to think my degree is as good as anyone elses?

[SecretSlattern]

I started off in 2004 doing a NVQ 3 in Early Years Care and Education, 3 months after having DD. I qualified 9 months later, with 2 level 3 qualifications and worked for a bit in day nurseries, pre-schools and after school clubs before studying a Foundation Degree in Early Years Childcare and Education.

At the start of the second year of my FD, I discovered I was pg with DS but continued on anyway and had him 2 weeks before the end of the course. I graduated from Uni in 2008, six weeks after having DS.

I finally went back to finish the last year of my BA (hons) in Early Childhood Studies. I now have 2 DCs, one of which is constantly in and out of hospital, and have now discovered I am pg with DC3. The timing is pretty shit, but there you go. DC3 is due in May, the same month that I am due to finish my degree (although will still have to write my dissertation, which I have done before so am confident I can do it again).

However, when telling a friend of mine what I was up to (hadn't spoken in a while), she sniffed, pulled a face and basically said it wouldn't matter if I didn't finish my degree because it isn't a proper degree anyway. "What can you do with a degree in kids?" was the question I was asked.

I actually intend to go on in the future and do a PGCE in primary, specialising in early years. AIBU to think that just because my degree is "in kids" it doesn't make it any less of a degree? I still go to uni, still have to do a mahoosive amount of work, same as any other undergrad.

Rom is right about how the path is eased if you can place yourself within a group of people whom others seek. It's the same reason plenty of parents sent their children for elocution lessons or finishing school or pick their friends or join a particular hobby or group. Journalism for example they found last year - graduates tend to get in through people they know so families without connections mean it's harder to get in. It was much much worse than the traditional professions which tend to recruit more graduates and wanta wide range of people

There are lots of skilled professionals in this country who do not even have degrees

Ah yes.

I used to work with a girl who wanted to be a journalist. When she was in sixth form, her uncle got her work experience at the BBC and the Independent.

Never mind that her A levels were in something like English, Photography and Psychology and she wasn't particularly clever. And had never written anything in her life.

Congratulations, AWass!

thank LRD - the result was available online last week so I've known for a while now, it's just nice to have the printed letter in my hands saying it as well

StackSally- I would think that those A-levels were entirely appropriate for Journalism!! Or have I read your post wrong?

Most broadsheet journalists are Oxbridge educated (even the fashion ones etc )

I know plenty of broadsheet journalists who didn't go to Oxford or Cambridge... agree work experience is the most important thing in journalism, tbh.

I have got a 2:1 in ECS and am currently doing PGCE.

If you think this particular 5000 word essay was easy.....

Select two examples of single visual representations of children and childhood
-Provide a rationale for your choice
-Deconstruct the image in relation to the inherent and embedded messages it conveys
Using the chosen visual representations, explore possible readings from a modernist, post modernist and critical realist perspective.

.....think again!

Sorry, but in my opinion that essay question about representations of childhood is easy, when compared to, for instance, these questions set in this year's Oxford philosophy finals:

• Is the notion of innateness of any use in characterising a psychological module? If so, what use is it?

• Under what circumstances, if any, do some things compose something?

• ?The propositions of logic describe the scaffolding of the world, or rather they represent it. They have no ?subject-matter?. They presuppose that names have meaning and elementary propositions sense; and that is their connection with the world.? (TLP, 6.124). Elucidate and evaluate.

I didn't mean to go straight to work btw as you were talking about work exp at the time- but appropriate to study Journalism at degree level certainly.

I am sure most degree finals are challenging.I provided the question to illustrate that ECS is not all writing about the,undoubted,benefits of fingerpainting.

oh FGS - comparing of finals essays questions is just stupid.

I'm sure if you asked someone about to sit their final Maths exam a question from a Music paper they'd be just as stumped as the next person. Also asking someone doing medicine at Oxbridge to answer questions from the finals for Laywer - equally stupid.

I have no doubt that there is a significant theoretical element to an ECS degree, but that does not necessarily mean that it is on a par with all other degrees in terms of intellectual rigour.

For the record, I think that "as good as" is a difficult term to work with in this context, because it raises more questions than it answers.

It doesn't matter (much) what the questions are. What matters is what level of answer is acceptable to get a degree. And that is surely much harder to determine? If someone who says they put the same amount of work etc into each got a first in one degree and a third in another you could draw comparisons, but otherwise it is quite difficult.

I know someone who breezed through their microbiology degree (from a Russel Group University) and said it was easy and she hardly had to do any work......(and she didn't do much work for it)

• doesn't mean anything - except that she's very clever.

Actually, AWL, it's not stupid. Ella cited an essay qiestion to prove that her course was hard. The question she cited was not - by any measure - harder than the questions I cited.
Anyone who could successfully reach the point of answering the questions I cited as part of their finals could easily complete the ECS course that Ella's question was drawn from, assuming that Ella's question is representative of the general standard of the assignments being set. There are common elements between the 2 courses. One of them is just harder than the other.

I just don't think it matters, though. I really don't. God knows my degree has got me absolutely fucking nowhere, whereas hers will no doubt qualify her to go into the kind of work that she will enjoy and find fulfilling.

yes but who is judging how "hard" the questions are?

A (future) top surgeon doing his Finals isn't going to be able to (in general) answer the questions that a (future) top Lawyer will have to answer in his.

They'd both look rather stupid trying to sit each others papers.

I didn't even know what a Russell Group university was until today!
My uni is very well regarded for ECS...if thats even worth anything!

I am just happy that I got my degree at the age of 37 after dropping out first time round and would congratulate anyone that can study whilst working and bringing uo a family.

ellaballoo - the thing is supposing some one writes a brilliant answer to the essay title, does it mean they will be good at looking after a three year old throwing a tantrum?

It's not a vocational qualification-no real children involved!...far too messy!

Actually my degree was part time and we all worked with children.I think the full timers had to do placements.

Fairycake I,with my Newport 2:1 could do those essays (my degree- Religions and Philosophy,with Psychiology option for yr 1).

What is easy to one is impossibility for another;Dh has just done an introcudtory level (yr 1 tewrm 1 ) on Snell's Law- not something I ever encountered. Yet there's no chance he could write an essay on Gaudiya Vaishnavism- why would he?

Plus of course an essay title can be fulfilled easily or with maximum effort to create something either banal or innovative- ATM I am working on 'In respect to Autism discuss critically best practice in the diagnostic pathway)', which could be basic as anything but I have to bring a new angle to the debate and find something that isn't the sensory aspect thers all seem to be focussing on- and at MA level. Inded,my Lecturers prefer questions that enable students to set themselves up by aiming too low. It's considered a screening tool.

DH's Lecturers are buggers for the set up: they go into Wiki and change info so they can screen out who does their research that way. Judging by the failure rate, its working well.

Um, ellabaloo - the questions you cited didn't look any harder than the others to me! It's the answer that might make the difference - I'm sure I could write all of those essays, but would I make a good job of them?

I have to say, it gets on my nerves when people think a pretentious-sounding question is necessarily harder to answer. One of the toughest exams I know of is the All Souls Oxford exam. If you pass it, you get a fellowship, so it's incredibly prestigious, but very tough.

Past questions include, 'Write an essay about Water'. That could be a primary school topic, but you just try to write something worthy of a fellowship on that subject, and see where you get to!

'I just don't think it matters, though. I really don't. God knows my degree has got me absolutely fucking nowhere'

I find that sad tbh.

I haven't been able to work since graduating (2 asd kids in my bunch of 4, though have been lucky enough obv to continue study); my degree though was massive psychologically for me, as someone written off as thick at school (back in the Seventies they didn't recognise that someone with two illaprents was a carer,or even existed- at least not in my experience, Icertainly didn't realise I was unusual). It was also something I enjoyed massively, and got alotpersonally from at a timein my life where emplyment would have been unlikely so a far more effective way of keeping moving than sitting at home (as someone not naturally gifted as a 100% SAHM- I know many are amrvellous at it).