Bachelor in Early Childhood Education
In August 1996, Shortwood Teachers' College welcomed its first batch of twenty (20) students for this degree programme. It marked the culmination of several years of planning and praying. What had seemed like a project for the College alone turned out to be a joint effort between the University of the West Indies, The Jamaican Ministry of Education Youth & Culture and the College.
The Programme prepares Early Childhood Development professionals to work and experiment with pratices and processes from which will emerge learning experiences which are developmentally appropriate for children birth to eight years of age.
It provides Jamaica and the other English speaking Carribbean countries with the neccessary links to the Governments' support for Early Childhood Development.
Programme Structure
The degree is a full-time and part-time programme of at least 66 credits with three components: the core educational courses and the professional courses.
Applicants who satisfy the entry requirements are granted a maximum of thirty (30) credits for which their diploma in Teaching enable the completion of the degree programme in two years. The core professional, out of school and university courses include Sociology of the Caribbean, Issues and Perspectives in Education, Child Growth and Development, Supervision and Administration of Early Childhood Programmes Introduction to Computers in Education, Creative Expressions in Early Childhood Education, Development of Language and Literacy in Early Childhood and Research Design in Education.
The general academic and foundation courses are done at the University, while the professional courses are conducted at the College. Transportation is provided to and from the University for students who live on the Shortwood campus.
An integral component of the programme is the practicum. Students are required to visit early childhood institutions, evaluate their physical plant and programme which result in an Action Research.
Programme Staff
The programme has two co-ordinators: one at Shortwood and the other in the Department of Educational Studies on the Mona Campus. The academic staff are lecturers employed to the University and others approved by the University.
