Student Experience
Project-based learning
The Early Childhood Education program at Algonquin College requires students to plan activities for young children that will help develop their intellectual skills and behaviours as they learn their first lessons in life. These projects may focus on many things, including developing curriculum for learning activities, making safe and age-appropriate toys, drawing up daycare floor plans to ensure the environment is safe for children, creating projects to teach healthy eating and the importance of nutrition for young children, and much more.
Professional Pay For Professional Work
Students use The Professional Educator course to develop their professional and personal philosophies in theory and practice as they are about the emerge into the field. The provincial Professional Pay For Professional Work campaign has been a topic of presentation where students research professional trends, issues and outcomes and discuss their findings with local school board reps and community members. It is a powerful opportunity for growth in our students’ final semester.
Applied Research
Our Early Childhood Education program is dedicated to providing students with community-based learning opportunities through various health and social services applied research projects meant to benefit both the student experience and the community. Below is a list of some of the more recent initiatives:
Creativity Lab – Early Childhood Education
The Creativity Lab provides first level Early Childhood Education (ECE) students with the opportunity to further develop their knowledge and skills in the ECE field, ultimately supporting them in becoming successful educators of young children. This method allows students to facilitate creative experiences for preschool children in a “lab” environment that promotes their active engagement. There is also a focus on how to organize and implement a learning environment in a way that nurtures and fosters creativity in children. These experiences are beneficial two-fold: they provide students with first-hand knowledge through demonstration and observation and provide free creative play sessions for young children.
Green Works – A Schoolyard Greening (SYG) Project
Current research supports that time spent outdoors with natural elements decreases stress in children and provides limitless opportunities for learning (Hendrick & Weissman, 2014). In November 2014, our Health and Community Studies department launched Green Works, a schoolyard greening design initiative meant to provide students with more natural play spaces that encourage creative play, stimulate learning, and promote health and wellness in children. Green Works stemmed from work already being done by two local organizations: KidActive and the Shaw Woods Outdoor Education Centre. Both organizations provided guidance and support throughout Phase I of Green Works.
For 2014/2015, Green Works partnered with two schools located in Renfrew County: Rockwood Public School and St. Andrew’s Catholic School. Waterfront Campus students from the Bachelors of Science in Nursing, Early Childhood Education, Business, Outdoor Adventure Naturalist, and the Environmental Technician programs hosted workshops with students from Kindergarten to Grade 8. These workshops provided the opportunity for students to express in fun and creative ways what types of features they would like to see in their schoolyards. Waterfront Campus students compiled the information from the workshops and performed complimentary research in landscaping, risk management, as well as investigated current theories surrounding the importance of natural play spaces, ecological literacy, and the significance of the ‘nature deficit disorder’, a term coined by author, Richard Louv. Based on this information, our students designed a re-naturalized landscape for each schoolyard to implement in the coming year.
We hope that for Phase II of the project, the Waterfront Campus will participate in the implementation of these natural play spaces.
A variety of job options
Graduates of the Early Childhood Education program are able to work in a variety of settings, including elementary schools, private and public daycare centres, early years centres, and health-care facilities. Within schools, they work side-by-side with teachers, providing support for children who are experiencing learning or behavioural issues. With the government placing a greater emphasis on the importance of Early Childhood Education within the school system, there are many new and exciting opportunities available for our graduates.