Start building today!
Experience the Find the courses and unlock the true potential
208 weeks
On Campus and Online. International students may study up to one-third of the subjects online; domestic students may study the full course online.
Full time / Part time / On Campus / Online · Full-time: typically 8 subjects per year; Part-time: typically 5 subjects per year. Approximately 3 hours lectures/tutorials plus 10 hours self-directed study per week per subject.
February | May | September
Course Overview
Where You Can Study
Adelaide
Level 3, 127 Rundle Mall, Adelaide, SA 5000
Eligibility
Career & Study Pathways
Quality & Recognition
Academic Regulator
TEQSA
Professional Body
Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) / AITSL
Accreditation Status
AccreditedSkills Assessor
AITSL / ACECQA
Course Content
Professional Practice
Explores the day-to-day practices of an early childhood teacher including daily responsibilities, operations in settings, conventions, frameworks, legislation, regulations, codes of conduct, duty of care, policy, procedures, quality assurance, pedagogical and educational programs, relationships with families and communities, rights, dignity, equity, diversity, cultural competence, inclusion, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures.
Exploring Play and Documentation
Covers play and documentation techniques used in early childhood education settings including daily responsibilities, operations, conventions, frameworks, legislation, regulations, codes of conduct, duty of care, policy, procedures, quality assurance, pedagogical practices, relationships, rights, dignity, equity, diversity, cultural competence, inclusion, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures.
Holistic Child Development
Explores components of child development including genetics and growth in the first eight years, developmental theories, domains of child development and learning behaviours, brain development and neuroscience in the early years, and holistic child development's impact on pedagogical practice.
Diversity and Equity
Covers supporting, facilitating, and promoting diversity, equity, cultural responsiveness, and inclusivity in early childhood contexts including relevant conventions, frameworks, legislation, cultural competence, and inclusive teaching methods.
Safety, Health and Wellbeing
Explores supporting and promoting the holistic wellbeing of infants and young children including national regulatory considerations, providing care to children aged 0–8 years, safety, health management, nutrition, and planning for wellbeing teaching.
Development, Assessment and Planning (3-6 years)
Explores contemporary theories, approaches, models, and frameworks for teaching young children; documentation, assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation of learning opportunities; and fostering learning dispositions and holistic development.
Exploring Creativity
Explores supporting and promoting young children's creativity through theoretical foundations, planning and implementing creative experiences, and facilitating creativity within integrated curriculum through art, drama, movement, music, mathematics, humanities, technologies, engineering, science, STEM, STEAM, STREAM and STEMIE.
Professional Experience 1
Expands understanding of the early childhood profession in the three to five age range, applying professional knowledge and demonstrating pedagogical skills in professional practice, play and documentation, holistic child development, diversity and equity, safety, health, wellbeing, development, assessment, planning, creativity and curriculum provision.
Professional Experience 1 (Online)
Online equivalent of PLAC907. Expands understanding of the early childhood profession in the three to five age range, applying professional knowledge and demonstrating pedagogical skills across core focus areas.
Theoretical Perspectives and Pedagogy
Explores theoretical influences underpinning global early childhood pedagogy, critically reflecting on educational theoretical perspectives, investigating developmental, socio-cultural, cultural-historical, socio-behaviourist, critical, post-structuralism, post-modernism, and contemporary theories in relation to pedagogical implications.
Understanding and Supporting Exceptionality
Examines contemporary inclusive education research, characteristics of exceptionality, barriers and interventions needed to support inclusive curriculum provision, and inclusive approaches and teaching practices to support children with exceptionalities.
Understanding and Guiding Behaviour
Explores brain architecture, links between children's contexts and behaviour, pedagogical strategies for guiding behaviour, teaching strategies to support behaviour and nurture positive self-esteem, wellbeing, self-regulation, emotional intelligence, and the role of play and curriculum in promoting children's agency.
Working with Families and Communities
Explores contemporary sociology, theories and influences of family and community contexts on young children's development, social policy, diversity and complexity of family contexts, and contextualised research and programs for working with families and communities.
Sustainability Perspectives in the Early Years
Explores contemporary issues in sustainability and ethics, key concepts and policies in education for sustainability, pedagogical practices to support children's knowledge and agency in sustainable practices, and nurturing children to become active citizens.
Development, Assessment and Planning (0 to 3 years)
Examines contemporary theories, approaches, models, and frameworks for teaching infants and toddlers; documentation, assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation of learning opportunities; and fostering infant and toddler learning dispositions and holistic development.
Curriculum Approaches and Teaching Strategies
Explores elements of curriculum, pedagogy, and teaching strategies for early childhood education including contextual theoretical perspectives, contemporary perspectives on early childhood curriculum, effective pedagogy and teaching strategies, and integration of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.
Professional Experience 2
Explores understanding of the early childhood profession in the birth to three age range, applying acquired professional knowledge and demonstrating pedagogical skills across core focus areas including theoretical perspectives, exceptionality, behaviour guidance, families, sustainability, development, assessment, planning, and curriculum approaches.
Professional Experience 2 (Online)
Online equivalent of PLAC908. Explores the early childhood profession in the birth to three age range, applying acquired professional knowledge and demonstrating pedagogical skills across core focus areas.
Language and Literacy in the Early Years
Explores children's language and literacy development from birth to six years including theories and approaches to language acquisition, socio-cultural contexts, strategies for supporting development using traditional and multimodal texts, and the role of the teacher in supporting, assessing, and planning effective literacy teaching.
Mathematics in the Early Years
Explores young children's mathematics development including building mathematical thinking through play, theoretical bases for mathematics education, the role of the teacher in facilitating mathematical concepts, documenting, planning, and assessing for mathematics understanding, and engaging children across a range of contexts.
Digital Technology and Media in the Early Years
Covers evaluating literature and frameworks related to young children's use of digital technology and media, understanding the digital technological landscape in early childhood, supporting ethical and responsible use of digital technology, and using multimodal media, coding, and robotics in teaching and learning.
Teaching Curriculum: Literacy and Numeracy
Explores designing curriculum and teaching young children literacy and numeracy including connections between literacy and numeracy practices, diverse literacy and numeracy practices within communities, National Quality Framework approved learning frameworks, play-based literacy and numeracy learning experiences, and the Australian National Professional Standards for Teachers.
Teaching Curriculum: Science and Engineering
Explores designing curriculum and teaching science and engineering to young children including play-based learning, inquiry-based learning, curriculum and play-based pedagogy for science and engineering, and developing knowledge to incorporate appropriate experiences into early childhood curriculum and planning.
Teaching Curriculum: Music, Dance and Drama
Focuses on enhancing knowledge, skills and dispositions in music, dance and movement in early childhood education, exploring how the arts impact children's development and community identities, and applying contemporary play-based teaching strategies to design engaging creative experiences.
Common Questions
The course includes up to 4 supervised placement subjects with a minimum of 80 days of professional experience. A final 30-day placement will strengthen your pedagogical and leadership abilities, getting you ready to enter the sector as a confident graduate early childhood teacher.
Yes. The BECE Accelerated Pathway is specifically designed for domestic students who are diploma-qualified early childhood educators with two years of experience currently working in early childhood education. It allows eligible students to fast track their qualification to becoming an early childhood teacher, completing it in just two years.
The indicative domestic course fee for the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education is $72,200 for the full four-year full-time course. The course is FEE-HELP approved for eligible applicants.
Yes. The course is recognised by the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), qualifying graduates as early childhood teachers under the National Quality Framework. Graduates may also be eligible for teacher accreditation recognition via their relevant state regulatory authority.
You must successfully complete 32 subjects, totalling 192 credit points, to complete the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education. For each subject, you should allocate about three hours for lectures and tutorials, plus approximately 10 hours per week for self-directed study. Full-time students typically complete 8 subjects per year across three trimesters, while part-time students typically complete 5 subjects per year.
Application
Three simple steps to get enrolled
Step 01
Enquire
Click "Enquire Now" and tell us a little about yourself. It's free and takes 2 minutes.
Step 02
Submit Documents
Our team will guide you on exactly which documents to prepare and submit.
Step 03
Get Enrolled
Receive your offer letter and confirm your enrolment. Welcome to the course!
Honestly I was lost when I first started looking at Australian colleges. There are just too many options and every agent gives you different info. A friend told me about FindTheCourses and within a week I had shortlisted 3 programs that actually matched my budget and visa situation. My advisor Sanjay was super helpful — never felt like I was being pushed into anything.
Priya Sharma
India
Master of Nursing · Griffith University
