Undergraduate Program in Early Childhood Education

Early Childhood Education

The undergraduate program in early childhood education is a four-year program for students preparing to work with young children in a variety of settings: infant/toddler, preschool, kindergarten, and the primary grades. The program is premised on the belief that students should engage in an exploration of literacy and diversity through inquiry and reflection. Literacy involves mastering a variety of symbol systems in which meaning is created and shared with others. These systems include reading, writing, art, mathematics, music, science, and others. The program enables students to acquire competence in these areas and the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to nurture literacy in young children.

Literacy is approached from the perspective of diversity. Students explore diverse life experiences such as minority status, gender, socio-economic status, linguistic diversity, and exceptionality. These experiences are examined from the perspective of the family, school, community, and broader moral and political contexts. Emphasis is placed on integration of content across disciplines and the development of critical reflection and writing skills.

Through activities, assignments, projects, and field experiences, students will be empowered to see themselves as curriculum developers, and theorists of their own teaching. They will be helped to develop and defend their ethical, social, and intellectual commitments to young children. They will also be encouraged to articulate and defend a point of view about teaching and curriculum. A sensitivity to issues of diversity of all forms (e.g., race, class, culture, gender, disability) will be nurtured throughout the program.

Students will be admitted into the program in a cohort and will continue to move through the program with others who have begun the program at the same time. The small size of the program is designated to enhance a sense of community among students, core faculty, and practicing professionals who are participating in the program. Practitioners from a variety of early childhood settings will be involved in the teaching of courses and the design of field experiences, thereby fostering community among those inside and outside the university.

This Bachelor of Science degree leads to two certifications; one to teach infant/toddler preschool programs, and two, Kindergarten-Grade Three. Course requirements are valid for IUB as reflected in the School of Education Bulletin. This major requires a minimum overall GPA of 2.5 and consists of three components:

Program Requirements (program planning sheet used for advising)