Higher Vocational Training in Early Childhood Education

• 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.

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

Professional Modules (PM) - 1st Year

• Didactics of early childhood education - 185 h
• Personal autonomy and child health - 231 h
• Child's play and its methodology - 198 h
• Cognitive and motor development - 132 h
• Socio-affective development - 165 h
• English - 66 h
• Digitization applied to productive sectors - 33 h
• Sustainability applied to the productions system - 33 h
• Personal itinerary for employability I - 99 h

Professional Modules (PM) - 2nd Year

• Expression and communication - 165 h
• Social skills - 132 h
• Intervention with families and care for children at social risk - 99 h
• First aid - 66 h
• Catalan/Aranese - 66 h
• Personal itinerary for employability II - 66 h
• Intermodular project of attention to childhood - 198 h
• Science and experimentation (optional module) - 66 h

The internships of the cycle are associated with the hours of some professional modules and have a total duration of 515 hours. They begin in the first year in order to come into contact with the educational world for the first time as a professional, and continue in June and/or July and during the second year.

For students who complete the stay in the company in the intensive dual training modality, the duration is 1,000 hours, while for those who follow the general dual modality, the duration is 515 hours.

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.

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.
• Technician specialized in early childhood education, as a support educator for teachers in the first year of the second cycle of early childhood education (I3).
• 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.

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 3-8 i UPetita

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.

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

The calendar follows the school calendar established for higher education cycles by the Department of Education. Classes normally begin between the second and 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