The Early Childhood Education (ECE) program provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to create a positive learning experience for young children. Teachers who work in high quality early childhood programs understand how young children grow and learn, and are able to provide materials and activities that are developmentally, interest, and culturally appropriate. They also recognized and support the unique social and emotional needs of children and how they impact learning. The College must ensure that students enrolled in any ECE program demonstrate emotional stability to withstand the ever-changing circumstances and the ability to respond quickly and appropriately as events require. Students are expected to have the maturity to accept direction and guidance, exercise sound judgment, and maintain confidentiality and sensitive interpersonal relationships with teachers, fellow students, children, and families.
Admission Criteria
All students are welcome to enroll in Early Childhood classes; however, when enrolled in ECE112G, ECE202G, and ECE212G where field placements are required, they must be able to meet technical standards for the field and New Hampshire Child Care Licensing Bureau requirements for health and background checks for child care personnel. It is recommended that students begin the background check process upon entering the ECE program if not already employed in a NH childcare program. See the program coordinator for more information. Prospective students with special needs requiring accommodations that may affect their practicum placement or employment options are advised to discuss specific career objectives with the program coordinator during the admissions process.
Program outcomes are adapted from Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators, published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Standard 1: Child Development and Learning in Context
Students understand early childhood developmental domains and see each child with unique developmental variations, learning, and developing within relationships and multiple contexts, including families, cultures, languages, communities, and society, using this knowledge to make evidence-based decisions.
Standard 2: Family-Teacher Partnerships and Community Connections
Successful early childhood education depends upon partnerships with the families and knowing about, understanding, and valuing the diversity in family characteristics. Students understand how to create respectful, responsive, reciprocal relationships with families and identify ways to engage with them as partners and understand methods to build connections between early learning settings, schools, and community organizations.
Standard 3: Child Observation, Documentation, and Assessment
The primary purpose of assessment is to inform instruction and planning in early learning settings. Students use observation, documentation, and other appropriate assessment approaches and tools, in ways that are ethically grounded and developmentally, culturally, ability, and linguistically appropriate, and value assessment partnerships with families and professional colleagues.
Standard 4: Developmentally, Culturally, and Linguistically Appropriate Teaching Practices
Teaching and learning vary depending on children’s ages, characteristics and the setting in which this occurs. Students demonstrate positive, caring, supportive relationships and interactions, and use teaching skills that are responsive to the needs of each child including developmentally appropriate, culturally, linguistically relevant, anti-bias, and evidence-based teaching approaches.
Standard 5: Knowledge, Application, and Integration of Academic Content in the Early Childhood Curriculum
Students understand many academic disciplines and strategies for teaching them. They apply this knowledge using early learning standards to make decisions about spontaneous and planned learning experiences and about curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation to ensure that learning will be stimulating, challenging, and meaningful to each child.
Standard 6: Professionalism as an Early Childhood Educator
Students identify and participate as members of the early childhood profession and know how to advocate for young children, families, and the profession. They know and use ethical and other early childhood professional guidelines, and communicate effectively in their work with young children, families, and colleagues. Students practice collaboration, reflective, and intentional practice as members of the profession.
- Required GBCC Health Form on file prior to ECE112G or senior practicum placements if not completing site hours in work settings.
- Required New Hampshire Child Care Personnel Health Form on file that indicates that the student has no apparent health problems that would prohibit him/her from caring for children prior to practicum.
- Required background check of “clear” or “non-disqualifying” prior to practicum. The cost of the record check and fingerprinting is the responsibility of the student.
- Students are required to complete practicum during regular morning hours in order to meet the ECE course requirements. Transportation to and from the practicum site is the responsibility of the student. All practicum sites are subject to practicum coordinator approval.
Note: Students who do not successfully complete the health and background requirements will not be able to successfully complete the program.
Participation in an internship requires the student to follow the College Immunization Policy. Please see the Academic Policies section, under XVI. Immunization Policy. Depending upon the site, the student may be required to possess and maintain professional liability insurance. For unpaid internships, the student must possess and maintain accident insurance. Please see the Student Services section of this catalog, under Insurance for purchase options available through the College.
Technical Standards have been established to provide insight to students as to the skills and abilities required to function successfully in the ECE program and eventually the profession. Applicants who do not feel they can successfully meet these should contact the ECE program coordinator before applying to the program. Students enrolling in the Early Childhood Education program must have sufficient strength, stamina, motor coordination, and sensory capabilities to perform the following:
- Standing for sustained periods of time, walking, running, bending, sitting on the floor and on child-size furniture to meet the child’s needs and accomplish tasks.
- Frequent lifting, moving, and transferring children, especially infants and toddlers.
- Sufficient visual and hearing acuity to ensure a safe environment and the ability to respond quickly to children, colleagues, and professional partners in the event of an emergency.
- Sufficient verbal ability to express and exchange information and ideas as well as to interpret important instructions to and from children, colleagues, and parents.
- Sufficient skill in written expression to accurately record children’s daily progress and milestones as well as medications administered, accident, and suspected child abuse/neglect reports, etc.
- Ability to work with frequent interruptions, to respond appropriately in unexpected situations, and to cope with extreme variations in workload and stress levels.
- Students must have reliable transportation to travel to and from practicum settings and have sustained health as outlined in Child Care Personnel Health form to fulfill time commitment as agreed in the Practicum contract.
- Ability to respond to children’s personal needs, including changing diapers, in a manner that safeguards the health and safety of the student, children, and staff.
- Ability to work in a professional and respectful manner with a diverse range of children and their families including those from different races, cultures, religions, and ethnicities as well as children with a wide range of disabling conditions.
- Ability to maintain professional boundaries in both the school and home environments.
- Ability and disposition to adhere to and practice the Code of Ethical Conduct set forth by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
In addition to Great Bay transfer credit policies, transfer of courses in Early Childhood Education more than five years old from the time of acceptance will be evaluated by the program coordinator on an individual basis.