Early Childhood Education

The Department of Early Childhood Education programmes cater to the vast number of persons seeking to further their studies in Teacher Education.

What Is Early Childhood Education?

Early Childhood Education involves teaching young children from birth to age eight. Early childhood is a very critical period in a child’s development and as such, the Early Childhood Department’s mandate is to train teachers of the highest quality to partner with stakeholders in meeting the holistic needs of children.

In recognising the critical role Early Childhood Education plays in laying the foundation for all other levels of education and acknowledging the role of the teacher in teaching and learning, our programmes aim to create the environment in which the student teacher can develop the requisite knowledge, skills and dispositions to become confident, competent teachers

Promoting and maintaining quality early childhood education and professionalism, so as to make Shortwood Teachers’ College the regional benchmark for preparing early childhood personnel.

The department is committed to ensuring that the College’s overall mission, goals and objectives are implemented and achieved by:

• promoting in staff and students the ability to utilize a range of teaching strategies and skills
• fostering critical inquiry through rigorous research practices
• identifying trends and devising appropriate responses to meet the needs of our external partners, and
• encouraging and promoting lifelong learning practices.

  These will be achieved by providing a cadre of highly professional staff who are qualified, sensitive, insightful, committed and able to deliver both formal and informal curricula that are responsive to the needs and aspirations of our students and clients.