Bachelor of Early Childhood Education. Department of Early Childhood Education. Faculty of Health and Caring Professions. Technological Educational Institute of Athens.

Description

KNOWLEDGE: They:
- Have a coherent and complete body of pedagogical knowledge ranging from infancy to early childhood.
- Recognize and record the typical course of child development in all areas during infancy and early childhood as well as the factors that can facilitate or hinder the development process of infants and children up to the age of six.
- Know the basic principles and paediatric first aid for infants and children up to six years.
- Understand the function of preschool education institution and establish a communicative attitude towards the family of each child.
- Have the pedagogical knowledge of psychopedagogics methodology & of its implementation techniques.
- Acquire knowledge about the preparation - implementation - evaluation framework of the pedagogical practice in preschool places for infants and children up to six years.
SKILLS:
- They analyse the characteristics and individual differences in infants from birth to the first year of life and their importance for the orderly development of infants.
- Examine thoroughly the need of infants for individualized treatment and care from birth to the first year of life.
Organize sites that accommodate infants; mainly nurseries.
- Combine their knowledge and plan the provision of education and care to young children 1-3 years old and toddlers 3-6 years old by setting targets aimed at their all-round development.
- Organize sites that accommodate young children 1-3 years old and toddlers 3-6 years old.
- Organize time for infants and children up to the age of five years old who are accommodated in nurseries and other accommodation areas for the respective ages, while respecting their needs and applying the basic principles to cover them.
- Introduce the game as pedagogical material and pedagogical activity having previously discovered its rules, properties and psycho-pedagogical character.
- Recommend stimuli and inspire activities and actions aimed at the all-round development of infants and preschool children.
- Evaluate and present children's book for infant and preschool children.
- Creatively implement visual arts, helping children broaden their aesthetic choices and knowledge.
- Sing children songs and perform dance exercises aimed at muscular domination and improved musicality and plasticity of the body of babies and small children.
- Facilitate movement and physical expression with the help of dance, rhythm and music.
- Organize dramatizations and role play for children 2-6 years showcasing role playing as another means for pedagogic practice.
- Create simple puppets and successfully handle the dolls and present simple puppet shows.
ABILITIES:
- Distinguish the role of teacher for preschool infants and children up to 6 years.
- Apply the professional ethics of the preschool teacher.
- Analyse the factors specifying the quality in day-care centres.
- Connect the relation of Pedagogics with practice and modern problems.
- Interpret and examine the ideology which, based on the latest psychopedagogical and sociological scientific data, must govern the organization of the pedagogical operation in areas for infants and children up to the age of 6.
- Correlate the behaviour of infants and young children up to the age of 6 during the pedagogical operation and realise their learning needs.
- Integrate pedagogic dialogue and collaborations with educators.
- Analyse and assess the relation between the educational policies, the learning models and the pedagogical practices implemented in day-care centres.
- Are initiated in the reflection and investigation of new pedagogical conditions. Active engagement with the evaluation cycle.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
COGNITIVE:
The graduate may:
- understand the role of the Education of Preschool Age for infants and children up to the age of 6;
- formulate the ethics of the profession of the Education of Preschool Age for infants and children up to the age of 6;
- analyse the factors specifying the quality in day-care centres;
- separate the development characteristics of infants and children until six-years old and list their basic needs;
- delve into the need of infants for custom care and treatment;
- formulate the basic principles governing human behaviour;
- recall the main theoretical approaches of psychology;
- recall the development course of infants and children up to the age of six for all development fields;
- correlate the contribution of early interactions in the development of infants and children up to six years old and discern the factors facilitating or making difficult the growth of children;
- recall and identify the stages of psychoemotional and social growth of infants and children up to six years old;
- know the development of Special education and present the categories of special educational needs found in the areas of preschool education;
- formulate and understand the importance of pedagogics as a Science;
- realise the offer of great educators and critically assess each theory or system;
- connect the pedagogical theories for the formulation of preschool education;
- analyse the basic principles governing the organization of the pedagogical operation;
- set objects for the organization of the time of infants and children up to six years old, seeking for their all-around development;
- realize the context of Preparation - Implementation - Assessment of the pedagogical operation in education and care areas for infants and children up to six years old;
- analyse and evaluate data from observations and recordings made in the areas where the practical courses are conducted, with regard to infants and children up to 6 years old;
- analyse and apply the project and portfolio method;
- delve into the pedagogical value of children's book and poetry;
- understand the value of active hearing and diversification;
- delve into the organisation methodology for scientific research on pedagogical and psychopedagogical sciences;
- create and analyse observation techniques, such as calendar, audio and video recordings, observation grid;
- summarise the factors that have a positive or negative affect during pregnancy;
- explain the feeding methods for infants: breast-feeding, artificial and mixed nutrition, as well as the methods for the nutrition of children up to 6 years old;
- identify the basic characteristics of the most frequent viral and microbial diseases observed in day-care centres;
- identify the most frequent medications used in infants and children up to the age of six;
- prevent the transmission of diseases in a day-care centre, by following the basic principles of hygiene;
- delve into the value of visual arts and on the importance thereof for the comprehensive development of children up to the age of six;
- delve into the value of role playing and puppetry for the comprehensive development of children up to the age of six;
- identify the foreign literature for Preschool and infant age and communicate information in writing and orally;
- operate a computer and may look into the internet for issues of his/her specialty, while using the computer as an educational tool,
- be able to design, organise, and run a day-care centre;
- organize and run the personnel of the day-care centre and evaluate the efficiency of the unit of the day-care centre.


PSYCHOMOTOR:
The graduate may:
- organize the areas accommodating infants and children with suitable materials;
- use games with children as a pedagogic material and a pedagogic activity;
- suggest stimuli and organize suitable activities for infants and children up to six years old;
- organize and operate the Rental Library for Preschoolers;
- use various materials of visual arts, by investigating the sensory selections of children up to the age of six;
- sing lullabies and children's songs for infants and children up to six years old;
- help children up to the age of six releasing their motor and body expressions with the help of dancing, rhythm, and music;
- use theatre, role playing and puppetry as a means for pedagogical practice;
- organize a simple puppetry show;
- organize actions as an animator in the area of the museum for preschoolers;
- offer physical care and education to infants and young children;
- elaborate a diet for infants and children up to six years old for the day-care centre;
- administer the proper rates of medicines, under the guidance of the health officer of the centre, and organize the day-care centre's pharmacy box;
- give first aid to infants and children up to the age of six facing pathological or emergency conditions at the day-care centre.

EMOTIONAL: The graduate of the department is capable of following the method of operation of the day-care centre, with consistency and awareness of his/her responsibilities.
- He/she undertakes perfectly the role of early educator for infants and children up to six years old.
- He/she is characterized by the competence of approaching and communicating with the family of children and various social bodies involved with the education of young children.
- He/she plans, organizes and manages a day-care centre.
- He/she organizes and runs the personnel of the centre and evaluates its effectiveness.
- He/she is responsible, flexible, and perceptive, with an open mind.

Further Information

1. The subject of the Department: The curriculum of the Department covers the cognitive subject of knowledge and methods regarding the education and care of pre-schoolers (0-6 years old). 2. The mission of the Department: The mission of the Department is to promote the development and dissemination of knowledge on the sciences of educating pre-schoolers with the teaching and applied research, while providing students with the necessary assets that will secure their proper training for their scientific and professional career and growth.
Within its mission, the Department:
A. Keeps track of the international developments in the scientific and educational sector.
B. Develops international collaborations with domestic and foreign higher education institutions.
C. Collaborates with Day-care centres and other bodies related to the subject of the Department.
D. Uses modern technologies in education.
E. Conducts research.
F. Facilitates students in the development of competences and skills that will render them competitive at a national and international environment.
G. Prepares to be open to change, as per the changing educational, financial, and social conditions at a regional, national, and international environment.
H. Prepares to ensure and improve quality for the Department.
3. Structure of studies: The duration of studies in the department of Early Childhood Education is eight (8) semesters. During the seven (7) first semesters, the studies include theoretical teaching, practical exercises, visits to areas where the knowledge and methods are applied with regard to the education of infants and pre-schoolers, up to 6 years of age, and the preparation of coursework (literature-based and of applied theory), related to the subject of studies.
The practical exercises, as the application of theory, are included in the theoretical part of the course and require, by their own nature, the active participation of students during the entire semester.
Special attention is paid to the development of the personal competences of the student, including the development of initiatives, critical thinking, research, and of the competence for resolving problems.
The curriculum is structured based on the workload of the student, while ECTS units are introduced in every semester.
The basic subjects of the Department include the following:
- Courses of general background from the sciences of Pedagogy, Psychology, and Medicine, such as Introduction to Pedagogical Sciences, Basic Principles of Psychology, Paediatrics II, Research Methodology for Educational Sciences, etc.
- Courses of special background, which include basic knowledge relevant to the subject of their specialty, and include various courses, such as: Musical-kinetic education, Developmental Psychology, Developmental Psychopathology, Paediatrics II, Role Playing, Preschool Education, and Computers.
- Specialty courses that offer the necessary knowledge for the practical application of the profession, which include various courses, such as: Infant Education, Child and Game, Principles for the Organisation of the Pedagogic Operation, Daily Education and Care, Modern Trends in Early Education.
- Courses on administration, management and law, and on humanitarian studies that are necessary for the organization and management of work areas related to the specialty; these include various courses, such as: Organisation and Management of Day-Care Centres, Elements of Ecology - Environmental Education, and Intercultural Education.
The eight semester of studies includes the practical training on the profession and the preparation of a dissertation which ensures the delving, by the final-year student of the Department, into a serious, current subject of applied research or on a subject that is directly related to the specialty of the studies.
The Practical Training in the profession lasts for six (6) calendar months. It is guided and evaluated, and it is conducted in Day-Care Centres collaborating with the Department.

Relation To Employment

The degree of Preschool Education is necessary to exercise the Profession of Preschool Educator in nurseries. The graduates, based on their specialized scientific and pedagogical knowledge, work either independently or in collaboration with other scientists:
a) for the design, organization and operation of nurseries and day-care centres,
b) for the education and care of preschool children from two months up to their registration in elementary school,
c) for teaching and implementing of Early Childhood Care..

These graduates have employment rights, either as managers in centres for Infants and Toddlers, as well as in kindergartens and nurseries in the private and public sector, apart from the educational centres that fall into the competence of the Ministry of Education (pre-elementary schools), or as self-employed with the following subjects and activities:
a) Education and care for the preschool children from two months up to their registration in elementary school.
b) Establishment and operation of day-care centres or kindergartens.
c) Exercise any other professional activity that falls within the subject of their specialization, from the development of Pedagogical science in general and the field of Early Childhood in particular, according to the provisions of the current legislation.

Transitions

Access to this type of qualification have those who have completed at least the secondary education (level 4).
Holders of such qualifications gain access to study programmes at the same level or at level 7 or 8.

Ways To Aquire

Qualifications of this type are acquired via formal education.