Higher Vocational Training in Early Childhood Education

Higher Vocational Training in Early Childhood Education

The CFGS (Higher Vocational Training Diploma) in Early Childhood Education trains educators through the creation of a space for discovery and knowledge, with experiential and meaningful learning.

We help them grow as individuals and professionals, fostering critical thinking, an interest in progress, and innovation in the field of education.

PHOTO GALLERY

Distinctive Features

Specific work placements in science spaces

The UManresa campus has a science space for children aged 0 to 6, the Lab 0-6, and its itinerant version, the Lab on Wheels. Both resources serve as a qualitative approach to teaching science to children

Students of the Higher Vocational Training in Early Childhood Education carry out work placements in these spaces as part of a subject’s programme. his represents an added value to their practical training as it provides them with hands-on experience and meaningful experiential learning.

Innovation through Science

The Higher Vocational Training programme in Early Childhood Education at UManresa pays special attention to scientific thinking, promoting attitudes and skills of observation and experimentation in its students. These are the attitudes and skills that, in their future roles as educators, should empower them to help children in posing questions and searching for answers.

The existence of a university research group at UManresa on experimentation and science in early childhood contributes to giving solidity and projection to the training that students of the cycle receive in this area.

Work placements in quality centres

Work placements are a fundamental aspect of the education for advanced-level technicians in early childhood education, as they offer a chance to infuse practicality and significance into all their classroom learning.

The UManresa Professional Campus carefully manages work placement agreements by selecting educational centres that can continue the innovative and pedagogically advanced line that characterises our training proposal.

General information

Certification: Higher Vocational Training Diploma
Title: Early Childhood Education
Level: Higher Vocational Training (Tertiary Education)
Duration: 2000 hours (2 academic years)
Training modality: Practice-based training with the option to pursue dual training
Venue: UManresa Professional Campus. Avinguda de les Bases de Manresa 1, 08242 Manresa

Legal References

Real Decree 1394/2007 of October 29, by which the title of Advanced Technician in Early Childhood Education is established, and the minimum educational requirements are defined.

Syllabus

The Early Childhood Education Training Programme lasts for 2,000 hours, spread over two academic years.

Professional Modules (PM) - 1st Year

PM1 Intervention with families and care for children at social risk - 99 h
PM2 Didactics of early childhood education - 165 h
PM3 Personal autonomy and child health - 132 h
PM4 Child's play and its methodology - 165 h
PM6 Cognitive and motor development - 132 h
PM7 Socio-affective development - 99 h
PM10 Vocational training and orientation - 66 h
PM13 Work-based training *

Professional Modules (PM) - 2nd Year

PM5 Expression and communication - 198 h
PM08 Social skills - 132 h
PM09 First aid - 66 h
PM11 Business and entrepreneurial initiative - 66 h
PM12 Childhood care project - 231 h
PM13 Work-based training * - 449 h

*The work-based training professional module lasts for 449 hours. It begins in the first year to introduce students to the educational world as employees for the first time, but the majority of hours are carried out in the second year.

For students who complete their internship in the dual training mode, the regular duration is 1,000 hours, while for those who do not follow this modality, the work placement at the company through work-based training is 449 hours.

The monitoring and evaluation of dual training establish the qualification of the professional modules of Work-Based Training and Childhood Care Project, corresponding to 680 hours of the curriculum and to 34% of the total duration of the training programme.

Internship

The internships of the Higher Vocational Training Programme in Early Childhood Education are carried out in accordance with specific regulations outlined in the resolution of the Directorate General of Initial Vocational Training and Special Regime Teaching, which establishes the application instructions for work placement training (WPT) regulations.

The training programme allows for different options:

Classic option: completing the 449 hours of work placements in an educational centre to be able to certify the Work Placement Training (WPT. As a training centre, we can establish collaboration agreements with centres and entities throughout Catalonia.

Classic option with mobility: undertaking WPT in another autonomous community or in another country of the European Union.

Dual programme: studying and working in a teaching centre at the same time, either either as an employee or a trainee. In these cases, the student not only completes the WPT at the company but also carries out the dual part of the programme there. Altogether, it comprises 1.000 hours of activity at the company (in educational centres), providing much more professional experience.

Dual programme with mobility: entails completing the programme over three years in most cases to make it compatible with the rest of the subjects.

Job possibilities

The Higher Vocational Training Programme in Early Childhood Education offers a wide range of career opportunities:

Educator in the first cycle of Early Childhood Education.
Advanced technician in Early Childhood Education, as a support educator for teachers in the first year of the second cycle of Early Childhood Education (P3).
Educator for children aged 0 to 6 in situations of social risk or in family support services and programmes.
Educator in leisure and free time programmes or activities for children aged 0 to 6: toy libraries, cultural centres, libraries, educational centres, summer camps, and others.
Educator in science spaces for children aged 0 to 6.

Learning resources

Social and Cultural Services Workshop

The social and cultural services workshop is a 120-square-meter space that incorporates all the necessary equipment and materials to carry out the most practical activities of the training programme. Due to its spaciousness and amenities, it allows for the development of various workshops: from plastic and musical expression to representation and sensory perception, among others.

Multipurpose Classrooms

The multipurpose classrooms are equipped with audiovisual equipment and network connection, enabling the conduct of all types of theoretical-practical training required for the programme.

Lab 0_6

Lab 0_6 serves as a hub for exploring, researching, and documenting scientific education during early childhood. It offers activities designed for various groups, including students of the early childhood education training cycle.

Simulation Rooms - CISARC

Vocational training students also use the university's Simulation Innovation Centre. These facilities are designed to emulate environments similar to those they will encounter when they enter the professional world and to immerse participants in situations that demand critical thinking, decision-making, teamwork, negotiation, problem-solving, etc. The objective is to empower students, enabling them to conceptualise and defend their own professional criteria. Such abilities will prove crucial when students transition into the job market. The use of simulation methodology is a distinctive feature of all UManresa studies.

Calendar and timetables

Classes in the Early Childhood Education programme are taught in the morning.

The calendar follows the school calendar established for higher-level vocational training programmes by the Department for Education. Classes typically begin during the third week of September.

Blended Learning

This programme can be taken in a blended learning format, a flexible measure in vocational training aimed at facilitating access to studies for individuals who cannot attend all the class hours in person (for example, due to work commitments).

Its main feature is that it applies to all modules, credits, or training units that are taken, or only to a part of them, and it is important to attend in person at least half of the scheduled hours for the credit or training unit.

First Year Timetable - Early Childhood Education

Second Year Timetable - Early Childhood Education

Academic Calendar