Early Childhood Education

Why does a toddler’s tantrum, or a preschooler’s endless stream of questions, matter so much to how a child learns? RRC Polytech’s two-year Early Childhood Education diploma answers that with a play-based, child-centred approach. For international applicants, RRC Polytech lists a May start for this diploma at its Exchange District Campus, set among the heritage warehouses of downtown Winnipeg.

The first year pairs the academic basics of Communication Strategies and Academic Writing with Guiding 1, Child Development 1 and Introduction to Play, Environments and Curriculum. Your second term covers Health and Well Being, Guiding 2, Curriculum Planning 1, Introduction to Science of Early Child Development and Explore the Early Childhood Education Profession. Year two moves from theory to leadership through Partnerships in Early Childhood Education, Curriculum Planning 2, Guiding 3, Diversity and Inclusion and Child Development 2, followed in Term 5 by Reflecting on Play Based Curriculum, Mentorship, Advocacy and Community, Topics in Child Development, Professional Behaviour in Early Childhood Education and, finally, A Context for Practice With Indigenous Peoples.

Study downtown is tied to real centres: Practicum 1 in Term 3 and Practicum 2 in Term 6 place you in early learning and child care settings, where an assigned mentor observes your practice and evaluates your growth. The diploma meets the education requirement for Manitoba’s Early Childhood Educator II classification, which the province requires for two-thirds of staff in full-time child care centres. Credit transfer toward degrees at Athabasca University, the University of Calgary, the University of Victoria and the University of Winnipeg leaves room to keep studying.

Roles open to ECE graduates from the downtown campus include child care centre educator, infant and toddler caregiver, nursery school educator, before and after school program staff, family child care provider and ECE classroom support worker. It is a strong fit for warm, organised people who get on well with families, want a planning role with young children, and can meet the required criminal record and child abuse registry checks.