Early Childhood Education

Can you turn a pile of cardboard boxes into a morning of counting, building and storytelling for a room of four-year-olds? That is the everyday craft taught in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) diploma, a two-year, 122-credit Assiniboine programme delivered here at the Parkland campus in Dauphin, serving the Parkland region of western Manitoba.

The first year of the Dauphin ECE programme concentrates on development and relationships, with Infant and Toddler Development, Preschool Development, Family Dynamics, Children’s Health & Well-Being and Guiding Young Children, plus Overview of Early Learning, Art, Literature and Play, Indigenous Perspectives, Communication Essentials and Professional Practice. In the second year you design and lead learning: Curriculum Development and Teaching Strategies sit alongside Language and Emerging Literacy, Science Through Play, Music & Movement Through Play, Creative Play and Design, Inclusion in Early Learning, School Age Development, Building Partnerships and The Reflective Professional.

Each year ends in a supervised placement: Applied Practical Skills 1 runs six weeks with a minimum of 260 hours, and Applied Practical Skills 2 runs ten weeks with another 260 hours or more, giving Parkland students time in real early learning programmes. A current criminal record vulnerable sector check and child abuse registry check are required before those placements begin. Along the way you complete Commit To Kids online training and MCCA Ethics Training Level 1 and 2. On graduating you are eligible for Manitoba Early Learning and Child Care classification as an ECE II, and the Brock University honours degree agreement offers an online route to a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education.

Graduates of the Parkland ECE diploma can work as early childhood educators, nursery school teachers, infant and toddler room leads, school-age programme staff, family resource workers or in-home childcare providers, in centres, school divisions and child and family service facilities. The Dauphin setting suits learners who want a smaller campus and a career rooted in rural and small-town Manitoba communities.