Early Childhood Education

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.

You’ll spend your senior year in the same school district. During your first senior semester, you’ll have classes one day a week and them be in your classroom placement two days a week. You’ll experience three different grades levels for about five weeks each. During this semester, you really start assuming the work of the teacher. You’ll plan with your cooperating teacher and teach the whole class. You’ll attend professional education meetings along with your teacher. The second semester is student teaching and you will be placed with one of the three teachers you worked with first semester. This means the transition to student teaching is smooth!

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