All students take required early childhood education and care modules and spend approximately 1,000 hours on professional placement related experiences. In Year One, you will cover the core information needed to understand young children and how they develop. Year Two focuses on the ECEC environment. Students learn how to create settings that support and challenge young children. Diversity, equality and inclusion are key themes in Year Three. You’ll discover how to support and engage with the rich culture, languages, traditions and needs of a diverse range of children and their families through respectful relationships. The final year focuses on leadership, ethics and research—you’ll complete a dissertation in an area of professional interest to you. Students can also select from a range of relevant specialisms in final year. Throughout the course, theory is put into practice through placement in a range of different early education settings such as community-based crèches and privately run preschools. You’ll work with children from a variety of linguistic, social, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. You’ll also work with children who have special educational needs.

Careers The BECE degree is a gateway to the primary teaching profession, but also to a number of other careers, including: Síolta mentor manager in a preschool, community playgroup, Naíonra or crèche early years inspector training coordinator entrepreneur in the ECE field Opportunities are also available with national voluntary organisations, city and county childcare committees, statutory bodies and development agencies.