Bachelor of Early Learning and Community Development (Honours)

The Bachelor of Early Learning and Community Development (Honours) program prepares you to work with children and families in both the community development and educational sectors and provides you with a variety of transferable skills.

This program combines theory and practice, giving you the skills and knowledge you need for engaging with communities, families and children to create and implement community and school based programs that support early learning and development.

Throughout the program, you have three varied field placements within both community and school settings. These give you the chance to apply your skills to real-world settings. With field placements, applied learning and a semester-long work term, graduates are ready for employment in the community development and education sectors.

Early childhood education is a physically demanding profession. Individuals entering this profession must be able to lift children, materials and equipment (up to 70 pounds). As well, individuals must be able to move quickly/run between areas in the room and outside in order to ensure children’s safety. In addition, educators must constantly observe children to ensure safety and to assess children’s abilities, skills and interest in order to develop meaningful curricula. Entering the program without these abilities may result in unsuccessful field placements and students who fail to successfully complete field placements are not eligible to graduate from the program.

What You’ll Learn

• Contribute to early learning and community development for children and families using research and evidence-based practice from the fields of psychology, early learning, education, sociology, and social work.
• Communicate professionally, in all modalities to support children, their families and their communities to document research findings and inform the public and profession.
• Use cross cultural competencies and evidence-based practice to initiate and develop supportive, respectful, responsive and professional relationships when working with children, families and the broader community, including Indigenous peoples and Francophone culture.