Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education

All applicants:

Successful completion of an Australian cognate or related Bachelor (or international equivalent). (Examples of related Bachelors include knowledge relevant to working with children and young people. This includes areas such as child welfare, youth work, community services, health, psychology, social work, and related sectors where there is direct engagement with the care, development, wellbeing, or protection of children.)

Academic entry requirements

• All applicants will complete a situation judgement test to support selection into teaching programs. This is a requirement for initial teacher training courses in Victoria and aims to assess an applicants personal and professional attributes. You can either register to sit the online CASPer Test or the La Trobe University School of Education Aptitude for Teaching Assessment (AFTA). You can register for the AFTA online test for free.

Inherent requirements

Behavioural and relational skills

Core requirement Students must be able to manage their own responses and behaviour to work effectively in a range of learning environments with diverse people and tasks. This includes the capacity to be receptive and respond appropriately to constructive feedback. Students should also be able to work with others in a team or group environment and make and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of individuals in order to complete tasks or for professional practice. See also Student behaviours policy for more information. Course-specific requirement Early Childhood Education students must demonstrate strong interpersonal communication skills that will allow them to manage learning environments and continuously develop their expertise during placements and throughout their careers. Students must be able to manage personal responses, beliefs or preferences such that they can work with diverse groups, for example they must be able to work with students of the opposite sex and students with different sexual orientations.

Cognition

Students must be able to locate, acquire, retain and apply knowledge as part of their learning and for assessment. They must have the ability to sustain their attention over a designated period, maintain their focus in a variety of learning environments and remember information long enough to complete tasks in a reasonable and safe timeframe. Early Childhood Education students must be able to use retained knowledge to determine safe and appropriate care decisions.

Sensory (visual, auditory, tactile, olfaction)

Students should possess the ability to interact with visual, auditory or tactile inputs sufficiently to manage their learning environment and to meet professional performance needs. Early Childhood Education students must be able to process visual information and monitor the broader environment for child safety, including observing multiple people and events simultaneously.

Strength and mobility

Gross motor skills: Students should possess the strength, range of motion, coordination and mobility sufficient to manage their learning environment and ultimately, professional performance needs. Fine motor skills: Students should possess the manual dexterity and fine motor skills sufficient to manage their learning environment and ultimately, professional performance needs. Early Childhood Education students must possess sufficient physical capacity to undertake common tasks such as lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, standing, twisting and bending. Students must be able to demonstrate and perform these tasks consistently and safely to reduce the risk of harm to self and others.

International students:

English language requirements

6.5 IELTS (Academic) with no individual band less than 6.5.

After graduation, students will be eligible for teacher accreditation as early childhood educators and may find employment across private, independent, or public education.

Possible roles include:

• Early childhood teacher
• Family day care educator
• Early childhood education service manager

The Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education is a pathway into the Master of Education, preparing graduates further for leadership or specialist positions within the early childhood education sector.