Introduction

The bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education provides training in all aspects of education and qualifies students to design and carry out training actions and programs with school children aged 0 to 6, supporting their personal and social development and encouraging learning.

The bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education provides training in the design and intervention of educational situations related to the physical, motor, affective, communicative, social and cognitive development of children between the ages of 0 and 6. Students receive basic and specific teacher training in all the established areas of knowledge and disciplines of early childhood education. They also receive training in school organizational and management principles, as well as the processes of physical, emotional and intellectual development typical of this age. The course produces teachers capable of communicating effectively and assertively, respectful of diversity, able to work independently and in teams, and aware of the responsibility and importance of the role of teachers in society. 

Basic information

TypeBachelor's degrees
Faculty or schoolFaculty of Education
Branch of knowledge
  • Social Sciences
Mode of delivery

face-to-face

Credits240
Number of places available

200 (excluding double degree)

Length of course4 academic years
Language(s) of instructionCatalan 79,3%, Spanish 14%, English 6,8%
Admission grade

8.570 (July 2023, start of process, via official entrance examinations/vocational training)

 

Approximate price per credit17,69 €
Compulsory placementsYes
CoordinatorBERTA PALOU JULIAN
Course detailsIndicators
Professional practiceYes
Profesión regulada--

early childhood education teacher

SpecializationsYes

Objectives and competences

Objectives

  • Analyse and plan educational tasks, taking into account changes in society.
  • Act as mediators so that the classroom activity is significant and stimulates all students' potential to develop.
  • Promote values such as mutual tolerance, effort, perseverance, discipline, gender equality and human rights, and foster collaboration outside the school.
  • Organise how students interact with the object of study, and promote independent and cooperative learning.
  • Undertake tasks of tutoring, guiding and assessing students.
  • Create projects that meet the needs of schools and students, with in-depth knowledge of the teaching process and of the materials that are taught.
  • Teach in multicultural and multilingual contexts.
  • Use new technologies in the classroom.

Competences

Cross-disciplinary skills profile

  • Commitment to ethical practice
  • Capacity to recognise diversity and multiculturalism in current society
  • Capacity for learning and to take responsibility for the learning process
  • Capacity to adapt to new situations
  • Creative and entrepreneurial skills
  • Communication skills
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Ability to work as part of a team
  • Ability to make effective use of information and communication technologies
  • Concern for sustainability

Specific competences

  • Capacity to apply the various elements of early learning curricula coherently: aims, competences, objectives, content and assessment criteria.
  • Capacity to facilitate the learning process in early childhood, taking a global and integrating approach to the cognitive, linguistic, emotional, social, cultural and motivational factors involved.
  • Capacity to create and maintain a harmonic learning environment for diverse early learning contexts, meeting the specific needs of each child, overcoming learning difficulties and fostering gender equality, equity and respect for human rights.
  • Capacity to promote mutual tolerance inside and outside the classroom and solve disputes peacefully.
  • Capacity to monitor the classroom atmosphere and mutual tolerance in the primary education learning process, evaluate educational practices in terms of established theoretical frameworks, and take corrective action where required.
  • Capacity to stimulate group reflection on respect for rules and respect for others.
  • Capacity to encourage independence and self-confidence in all pupils as a means of teaching them about emotions, feelings and values in early childhood.
  • Capacity to promote the evolution of the different languages of early education, identify possible dysfunctions and ensure that they are corrected satisfactorily. Capacity to foster the development of communication skills.
  • Capacity to manage language learning in multicultural and multilingual contexts, selecting the most suitable teaching resources for each situation. Capacity for spoken and written expression and ability to use a range of expressive techniques.
  • Capacity to recognise the potential educational impact of information and communication technologies.
  • Capacity to promote the growth and development of children, focusing particularly on hygiene, health and nutrition, and on the fundamental aspects of learning and personality construction in early childhood. Understanding of the basic principles of early childhood education.
  • Capacity to participate in the broad range of activities involved in running pre-primary schools, based on an understanding of how they are organised.
  • Capacity to recognize that teachers must continually improve their skills and adapt to scientific, educational, technological, social and cultural changes over the course of their professional lives.
  • Understanding of the importance of the teacher's role in working with and advising parents on family education for children up to six years old; social skills to deal effectively with individual families and groups of families.
  • Ability to analyse classroom methodologies critically to innovate and improve teaching practice. Ability to develop independent and cooperative learning skills, and capacity to transmit them to colleagues and pupils.
  • Understanding of the role, potential and limitations of education in today's society and the core competences that affect pre-primary schools and actors in the educational community.
  • Capacity to analyse social inequalities in the context of the complex relationship between education and society, and the role schools can play in perpetuating or overcoming such inequalities.
  • Capacity to apply improvement measures in schools, based on various quality models.
     

Access and admission

Applicant profile and access requirements

Recommended applicant profile

Early childhood teachers work in a professional environment that requires great dedication to others, specifically to children and their families, along with the other professionals associated with child development. Therefore, it is essential to have very good interpersonal and social skills. In particular, it is important to be emotionally balanced and to have the skills needed to work in a team and adopt the required roles in group projects.

Students of the bachelor's degree in Teacher Training in Pre-School and Primary Education are expected to have an interest in culture, human and scientific knowledge, and above all, to respect different beliefs, social practices and cultures.

Academically, students must be capable of regulating their own learning (planning, organising, taking and evaluating decisions, and acting accordingly). They must be able to produce knowledge rigorously in the framework of education, both individually and as a group, and generate new ideas based on researching and reflecting on the subjects covered in initial training in early childhood education.

Access requirements and conditions

Admission for students with studies completed outside Spain.

Applicants holding higher educational qualifications from a university outside Spain should consult the page Admission with foreign qualifications to find out about specific admission requirements.
 

Pre-enrolment

Students that have studied abroad and who wish to study at the University of Barcelona may be admitted to EHEA bachelor's degree courses. Procedures for gaining admission will depend on the qualifications held by each applicant.

For further information about admission, consult the page Admission with foreign qualifications.
 

Enrolment

As a general rule, at the UB you will be required to enrol online via the Món UB portal. To find out the date and time you have been assigned, check the specific information for your course. Remember that you can lose your place if you do not enrol on the day you have been assigned.

Academic information

 

Welcome

Support and guidance

Pre-enrolment information and events

 

Course curriculum

Subjects and course plans

Distribution of credits

Type ECTS
Basic training 102
Compulsory 66
Optional 21
Compulsory placements 45
Compulsory final project 6
TOTAL 240

List of subjects

Subject Language Type Credits
Final Project 2nd semester Compulsory final project 6
Practicum II Annual Practices 27
Teaching and Learning of Language II 2nd semester Compulsory 6
Subject Language Type Credits
Advanced English 1st semester Optional 6
Biological Development of the Child and Teaching and Learning 1st semester Optional 6
Care for Students in Risk Situations of Social Exclusion 2nd semester Optional 3
Children Spaces and Objects: Design of Workshops for Learning 2nd semester Optional 3
Children's Stories and Poems in Hispanic Literature 2nd semester Optional 3
Collaborative Learning in Networks 2nd semester Optional 3
Construction of Space and Time 2nd semester Optional 3
Cultural Aspects of English-Speaking Countries 2nd semester Optional 3
Cultural Identity and the Activity of Teaching and Learning 1st semester Optional 6
Development, Coordination and Management of Information Technology in the School Classroom 2nd semester Optional 3
Disability, Development and Learning 1st semester Optional 6
Education, School and Diversity 2nd semester Optional 6
English Language Pronunciation 2nd semester Optional 3
Environment, Diversity and Sustainability 2nd semester Optional 3
Interpretation of the Picture 1st semester Optional 6
Learning English Using Stories 2nd semester Optional 3
Library and Information Science for Primary and Secondary School Teachers 1st semester Optional 6
Listening to Music in Early Childhood Education 2nd semester Optional 3
Mass Media for Children: Music and Sound 2nd semester Optional 3
Means of Expression and Communication for Children 1st semester Optional 6
Measures and Educational Support for Students with Specific Needs 1st semester Optional 6
Motor Development and Learning in Early Childhood 1st semester Optional 6
Motor Function and Educational Contexts 1st semester Optional 6
Multimodal Communication for Educational Innovation 1st semester Optional 6
Musical Theatre in Early Childood Education 1st semester Optional 6
New Environments and Digital Resources 2nd semester Optional 3
Observation of Child Motor Behaviour 2nd semester Optional 3
Psychomotor Skill and Expression 2nd semester Optional 3
Reading for Young Children 2nd semester Optional 3
School Projects and Experiences in Promoting Diversity 2nd semester Optional 3
Scientific and Social Communication and Visual Language 2nd semester Optional 3
Sound, Rhythm and Movement 2nd semester Optional 3
Teachers, Children and Expression through Materials 1st semester Optional 6
Teaching and Learning of English 1st semester Optional 6
Teaching and Learning of Literary Communication 2nd semester Optional 3
Teaching and Learning with Digital Technology 1st semester Optional 6
The New Graphic Art Forms: the Album, the Comic and Film 2nd semester Optional 3
The Story in the Oral Tradition and Documental Sources 2nd semester Optional 3
The Teaching and Study of Catholicism as a Subject in the School Classroom 2nd semester Optional 6
Voice and Speech Techniques in Oral Discourse 2nd semester Optional 3
Working with Learner Difficulties in Communication, Reading and Writing 2nd semester Optional 3
Workshops on Expression and Communication 1st semester Optional 6

Pathways and specializations

Specialization in Motor Skill in Children
Specialization in Artistic Expression
Specialization in Research and Experimentation in Environments
Specialization in Expression and Communication Media
Specialization in School Libraries
Specialization in Attention to Diversity
Specialization in Digital Technology for Learning, Communication and Expression
Specialization in Foreign Languages
Check the planning of the different pathways of the degree

Previous years

Placements

 Placements are supervised by tutors and subject to assessment.They are therefore included in the academic record.  There is also an option to complete non-curricular placements of up to 500 hours, which can be extended to 900 hours. For both curricular and non-curricular placements, an educational cooperation agreement is signed between the UB and the company, institution or other organization at which the placement will be carried out.

 

Institutional information
 

Career opportunities

What can you work on ?

  • Early childhood education teacher in nursery, pre-school and primary education.
  • Early childhood education teacher in informal education settings for early-childhood.
  • Professional specialised in early childhood education in cultural and educational organisations and institutions.
  • Professional specialised in early childhood education in the corporate environment.
     

Data from the university system in Catalonia

Contact us

Faculty of Education
Pg. de la Vall d'Hebron, 171 - 08035 Barcelona

Secretary: 934 020 269

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