Overview

Nurture children from birth to Year Six

If your ambition is to work as a teacher in a preschool, early learning centre or primary school, then UC’s Bachelor of Early Childhood and Primary Education will provide you with a broad and innovative education degree which prepares you for a future-focused career.
Taught in partnership with the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT), which delivers the first year of the course as a Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care, this four-year degree is carefully structured with a balance of both theory and practice in teaching.
During your first year of study, you’ll undertake professional teaching placements in early childhood and preschool settings.
Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) units across your remaining three years are taught on-site in schools, providing you with ongoing opportunities to engage with children of all ages and embrace your course learnings first-hand. Whether you choose to launch your career in an early childhood or primary school environment, you’ll graduate classroom-ready and keen to inspire the next generation of children aged 0 to 12.

Study a Bachelor of Early Childhood and Primary Education at UC and you will:

• gain appropriate scientific, literacy and numeracy knowledge
• learn the theories and principles that are the foundation for educational issues and practice in primary and early childhood settings
• demonstrate understanding of student needs and differences, and the relevance of these to learning in inclusive, indigenous, English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EALD) and mainstream settings
• plan and develop appropriate teaching activities for students from a diverse range of backgrounds
• develop and implement effective assessment strategies and carry out evaluation of teaching programs, resources and your own teaching
• apply the required content knowledge for all primary school curriculum areas to teaching, assessment and reporting methods, alternate/enhanced literacy and numeracy strategies, and the effective use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in teaching and learning
• reflect on your practice and experiences and engage in a process of continual improvement.

Work Integrated Learning (WIL)

A teaching degree, by its very nature, is the embodiment of Work Integrated Learning (WIL), with its focus on compulsory professional teaching practice.
During this course, you’ll undertake a minimum of 120 days of practical placement within schools and educational facilities, including at least 40 days in an early childhood environment and 80 days across a range of primary school settings.

In addition to this, the course content is developed by early childhood and primary education professionals, and kept relevant and up-to-date through consistent monitoring of, and engagement with, the industry.

You’ll undertake authentic assessment tasks which are highly relevant to the day-to-day practice of teaching, and will take part in regular professional development activities, field trips to educational sites, lectures hosted by guest speakers from a range of education and teaching backgrounds, and more.

Career opportunities

• Early childhood teacher
• Early learning centre director
• Educational leader
• Early childhood policy adviser
• Early childhood advocator
• Early intervention teacher
• Primary school teacher
• Principal
• Deputy principal
• Executive teacher
• Special needs teacher
• Gifted and talented teacher
• Relief teacher
• Private tutor
• Schools policy adviser
• Children’s services manager
• OSHC coordinator (Out of School Hours Care)
• Schools engagement coordinator

Course specific information

This course is delivered in partnership with Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT). CIT staff deliver the first year of the course, which is the equivalent of the CIT Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care. The competencies required for the Diploma are embedded in the University units, which are taught at the AQF7 level.
There is a pathway into this course for applicants who have completed the CIT Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care (or equivalent qualification from another ACECQA-approved Diploma course). Credit for 8 units (24 credit points) of this course will be granted to applicants who have completed an ACECQA-accredited Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care. The 24 credit points will be based upon credit being granted for:

• 10173 – Curriculum Design in Early Childhood Education – 3cp, Level 1
• 10174 – Development in Early Childhood Education – 3cp, Level 1
• 10171 – Health and Wellbeing in Early Childhood Education – 3cp, Level 1
• 9874 – Human Development and Learning – 3cp, Level 1
• 10169 – Infant and Toddler Education – 3cp, Level 1
• 10170 – Pedagogy of Relationships in Early Childhood Education – 3cp, Level
• 10172 – Regulatory Frameworks in Early Childhood Education – 3cp, Level 1
• 10175 – Quality Improvement in Early Childhood Education – 3cp, Level 1

Applicants with equivalent diplomas from providers other than CIT will also be granted the same 8 units of credit. Where an applicant does not have a completed diploma (ACECQA approved), no credit will be granted.

Students must obtain a Working with Vulnerable People Check before their first placement.

This course requires external accreditation from two independent regulatory authorities. The early childhood profession is regulated by ACECQA and is accredited by ACECQA in order for graduates to be employed in early childhood settings. The Primary profession in the ACT is regulated by the ACT Teacher Quality Institute (TQI) and is accredited by ACT TQI in order for graduates to be employed in primary schools.

On graduating, students must register with the appropriate state teaching body in order to teach.

Professional accreditation

This course requires external accreditation from two independent regulatory authorities. The Early Childhood profession is regulated by ACECQA and is accredited by ACECQA in order for graduates to be employed in Early Childhood settings. The Primary profession in the ACT is regulated by the ACT Teacher Quality Institute (TQI) and is accredited by ACT TQI in order for graduates to be employed in Primary Schools.