Early Childhood Education Program (Accelerated)

Early Childhood Education (ECE) is a diploma program that combines alternating blocks of classroom theory and field practice to provide students with both theoretical and practical training.

In this 16-month, continuous diploma program, you will learn how to support children as they grow. You’ll study the physical, cognitive, social and emotional development stages of infants (from six weeks), toddlers, preschoolers and school-aged children (to 12 years), and will learn to recognize key behaviours associated with each developmental stage.

This program is structured to alternate between in-class learning and field placement. This method of teaching helps you to develop confidence in your abilities as you learn to apply key concepts from the classroom to a real-world setting. Employers value this approach because it makes our graduates ready to work as early childhood educators on day one.

What You’ll Learn

• Create learning contexts to enable, build and maintain caring, responsive relationships in partnerships with children, families and communities that value and respect social, cultural and linguistic diversity including Indigenous peoples’ worldviews and Francophone identity.
• Co-create, facilitate and reflect upon inquiry and play-based early years and child care programs and pedagogical approaches to support children’s learning, holistic development and well-being following children’s capabilities, interests, ideas and experiences.
• Co-design and maintain inclusive early learning environments to value and support equitable, accessible and meaningful learning opportunities for all children, their families and communities in a range of early years and child care settings.
• Collaborate with children, families, colleagues, agencies and community partners to create, maintain, evaluate and promote safe and healthy early learning environments to support independence, reasonable risk-taking and healthy development and well-being.