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Bachelor of Early Childhood Studies

Further Information including application process
Bachelor of Early Childhood Studies course finder entry
brochure Bachelor of Early Childhood Studies brochure (pdf 280kb)
News and Events
Quality care and qualifications (pdf 19KB)
examining the link between professional learning and care-based practices.
Melbourne CBD cohort info
Melbourne CBD cohort information sheet (pdf 21KB)
For further information on the Melbourne CBD cohort, please Contact

Information Session

An information session on this course will be held
Tuesday 25 November from 6:30 - 8pm
Monash Conference Centre, Level 7, 30 Collins Street, Melbourne.

Please direct any enquiries to peninsulacourseinfo@education.monash.edu.au

Course Structure

This course is for people who want to work in early childhood settings and who already hold a Diploma of Community Services (Children's Services) or equivalent. All students entering the course will do so with advanced standing, which takes the place of the first year of the degree. Students with at least two years full-time satisfactory teaching experience in an early childhood setting may receive credit for up to an additional four units.

What will I learn?

Bachelor of Early Childhood Studies students gain a deeper understanding of child development, learning theories and early childhood pedagogy; build understanding of early childhood curriculum development; critically reflect on current issues in early childhood education, family studies, and research; gain an appreciation for the culturally diverse situations of early childhood settings; and develop a solid professional foundation as an early childhood educator.

Melbourne CBD cohort

Over twenty students enrolled in the first BECS CBD cohort in 2007, from towns as far apart as Nhill and Cann River, and Echuca to the North.

The students saw the overwhelming advantages of the course as being both face-to-face (one weekend per term) whilst still being able to study from their home base. For many of them, travelling to Melbourne was a fairly rare occurrence, except for the occasional football games, so many were keen to hit the shops! The students that enrolled were strongly committed to remaining in their rural settings - this isn't seen as a way of getting a job in the city. Some of the students were grappling with issues that are distinctive to rural areas, such as lack of local resources, distributed professional networks, rural poverty, and education of diverse children, including indigenous preschoolers and refugee and migrant children who have resettled in rural Victoria. The students were nervous at the start of their first weekend face to face session, and some were worried if they could achieve well at a university level, but they all left at the end of the weekend on a real 'high'.

The course relies on mailouts and web-based resources, as well as face-to-face lectures. Their first unit was "The Early Childhood Professional"; followed by the next unit "Visual Arts in Early Childhood".

This cohort is an opportunity for the Faculty of Education to bring a much needed education degree to the target audience in their own neighborhood. It reflects the faculty’s growing commitment to regional teacher education and will provide future opportunities for student exchanges and rural placements.

Scholarships

Scholarships are available from the department of Education and Early Childhood Development for either current students or recent Early Childhood graduates. Please see Early Childhood Teacher Scholarships for Pathway Students for further details and eligibility.