Bachelor of Early Childhood Education – Honours Program (Degree Completion) (C305)

Program Description

Program Overview

This program is eligible for two separate entrance scholarships — an entrance scholarship and a second $1200 entrance scholarship. Visit our entrance scholarship page for details.

*This opportunity is funded in partnership with the City of Toronto, The Region of Durham, The Region of Peel, the Province of Ontario, and the Government of Canada under the new Canada-Ontario Early Childhood Workforce Agreement, which provides one-time federal funding to support the retention and recruitment of a high-quality child care and early years workforce.

logos for City of Toronto, Durham Region and Region of Peel

George Brown College's Bachelor of Early Childhood Education – Honours is a two-year program designed for those with an Early Childhood Education diploma wishing to pursue a degree in early childhood leadership. This program will prepare you to become a progressive leader in this complex and evolving sector. This program offers a part-time study option. 

Full Description

This program is eligible for two separate entrance scholarships — a $1000 entrance scholarship and a second $1200 entrance scholarship. Visit our entrance scholarship page for details.
Students starting this program in September 2023 will receive an additional $2,000 in each of Semesters 5, 6, 7 and 8.*

*This opportunity is funded in partnership with the City of Toronto, The Region of Durham, The Region of Peel, the Province of Ontario, and the Government of Canada under the new Canada-Ontario Early Childhood Workforce Agreement, which provides one-time federal funding to support the retention and recruitment of a high-quality child care and early years workforce.

logos for City of Toronto, Durham Region and Region of Peel

 

George Brown College's Bachelor of Early Childhood Education – Honours program is a two-year program suitable for those with an Early Childhood Education diploma wishing to pursue a degree in early childhood leadership. This program will prepare you to become a progressive leader in this complex and evolving sector. Part-time program option available. 

In this degree completion program, you will study pedagogy and policy as it relates to the Early Childhood sector and will take an in-depth look at leadership. In the spring/summer semester following the third year, you will participate in a 10-week internship* in the sector and have the opportunity to focus on  an area of research, policy or practice. 

*PLEASE NOTE: This is an unpaid internship and is a required element of the degree program.

We believe that to be a successful leader in the ECE sector, you need to have a deep understanding of both human development and teaching and learning. We’ll guide you through a comprehensive look at each subject as it pertains to early childhood education and practice.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

As human development plays an ongoing and integral role in our lives, and in particular in a child’s early years, we will expose you to this important topic from a variety of perspectives including:

  • developmental psychology
  • population health
  • neurobiology
  • sociology
  • anthropology

TEACHING AND LEARNING

You’ll also study teaching and learning through an early childhood lens. This will encompass a thorough overview of curriculum planning and design as this forms the foundation of early childhood leadership.

Prior to completing your degree, you will have the opportunity to conduct research in an area of your choice and will complete a research project that will ultimately support your final thesis.

PLEASE NOTE: Some of our clinical or work placement partners may require students to show proof of full vaccination. As such, students who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 may not be able to complete the required field placement component of their program in the regularly scheduled time frame. Please visit this page for the latest updates on COVID-19.

Your Field Education Options

To support student learning outcomes and ensure you have access to facilities that reflect the best practices that we consider essential, we own and operate Ontario's largest network of school owned and operated child care centres that serve over 1,100 children each year. These 12 child care centres, that are located across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), expose you to the kinds of environments where you will eventually work and provide valuable services to the families and communities that they serve.

Field placement is offered in each year of this ECE Degree Completion program with the longest being a 14-week full-time internship that takes place between semesters 6 and 7. This internship is unpaid and may be local, elsewhere in Canada or in an international setting.  

While on placement, students are expected to demonstrate their learning through exemplifying the leadership skills they have been taught in class.

Career & Postgraduate Study Opportunities

Career Options

The goal of George Brown's Honours Bachelor of Early Childhood Leadership program is to prepare early childhood professionals with program leadership knowledge and skills.

Graduates of this degree completion program will have the knowledge and practice base to influence pedagogy and curriculum. They will be prepared to move into supervisory, director and curriculum leadership positions in a full range of early childhood programs as their careers unfold or as they pursue further study.

This program prepares graduates for positions as Registered Early Childhood Educators, working in partnership with certified teachers in the Full-Day Early Learning programs that are replacing junior and senior kindergarten.

(C301) graduates will be prepared to guide and lead curriculum and pedagogy in a variety of Ontario’s early childhood settings such as:

  • child care centres
  • family drop-in programs
  • early intervention services
  • family support programs

Emerging Best Start Child and Family Centres will be integrated with existing early childhood programs and graduates will be well positioned to assume leadership positions within these centres.

Educational Pathways

Previous ECE degree completion graduates who wished to pursue further education have successfully gained admission to master's degree programs and/or the faculty of education at notable universities.

Toronto Metropolitan University offers several postgraduate study opportunities for graduates of the Honours Bachelor of Early Childhood Leadership degree program including their Master of Arts in Early Childhood Studies. View the complete list of relevant post-graduate study opportunities offered by Toronto Metropolitan University.

“Through the Toys or Tools project, our team of current and former students have gained our first crucial experiences in academic projects. We developed critical thinking skills and sharpened our ability to communicate effectively through written and verbal means.”

Click here to learn more about the Toys or Tools applied research project.

Emma Mogyorodi
Honours Bachelor's Degree

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