Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education)

This course introduces you to the field of early childhood education in New Zealand. It discusses professional knowledge, skills and values, as well as examining the key documents that guide early childhood professionals in New Zealand. In particular, Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 2017), the national curriculum framework for early childhood education, its overall intent, structure and the practices it promotes are introduced. Professional relationships, responsibilities and qualities of early childhood teachers are discussed and you will become familiar with the concept of reflection as a tool for growing your teaching practice.

This course introduces you to key concepts, theories and perspectives on child development. By covering the domains of cognitive, physical, language, social and emotional development, this course emphasises the importance of understanding child development from a holistic perspective. You are encouraged to reflect on your values, cultural understandings and beliefs about child development by being introduced to current developmental theories. Thus supporting your practice with children as unique individuals.

This course examines how play supports and fosters children’s learning and development. Theories and perspectives in relation to play are investigated and ways to apply these theories are suggested. You will explore how Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 2017) guides holistic teaching and learning in order to support teachers to design and implement meaningful play experiences. Through a sociocultural approach to teaching and learning, this course discusses teaching approaches that enhance responsive learning environments, improve teaching practice and support child-centred pedagogy.

This course supports your growing understanding of concepts related to culture and cultural diversity in light of your own culture and early childhood education, including teachers, children and their families/whānau. It introduces you to the bicultural foundation of Aotearoa/New Zealand, including a brief introduction to The Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and its influence on society and early childhood education. Multiculturalism and the growing cultural diversity of early childhood education settings and communities are examined in order to support you in becoming a culturally responsive professional who genuinely supports equitable education for all children.

This course focusses on the importance of a sociocultural approach to teaching and learning. The planning process is examined, with particular emphasis on assessment, evaluation, and reflection for guiding children’s learning. The process of documenting, interpreting and analysing the combined views of early childhood teachers, family/whānau and children for assessment purposes is explored in-depth. Theories of teaching and learning, including that of an emergent curriculum are examined and applied throughout this course.

In this course, you are introduced to the concept of social competence in early childhood and explore the key foundations for social development and learning. The effective teaching strategies that support and promote the emerging social skills and prosocial behaviour in infants, toddlers and young children are also considered. An important concept of including all children underpins the content of this course by suggesting best teaching practices and approaches in order to meet the diversity of children’s needs and encourage collaborative relationships and partnerships with families/whānau.

This course empowers you to practically apply the theoretical and conceptual knowledge gained from your academic courses. You develop a range of teaching strategies and practices, which provide an opportunity to explore and reflect on your own values and beliefs as you move towards becoming an early childhood professional. This course challenges you to make positive changes to your practice. You have the opportunity to work alongside skilled teachers who share their knowledge and experience with you. You are exposed to a range of skills, ideas, methods and resources, in order to foster your development as a teacher.

This course examines curriculum experiences that promote language, literacy and the arts for infants, toddlers and young children and provides ideas for their practical implementation. You will make important connections between early childhood and primary school curricula, which will support you in facilitating opportunities for experimentation for infants, toddlers and young children in a range of curriculum areas.

This course considers the developmental needs of infants and toddlers, as well as different philosophies and pedagogical perspectives related to infant and toddler care and education. It encourages you to reflect on your own values, cultural understandings and beliefs about working with infants and toddlers, as well as reveals new thinking about infant and toddler care and education and what impacts on teachers’ responsibilities within early childhood settings. Curriculum provision for infants and toddlers is analysed and ways of implementing it in practice are considered.

Engaging in bicultural development in the teaching practice can be a dilemma many early childhood centres face when it comes to practice. This course serves as a theoretical and practical guide for you to not only recognise the importance of understanding and accepting the Tiriti-based values of two traditions within the bicultural society of Aotearoa/New Zealand, but also to be able to actively practice te reo and tikanga Māori in early childhood contexts. Through the in-depth exploration of tikanga and te ao Māori, this course highlights the responsibility of early childhood teachers to support Māori identity, language and culture and actively promote Māori values and language for children of all ethnicities through everyday teaching and learning.

In this course, you examine how children develop concepts through engaging in meaningful learning experiences, while acquiring content knowledge of mathematics, science and technology through your engagement with current practices and research, as well as through making connections between early childhood and primary school curricula. Planning and assessment practices and teaching strategies that foster mathematics, science and technology in early childhood education are examined in-depth.

The key focus of this course is families/whānau, their role and responsibilities in society and the contribution they make to their communities, with a particular focus on the early childhood education context. A range of social issues and realities faced by families in contemporary society are explored and practices that assist early childhood teachers to respectfully support children, parents and families/whānau are considered.

In this course, you explore leadership in early childhood education from the perspective of leadership practices that the teacher can develop to exert greater influence and enhance the learning outcomes of children in this setting. Leadership is discussed with the context of shared leadership perspectives and includes consideration of both distributed and pedagogical leadership approaches. Another feature of this course is the focus on teacher wellbeing. It is considered in the context of teacher’s feelings of security, affinity and sense of achievement, and is positioned within the leadership approaches.

This course empowers you to practically apply the theoretical and conceptual knowledge gained from your academic courses. You develop a range of teaching strategies and practices, which provide an opportunity to explore and reflect on your own values and beliefs as you move closer towards becoming a graduating teacher. This course challenges you to make positive changes to your practice. You have the opportunity to work alongside skilled teachers who share their knowledge and experience with you. You are exposed to a range of skills, ideas, methods and resources, in order to foster your development as a teacher.

In this course, you revisit the concept of curriculum and examine the significance of values, beliefs and philosophies that inform and shape practice in early childhood education. The course prompts you to critically reflect on how curriculum and various approaches influence your values, beliefs and pedagogy in early childhood education. Historical, political and societal influences on early childhood education are examined and a range of curriculum approaches are discussed.

This course focuses on early childhood teachers as leaders and explores a range of leadership theories and concepts. An emphasis is placed on your own leadership through critically reflecting on your emerging professional philosophy in respect to leadership and ethics. A range of leadership perspectives that have implications for those working in an early childhood context are critically examined, with a particular focus on exploring pedagogical leadership as it relates to the role of the teacher.

This course builds on the importance of inclusion of children with diverse needs in early childhood contexts and challenges you to consider your role as an early childhood teacher in supporting and advocating for children with diverse needs and their families/whānau. It also explores historical, political and legislative changes that have taken place both globally and domestically and the critical role of these changes in developing teachers as strong advocates, committed to equitable pedagogies.

Underpinned by the significance of teacher identity and an understanding of the crucial role all stakeholders play in relation to quality early childhood education, this course prompts you to critically reflect and relate your knowledge and experiences to support quality care and education in early childhood contexts. Focusing on intentional teaching for learning, this course considers contemporary perspectives on quality and current educational discourse in regard to developing quality learning experiences for children.

This course prepares students to carry out inquiry into their own practice in licensed professional early childhood settings. Based on an authentic puzzle or problem of practice, you will be prompted to research the topic area, make connections to your previous learnings, engage in professional discussions with your colleagues and suggest and implement changes in your own teaching practice. Teaching as Inquiry is a powerful and effective method to promote teacher professional learning and a strategy to improve children’s learning. Through an evidence-based approach to teaching, this course supports teachers to critically reflect on the complexity of the teaching and learning process and focus on enhanced outcomes for learners.

This course will support you to demonstrate the knowledge and skills learnt throughout your program of study. Based on the Teaching as Inquiry course, you will present a short oral power point presentation that will explain your practice-based intervention. You will be prompted to discuss the impact of your teaching on learners and demonstrate connections between changes in your teaching practice and the Standards of the Teaching Profession. Your presentation will demonstrate the practices and rigour of a professional inquiry and will include reflection on changes to your teaching practices and Standards for the Teaching Profession.

The focus of this course is to see the role of the teacher, and that of the student, as being relational, subjective and fundamentally ethical. The course considers ethics and ethical dilemmas, as well as the ethics of everyday teaching. This includes fundamentals of interacting and engaging with children, from how we welcome children to our centres in the morning and the way that we actively listen and act upon children’s voice, through to how we teach and care for children using respectful and inclusive practices. This course will encourage your critical engagement with fundamental issues of early childhood education that shapes you as a teacher.

This final Field Practice supports you to critically examine your own and other teaching philosophies and practices and to apply effective leadership and management skills, including knowledge of self-review and internal evaluation. You are encouraged to reflect on your teaching practices and how those are underpinned by well-informed inquiry. The course also considers the place of equity, diversity, related inclusive practices and requires students to demonstrate an ability to plan and implement quality curriculum.