Overview

Overview

> Give your early childhood career an edge by developing your leadership skills with a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and Leadership at Victoria University (VU).

> Set yourself up for advanced career opportunities with this unique VU course, the only one of its kind that allows you to dedicate four years of study to early childhood education with a focus on leadership.

> Your Bachelor of Early Childhood Education will prepare you for a rewarding career nurturing the development and wellbeing of children from birth to five years. As a degree-qualified kindergarten teacher, or other early-childhood educator, you’ll:

*support young children with the important foundations to set them up for success in life

*develop techniques for involving families as important contributors to the learning process

*set children up for effective transitions to school.

At VU, you will learn to support children to feel capable and confident. You’ll build a strong sense of social justice, understand child development in the early years and develop ethical professional teaching practice that includes Indigenous perspectives.

By adding a fourth year to your bachelor degree, you will open the door to a higher-paid salary, senior roles in early childhood education and management positions in childcare centres.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

*Initiate teaching and learning practices that foster learner engagement in complex contexts and foreground Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander standpoints in early childhood education.

*Critically reflect on different ways of knowing, being, and doing, founded on the view of children and families as capable contributors to conceptual and pedagogical decision-making in learning and teaching; undertake an advanced study of play and the image of the child in different communities.

*Design teaching practices that reflect an ability to contextualise, question, resist, rethink, and act towards equity and the public good and design learning opportunities that embrace a rich and varied curriculum, ensure that learning and teaching approaches are based on sound ethical principles and foster reciprocal relationships in early childhood settings.

*Exhibit a broad and coherent body of knowledge of pedagogy, curriculum and assessment in relation to the changing nature of education in a rapidly-evolving global context; undertake deep inquiry into local and global contexts of Early Childhood Education.

*Critically review and articulate a range of oral and written communication techniques, including in the use of Information and Communication Technologies, to engage and connect with students, their parents/carers and the wider community,

*Analyse models of leadership and advocacy and apply principles of ethical leadership in Early Childhood.

Course structure

To attain the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and Leadership students will be required to complete:

384 credit points of Core studies

Careers

> Take advantage of the high demand for bachelor-qualified early childhood teachers with funded three-year-old kindergarten rolling out across Victoria and an expected 21.6% growth in childcare jobs by 2026.

> Thanks to the essential experience you’ll get from working in childcare and teaching in kindergartens during your placements, you’ll be ready to register as a teacher as soon as you graduate. With this nationally accredited degree, you can work around Australia and take on leadership roles in:

*public or private kindergartens

*long day care centres

*early childhood centres in Australia

*policy development with government bodies.

With strong growth expected for both early childhood teachers and child care centre managers, you can expect to earn above-average wages while enjoying the rewards that come with nurturing the next generation.

*View the employment growth and average salary for early childhood teachers (Jobs and Skills Australia)

*View the employment growth and average salary for child care centre managers (Jobs and Skills Australia)