The title of your EMA is: Is this a good time to be young in the UK? What kinds of work can be done with children, young people and their families so that they have a more positive experience of being young? Critically discuss this statement drawing on the KE322 module materials, as well as your own reading and research. Your EMA is also an opportunity to exemplify and elaborate on a range of different kinds of work with children and young people, considering what they can and cannot achieve and why, and how effective they are in making more young lives happier, safer, more resilient and more equal. There are several (sometimes overlapping) areas to cover and the more of these you can cover in your EMA, the greater breadth and depth you will be able to give to it. Selecting the main points and allowing enough space to develop and illustrate them is often the most difficult part of tackling an essay, so collect material that is relevant to the two questions that make up the EMA, discard some and think hard about the relevance of your material to the main points you want to make and to the two questions that you are being asked, both of which are equally important. The three main areas to cover are: 1. ongoing change 2. divergence and difference 3. recent events, specifically the COVID-19 pandemic. You will need to include all three of these areas in your EMA, but there is no need to use subheadings. In the module, it has been argued that thinking about social change and its causes can have a positive impact on the development of effective services for children, young people, and families, and good practice, both now and in the future. Young lives are subject to the complex influences of social, cultural, economic and political changes and these have been addressed at several points throughout the module you should use part of this assignment to address the political and social debates which accompany changes to young lives. You may wish to include some discussion of who generates change and how (the material on children’s and young people’s activism in Learning Guide 2 Activity may be . It may also be helpful to include some discussion of how legislation sometimes reflects, and sometimes drives, social change. The examination of difference and divergence has also been a significant part of studying KE322. Social and economic inequality at birth means that some children and young people have an early advantage over others. Differences in gender, ethnicity, class, age and disability also affect the paths children and young people take in life. As you have studied KE322 this year, the impact of the pandemic on children and young people has become clearer. Loss, damage, insecurity and inequality associated with the pandemic are having a profound impact on young lives, and so the question whether it is indeed a good time to be young will remain a crucial one for a long while into the future. We all urgently need to acquire knowledge and understanding of the importance of this very significant recent event to the lives of children and young people. There is a lot of module material available in which different kinds of work with children, young people and their families are identified, examined, analysed and commented on. As you select what you want to use, you will need to make sure that you include discussion of both the work of specific practitioners and some discussion of the strategies, approaches and programmes they work with. Try to avoid simply repeating descriptions of practitioners’ roles or programmes / projects. You need to explain how and why these different kinds of work are likely (or not) to mean that children and young people have a more positive experience of being young. Your own reading / research could provide more good examples of work with children, young people and families for use in your EMA. Your discussion of the different kinds of work that is done with children, young people and their families should include discussion of the differing views and perspectives of those receiving support and services, as well as those working in these services. It will also be good to see key concepts taught in the module being used by you in your EMA (such as resilience, plurality, intersectionality, privilege, social and cultural capital, meritocracy, or social mobility). As with all of your previous assignments, the script marker who marks your EMA will assess whether you have answered both questions that make up the EMA and whether you have produced a critical discussion of the required content. Also, as it is your final assessment, they expect your essay to be correctly referenced. The EMA asks you to write a ‘critical discussion’. So what is meant by this? A critical discussion will start with an introduction and is then formed of a series of relevant points, linked together to form an evidence-based, balanced and coherent argument, leading to a conclusion. A good, balanced, critical discussion will avoid making generalisations and will reflect an understanding of your own and other’s perspectives, and will not include subjective comments that are solely based on personal beliefs. You need to show that you can develop a reasoned, evidenced argument based on a logical interpretation of reliable sources of information. It involves examining ideas, evaluating them against what you already know and making decisions about their merit. As you are writing (and thinking) critically, you need to show that you can weigh up all sides of an argument and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. Similarly, another way to show that you are thinking and writing critically is to use concepts, particularly concepts used in the module. Use the module glossary, which you can find under the Resources tab on the module website, if you would like to be reminded of some of these. Effective critical discussion is supported by evidence and examples. Backing up the points you are making with illustrative examples helps to avoid the critical discussion becoming too abstract. The conclusion should be the end point of a well-structured, logical line of argument and it needs to reflect the argument’s strengths as well as its weaknesses. The critical discussion needs to be presented in the form of an essay. The essay needs to be clearly written and structured, with signposting (by using terms such as ‘however���, ‘nonetheless’, ‘in addition’ or ‘by comparison’) of different points and discussions (subheadings will not be helpful) so that the EMA script marker (who won’t be your own tutor) is able to follow your argument and understand the points you are making. Combining and integrating relevant module materials alongside points and examples drawn from your own wider reading and research will show the EMA script marker that you have critically engaged with the module, and this is likely to be rewarded with a higher score. There is a wide range of relevant material presented in KE322 that you could draw on in your EMA, so you will need to be selective about what you choose to use. You should use audio and / or video material as well as data and written sources. Avoid using material that you have used previously in your TMAs (the focus of the four TMAs were on different module material) or from Level 2 modules you have previously studied. Also, you are advised to focus on, say, the last 20 years rather than trying to cover a long time period which can lead to long, rambling description of periods of time not covered by the module. Don’t forget that PDFs of all the chapters in the KE322 Readings book are available to download and search from the Resources area of the module website. We suggest that you make reference to a minimum of five external study material sources that are relevant to the EMA title. These can be used sparingly. A key point or some important data should be enough. Try to avoid using most of your external sources in relation to just one of the areas of the question. Important note: remember that the Reading for assessment material that was provided with each KE322 learning guide does not count as material you have found yourself. The tutors have lists of material provided within the module and will be able to check whether you have sourced material yourself. All of the sources you include, whether they are drawn from the KE322 materials or from your own externally sourced study material, need to be appropriately and correctly referenced. In other words, all of the sources you use to make your critical argument should be visible – both as in-text citations and in the reference list that you include at the end of your EMA. Make sure that you reference all of your sources (including the KE322 module materials, as well as other sources you select from outside the module materials) using the OU Library’s guidance on referencing and plagiarism. Take time to reference properly. If you make no effort to reference correctly your EMA, which is a Level 3 assessment, it is not possible for you to be given a mark above a bare pass. If you are not sure about how to reference a source, check the referencing guidance. Ten top tips for a good EMA 1. These are the criteria that the person marking your EMA will use to give you feedback and so you can see what they are looking for: • Answers all parts of the question(s). • Found and used external sources. • Demonstrates a knowledge and understanding of module material. • Well informed, balanced essay using evidence and examples. • Critical discussion of question. • Structured, coherent referenced essay. 2. Strengthen depth by moving beyond the descriptive (what) and adding more penetration (more about why). If you can, use the concepts used by the module and adopt the language used by the module, as these are clear ways to demonstrate that you have been learning from studying the module. 3. Improve the essay structure by adding an introduction reflecting the assignment question, producing signposted and linked paragraphs, and ending with a summary. Check that all of the points, discussion and debate are relevant to the TMA question. The best way to do this is always to use an essay plan and then go back and check this plan at the final drafting stage. 4. Take a little time to proofread and final edit your EMA. Build in time to proofread and make final corrections to your TMA, as it can make a real difference. A poorly presented TMA, with lots of small, easily rectified errors, including spelling mistakes, makes a poor impression. 5. Remember that assignments are, primarily, assessments of what you have learnt from studying this module and whether you have met the required standard. Don’t be tempted to use material that you have studied for other modules. What you have learnt from previous modules is only background knowledge here. 6. Avoid selecting study material that you have found but is now quite old. The module material is almost all from the last couple of decades and that is a good model to follow. And some students sometimes write about ‘Victorian times…’ which is rarely, if ever, relevant to the assessment question. 7. Avoid using dictionaries, Twitter posts or tabloid newspapers as the study material that you have found yourself for your academic essay. Students sometimes quote dictionary definitions of commonly understood words. There is no need to do that and it is a waste of some of your word allowance. 8. If you are aiming for the top bands of marks (a pass 1 or pass 2) make sure your referencing, both in text and on your reference list, is correct. 9. Avoid discussing complex issues that are not covered by this particular module (such as teenage pregnancy, postnatal depression or surrogacy), even if you have studied them in previous modules, 10. Avoid plagiarism! The most common reason for plagiarism investigations is where sections have been directly copied from the module material or other websites without indicating where the quote starts and finishes and without a reference (including the page number). Any sentences that are copied are quotes, and this needs to be clearly indicated and referenced. And try not to use too many quotes. All EMAs will be checked using plagiarism software, and plagiarism (including essays written by so-called ‘essay mills’ and bought online) is taken very seriously and can result in a zero score. If your TMA is flagged up for a plagiarism investigation, your result will be pended while the investigation takes place. Need to include induction and Conclusion which need to be 400 words each. I also need a number of different sources outside the ones giving all related to the UK and is it a good time to be young and what kinds of work can be done with children, young people and their families so they have a more positive experience of being young
