Teaching Assistant QLS Level 2 and Child Psychology QLS Level 3

This Teaching Assistant QLS Level 2 and Child Psychology QLS Level 3 course is a knowledge-based course that will allow you to develop your knowledge and understanding of the role of a teaching assistant alongside a foundation of knowledge in child psychology. It is ideal for anyone considering a career as a teaching assistant who wants to understand more about the role, or someone currently working in education who wishes to expand their existing knowledge. During the teaching assistant section of this bundle course, you will explore topics such as how you can support the teacher in planning, teaching, and evaluating learning activities; communicating with children and young people to develop positive relationships; and how you can support the safeguarding of children in the school. The child psychology section of your course will cover topics such as how children develop attachment and form relationships, the way in which their memory works to support their learning; and their emotional, social, and moral development.

Course Content

Child Psychology QLS Level 3

Unit 1 Defining child psychology

• How can we define childhood?
• Historical perspectives of childhood
• Emergence of psychology
• Psychoanalytical perspective
• Behaviourism
• Classical conditioning
• Changing behaviour
• The cognitive, physiological, scientific, humanistic and evolutionary approaches to psychology
• Research methods in psychology
• Child psychology tools

Unit 2 Forming relationships in childhood

• Attachment
• Nature/nurture debate
• Bowlby's theory
• Innate programming
• Different types of attachment
• Disruption of attachment
• The child's first relationship

Unit 3 Perception, cognition and language

• Understanding language
• Cognitive structure and input
• Plurals, syntax and grammar
• The relevance of language to child psychology
• Cognition
• Vision and cognitive development
• Hearing and cognitive development
• Perception
• Piaget
• Socialisation

Unit 4 Emotional, social, and moral development

• Social learning theory
• Cognitive priming
• Kohlberg's perspective
• Eisenberg's perspective
• Emotion and morality
• Temperament and emotional development

Unit 5 Children’s minds

• Memory and memory processes
• Short- and long-term memory
• Models of memory
• Prenatal memory and learning
• From memory to mental activity
• The organisation of children's minds
• How children view others in their world
• How does all this relate to child psychology?

Unit 6 Moving towards adulthood

• Adolescence
• Development
• Having a sense of gender
• Change

Unit 1 Supporting teaching and learning activities in schools

• How teaching assistants can support the teacher in planning, teaching and evaluation of the learning activities.
• The stages of planning.
• Problems that may occur when supporting learning activities.
• Strategies a teaching assistant may use to support pupils learning.
• Providing feedback on learning activities to the teacher.

Unit 2 Communication and relationships with children, young people and adults

• Communicating and developing positive working relationships with children and young people.
• Communicating with adults.
• Differences in communicating with adults and children.
• Disagreements with adults and children.
• Communication difficulties.

Unit 3 Provide effective support for your colleagues

• The role and responsibilities of the teaching assistant.
• Understanding the roles and responsibilities of others in the school team
• The role of external professionals.
• Maintaining good working relationships.
• Professional practice within schools.

Unit 4 Safeguarding children and young people: the maintenance of a safe working environment

• Legislation, policies, and procedures for safeguarding children.
• Prepare and maintain a safe working environment for children.
• The procedures and actions in response to an emergency in school.
• Types of abuse that children may experience.
• Behaviour management.

Unit 5 Supporting children's and young people's development

• Understanding physical, emotional, communication, social, and behavioural development.
• Observation methods used to record learning and development.
• Transitions that children may experience.

Unit 6 Schools as organisations

• Structures of education.
• Specialist schools.
• Legislation and school policies.
• The national curriculum.
• The Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED).
• The primary framework.
• Early years foundation stage.