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A pathway to enhancing professionalism: building a bridge between TAFE and university early childhood qualifications

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journal contribution
posted on 2009-03-01, 00:00 authored by V Whitington, M Ebbeck, A Diamond, Bonnie Yim
It has been argued that a key strategy to improve developmental and educational outcomes for young children is to increase the number of childcare staff with early childhood university degrees (Saracho & Spodek, 2007). In order to upgrade the qualifications of staff, a number of Australian universities provide pathways that enable graduates of early childhood diploma programs to complete a degree. Several impediments, including institutional structures and individual contextual and personal factors, may affect these pathways. Although a range of organisations offer diploma programs, TAFE (Tertiary and Further Education) is a major provider. The aim of the present study was to investigate student transition between early childhood programs in TAFE and university. The research drew on several data sources, including a survey of the perceptions of students at various points of undertaking the transition. The current credit arrangement for TAFE Diploma graduates was found to be satisfactory; however, gaps were identified between the TAFE and university teaching and learning arrangements with regard to curriculum structures, teaching styles and assessment. Graduates of both programs considered that the completion of both awards would have a positive effect on their careers.

History

Journal

Australasian journal of early childhood

Volume

34

Issue

1

Pagination

27 - 35

Publisher

Early Childhood Australia Inc.

Location

Watson, A.C.T.

ISSN

1836-9391

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2009, Early Childhood Australia

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