Offered by the Open University of Mauritius: B.Ed(Hons) Early Childhood Education and Care
1. Objective and Rationale
The Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood Education and Care is a programme developed for blended delivery by the Open University to build solid foundations for teaching and learning. Early Childhood is the foundation stage for the development of human beings. Early Childhood Education and Care has a significant lifelong impact on the physical, mental, emotional and cultural development of children.
According to the Strategy Plan 2008-2020, the Education Authorities in Mauritius are committed to ensuring that ALL children in the early childhood settings should have the opportunity to develop their individual, socio-emotional and psycho-motor skills to the best of their capacity in order to build the confidence and self-esteem in learning that will not only prepare them for the primary school, but more importantly lay the foundations for learning that will support them throughout their lifetime.
With a view to improving the quality of the teaching and learning environment, to foster research and development and enhance professional development for the general improvement of early childhood education, this programme will bridge the gap between practicum and theoretical insights. It will provide young aspiring educators in early childhood education and care and experienced practitioners access to university studies in Early Childhood Education and Care. It is also a response to the increasing need to have appropriately trained educators and to the increasing demand for professional development by practitioners and aspiring young educators in Early Childhood Education and Care. This programme will also allow the learners to share best teaching practices and knowledge in Mauritius and within the region through the use of technology and modern teaching media as well as the professional experience and development component which they will have to undergo throughout the programme for their own professional development and growth. The B.Ed in Early Childhood Education and Care adopts a multidisciplinary approach which thus provides the learners with the opportunity to reflect on the practical experience as they study and beyond during their teaching career. It is a tailor-made programme not only for prospective educators and practicing educators but also for supervisors, teaching assistants and directors of early childhood centres.
More specifically, the programme aims:
- To promote the learner’s knowledge of the holistic development of the very young
- To provide the learner with effective teaching and learning strategies and experiences so that he/she may face the challenging new demands in the early childhood
- To foster the learner’s understanding, sensitivity and appreciation of culture and environment as they relate to child rights, care, health and safety, and
- To enable the learner to be informed about the latest issues affecting early childhood education and care, teacher education, research and
- To provide the learner with the opportunity to apply what he/she has learned, while gaining real experience, through professionally supervised placements in the appropriate learning environments to teach children from birth to eight years
2. General Entry Requirements
- EITHER “Credit” in at least three subjects at School Certificate or General Certificate of Education O Level or equivalent and “Pass” in at least two subjects at Higher School Certificate or General Certificate of Education A Level or
- OR An appropriate equivalent Diploma/Certificate/Foundation Course acceptable to the Open University of
- Candidates who do not qualify under options i and ii may register for Foundation Courses offered by the Open University of Those who complete the Foundation Courses successfully will be eligible for registration for the relevant degree programmes.
- OR Qualifications awarded by other Universities or institutions, which are acceptable to the Open University as satisfying the minimum requirements for
- Mature candidates having a strong background of work experience and uncertified learning may be assessed for entry to the programmes through Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) and the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL). Please consult the General Rules and Regulations of the Open University for further details
3. Programme Requirements
- Candidates with “Credit” in at least three subjects at School Certificate or General Certificate of Education O Level and a “Pass” in at least two subjects at Higher School Certificate or General Certificate of Education A Level or equivalent,
OR
with “Credit” in at least three subjects at School Certificate or General Certificate of Education O Level and the Teacher’s Certificate of Proficiency in Early Childhood Education will join the programme in year 1.
- Candidates with the Teacher’s Certificate in Early childhood Proficiency in Management of Early childhood Services will join the programme in year
- Candidates with the Teacher’s Diploma in Early Childhood or any other alternative diploma in education from any recognized institution will join the programme in year 3.
| 5. Programme Duration | ||
|
Diploma |
Normal
2 years |
Maximum
5 years |
| Degree | 4 years | 7 years |
- Credits per year: Maximum 32 credits and minimum 20 credits
7. Minimum Credits Required for Degree Award: 124
- Programme Plan
YEAR 1
Semester 1
Code Module Name Credits
| OUbe020111 | The teacher as a life-long learner | 4 |
| OUbe020112 | Language proficiency in English | 4 |
| OUbe020113 | Language Proficiency in Bilingual Literacy | 4 |
| OUbe020114 | Socio-education | 4 |
|
Semester 2 |
||
| OUbe020121 | Communication Skills In teaching | 4 |
| OUbe020122 | Education, teachers and Teaching | 4 |
| OUbe020123 | IT Essentials | 4 |
| OUbe020124 | Teaching Science and Social | |
| Sciences to the Young | 4 |
YEAR 2 SEMESTER 1
| OUbe020211 | Child psychology | 4 |
| OUbe020212 | Children Literature | 4 |
| OUbe020213 | Music and Movement Activities | 4 |
| OUbe020214 | Language proficiency in French | 4 |
|
SEMESTER 2 |
||
| OUbe020221 | The Arts in early Childhood | 4 |
| OUbe020222 | Play and Pedagogy | 4 |
| OUbe020223 | Curriculum and pedagogy |
In early childhood 4
OUbe020224 Professional Experience and 4
Development 1
YEAR 3 SEMESTER 1
| OUbe020311 | Teaching and learning in the Digital Age | 4 |
| OUbe020312 | Assessment practices in Early childhood education | 4 |
| OUbe020313 | Life crisis in early | 4 |
| OUbe020314 | Childhood Health and Safety in Early Education | 4 |
SEMESTER 2
| OUbe020321 | Diversity and teaching in a Multicultural classroom | 4 |
| OUbe020322 | Language and cognitive Development | 4 |
| OUbe020323 | Learner discipline Management | 4 |
| OUbe020324 | Research Methodology In education | 4 |
YEAR 4 SEMESTER 1
| OUbe020411 | Psycho-pedagogy | 4 |
| OUbe020412 | Teaching Mathematics for Understanding | 4 |
| OUbe020413 | Life skills for educators | 4 |
| OUbe020414 | Professional Experience and Development 2 | 4 |
|
SEMESTER 2 |
||
| OUbe020421 | Leading and Managing in Early Childhood | 4 |
| OUbe020421 | Dissertation | 8 |
12. Syllabus Outline
OUbe020111 – The teacher as a life-long learner
Module aims: To provide learners with the required study skills so that they become autonomous learners and they develop their own life-long learning process
Unit 1: Lifelong learning: An introduction Unit 2: the lifelong learning society
Unit 3: Lifelong learning and curriculum Unit 4: Lifelong learning and argumentation
Unit 5: Lifelong learning and the EFT study process Unit 6: Effective time management and planning Unit 7: Learning anxiety
Unit 8: Critical thinking and problem solving
Unit 9: Practical guidelines to success in examinations through lifelong learning
OUbe020112 – Language proficiency in English
Module aims: To help learners develop their writing skills in English so that they may improve their mastery of English.
Unit 1: The reading habits Unit 2: Women on the move Unit 3: Narrative prose
Unit 4: Music
Unit 5: Understanding cultures Unit 6: Relaxation
Unit 7: Etiquette Unit 8: Child care Unit 9: Brain drain
Unit 10: Environment
OUbe020113 – Bilingual literacy
Module aims: To provide learners with adequate language skills so that they may better teach English through the mother tongue and ensure better language acquisition in their classes.
Unit 1: Learner’s mother tongue Unit 2: What makes a word?
Unit 3: Language interference- English and Morisien Unit 4: Clause analysis in English and Morisien
Unit 5: Acquisition of bilingual literacy Unit 6: Literacy skills and creative writing Unit 7: Dramatic techniques
Unit 8: Literary prose
OUbe020114 – Socio-education
Module aims: To encourage learners to engage with critical and creative minds by focusing on the processes and products of childhood in society.
Unit 1: The family as socio-educative space Unit 2: Family dynamics
Unit 3: Society as a socio-educative arena Unit 4: School as a socio-educative arena
Unit 5: Some characteristics of modern family from a socio-educational perspective Unit 6: Socialisation: An educational matter in a social context
Unit 7: The socializing role of the school
Unit 8: Children’s rights and responsibilities in school and society
Semester 2
OUbe020121 – Communication skills in teaching
Module aims: To impart the basics of effective communication so that learners develop their confidence and self-esteem in teaching in the classroom setting
Unit 1: Basics of effective communication
Unit 2: Public speaking and oral communication Unit 3: Written communication
Unit 4: Powerpoint
OUbe020122 – Education, teachers and teaching
Module aims: To give learners a better understanding of the diverse roles of educators in the education system so that they may become more effective practitioners.
Unit 1: The system of education and training in Mauritius
Unit 2: Organisation and Governance of education in Mauritius Unit 3: The Teacher and major stakeholders in education
Unit 4: The teacher and the learner
Unit 5: The teacher as an instructional leader Unit 6: The changing role of the teacher
Unit 7: Legal issues within the educational setting Unit 8: Parent involvement in education
Unit 9: Special needs Education
OUbe020123 – Information Technology Essentials
Module aims: To prepare learners to operate hardware and software applications and apply the concepts of internet and World Wide Web to support teaching and learning.
Unit 1: Stepping in the Computer Unit 2: Input and Output Devices Unit 3: Secondary Storage
Unit 4: Systems Software Unit 5: Systems Development Unit 6: Computer Networks
Unit 7: Issues and Trends in IT
OUbe020124 – Teaching Science and Social Sciences to the young child
Module aims: To develop the learners’ understanding of the content in science, and their awareness of the ways of transforming this understanding in context. To promote an approach to science that incorporates problem-solving skills, open-mindedness and scientific literacy.
Unit 1: Science as a human endeavor and science inquiry skills Unit 2: Pedagogical content knowledge: transformation of content Unit 3: Interpreting science curriculum
Unit 4: Selecting and creating resources for science education
Unit 5: Responsible science education: safety, social and ethical dimensions
Year 2
Semester 1
OUbe020211 – Child psychology
Module aims: To provide the learners with the capacity to describe learning and teaching activities in terms of their psychological efficacy as it relates to early childhood.
Unit 1: Theories in childhood development Unit 2: Physical development
Unit 3: Cognitive development Unit 4: Psychosocial development Unit 5: Conative development Unit 6: Moral development
OUbe020212 – Children literature
Module aims: To equip learners with the skills of selection and presentation of literature books and stories that will help them instill the appreciation of stories and the culture of reading, through aesthetic, social, emotional, moral and language development.
Unit 1: The importance of children literature in early childhood development Unit 2: Different genres in children’s literature
Unit 3: Selecting suitable literature for young children
Unit 4: Children’s stories for the different age groups in early childhood teaching Unit 5: Presenting children’s stories in the early childhood development phase OUbe020213 – Music and movement activities
Module aims: To help learners understand the importance of music and movement in the child’s psycho-motor development and develop various activities that will promote their holistic development.
Unit 1: Value and aims of movement Unit 2: The development of movement Unit 3: Categories of movement
Unit 4: Planning, presenting and evaluating movement activities Unit 5: Equipment and apparatus for movement activities OUbe020214 – Language proficiency in French
Module aims: To develop the language competencies of the learners, through authentic situation. Emphasis is on the written and oral form of communication in French.
Unit 1: Grammatical techniques Unit 2: Writing skills
Unit 3: verbal skills
Unit 4: Reading comprehension skills
Semester 2
OUbe020221 – The Arts in early childhood Education
Module aims: To provide learners with the opportunity to examine, practice and evaluate a range of approaches that can be utilized in teaching, learning and assessment of creative arts separately and as part of an integrated learning environment
Unit 1: Perspective on creative growth and development Unit 2: Art appreciation and aesthetics
Unit 3: Scribbles, lines and composition
Unit 3: Exploration and interpretation of shapes and forms Unit 4: Media, colour and techniques 1 and 2
Unit 5: Studies in 2D and 3D, collage and assemblages respectively. Unit 6: Modeling and manipulation
Unit 7: Innovative perspectives in Art Unit 8: Creativity and sustainability Unit 9: Functional Art
Unit 10: Dance and drama in early childhood
OUbe020222 – Play and Pedagogy
Module aims: To help learners demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between play and children’s development of skills of inquiry and creativity. To enable them to observe children’s play and to provide a framework for planning developmentally appropriate play-based learning experiences.
Unit 1: The development of play
Unit 2: Images of children and childhood Unit 3: Play and socialization
Unit 4: Profiles of play Unit 5: Creativity and play
Unit 6: Promoting inquiry in play contexts Unit 7: Play as an integrative device
OUbe020223 – Curriculum and pedagogy in early childhood
Module aims: To enable learners to plan, implement and evaluate appropriate curriculum for young children in early childhood settings.
Unit 1: What is curriculum?
Unit 2: The elements of curriculum
Unit 3: How is curriculum reproduced in practice?
Unit 4: The National curriculum Framework in Mauritius
Unit 5: Planning for learning
Unit 6: Learner-centered curriculum Unit 7: Inclusive curriculum
OUbe020224 – Professional Experience and Development 1
Module aims: To give the learner a first professional immersion into the early childhood and education setting so that he may he/she may have a hands-on experience in the world of childhood and teaching. To provide him/her with the possibility to reflect on the knowledge acquired and the actual childhood environment.
The learner will have to develop a mini-project/report/portfolio to demonstrate his/her self- reflection about this first school-based experience. He may also have to do micro- teaching.
During this first professional experience and development (PED) stage, the learner will mostly observe and reflect on the teaching-learning process taking place in the setting, under the guidance of more experienced educators. The duration for PED 1 is one semester.
Year 3
Semester 1
OUbe020311 – Teaching and learning in the Digital Age
Module aims: To equip learners with the abilities, knowledge and skills required to achieve effective teaching and learning in classroom by using the appropriate methods, media, technologies and materials.
Unit 1: Introduction to teaching and learning Unit 2: Education in perspective
Unit 3: Learning approach, teaching style and types of learning Unit 4: Teaching skills
Unit 5: Learning and teaching theory into classroom application
Unit 6: Identifying and selecting methods, media and materials for learning Unit 7: Implementation of methods and media using computers
Unit 8: Evaluation of learners and materials in instruction Unit 9: Technology and learning today and tomorrow
OUbe020312 – Assessment practices in early childhood education
Module aims: To provide learners with an in-depth knowledge of the purpose, principles, practices and designs of quality assessment and relate these to the promotion of learning.
Unit 1: Purpose of assessment in early childhood teaching Unit 2: Rules for true and trustworthy assessment of the child Unit 3: The assessment process
Unit 4: Methods of assessing the child
Unit 5: Methods of recording and reporting observation and interpretation of assessment information
OUbe020313 – Life crisis in early childhood
Module aims: To provide the learners with the techniques of identification of the child in crisis so that they may render help to the child until professional help is obtained.
Unit 1: The field of the crisis intervener
Unit 2: The relationship between the crisis intervener and the child in crisis Unit 3: Interview in the context of life crises
Unit 4: Identification of the child in crisis Unit 5: Behavioural problems as life crises
Unit 6: Physical problems as precipitators for life crises in childhood Unit 7: The influence of family crises on the development of the child
OUbe020314 – Childhood Health and Safety in Early Childhood Education
Module aims: To inform learners of the importance of health and safety in the school as an organization so that they may maintain and promote the health and safety of pupils as their own.
Workshops on child protection and law will increase the learners’ awareness of health and safety in early childhood setting.
Unit 1: Introduction to the concept of occupational safety and health Unit 2: Legal requirements on occupational health and safety (part 1)
Unit 3: Legal requirements on occupational health and safety (part 2) Unit 4: Proper handling of equipment in early childhood setting
Unit 5: Creating safe and supporting learning environment Unit 6: Child protection and law
Semester 2
OUbe020321 – Diversity and Teaching in a multicultural classroom
Module aims: To develop the learners into professional practitioners who may better understand the characteristics of modern classroom with diverse learners. To assist learners to develop their pedagogical awareness and skills so that they may cater for the collective and individual needs of the diverse learning communities.
Unit 1: The characteristics of a diverse classroom
Unit 2: The challenges of teaching in a diverse classroom
Unit 3: Effective teaching and learning in a multicultural classroom Unit 4: The use of diversity to enhance teaching and learning
OUbe020322 – Language and cognitive development
Module aims: To equip learners with the skills to observe and analyse young children’s language and cognitive development in a range of contexts. To discuss and identify the factors that influence the behavior, language development and learning of children during early childhood.
Unit 1: Human processing: Brain, mind and language
Unit 2: Language development in infant, toddler and childhood
Unit 3: Theories of child Language acquisition (foreign Language acquisition and second language)
OUbe020323 – Learner discipline management
Module aims: To develop the learners into effective classroom managers who have a better and deeper insight into creating as a safe and conducive teaching and learning environment. To provide the learners with proactive and restorative behavior management strategies.
Unit 1: Classroom management in context Unit 2: Management functions in classroom
Unit 3: Elements of the teaching and learning situation Unit 4: Causes of classroom indiscipline
Unit 5: Strategies to cope with a lack of learner discipline
OUbe020324 – Research Methodology in education
Module aims: To provide learners with an understanding of the ontological and epistemological issues that underpin the choice of research topic, methodology and methods. To help learners in identifying a subject worthy and capable of research, and to formulate a plan for the implementation of the research process. To expose them to the nature of the research process (planning and designing a research proposal).
Unit 1: Introduction to research in education
Unit 2: Research problems: statements, questions and hypothesis Unit 3: Literature review
Unit 4: Designing quantitative research Unit 5: Data collection techniques
Unit 6: Designing qualitative research Unit 7: Ethical considerations
Unit 8: Writing a research proposal and the dissertation
The learners will have to submit their research proposal at the end of this semester as the module only assignment.
Year 4
Semester 1
OUbe020411 – Psycho-pedagogy
Module aims: To develop the understanding of the learners of the major theories, features and processes of social, emotional and personal development and to have a better insight into the social-cultural context in which development occurs. To equip the learners with the teaching and instructional skills required to achieve an effective teaching and learning process for early childhood education.
Unit 1: Personal and interpersonal growth Unit 2: Environment and behavior
Unit 3: Problem solving Unit 4: Social learning
Unit 5: Motivation and learning
Unit 6: Planning and teaching to learning outcomes Unit 7: Teaching for active learning
OUbe020412 – Teaching Mathematics for understanding
Module aims: To help learners develop and demonstrate competencies in the use of materials, language, symbols, games, structured activities and teaching aids for the development of mathematical concepts, skills and strategies related numbers. To help the learners understand and be able to explain by example the conceptual base of mathematical processes and structures that underpin the teaching and learning of mathematical concepts in early childhood education.
Unit 1: Current theories of teaching and learning Mathematics Unit 2: Mathematics and numeracy pedagogy
Unit 3: Numeration for whole number and fraction ideas Unit 4: Computation with whole numbers and fractions Unit 5: Patterns and algebra
OUbe020413 – Life skills for educators
Module aims: To facilitate the practice and reinforcement of psychosocial skills in the multicultural learning environment and to equip learners with high quality life skills that will demonstrate relevant knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes. Also, to impact on and develop lifestyles that will lead to personal success, health and well-being of the learners as well as the children in schools.
Unit 1: Self-esteem and self-improvement Unit 2: Values classification
Unit 3: Goal setting and time management
Unit 4: Drug education Unit 5: Parenting
Unit 6: Gender and relationships
Unit 7: Human sexuality and sexual health Unit 8: Citizenship
Unit 9: Leadership
Unit 10: Affective listening Unit 11: Conflict resolution Unit 12 Anger management
OUbe020414 – Professional Experience and Development 2
Module aims: To give opportunities to the learners to practice what they have gained as theoretical insights and knowledge in authentic classroom situations so that they grow into an effective reflective practitioner.
The second professional experience and development stage will provide the learners with the opportunity to prove that they have professionally developed and that they are prepared for effective practice.
Each learner will have to develop a portfolio to show his/her teaching practice and abilities in the early childhood setting. He/she will have to make use of all the possible technologies and teaching methods and media in this teaching experience. The PED 2 is done over a period of the semester.
Semester 2
OUbe020421 – Leading and Managing in Early Childhood
Module aims: To provide the learners with an understanding of leadership and management theories so that they may develop effective and sustainable teaching and learning practices and a conducive early childhood development centre for the school personnel.
Unit 1: Education Management in Early childhood development Unit 2: Managing human resources
Unit 3: Managing Learners in early childhood development
Unit 4: Managing parent partnerships in early childhood development
Unit 5: Managing the learning environment in early childhood development centres Unit 6: Establishing an early childhood development centres
OUbe020421 – Dissertation
The research study will allow the learner to examine thoroughly an area or a problem related to education. It will draw upon significant concepts and techniques studied during the taught part of the programme and will examine how the student uses his or her theoretical knowledge and insights into educational and teaching practice to contribute to some reflections or new insights into education. The dissertation should be written in the range of 12, 000 to 15,000 words.
12. Workshops
Workshops may be organized during your course of study on virtual classrooms, children protection and law, health and safety or any other aspects of education and teaching that the Open University considers relevant and essential for the professional development of the learners. They may be part of the programme curriculum.
The University considers training and further education to be important for its learners.