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Early Childhood Education
Do you have a passion for teaching? Perhaps you want to help foster a lifelong love of learning in future generations of children? Earning a degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Central Missouri will prepare you to design and run your own classroom, assess children’s educational needs and create positive and healthy learning environments.
Earn your Early Childhood Education degree from the longest continuously CAEP-accredited public institution in Missouri and become the best teacher you can be.
A degree in Early Childhood Education designed for you
- Early Childhood Education: Earning a degree in Early Childhood Education can prepare you to work with children from birth to grade 3, including kindergarten — preparation you can’t get with any other degree. Learn the fundamentals of early childhood development and classroom management, as well as the importance of play in the classroom.
- Leadership: If you want to become a leader in the field of education, our leadership option for the graduate degree in Early Childhood Education is ideal for you. You’ll learn how to navigate business and legal issues, support families and children and foster equality, both inside and outside the classroom.
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ContactNatalie Tye Department of Early, Elementary, Middle and Physical Education |
CAEP-accredited
95% of graduates employed by graduation
Top public school in the Midwest region
Ranked a best value in education
One-on-one faculty mentorships
Includes kindergarten education
Find your Early Childhood Education future at UCM
Whether you’re interested in an undergraduate or graduate degree, you’ll enjoy extensive experience in early childhood classrooms — observing and interacting with children as they learn and grow. The real-world experience you’ll receive at UCM will set you apart from other teachers who have spent less time in the classroom, helping you stand out:
- Hands-on learning: Whichever of our Early Childhood Education programs you choose to pursue, you’ll spend dozens or even hundreds of hours in a real classroom observing professionals at work and interacting with children as they learn and play.
- Community: As a student in the Early Childhood Education program, you can make lasting professional and personal connections in Early Childhood Young Professionals (ECYP), our chapter of the Missouri Association for the Education of Young Children. You may also be interested in joining the Missouri State Teachers Association or the Student Council for the Exceptional Child and Kappa Delta Pi, an international honor society for Education majors.
- Experienced faculty: Thanks to small class sizes, you can work closely with faculty mentors who are former elementary teachers with the knowledge and skills to help you develop as an exceptional educator. Your professors will also be with you in the field to provide support as you learn firsthand what being a teacher is like.
What can you do with a degree in one of UCM’s Early Childhood Education programs?
The United States is currently experiencing a nationwide shortage of teachers. Our Early Childhood Education programs are dedicated to helping students become inspiring and caring practitioners to fill these positions and instill a love of learning in future generations.
When you earn a degree in Early Childhood Education from UCM, you’ll be ready to build family and community relationships to promote child development and learning. You’ll also gain the expertise to design, implement and improve meaningful curricula for classrooms using educationally effective approaches. With so much experience and knowledge, not only will you become every student’s favorite teacher — you’ll also be every teacher’s favorite colleague.
Your degree in Early Childhood Education can prepare you for a variety of rewarding careers, including:
- Teacher
- Principal
- Policy-maker
Certificates
- Teaching in the Early Childhood Classroom Certificate (UG)
- Understanding the Child in Early Childhood Education Certificate (UG)
- Program and Community Partnerships in Early Childhood Education Certificate (UG)
- Leadership and Management in Early Childhood Education Graduate Certificate
- Advanced Teaching in Early Childhood Education Graduate Certificate
As a graduate of our Early Childhood Education program, you will:
- Promote child development and learning while building family and community relationships.
- Observe, document, and assess to support young children and families.
- Use content knowledge, appropriate pedagogy, and dispositions to build meaningful
curriculum using educationally effective approaches.
We use a team advising approach for our students. Your academic advisor will make sure you are taking courses in the correct sequence and that you are meeting all requirements for Missouri teaching certification. You will also be assigned a faculty advisor who will be one of your professors. Your faculty advisor will work closely with you when you begin taking major and professional education courses.
Clinical Services and Certification, located in Lovinger 2170, monitors your progress from admission to teacher education through student teaching and finalizes your certification with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Clinical Services and Certification will oversee your field experiences, including your student teaching placement.
You will be placed in an elementary classroom for the first time in your second or third semester at UCM. You will complete a six-hour block of foundations courses and spend 30 hours in an elementary classroom. This will allow you to see teaching from a teacher’s perspective and help you know for sure you are on the right path.
During your junior year, you will complete two blocks. A block is a combination of courses and an extensive placement in an elementary classroom. One of your blocks will focus on Pre-K and Kindergarten and the other will focus on grades 1-3. All of your courses will be about teaching and learning in those grades. You will be placed in an elementary classroom in one of the grades you are focusing on that semester. You’ll primarily work with small groups of children – you will teach them, interview them, assess them, read with them, play games with them.
Admission Requirements
Both certificate programs have the same minimum admissions requirements:
- A minimum 2.5 GPA on any courses completed prior to admission.
- Completed bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field of study.
This certificate is designed to support and enhance leadership skills within early childhood education. The Leadership in Early Childhood Education Certificate aligns with the Missouri Association for the Education of Young Children (MO AEYC) Director Credential, meeting criteria upon completion. The certificate consists of Master’s level Early Childhood Education courses approved by the Missouri Department of Higher Education. This certificate is designed to support and engage early education leaders in and outside the classroom promoting learning, achievement, development, and well-being of each early childhood student through leadership development.
Student Learning Outcomes
- Develop cross- cultural responsiveness and strength-based perspectives within and across family engagement.
- Identify and explain what operations management in early childhood programming involves (i.e., educational leadership, personnel management and human relations).
- Create a collaborative culture that enhances professional practice and identification of common goals to support 21st century teaching, learning, and leadership.
- Explain foundational knowledge of multicultural education and integrate, into personal practice and leadership, a common framework for engaging one’s own story with the story of diverse PK-12 learners and colleagues.
- Identify and discuss important factors affecting quality of early childhood programs including conducting staff recruitment, interview, orientation, supervision and evaluation.
Courses: 15 credit hours
- EDAD 5130 School Supervision, 3 credit hours
- ECEL 5715 An Ecological Perspective of Family Engagement in Early Childhood Education, 3 credit hours
- ECEL 5725 Early Childhood Business & Legal Issues, 3 credit hours
- ECEL 5750 Multicultural Education: Beliefs, Curriculum & Pedagogy, 3 credit hours
- ECEL 5790 Collaborative Practice in Early Childhood Education, 3 credit hours
This certificate is designed to support and enhance teaching skills within early childhood education. The Advanced Teaching in Early Childhood Education Certificate aligns with the Core Competencies for Early Childhood and Youth Professionals (Missouri and Kansas) and the revised 2020 National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators. The certificate consists of Master’s level Early Childhood Education courses approved by the Missouri Department of Higher Education. This certificate is designed to support and engage early childhood educators in the classroom promoting learning, development, achievement, and well-being of each early childhood student.
Student Learning Outcomes
- Apply research-based procedures, using their own knowledge, appropriate early learning standards, high leverage practices, innovative resources to design, implement, and evaluate use of engaging and challenging curriculum for early learners.
- Develop a pedagogy of caring by 1) recognizing the characteristics of caring; 2) classifying pervasive teacher attitudes and expectations that impact caring; and 3) recognizing how the effects of teacher-student interactions on student outcomes can lead to culturally responsive teaching
- Plan and program STEM activities for children through intentional teaching, inquiry units, play and everyday routines.
- Analyze and use relevant theories and research to demonstrate the understanding that positive relationships, supportive interactions, and engaging instructional experiences build effective classroom environments.
- The professional teacher engages in professional conversations with colleagues focusing on current issues in early childhood education to support 21st century teaching and learning.
Courses: 15 credit hours
- ECEL 5710 Early Childhood Education: A Constructivist Approach, 3 credit hours
- ECEL 5740 Play in Early Childhood Education, 3 credit hours
- ECEL 5750 Curriculum and Pedagogy in Multicultural Education, 3 credit hours
- ECEL 5780 STEM in Early Childhood Education, 3 credit hours
- ECEL 5785 Teaching Strategies & The Classroom Environment for Active, Engaged Learning, 3 credit hours
UCM is the longest continuously CAEP accredited public institution in Missouri
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