The BA in Applied Early Childhood Education [Year 2-entry only] is a two-year part-time course, designed for people who are interested in pursuing opportunities in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector. The course focuses on the study of play, development and learning in children from birth to six years old. The aim of the course is the development of high-skilled professional educators for the future who specialise in early childhood education.

 

The focus of the course is the study of play, development and learning in children from birth to six years old in a socio-cultural context and the implications of this for practice in early childhood settings. The Early Childhood professional educator needs to understand many facets of the young child's development and how best to plan and implement programmes that address the child's needs in a holistic way.

 

This course designed for people who have been working in the early childhood care and education sector for a number of years and who may already hold some qualifications in the early childhood area, but now wish to obtain academic qualifications to degree level. It is in response to national strategies on early childhood care and education which has identified the need to up skill the workforce in this sector.

 

The course will nurture students' personal, social and professional development with a view to producing a highly competent professional educator committed to providing high quality services to babies, young children and their families based on the contemporary principles of best practice as determined by Aistear and Siolta.