Career transition

[R.B]

Hello members
Glad to find this forum
i am on my way to change my career to early childhood education
having a talent with kids which i recently discovered but was afraid to change my career.
as i was searching for a program to study i was surprised that no job offers request a bachelor degree in early child hood education mostly a college degree, i am in montreal.
can anyone tell me why , in addition any suggestion of the best path i can follow to my career transition
thanks to all :D

[torontokids]

I guess it depends what you are looking to do within early childhood education which would help us recommend what you should take in school.

[Lee-Bee]

Truthfully, I don't think there are many jobs out there in this field that pay out enough to require a bachelor degree. For reasons that still baffle me early childhood education is still inferior to the education of older children when it comes to wages and job benefits.

[R.B]

Thanks for replying
Toronto kids
Mainly i love creativity using arts, crafts ....etc with the understanding of child psychology
thinking in future having my own place for crafts and arts
lee-bee
but can at least bachelor degree have something in addition in future
thank you again

[torontokids]

If you are looking at something with "crafts" then you may be looking at working for an after school program or your could become an ECA and work with the schools. I can't speak to what education you need. My assistant has an art degree and no ECE and just got a job assisting in an after school program. I think it pays minimum wage though.

Art therapy is another option. This is a degree program.

I am a social worker. You can get a college degree in social service work which would really limit you to low paying jobs at community centres. Social worker with a BSW has its limitations as well but you could work in a woman's shelter, neighbourhood centre etc using the arts in your programming. As a social worker with an MSW which is what I have, you could become a therapist and provide family and individual counselling. I use a lot of art in my work with kids but there is always meaning with its use and intention or it is a good ice breaker when looking to connect with kids.

[Lee-Bee]

Thanks for replying
Toronto kids
Mainly i love creativity using arts, crafts ....etc with the understanding of child psychology
thinking in future having my own place for crafts and arts
lee-bee
but can at least bachelor degree have something in addition in future
thank you again

Really depends on your plans.
I have my ECE and a Bachelors in Psychology and my Bachelor of Education.
Only the ECE is needed for daycare work. The rest is overkill. It might help me if I plan to try and be a manager or owner of a daycare centre...but even there I would suspect a degree in business would likely be more useful. There are many roles that branch out from usual daycare work and working with children that a Bachelor degree (in something child related) could be useful for. My friend is ECE and has a Bachelor degree and she is a case worker for another city that accesses how much child subsidy each family gets. No idea if her other degree was needed for that role though.

My totally biased (and slightly cynical) view is that the VAST majority of really good ECE's work in daycare for about 5yrs then move on because the money and respect is just not there. Some will move to home daycare and work for themselves and the rest get other degrees and move into other roles.

I got my teaching degree so I could still work with children but actually have benefits, a pension and job security. That is just rare in daycare work. It is not that I wanted to be working with older kids so much as it was the next closest job there is that had some respect, and long term security. I will return to that career once my daughter is in school.

If you already have a bachelor degree then by all mean leverage it to the best of your ability but I would not expect it to just magically make your wages higher than those without. It MIGHT get you a more senior role which might come with better pay.

It won't matter what kind of degree you have if you do not have your ECE. You need that to work in centres...though I think the college of ECE's may allow a few university degrees in place of the ECE but they obviously need to be a child development focussed degree.

Of course, I speak from a background in Ontario so Quebec would have it's own way of doing things. On last thing...I learned WAYYYYYY more completing my 2yr ECE program than I did in my 4 yr Psychology Degree and my 1 yr Teaching Degree. It may "only" be a college program but it was a solidly designed program that really did cover everything in great detail. At least mine did maybe that varies!

[kindertime]

Since you are in montreal, you don't need even a college diploma in ECE to open a home daycare. Contact the closest Coordinating Office to where you live and they will have the information you need.

http://geoegl.msp.gouv.qc.c a/mfa/recherche-proximite.php

[R.B]

Torontokids:


Can you please tell me what is ECA or you meant ECE ?
Thank you

[R.B]

Thanks kindertime
but i am not looking to open my home day care
thanks

[R.B]

This is the child studies in concordia
http://www.concordia.ca/academics/undergraduate/child-studies.html
this is art education
http://www.concordia.ca/academics/undergraduate/art-education.html
this is for the dec program
http://www.tav.ca/programs/dec-programs/early-childhood-education-dec/
after asking here a daycare my son used to go to before , they mentioned that a dec is qualified but they dont know about a bachelor degree i think after searching it is the only bach degree in montreal available in english even in french it is not child studies it is pyschoeducation (if i am writing it right)

As i am still trying to figure out which program to really study i added the links above maybe your experince might guide more , i dont want just to think for 3 years from now i want also something that would be great after 3 years and more
till i decide which to enroll i am thinking of teacher assistance to gain field experince at least for a year
and i know there is no cegep in other provinces do they recognise these programs from quebec?
:unsure::unsure:

[kindertime]

ECE; Early Childhood Education, ECA; something, something, Assistant, I think.

A DEC (deplome d'etudes collegiale) will be recognised in other provinces. I had never heard of TAV before. I assume private college means you pay tuition. If you went to Dawson (English) or other CEGEP, then the DEC is tuition free. At least mine was 20+ yrs ago. It also depends on your province/country of origin. I am from Quebec, so the CEGEP diploma I took was free.

If you are wanting to work in a daycare centre, then a DEC is what you need. Lee-Bee is right, if you have a university degree, that's not going to help you much. I will give you an example. My brother has a college diploma,... in something, (that I'm just now realizing I don't know what it is called) airplane technology. He is a technician. He designs, builds and installs airplanes parts, and systems. But, because he doesn't have the degree from a university, he is not an engineer, so he is limited. Everything he does has to be approved by an actual engineer. Daycare is different. Having a higher level of education does not get you farther.

So ultimately, the decision of what course to take will be based on what job you want in the future. The best information will come from the colleges and universities. Contact Concordia and ask them what careers their child-studies and art courses are geared toward. They will have career counselors and guidance people on staff to help with that.

A college diploma in something like early childhood education, focuses on practical, useful knowledge for people who are going to work in childcare settings. The kind of things you will need in the day to day performance of that job. I don't know about all degree programs, but the art degree I tried at Concordia was not practical at all. A lot of theory and speculation and self-centered, self-important, artsy-fartsy people with nothing better to do than to wonder things like, what would Freud think about this sculpture.... oh, sorry, I digress.

This is the regulation in Quebec that explains the requirements for staff at childcare centres. Look at Section 22. http://www2.publicationsduq uebec.gouv.qc.ca/dynamicSearch/telecharge.php?type= 3&file=/S_4_1_1/S4_1_1R2_A.HTM Basically, you don't have to have any ECE training to work in a centre, you need the First Aid and CPR, RCMP police check, but that's all.

[torontokids]

ECA= Early childhood assistant. I'm not sure of their qualifications but these are the people who work alongside the teachers in the kindergarten programs. I just googled it and it seems to be a private college course program...so maybe this is what they call them in the job postings but they are actually ECE's??? I'm not sure.

[R.B]

Kindertime thank alot
i am afraid to have the dec degree which is quite similar to the child studies at concordia then i will need to have a higher degree in case i want to have my own center of activites

[R.B]

Toronto kids
at tav college yes it is a private college recognised by goverment and there is financial aid
most of the teachers at thd day care my son used to go to are graduated from there and it seems a good one
for the assitance i have also searched found private courses