Further particulars
This document includes information about the role for which you are applying and the
information you will need to provide with the application.
1. Role details
Vacancy reference:
6395/E1029
Job title:
Lecturer in Childhood and Youth Studies and/or
Developmental Psychology
Reports to:
Head of Department for Centre of Childhood,
Development and Learning (ChDL)
Faculty of Education and Language Studies
(FELS)
Salary:
£36,715 - £43,840 pa depending on
qualifications and experience
Grade:
Grade 3
Terms and Conditions:
Academic
Duration of post:
Temporary contract for three years
Working hours:
Full time
Location:
Walton Hall, Milton Keynes
Closing date:
8 June 2010 at 12 noon
Job shared considered:
No
Criminal Record Check:
All applicants who are offered employment will
be subject to a criminal record check before the
appointment is confirmed.
Type of application form accepted:
Long version only
Number of referees required:
Three
E1029 Lecturer in Childhood and Youth Studies and/or Developmental Psychology
April 2010
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2. Summary of duties
Overall job purpose
To contribute:

to the development and delivery of courses and resources in Childhood and Youth
Studies and/or Developmental Psychology; the person appointed should bring an
interdisciplinary perspective to this work.

actively to the Faculty’s programme of research and scholarship;

to the academic development and organisation of the Faculty of Education and
Language Studies and The Open University.
Main duties
1.
Contribute to the planning and preparation, writing and updating of distance
learning courses and resources that may include the use of print, audio, video and
information and communications technologies (e.g. synchronous and
asynchronous computer-mediated communication) in Childhood and Youth
Studies and/or Developmental Psychology.
2.
Contribute to decisions about curriculum, teaching and assessment strategies.
3.
Brief, liaise with and co-ordinate the work of consultant writers as necessary.
4.
Meet the requirement of direct contact with students through a variety of means,
for example residential schools, day schools, e-moderating of electronic
conferences and research student supervision, as appropriate.
5.
Contribute to the briefing, debriefing and training of part-time teaching staff
(Associate Lecturers).
6.
Contribute to the maintenance of relevant courses, including preparing tutormarked assignments and examination papers, monitoring of assessment, and
membership of Examination and Award Boards.
7.
Conduct research and scholarship aligned with the Faculty’s strategic priorities and
through seeking external funding and contributions to academic publications,
conferences and external activities as appropriate.
8.
Contribute more broadly to the activities of the Centre for Childhood, Development
and Learning and the Faculty as required.
E1029 Lecturer in Childhood and Youth Studies and/or Developmental Psychology
April 2010
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3. Person specification
Qualifications, experience and expertise
Essential
1.
Higher degree or equivalent professional knowledge in a field concerned with
developmental psychology and/or childhood and youth studies.
2.
Experience or evidence of a motivation to work in an inter-disciplinary context
involving teaching and research.
3.
Excellent command of spoken and written English, with the capacity to
communicate clearly and influentially with individuals and groups of varying sizes.
4.
Knowledge and experience necessary to contribute to the development and
production of courses in Childhood and Youth Studies and/or Developmental
Psychology.
5.
Knowledge and experience of assessment and benchmark standards in the field of
Childhood and Youth Studies and/or Developmental Psychology.
6.
Proven experience of curriculum development and course design.
7.
Proven ability to work effectively and flexibly in a team and collaboratively with
others.
8.
Proven ability to plan and organise work to agreed deadlines, within resource
constraints, and sometimes under pressure.
9.
Demonstrable experience of having used information and communications
technology for a variety of purposes, and evidence of understanding of the
potential of new and emerging technologies to enhance learning.
10. Evidence of engagement in research and scholarship through a variety of activities
such as publications, gaining of external funding and/or widely recognised and
disseminated contributions to learning and teaching so as to be able to contribute
to the research excellence and research activities in ChDL.
11. Ability and willingness to travel for work purposes, and to live within reasonable
commuting distance of The Open University in Milton Keynes.
12. Commitment to equal opportunities policies and practices.
Desirable
13. Experience of producing open- or distance-learning materials.
14. Record of publications in a relevant area.
15. PhD in a relevant area.
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April 2010
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4. About the unit/department
Faculty of Education and Language Studies
The Faculty of Education and Language Studies has approximately 1,270 members of
staff (including 1,000 Associate Lecturers), based in Milton Keynes and in regional and
national offices, who support approximately 24,600 students. The majority of these are
in the UK, but the Faculty also has students in the Republic of Ireland, Continental
Western Europe and elsewhere in the world. The Faculty’s curriculum comprises
programmes at undergraduate, Masters and doctoral levels. It offers undergraduate
courses in Early Years, Working with Young People, Childhood and Youth Studies,
Child Development, Sport and Fitness, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish,
Welsh and English Language. The Faculty offers initial teacher training through a
flexible PGCE programme in six secondary subjects: Mathematics, Science, Design
and Technology, Music, Modern Foreign Languages and Geography.
Academic staff belong to one of the four sub-units which are involved in producing and
presenting courses, and conducting research:

Centre for Childhood, Development and Learning;

Centre for Language and Communication;

Department of Education;

Department of Languages.
Further information about the Faculty can be found at
http://www.open.ac.uk/education-and-languages/
The Faculty research activities are directed from the Centre for Research in Education
and Educational Technology (CREET).
The Centre for Childhood, Development and Learning
The Centre for Childhood, Development and Learning (ChDL) embraces staff from a
number of academic disciplines: developmental psychology, childhood and youth
studies, education, anthropology, cultural studies, sociology and cultural geography.
There are 17 academic and research staff members located at Walton Hall, four
academic staff located in regional offices, ten full-time postgraduate students and three
EdD postgraduate students. Support is provided by 1.5 secretarial staff. (For further
information see http://www.open.ac.uk/education-andlanguages/about_the_faculty/chdl.php )
Our teaching ranges from openings courses to higher degrees. Important strands are
Developmental Psychology, Childhood and Youth Studies, and Education.
In the case of the Psychology Programme we are responsible for the level 2
undergraduate course Child Development (ED209) (nearly 3,000 students a year)
which is part of the Psychology Degree. In addition, we are involved in two
postgraduate courses, both of which are components of the Masters in Education
programme. Educational Enquiry (E891) is concerned with research methods and
Child Development in Families, Schools and Society (ED841) brings together both
psychology and education (it also is included as a course in the Psychology MSc
programme.
In the case of the Childhood and Youth Studies Programme we make significant
E1029 Lecturer in Childhood and Youth Studies and/or Developmental Psychology
April 2010
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contributions to the courses and pathways associated with Degrees and other
qualifications in Childhood and Youth Studies. Our Level 2 undergraduate course
Childhood (U212) is taken by all students in the BA (Hons) in Childhood and Youth
Studies degree programme and attracts over a thousand students a year. The Centre
also contributes to the level 3 course Research with Children and Young People
(EK310) which is the other compulsory course in the undergraduate programme; it
attracts an annual registration of over 600 students. Recently, the Centre was
responsible for a new masters course in the Childhood and Youth Studies programme
Children and young people’s worlds: frameworks for integrated practice. This is the first
course in a cross-faulty Masters award in Childhood and Youth Studies.
In addition, members of ChDL contribute their expertise to the development and
presentation of other courses in the faculty and beyond, for example, the new
undergraduate course Children’s Literature (EA300). We also are involved in the
running of an Openings Course (Understanding Children (Y156), and we contribute to
Foundation Degrees in Early and Primary Years Education. There are plans to develop
introductory courses concerning children and child development.
Research in the Faculty is organised within the Centre for Research in Education and
Educational Technology (CREET). Most members of ChDL are members of the Child
and Youth Studies Research Group (CYSG, see
http://creet.open.ac.uk/themes/group.cfm?name=CYSG ). CYSG is also the home of the
pioneering Children’s Research Centre – see http://childrens-researchcentre.open.ac.uk/. ChDL has a very strong research orientation with 80% of
permanent staff members being entered in the OU 2007 RAE submission to the
Education panel. Since 2001 we have been involved in research grants with an income
of over £3 million. ChDL has good laboratory facilities for recording and editing,
together with an eye tracking facility, and good contacts with local schools.
Members of the Centre are academic advisors to the BBC1 programme Child of Our
Time and have been responsible for the related information available on Open2.net.
CREET is one of the leading education research units in the UK. It is an internationally
respected centre of excellence, pursuing innovative and rigorous research that
influences policy and practice. CREET’s research is multidisciplinary and is united by:



a focus on learning through diverse media in a wide range of social, cultural
and disciplinary settings;
a radical, challenging approach to established orthodoxies in policy, pedagogy,
theory and research methods;
a major thread of socio-cultural theorising.
CREET’s work is positioned at the intersection of social, technological and economic
change and underscores that the Centre’s research concerns the conceptualisation of
both contemporary and next generation educational practices and technologies using
the perspectives provided by a range of disciplines. CREET’s development of
evidence-based understandings of education involves innovative multi-methodological
forms of inquiry - working in partnership with key stakeholders. Researchers are
members of one of four research clusters: Childhood and Youth Studies; Educational
Studies; Language and Literacies; Technology Enhanced Learning.
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April 2010
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5. How to obtain more information about the role or application process
If you would like to discuss the particulars of this role before making an application
please contact, David Messer on 01908 654752 or email d.j.messer@open.ac.uk.
If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact the Staffing
Assistant on 01908 652381 or email FELS-Recruitment@open.ac.uk.
Please refer to section 2 in the ‘Information for applicants’ document for further
information.
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April 2010
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6. Where to send completed applications
Provide six copies of your application form, covering letter and, if applicable, CV – that
is, top copy plus five copies.
Please ensure that your application reaches the University by 12 noon on 8 June 2010.
Post it to:
Job title:
Staffing Assistant
Unit:
Faculty of Education and Language Studies
Address:
Stuart Hall Building (ground floor)
The Open University
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA
Or e-mail your application to:
FELS-Recruitment@open.ac.uk
7. Selection process and date of interview
Information about the interview panel and the selection process will be provided if you
are invited to interview.
We will let you know as soon as possible after the closing date whether you have been
shortlisted for interview. If you have not heard by 25 June 2010 you should assume
that you have not been shortlisted for interview.
Applications received after 12 noon on the closing date will not be accepted.
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April 2010
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