Program Directors: Barbara Schwartz, Program Director (Early Childhood), Susan Kirch and Joseph Rafter (Childhood)
Address: East Building
239 Greene Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10003-6647
Phone: 212-998-5460

Programs in early childhood and childhood education prepare teachers and other professionals to work with children from birth through later childhood. The graduate programs, leading to the Master of Arts degree, fulfill academic requirements for initial/professional or permanent teacher certification in New York State. To meet certification requirements, preservice students may need liberal arts credits in addition to those taken for their undergraduate degree. (See Admission Requirements.)

The students in the Programs in Early Childhood and Childhood Education are not a homogeneous group. They vary widely in age and background. Many are liberal arts or business majors as undergraduates. Some are making a career change. All have chosen teaching because they are interested in children and are seeking a career that is personally rewarding. The childhood teacher certification program aims to help prospective teachers to develop as researchers and reflective practitioners who are committed to work in urban schools and to using the city as a core resource for their learning. Prospective teachers are immersed in thoughtful discussions of and interactions around the critical educational issues of our times, especially issues of developmental, linguistic, cultural, and racial diversity and educational equity. Each course in the program is tied to either fieldwork or student teaching, generating rich and authentic reflections upon theory and practice.

The program:

• Involves deep study of how children at different developmental stages and in different contexts learn and strategies for supporting their learning process;
• Fosters an understanding of the relationships between and among schools, families, and community-based organizations as they interact to impact student learning;
• Develops both content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge with an understanding that both are needed at high levels by teachers;
• Supports the growth of teachers as social advocates for educational equity in a pluralistic culture. Our foremost concern is creating quality care and education for all children. The belief in social justice is inherent in the multiple strands of our graduate early childhood teacher certification program at New York University.

Children are at the center of our curriculum and study. We see children as competent persons actively engaged in meaning making in the multiple contexts in which they find themselves. We recognize the singular importance of parents and families in nurturing young children and the need of educators to develop reciprocal relationships with each family. The family's rich knowledge of their children should help inform care giving and educational practices, and our advocacy efforts should take that knowledge into consideration. Our view is that the central component of teachers' development as teacher-researchers is continual reflection on their own and others' educational practices. We believe that careful reflection and examination will especially help preservice teachers to develop powerful tools as caring, talented, and committed professionals who will be equipped to address our stated program strands.

Career Opportunities

Graduates of the Early Childhood and Childhood Education Programs have a number of career opportunities: teaching children in public or private child-care centers, early childhood centers, and elementary schools; educating teachers and conducting research in schools and universities; and directing curriculum development and educational programs in schools, colleges, and universities. In nonschool settings, graduates write, edit, and publish educational materials for children and work in children's television.