ECE

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Home : 2004 : June : 21

ECE
By cdg

In my state (Illinois) an early Childhood Education Degree, by description, licenses you to teach children from birth to 3rd grade. However, while seeking employment, as soon as that ECE degree was seen, I heard: "Oh, ECE...you're
Special Ed." I did not want to teach special education; I got an ECE degree because I had no desire to teach students beyond third grade. I was only able to find employment in the special ed area & I have come to enjoy (despite my original misgivings).
All of this leads up to what I want to say: If you're interested in teaching upper primary grades, especially to use your

art & computer skills wisely, you'd be better off going for the Elementary Ed Degree & certification, than ECE (which goes into detail in child development & growth).
Some on-line Early Childhood Degrees may only be Associates Degrees, which are required for teaching in some daycare centers & pre-schools, so be sure it's a BA (4 yr) degree). If you already have a BA in graphic design, you may be able to get some credits transferred from that degree towards a BA in Education from a 4 year college. Many 4 year colleges have started to offer classes on-line. I personally prefer the people interaction & sharing of ideas & skills that you get from a traditional classroom. MOre than once I have had classmates help me out of an assignment jam and vice versa. You don't get that kind of comradiere (sp?) from an on-line course.
If you question the credibilty of on-line degrees, contact your local Board of Education Office & talk to someone there about the on-line degrees. You can also talk to some local school district's HR people to get some feed back on their reactions to these degrees.