This module covers key issues in the education and care of children under eight years old, focusing particularly on provision made in early childhood settings...

This module covers key issues in the education and care of children under eight years old, focusing particularly on provision made in early childhood settings for children from birth to five (the current English Early Years Foundation Stage). The module is of interest to those concerned with early childhood provision in the UK and also to those with experience of other, international, contexts.

The module will introduce students to a range of critical theories and recent research on young children's learning. Content includes a critical examination of the relationship between educational research, curriculum, evaluation and practice in early childhood education. The module incorporates a range of research and policy debates in early childhood education, diversity within provision and practice across a range of early years contexts, and current debates in early childhood education.

Intellectual property is the study of property in intangibles. Although this sounds rather abstract (and at times it is), it also involves issues which are of...

Intellectual property is the study of property in intangibles. Although this sounds rather abstract (and at times it is), it also involves issues which are of vital importance to businesses, consumers and the general public. Have you ever downloaded music from the internet? Have you ever taken a prescription drug? Do you photocopy books in the library? Have you ever chosen goods because of the brand image that is associated with them (and possibly paid a premium because of this)? Do you believe that lifesaving drugs should be freely available to those who cannot afford to pay for them? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions then you’ve come into contact with, and may even have infringed, intellectual property rights.

These issues (and many more) are you will consider during the module. The module is grounded in a thorough study of the main intellectual property rights:

Patents for the protection of inventions.
 Copyright for the protection of creative works, but also to protect the activities that are necessary to market those creative rights.
 Trade marks for the protection of signs indicating the origin of goods and the common law equivalent, passing off.
 Designs: overlapping to an extent with each of the foregoing, the laws of designs protect aspects of shape or configuration or the appearance of articles, and  
 The protection of trade secrets.
The module also has a considerable international and European law dimension. The harmonisation of intellectual property rights has been one of the key tools in the quest for the creation of an internal market. We will consider the extent to which this harmonisation has been achieved, and will examine the on-going attempts at further harmonisation. We will also analyse the degree to which broader attempts at ‘internationalising’ IP have influenced the development of the law in the UK.

Reading lists and other materials will be provided for students registered on the module via online Moodle information pages.