Undergraduate Program in  Early Childhood Education

Undergraduate Bulletin	Graduate Bulletin	Program Faculty
Required Courses	Handbook for Field Experience (Undergraduate)	Graduate Program in Early Childhood Education

Room 2309 James
2900 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11210
Telephone:(718) 951- 5205

Program Description

The Program in Early Childhood Education prepares teachers to understand and to respond to young children of diverse cultural, social and language backgrounds, and with a variety of learning needs and styles.  The first eight years of life are filled with new beginnings, when attitudes towards learning and social engagement are first shaped. Early childhood teachers, in concert with families and with the cultural and social environments that support children’s growth, are meaningful contributors to this process. Central to the program’s philosophy is the development of teachers who are advocates for culturally and developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education, and who promote social justice within classroom and community settings.  Addressing early childhood education through the prism of the urban environment, the program focuses on developing teachers’ ability to meet the challenges, and to envision the possibilities of working with young children and families in multicultural settings. 

A 6-credit optional extension qualifies students for dual certification in Early Childhood Education and Teaching Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Education.  Fieldwork emphasizes experience in the least restrictive settings and the development of pedagogical methods and practices consistent with the recommendations of special education professional organizations and New York State Learning Standards. 

Study of child development within social and cultural contexts, and critical study of the social, historical and philosophical foundations of early childhood education, frame courses that examine early childhood pedagogy in a variety of early childhood settings. Students learn to assess the ways in which children’s development and learning needs guide curriculum development. They learn to conduct close observation of learning environments, consult with families and with professional colleagues, and to reflect upon their own teaching praxis. The program provides for study of young children’s expressive abilities through language acquisition and the development of early literacy, and through the arts. It engages students in consideration of how creativity and the imagination, scientific curiosity and thinking, and quantitative and spatial reasoning may be nourished in young children, and how home and community can shape early understanding of social, cultural, and historical processes. 

All early childhood education students must complete a major or concentration of at least 30 credits in the liberal arts and sciences. These majors and concentrations provide depth of understanding in specific liberal arts and/or sciences disciplines. The total program in education requires 87 credits in liberal arts and sciences and 23 credits in education (excluding student teaching). This rigorous program of study provides future teachers with broad exposure to all fields of knowledge relevant to the learning standards as well as substantial focused proficiency and knowledge in one discipline or interdisciplinary field. 

The content core is carefully designed to address the New York State Learning Standards, while providing students with an avenue for pursuing individual intellectual interests. In keeping with the program and the school of education’s mission of developing in teacher education students a commitment to lifelong learning, students elect to major or to study in an area of concentration in which they have special interest.  Study in an additional 17 credits of paired liberal arts and sciences courses supplements study in the concentration.

Program Faculty

Mary DeBey Program Head 
Katherine Gordon, Jacqueline Hollander, Beth R. Ferholt, Carol Korn-Bursztyn, Xia Li, Linda Louis, Lisa Novemsky, Burcin Ogrenir, Barbara O'Neill, Jacqueline Shannon, Gale Synott 

The School of Education
Brooklyn College/CUNY
2900 Bedford Avenue / Rm. 2111 James / Brooklyn, NY 11210

Updated September 2009 / Brooklyn College School of Education
Copyright 2009 / 2010 / Wilda Gallagher, Webmaster