MA Early Childhood Studies

What was your motivation to enroll in MAFB?

I wanted to obtain a master's degree in the field of education and educational sciences to open up the possibility for me to improve pedagogical quality in early childhood educational institutions at the control level. It was also important to me to obtain both a university degree and to study in a small group and personal atmosphere at a university of applied sciences. For this, MAFB was perfect!

What did you study before and what was your professional/academic career like?

I completed a bachelor's degree in cultural studies and art history after high school and a voluntary social year – thereupon my life path became quite varied. Among other things, I have worked as an educator and gained the impression that the pedagogical quality in many institutions needs improvement. So I decided to start all over again in my late twenties, acquire some specialist knowledge and complete a bachelor's degree in education and educational science. Then came the master's degree and now, after a long and exciting journey as a student, I am starting a new phase in my life.

What are you doing today professionally?

I work as a specialist consultant in a large daycare center - my dream job! I support the pedagogical staff to promote the children even better in their linguistic and mathematical development and take care of the further development of the inclusion concept. Often, specialist consultants do not work in a single facility, but are responsible for several daycare centers. The advantage of working on site is that I can tailor my consulting work very individually and evaluate it well. I also get to be in the midst of the children, which gives me a lot of joy.

What was your motivation to enroll in MAFB?

During my bachelor's degree, I had the opportunity to further expand my theoretical knowledge during an internship in a child and adolescent psychiatric ward. There I realized that I would like to focus my professional career on the development of the child's psyche and work preventively or interventively with children. In addition, since a stay abroad I have been in close contact with families who have decided to take in children from a difficult family and social environment as foster children. Through living with these families, I have come into contact with the emotional and psychological challenges of adoptive and foster children, among other things. These experiences have shown me that it is especially important to me to support children and adolescents on their way to a carefree life. For me, this support is based not only on therapeutic work, but above all on an adequate educational program, which is why I chose MAFB and its scientific orientation.

What did you study before and what was your professional/academic career like?

I completed my bachelor's degree in philosophy-neuroscience-cognition at Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg. The study offered me the opportunity to form a scientifically sound knowledge of the human psyche, its neural development, as well as the philosophical examination of the self and the world.

What do you do professionally today?

I am currently in the process of publishing my master's thesis as a paper. In addition to this scientific work, my goal is to gain a foothold in the practical field, which is why I am currently completing further training as a systemic child and adolescent therapist.

What was your motivation to enroll in MAFB?

After I was in the final stages of my bachelor's degree in childhood education, it was my wish to further deepen my competence profile (language education and development, professionalization of actors and quality development in the field of child day care) in a master's program. The research-oriented approach to topics of child development, but also to structures and frameworks of early childhood education practice, which underlies the MAFB, formed an optimal basis for me to further develop my professional knowledge. Along with this, I was convinced by the possibility of independent research and participation in existing research projects and the intensive exchange as well as supervision of students in small groups and colloquia.

What did you study before and how did your professional/academic career go?

In fact, I started studying business administration at the beginning, because I wanted to pursue a career in retail management due to my work in the retail industry while I was getting my vocational baccalaureate. However, my honorary positions at UNICEF and in a family support association at the time, as well as an internship in a daycare center for children, motivated me to make the switch and pursue my professional interest in the early childhood education field. I then studied childhood education at the University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz in the Bachelor. Through my studies I was already able to gain a lot of professional and practical experience in differently pedagogically designed daycare centers and in the system control of FBBE. The master's program at MAFB offered me the opportunity to exchange and network with scientists nationally and internationally as well as to go through the entire research process independently. Overall, every step in this exciting field of work has encouraged me to have made the right decision.

What do you do today professionally?

I have recently successfully completed my studies at MAFB in the focus of practice development and transfer and am currently still enrolled at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. Currently, I continue to focus on my main topics in the areas of quality development, professionalization, linguistic education as well as practice transfer and strive for a future position through which I can further contribute and expand my professional and personal skills.

What was your motivation to enroll in MAFB?

I knew I wanted to work with children. After my bachelor's degree in childhood education, I then worked for almost three years in a children's store. The time was very nice, but I had the feeling "not to be at the end of my journey yet". The practice made me curious to learn more about children and their development and also about the quality development of the pedagogical landscape. Therefore, I have then decided again for a follow-up study!

What did you study before and how did your professional/academic career go?

I studied childhood education at the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences and then worked almost three years as a pedagogical director in a Berlin Kinderladen.

What do you do professionally today?

I work as a PhD student and research coordinator at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, where I conduct research on information seeking, ecological and active learning in children.

What was your motivation to enroll in MAFB?

The key factor was the focus on research in an area of early childhood education that was very exciting for me personally. Thereby, my interest in the professionalization of stakeholders of early childhood education, care and education was very well met, in that I could choose a focus on practice development and transfer and conduct their own field research.

What did you study before? What was your professional/academic career like?

I previously completed a master's degree in political science and linguistics (Romance studies) and then worked in the private sector. About volunteering I came to early childhood education and then decided to develop myself personally in the field professionally.

What do you do today professionally?

After graduating with a Master's degree in Early Childhood Studies, I started working as a program manager in the federal program "Sprach-Kitas" at an implementing foundation in Berlin.

What was your motivation to enroll in MAFB?

First, of course, to have "later" more opportunities in the professional field. In the writing phase of the bachelor thesis was suddenly the motivation there, me yet directly after the bachelor's degree to apply for a master's program. Specifically, I wanted to further develop my interests in the field of early childhood education (e.g. pedagogical attitudes of educators, daycare quality, training of educators). Since I liked it so much at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam in the three years before, I wanted to stay a little longer.

What did you study before? What was your professional/academic career like?

I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. In addition to various internships, I also worked as a pedagogical specialist in a so-called integration daycare center.

In which area are you professionally active today?

I am a teacher and class teacher at a vocational school for social work in the Spreewald since September 2019 and train educators. My previous main topics in the learning fields are: Perception and observation, development, play, quality development etc.

What was your motivation to enroll in MAFB?

I have always had a strong interest in studies related to early childhood education and organizational research. I also had the idea that organizational culture should in some way influence the educational quality of educational institutions. Which had already been partially demonstrated at the school level, but had received little attention in the early childhood field. The master's degree then gave me the opportunity to pursue this with my own project. In the end, the main reason was to be able to do research myself and at the same time learn the tools for it.

What did you study before? What was your professional/academic career like?

My career was not necessarily always straight, but rather zigzag. I first studied sociology/business administration and later childhood education. I have also worked in various areas of business and education, which has allowed me to gain interesting experience. Since 2015, I have also been working as a freelance speaker and lecturer for play and media education.

In which area are you professionally active today?

Currently I work as an operations manager for a social sponsor. Here I look after six facilities of the children and youth welfare. These are advised by me in various educational and economic issues. In addition, the areas of digitization, recruitment and retention of skilled workers, as well as cooperation with research are part of my responsibilities.

What was your motivation to enroll in MAFB?

During my bachelor's degree, I developed a stronger interest in scientific work. In addition, the prospect of being able to work in different areas of early education after graduation appealed to me in particular.

What did you study before?

I previously studied elementary education.

In what field are you professionally active today?

Now I am doing my doctorate and working as a research assistant at the University of Potsdam. The master has prepared me very well for my professional work, especially through the constant scientific exchange between the teachers and the students, as well as through the individual deepening in the field of scientific publishing.