Bachelor of Early Childhood: 0-5 years or 0-8 years?

[gillespie8]

hi im currently looking into doing my bachelor degree. i wanted to do 0-5 years as i dont want to work in a primary school. the uni i want to do it through only does 0-8 years. would this course be alot harder, more work and worth while the extra time doing it?

also i work full time and am a room leader so dont have too much spare time and and i am not good at essays so is the course really hard? will i be able to cope or just drop out and have a big debt. not sure what to do!!


i want to become ad ECT so bad but not sure if its all worth it....

[Lorina]

If you are only looking to 0-5 years and your uni doesn't offer it, then you should find another uni if you are sure that's what you want. If you have completed a diploma of children's services, this degree would only take 2-3 years to complete. If you are doing 0-8 years then it will take 3-4 years because of the extra units you would need to cover in order to develop your understanding of children between 6-8 years old (primary school). Both of these degree's have exactly the same units except the extra units you will need to complete for primary school children.

The benefit in doing the degree for the 0-8 years is that you can work as a teacher for up to 8 year olds. It gives you another option, rather than just restrict you to childcare. To me, it's probably a better option just to spend an extra year of study in order to give you a chance to work in another field. For now, you are sure you just want to work in childcare but in 10 years time, maybe you want something else...

Working full time and studying is going to be hard. If you organize your time really well then of course it's possible but it's not easy. Expect late nights and weekends to complete assignments. The assignments are not just essays that you will need to research and write, there are power point presentations, creating learning experiences, participating in online classes, online tests etc. There are a variety of different methods of assessments now.

If you buy the necessary text books, then you will be able to cope with assessments and what is expected. If you are trying to complete it with online research then it's even more difficult, so my advice buy the textbooks required.

To help assist you with the cost you will be able to get Fee help. Which means the government pays for your units then each tax year you pay a small amount back to the government depending on your yearly income. Also if you qualify you will be able to get Austudy from Centrelink. The only thing you will need to pay for is the textbooks (they can be expensive as $250 a book). So, it is affordable.

Whether or not you need to complete the degree is totally your call. if you want to become a director then it's great to have this degree behind you. If you want to work as a preschool teacher, I think now they are most likely going to give these positions to ECT's. However if you want to work with toddlers, babies then I don't think it's necessary at all...that's my opinion anyway.

Hopefully this helps a little,

,
L.A

[gillespie8]

Thank you so much!! this has helped alot
but as you said you dont see a point if im gunna work with toddlers etc this is true but i want to seek a job closer to home and all they want here is trainees and ECT's so thats another reason for study.


but again thank you so much!!

[fchaudari76]

A lot of Unis are doing off campus/online study
I am doing a 3 yr Bachelor of Teaching which is for 0-5yr age group and its is all done via online/distance learning
You can choose as many or little units that you want to do in one semester
If you are an Australian Citizen you would get fee help
Also at the end of the financial year you can claim back costs of books/stationary etc

[law92]

Hi

It's great that you are thinking of doing extra study for your job. However, if you really want to do uni study then you have to be really dedicated to it as it does require that you put in a lot of study hours. I've just finished a semester of uni this year, the 0-8 year degree, and it was a lot more work than I expected, which is why I am now going back and completing my diploma first which will give me a years worth of credit towards uni. With this degree, they combined all the early childhood and primary students together and so those 2 specialisations shared a lot of subjects, and as a result, I was learning mostly about lower primary school aged children, and how to provide teaching experiences for primary school aged children. The 2 nd year subjects for my degree have more of a focus on early childhood settings, and is a lot of what you have already done in the diploma. For this degree, a lot of the practical experience you need to do is in primary schools.

However, there was a girl at my previous centre who worked full time as a group leader and she was doing uni full time as well, and she had to work the early shift everyday, and used to have to get up at 4 am every morning to complete assignments before work, and I know she used to stay up late at night as well doing assignments. They also gave her time off to go to lectures every week, but she managed to graduate uni last year which I think was a fantastic effort on her part.
Also, I would mainly only put myself through uni if I was planning on actually working as a kindy teacher. However, you could still do uni just as an assurance to keep yourself employed in the industry in the future, and to set you apart from other staff members. I think the more qualifications the better.
As for which degree to go for, it really depends on what you want to do as your career, but I am a big believer of keeping as many options open as possible. You never know what you may want to do in 5, 10, or even 15 years time down the track. For example, I know that I love working with the young children now, and I want to work as a group leader for awhile, then do kindy teaching, then when I have enough experience under my belt, and when I have more confidence, I definitely want to be a Prep teacher at a primary school.

I would just think about things carefully before you go making any decisions. Choosing which degree you want to do is a big deal. I would personally do the 0-8 year old degree as it gives you more options, so you aren't restricted to working in child care. On the other hand, if you have been working with the younger children for awhile and can't imagine doing anything else in the future then go for the 0-5 year degree. It's really a personal choice, and only you will know what is right for you. Maybe do some research about the different degrees from different unis, maybe an online degree would best suit your needs if working full time?

Good luck deciding what you want to do I hope you find what you are looking for

[missrita88]

A lot of Unis are doing off campus/online study
I am doing a 3 yr Bachelor of Teaching which is for 0-5yr age group and its is all done via online/distance learning
You can choose as many or little units that you want to do in one semester
If you are an Australian Citizen you would get fee help
Also at the end of the financial year you can claim back costs of books/stationary etc

Can I ask what RTO are you doing your Bachelor of Teaching online/distance learning please

[MPlace]

Hi I cant create my own. I have completed.my first year of bacholar in primary teacher and diploma in childcare how many years would be taken off/ rpl would I get for bacholar of early childcare

[Butterflyblue]

Hi I cant create my own. I have completed.my first year of bacholar in primary teacher and diploma in childcare how many years would be taken off/ rpl would I get for bacholar of early childcare

Hi MPlace!

Recognition of prior learning/experience (RPL)
depends entirely on where you study as there are several factors at play and students are considered on a case by case basis.
Best to ask education providers (unis, tafe's, colleges etc) directly.


https://www.aqf.edu.au/faqs#prev

[chetna.bhatt]

Hi Lorina
Sorry to post here as I am unable to create new forum .I need some suggestions regarding Bachelor degree..pls guide ...
Chetna Bhatt