Undergraduate Certificate in Early Years Education, Management and Care MQF Level 5

Programme description:

This diploma programme Early Childhood Education and Care is intended to equip practitioners with the knowledge, competencies and skills needed to work in the modern world of early childhood education.

This course looks at various pedagogical models, theories and views. Not only does the programme look at early years from a micro level but also at the wider context of early years as an important part of society.

The programme equips learners with knowledge about promoting positive behavour, fostering literacy skills, management in early years, policies and procedures, problem solving and quality provisions. It also considers technological advances, the needs of a diverse society, the importance of being culturally sensitive among other topics.

The programme offers the leaners to explore how to help young children develop their literacy skills, learn language, use play to engage children, adopt the outdoors as an extension of the setting and by focusing on the diverse needs of each child. This programme will give confidence to the learner who in turn will become more professional in the work of an early years’ practitioner.

Early years is crucial period in every child’s life and therefore having professionals to work with children is important. The programme will help develop attitudes and character of learners who in turn will transmit positive energy and motivation to the young learners. By understanding historical perspectives, the rights of the child, the need to work with parents and other professionals, the programme will equip the practitioners will skills to call on others if and when required in the best interest of the child.

The programme aims to provide practitioners with the knowledge, skills and competences to provide quality service in the field thus contributing to a more profession sector working in early years. It also encourages practitioners to engage in research and development in the area of early years.

Learning outcomes:

The aim of the course is to provide students with sound pedagogical knowledge which will help them understand how young children learn and how to individualise learning to meet the individual interests, aptitudes, characteristics and contexts of children. Moreover, throughout the course the students will be exposed to a wide range of skills, including planning, observation, documentation, assessment and reflective practice, which are needed when one is working with young children. The study-units are focused to introduce students to professional, philosophical and pedagogical issues across different disciplines, with the aim to equip them with the knowledge, skills and competences needed, including:

1. Establishing care routines

2. Collaboration with team members

3. Support well being in children

4. Reflect and evaluate practices

5. Manage in an early years setting, assessing the strengths and the weaknesses of team members, promoting positive behaviour, lead by example and carry out professional discussions

6. Analyse and understand behaviour in early years

7. Lead and support communication both internally and externally

8. Understand the importance of play to promote speech, language and communication development and analyse various methods.

9. Create and foster an enabling environment to promote learning and development

10. Understand transitional effects on children

11. Promote literacy skills in the early years

12. Promote mathematical development in the early years

13. Understand child protection laws and safeguarding policies and procedures

14. Abide by current protective legislation

15. Understand and mitigate health and safety risks and develop foresight

16. Advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion in the early years

17. Combat discrimination, examine policies and procedures and judge the efficacy of current systems in place

18. Promote CPD in the early years

19. Ensure effective record keeping and collaboration in the early years.

How the course is delivered:

The taught element of this course is made up of 10 modules including a practice placement.

At the start of the course, learners are given access to the institution’s VLE where every student is to create his/her personalised password-protected account. This online portal is utilized as a direct link between student, teacher and institution. Here lecturer upload resources for students, and students upload work assigned. The portals are also used for attendance records and gradebooks. Moreover, they provide for a direct news portal and means of communication between students and teachers or institution. Tuition and online one-to-one assessments/orals take place via the platform ZOOM. Online classes are delivered in real-time so that students are able to bring forth queries and teachers can offer feedback. Where it comes to timed assessments, these continue to be taken via the online portal and invigilated via the ZOOM platform.

Practice placement will be conducted at the learner’s place of work, hence within the school where s/he is already employed, in the event that the learner is not employed, hours will be carried out on a voluntary basis. The learner will be required to validate 180 hours of practice placement. When on sick leave, missed hours would need to be compensated.

Career Progression:

The course takes into consideration the National Standards in Early years.

This course is meant to satisfy the requirements called for by the Call for Applications issued by the Ministry for Education.

The course is intended for students who want to pursue further studies in early years or students who want to work as childcare centre managers.

Upon completion of this course, learners will be able to apply for the Level 5 Diploma Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) (Top-Up) (15 ECTS) Course, to have 60 ECTS credits. Upon successful completion, learners would have achieved the requisite 60 credits to be eligible to apply for Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education and Care (honours top-up degree) (BA ECEC) (MQF 6, 120 ECTS)