Becoming an Early Childhood Educator (ECE) is a meaningful choice that can change the lives of the children you work with. As an Early Childhood Educator, your role involves creating and carrying out educational programs that fuel the intellectual, physical, social, and emotional growth of children.
To say the least, Early Childhood Educators hold significant power in positively influencing the lives of the children they work with. Since they have the power to make a difference on young lives, it’s important that they are qualified and certified before officially becoming Early Childhood Educators.
In British Columbia, there are a few steps that one must take before becoming an Early Childhood Educator. If you are interested in pursuing a career in early childhood education, keep on reading to find out how you can build your career with Sprott Shaw College.
Build Your ECE Knowledge and Skills Through Education
The first and most important step to becoming an Early Childhood Educator is to build your knowledge and skills, and one of the best ways to do this is by taking a hands-on early childhood education training program.
In order to start your career, you first need to take a basic early childhood education program. A basic ECE program will help prepare you to be able to develop and lead daily age-appropriate activities for children aimed to promote growth and development.
At Sprott Shaw College, our 45-week Early Childhood Basic program provides you with the skills and occupational competencies required to succeed in the ECE industry based on the curriculum approved by the Ministry for Children and Family Development. At the end of the program, you will have a chance to take a practicum placement opportunity, allowing you to gain hands-on work experience working with children before graduating.
Once you complete the Basic program, you can choose to specialize your skills further and take one of our Post-Basic programs focusing on Children with Exceptionalities, Infant and Toddler, or even Montessori Education.
Get ECE Certified with the Government of BC
After you’ve completed your ECE program at a training institution approved by the Government of British Columbia, you can apply for certification. Once certified, you can begin to work as an Early Childhood Educator or Assistant.
If you decide to take a specialized program like Infant and Toddler or Children with Exceptionalities, you must first be certified as a Basic Early Childhood Educator before you can be certified in your specialization. Once you complete a basic and post-basic ECE training program, you can then receive certification for your basic and post-basic skills.
To learn more about Early Childhood Educators and how you can jumpstart your career with Sprott Shaw College, contact one of our advisors below.
