Skip to content The Open University

Research

Child and youth studies

On this page
An image to illustrate studying Child and youth studies with The Open University.
Child and youth studies is located in the Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technology. We draw on a range of approaches and methodologies including those from developmental psychology, childhood and youth studies, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies. Themes include:
  • Children and young people: experiences, identities, spaces, voice and agency.
  • Young people: gender relations, masculinities and femininities.
  • The impacts of social and cultural change on children and young people.
  • Learning, education, disability and technology.
  • The development of thinking, social relationships and representations.
  • International perspectives on childhood and youth.

Childhood and youth studies researchers have good contacts with pre-school institutions, schools, young people and families and we have an observation suite. We are an active inter-disciplinary group with a research income since 2001 of over £1,800,000. 

Qualifications available:
PhD. See also our Master of Research (MRes) and our Doctorate in Education (EdD).
Fees:
For detailed information on current fees visit Fees and funding.
Entry requirements:
Minimum 2:1 (or equivalent)

Potential research projects

  • Images and representations of children.
  • Youth media cultures; young people, sexuality and the media.
  • International and cross-cultural childhoods.
  • Children and young people’s agency, participation and ‘voice’ and children and young people as researchers.
  • Children’s involvement in the design of health and educational spaces and settings.
  • Children and disadvantage.
  • Mothers' representations of their infants and mother-infant relations and social development in infants.
  • Children with disabilities: cognitive development in children with language and literacy difficulties; assistive technologies and executive functioning.
  • Socio-cognitive development: collaborative learning; critical and creative thinking; problem solving and memory and peer relationships.
  • Children’s private and inner speech in relation to their thinking and learning.

We are also interested in projects related to the above ten themes.

Current / recent research projects

  • Parent-child shared book reading.
  • An investigation into functional oral awareness of children at 4-5 years and the contribution of role play in its development.
  • What processes in children’s play empower them to be autonomous learners?
  • The use of pictorial convention in children's drawings.
  • Young people and alcohol use: learning and drinking in a new town.
  • Executive function and lower attaining adolescents in mainstream education.
  • Young motherhood and consumption: An exploration into the consumer practices of young mothers in Bristol.
  • School-age mothers: education, parenting and social exclusion.
  • Exploring student disengagement within a Caribbean context.
  • How do boys experience loneliness in their digitally mediated culture?
  • Time perception in infants.

Further information

If you have an enquiry specific to this research area please contact:

Name:
Mrs Anne Foward
Email:
creet-student-enquiries@open.ac.uk
Phone:
+44 (0)1908 655364

For general enquiries please contact the Research Degrees Team via the link under 'Your questions' further down the page.