EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION/
CHILD and YOUTH CARE

Website: www.ufv.ca/ece

UCFV offers a number of options for people interested in careers in the field of child care and education. These include:
• Bachelor of Arts degree in Child and Youth Care
The Child and Youth Care degree program was developed in collaboration with the School of Child and         Youth Care at the University of Victoria.
You may ladder into the CYC program at the second- or third-year level. (See entrance requirements)

• Child Welfare Specialization
This BA (CYC) degree specialization is offered in cooperation with the School of Social Work and            Human Services (SWHS). For more information, please see this section and the course descriptions for SOWK 312, 412, 394, and CYC 410A & 401B, and 496.

• Early Childhood Education diploma
A 21-credit post-certificate program allowing for specialization in special needs or infancy.

• Speech and Language diploma
This is a part-time, evening, post-certificate–level set of eight courses (and one daytime practicum).

• Early Childhood Education certificate
A three-semester program leading to provincial licensing as an early childhood educator.

• Family Childcare certificate
A six-course program for people who want to provide care for young children in a home setting. Offered in collaboration with the Continuing Studies department.

Society is changing, and the education of young children is now seen as a high priority. It is ironic that in the past the most formative period in human development has received the least attention from educators and society in general.
    UCFV offers an Early Childhood Education program that meets licensing requirements of the Provincial Licensing Board. The program is based on the provincial curriculum developed by the Ministry of Education, Skills and Training and adopted by Early Childhood Education training programs throughout the province as the minimum standard for educating adults to work with young children.

What is Early Childhood Education?
If you choose a career in early childhood education, you will work with young children to enrich and support their intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. This career offers the chance to fill a meaningful and fulfilling role in society.
    Early childhood education may involve working with children from infancy through 12 years of age in a variety of settings and programs. Your career goal in early childhood education may be to work as an early childhood assistant, day care or preschool supervisor, child care worker, elementary school teacher aide, parent and adult educator, respite care provider, infant development assistant, speech therapy assistant, infant/toddler supervisor, or special needs supervisor. The UCFV ECE program can also help you continue on the career/ education ladder with its transfer arrangements to the Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care offered at UCFV.

Employment prospects
Employment prospects are excellent in the early childhood fields. A high percentage of graduates are employed (approximately 90%) and many local daycare and preschool centres have been started by program graduates. Some of these centres are now used by the ECE program as field sites where students get practical training. Early Childhood Education graduates of UCFV have become an important part of the child care community in the Fraser Valley.
    The early childhood field is expanding in B.C. and there is a shortage of graduates for the care of children under three.
 

Back to Faculty of Science, Health, and Human Services index page
Calendar home page/index