programme will enable you to develop yourself as an academic and clinical professional. Armed with scientific insights and clinical skills, you will be able to give advice, support, treatment and guidance concerning clinical issues in raising children and adolescents. You can make an important contribution to research of practical care issues related to children and youth. You will help children, youth, their parents and the systems surrounding them to function to their optimum potential. This programme prepares you to work as a scientist practitioner in youth care in clinical or transnational settings.
While studying complex situations you will combine insights from education and child and adolescent studies, psychology, neuropsychology, child and youth psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, juvenile justice, pediatrics and sociology.
This programme’s working language is English. This means that English will be used during lectures, for scientific exchange between students and staff. You may opt to use Dutch or English for your thesis and individual assignments. Certain parts of the programme, such as a clinical internship in an institution with Dutch speaking clients or patients, are only available to students who speak Dutch.
You will take three mandatory courses concerning:
On top of these courses you will follow an elective course, a specialisation (‘track’)and write a Master’s thesis.
Your lecturers participate in highly qualified research in the field of parenting, adolescence, education, development and learning in the research programmes Child and Adolescent Studies and Education and Learning. This means you will benefit from their most recent scientific insights. Moreover, as a Master’s student your thesis can contribute to the current research within the programme concerning projects such as:
The Master’s programme in Clinical Child, Family and Education Studies prepares you for work from a transnational perspective, or for a career in a clinical setting. You will be able to give advice, support, treatment and guidance when problems in child and adolescent development arise. You will be a trained expert in clinical issues in raising future generations. You could work as a policy adviser or care giver in several fields such as youth care, special needs care in schools, care for people with a disability, paediatric rehabilitation, forensic care and (inter)national knowledge institutions. You can also pursue a career in research, for instance at a university or knowledge institution.
The aim of the research master’s programme Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies is to promote the scientific development of young academics on the path to becoming independent researchers within education and child studies and related disciplines.
Graduates are able to design, conduct and evaluate applied scientific research, and in doing this can make the link between (clinical) practice and science.
The programme Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies is designed in such a way that it can explicitly serve as preparatory training for a PhD position. The programme also offers the opportunity to specialise in the field of social work and youth care, which meets society’s need for academics who are trained in evidence based clinical assessment and treatment for children and families with psychological problems
The research master is a small scale programme, with an average of fifteen students each year. This guarantees intensive interaction between students and staff.
At the beginning of the programme, you are allocated a supervisor – one of the professors – and a day-to-day mentor. While writing your thesis, you make a contribution to one of our research programmes, working closely with your supervisor and mentor within that research. This gives you the opportunity to both observe how the work is done and to ‘learn by doing’. You also receive immediate and intensive feedback on your research performance and academic progress.
The research master’s students have a room of their own: the Rommert Casimir Studio, equipped with PC workstations. This room is used intensively, not only for working individually on assignments, but also for working together with other students and engaging in discussions.
The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is the location of the Ambulatorium, which offers families assistance with all kinds of problems relating to parenting and child development. Research master’s students who do their research internship in the Ambulatorium can, if they wish, obtain the NVO Registratie Basis-Orthopedagoog and the NVO Registratie Basisaantekening Diagnostiek and also conduct research in clinical practice.
We never learn alone. We always learn by interacting with someone or something.
Explore the complexity of cognitive and social learning processes.
Do you want to disentangle and understand the complex interaction of development, education, and learning? Are you curious about how processes in educational contexts relate to the cognitive and social development of children, youth, and adults? The Master’s programme in Educational Sciences: Learning in Interaction invites you to tackle these topics and more.
Education can sometimes be dull and ineffective. We can change that through recognising and developing the concept that we never learn alone. We always learn by interacting with someone or something, such as:
If you’re interested in learning about and carrying out high-quality research into these interactions, you can make a real difference in learning, teaching, and instruction.
The programme Educational Sciences: Learning in Interaction is recognised as a high quality programme and has been awarded several high ratings by different organisations in the Netherlands.
This programme is offered by the Department of Child, Family, and Education Studies, which is part of Utrecht University’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. The programme is based in the research priority area of Education and Learning, which is embedded in local, national, and international research networks.
The presence of students from multiple countries provides you with opportunities to explore issues in education and learning within a broader international perspective. In addition, researchers and scholars from abroad are invited for guest lectures and research seminars. We encourage all students to participate in international research seminars or to complete an internship abroad.
This multidisciplinary two-year programme allows you to synthesize insights from education, psychology, neuroscience, and linguistics. Our lecturers represent different disciplinary backgrounds, such as developmental psychology, educational sciences, experimental psychology, human movement science, linguistics, pedagogy, natural sciences, and sociology. This broad range of perspectives will help you develop a comprehensive outlook on issues in educational sciences.
As a graduate of this Master's programme, you’ll be a well-qualified practitioner in educational and learning sciences. You’ll have thorough knowledge of current developmental, learning, and teaching theories as well as the neurobiological basis of education and learning. In addition, you’ll have the tools and expertise to conduct high-quality research in education. The programme prepares you equally well for a career as a PhD candidate or as an applied researcher outside academia.
The Master’s programme in Pedagogical Sciences has two English and five Dutch specialisations, each aimed at a certain development domain. Your programme will consist of a few general subjects and two courses that are specifically geared to your specialisation of choice. Coaching is an important part of the programme. The coaching skills you learn can be used in a profession where the role of remedial educationalists is becoming more and more important.
See the website http://www.ru.nl/masters/pedagogicalsciences
- In 2014, the programme was named the best Master’s programme within this field by the Keuzegids Masters.
- You’ve got some freedom when picking your courses. You choose one of seven Master’s specialisations and can still take (additional) courses belonging to other specialisations. The schedule is geared to this: electives are never taught simultaneously.
- Teaching takes place in small groups allowing for plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.
- Upon completing your programme, you have a broad pedagogical basis and are specialised in a certain field.
- You will be trained according to the scientist-practitioner model. This means that you will navigate between science and practice. Your actions in the field are based on academic theories and in turn you’ll test your experiences in the field to the same theories. Your teachers, all experts in their field, will help you make the link between application and research.
- In most instances, when you’ve completed your Master’s programme in Pedagogical Sciences you will also receive a diagnostic certification. This will allow you to further develop in the clinical professional within the Netherlands.
Read more about the specialisations in Pedagogical Sciences, including comprehensive information on our approach to this field, the programme outline and career prospects. Two are offered in English and the rest are taught in Dutch.
- Diversities in Youth Care
The specialisation Diversities in Youth Care challenges you to look at care giving and welfare policies differently. You will gain specific knowledge and develop a sixth sense on the health care needs of young people.
- Gifted Education
You will learn how to identify the needs of a gifted pupil. Giftedness is more than IQ. You will study how personal characteristic abilities, and surroundings influence each other. You will investigate the conflict between stimulating talent and being fearful of doing so.
The specialisation Diversities in Youth Care challenges you to look at care giving and welfare policies differently. You will gain specific knowledge and develop a sixth sense on the health care needs of young people.
In this programme you can focus on policy, research and/or counseling. Moreover you can choose a specific target group or theme (e.g. ethnic minorities, sex, sexuality) and follow courses like ‘Gender and Diversities in Organizations', 'Poverty, Wellbeing and Social Justice', 'Migratie en Interreligieuze Studies', 'Feminist Classics', and ‘Community Outreach Project'. You are encouraged to match both the practical training and the writing of your master thesis with the subject of your interest. We will facilitate your practical training abroad in the spring semester.
You will learn how to identify the needs of a gifted pupil. Giftedness is more than IQ. You will study how personal characteristic abilities, and surroundings influence each other. You will investigate the conflict between stimulating talent and being fearful of doing so.
In lectures and study groups (one of which will be in a university abroad) about learning processes and learning environment, the Master's student will gain insights in the specific characteristics and problems of students in general and gifted children, adolescents and young adults in particular. In the course ‘Educating the Gifted' you will focus on specific research and practices concerning gifted education and work on practical cases of individuals and/or groups of gifted students.
You will improve your academic research skills and learn about diagnostics and treatment of problems related to giftedness, and you will learn to apply this theoretical knowledge within a specific educational situation with gifted students. After completing the program students will be able to recognise, analyse and investigate problems concerning giftedness and be able to contribute in the solution of these problems.
See the website http://www.ru.nl/masters/pedagogicalsciences
Do you want to broaden your knowledge of European politics and policies in a programme that combines the study of political science with international relations, history and sociology? Are you ambitious, with a keen motivation to pursue a career that requires strong research competences, such as in a think tank or in academia, or jobs in politics and journalism? And are you interested in being part of a small, close-knit community of students and researchers? If so, the two-year interdisciplinary European Studies programme is the right choice for you.
Unique features
Why this programme?
The research-intensive master’s in European Studies is an interdisciplinary programme that combines political science and international relations with history and sociology. Research plays a primary role from the outset, with research projects integrated into each core module. You will gain in-depth training in methods such as quantitative and qualitative techniques, comparative methods and discourse analysis. You will also develop skills in designing research, writing research proposals, publishing your work and applying for funding and research positions. For the elective component, you can choose to take specialised courses, complete a research internship or do an exchange abroad. The master’s programme culminates with a thesis and the development of a PhD research proposal.
In this programme, you will:
At first sight, the arts and sciences appear to be worlds apart. While sciences draw on strict procedures, the arts seem to be exempted from such rules. Yet both practices are governed by conventions - such as a consistent focus on innovation - that help to explain their cultural impact.
Moreover, the arts, science and technology mix and mingle in interesting ways. The arts provide scientists with metaphors to describe their work. The sciences are objects of cultural critique in the arts. The arts continuously incorporate new technologies. And both the arts and sciences “imagine” our culture’s future. That is why it is so important to study the contributions of the arts, science and technology to modern culture. And it is why we study all of these in one programme. CAST has roots in the internationally known field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) and is at the same time uniquely embedded in empirical cultural research.
The Research Master in Cultures of Arts, Science and Technology is an intense and highly reputed programme. The programme is designed to give you the best possible preparation for a professional research position. During your master’s, you will therefore not only study theories from history, sociology, philosophy, the arts and the qualitative social sciences, but you will also follow a number of courses that specifically focus on research methods such as qualitative interviewing, conceptual analysis, archival research, ethnographic observations and rhetorical, narrative and discourse analysis. Most importantly, you will actually learn to work with these methods by writing review papers, research papers and proposals. You will work closely with faculty research staff on their projects and gain a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at how academic research is actually done.
