Early Childhood Education Program (C910)

Program Description

Leadership Claims

Preparing graduates to work as Early Childhood Educators for more than 40 years.

Program Overview

George Brown College’s part-time Early Childhood Education (ECE) diploma program will prepare you to work as a trained early childhood professional. In this part-time program, you will study in the evenings taking one to three courses per semester. Upon completion of this program, you will be eligible for entrance to Ontario’s College of Early Childhood Educators. This is a requirement for anyone wanting to work as an Early Childhood Educator in the province of Ontario.

Full Description

George Brown College's Early Childhood Education (Part-Time) (C910) diploma will prepare you for an exciting and rewarding career working with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged children. Designed for working professionals, you can earn your diploma in Early Childhood Education on a part-time basis by taking one to three courses per semester in the evenings.

Upon graduation from this part-time ECE program, you will be capable of responding to the changing needs of young children in a variety of early childhood settings, including:

  • childcare programs
  • schools
  • family resource programs
  • home childcare
  • hospital playrooms
  • agencies for exceptional children
  • before and after school programs (Full-Day Kindergarten or FDK)

Throughout this ECE diploma program, you will learn the theory of how to work with young children and get the hands-on practice you need to meet the responsibilities of a career in early childhood education.

By balancing academic courses with hands-on experience, you will learn to:

  • develop and maintain positive relationships with children
  • assess the needs and interest of children
  • develop and evaluate curriculum
  • work in partnership with families and community
  • create safe, stimulating and culturally sensitive environments for children in their care
  • work as effective team member in a variety of childcare settings that include Full-Day Kindergarten and school-based programs

Your Field Education Options

In this part-time Early Childhood Education diploma program, you will develop the skills you need to work with children of different age groups in a variety of settings. As a student in this program, you can expect three six-week field experiences. Part of the field experience may be delivered through one of George Brown’s own child care centres. 

PLEASE NOTE: While the course delivery component of this program can be taken part-time, the field placement experiences are delivered on a full-time basis (hours vary from 8:30am-6pm, five days a week).

To support student learning outcomes and ensure you have access to facilities that model the best practices we consider essential, we operate Ontario's largest network of college-run lab school child care centres that serve over 1100 children and their families each year. These 12 child care centres, located across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), will 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 partners require students to show proof of full vaccination to include COVID -19. As such, students will be required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 to complete the required field placement components of the program.

For vaccine exemption requests based on creed, please direct your inquiries to https://www.georgebrown.ca/covid-19

For vaccine exemption requests based on medical and vaccine verification, please review the Synergy link on Stu-View.

For questions, please email ece@georgebrown.ca 

Prior to starting any field placement experience, this program has special requirements from placement partners and as mandated by Public Health and Ontario legislation. Please see the Admission Requirements section for details.

Career & Postgraduate Study Opportunities

Career Options

Graduates of this program may find employment in:

  • child care centres
  • early years centres
  • parent resource centres
  • pediatric playrooms
  • special education settings
  • integrated kindergartens
  • therapeutic nursery programs
  • in-home care

Educational Pathways

Students who complete the Early Childhood Education program with a GPA of 2.5 or higher may apply to complete the bridge courses for entry into the third year of George Brown's Bachelor of Early Childhood Education - Honours (Degree Completion) program. 

Your Early Childhood Education diploma will give you credit toward degree programs at other institutions. It also makes you eligible for entrance to Ontario’s College of Early Childhood Educators.

For information on future study options, see Transfer Guide.

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