Mar 28, 2024  
2010-2011 Undergraduate Course Catalog 
    
2010-2011 Undergraduate Course Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Early Childhood Education, BA


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The Early Childhood Education program at Columbia College Chicago provides students with the opportunity to complete both their Bachelor of Arts and a professional credential. Students who successfully complete the program earn an IL Type 04 Certificate, which enables them to teach children, birth through the third grade.

The program is unique in its emphasis on the arts for early childhood educators. The arts are valued for their own merit and are used as tools for instruction in other forms of literacy. Students complete at least 18 credit hours of work in a focused course of study in the visual arts, performing arts, or a defined area of language and culture. The arts are also integrated into all Early Childhood courses by the instructors and by Columbia artists who serve as consultants and guest lecturers. The program honors multiple routes to understanding in its own students and employs teaching strategies that parallel those that its graduates are prepared to use in their own work with children. Significant emphasis is placed on the Reggio Emilia Approach.

All majors complete extensive work with children. Every program course requires some level of observation or interaction with children. Teacher Certification majors complete two full years of observation, practicum, and clinical practice.

The Early Childhood program is small, allowing for intensive work with faculty and the opportunity to build strong and lasting friendships in the program. It is also academically rigorous, as its primary focus is to prepare highly skilled educators for urban settings. Our graduates have been highly successful, with 100 percent of our certified teachers finding teaching positions. We are a community of professionals, preparing others to share in our work.

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