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Education/training

ECE training with a difference

Anyone interested in a career in Early Childhood Education usually looks into the programs at local colleges, whether public or private.

DAVID CHILTON

[ 2007-08-15 ]

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Karen Monaghan graduated from Mothercraft in 2000. She now manages Mothercraft's Robertson House Centre for Early Development in Toronto.

But there's another option: The Canadian Mothercraft Society, or Mothercraft as it's popularly known. Toronto-based, it's a sort of private-public hybrid in that its Institute for Early Development is registered as a private career college in Ontario, but the society operates as a charity and has done so since its inception in 1931.

DISTINCTION

Beverley Koven, Mothercraft's executive director, says the society began offering ECE training in the 1970s. By the later part of that decade, Koven says, its programs were equivalent to those offered at local public colleges. Mothercraft's ECE program is recognized by the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario (AECEO), the only career college with that distinction.

Equivalency apart, however, there are significant differences between Mothercraft's program and those offered at local colleges.

For one thing, Mothercraft's program is highly concentrated, Koven says. It runs for a full calendar year -- with 18 weeks spent as interns -- rather than two academic years, about 16 months, typical in public college ECE programs.

Another difference is the age of students in the program. Koven points out that Mothercraft doesn't attract students straight from high school, but women who are in their later 20s or early 30s and who may already have a university degree. A substantial number of them are also from overseas, she says. Mothercraft enrols internationally trained teachers, nurses, social workers and so on, and that's one of the reasons why Mothercraft administers English language proficiency tests during admissions.

The program lasts 12 months without a break, Koven says, so the test is necessary to ensure students whose first language isn't English get the most out of their studies. Where a student needs language help Mothercraft will provide it, Koven says. Would-be students also have to pass a small group interview that probes their values related to early childhood development, the worth of children, how they would resolve conflicts with fellow ECE workers, and so on, she explains.

Another difference at Mothercraft is small class size, Koven says. The Institute for Early Development has one intake a year, in August, with 50 students enrolled in two classes of 25. Classes begin Aug. 27 this year, and at press time were still taking applications.

ENDOWMENT

The cost of the full-time program at Mothercraft is $6,100, but, Koven points out that tuition fees don't cover the entire cost of learning or other expenses, so a society endowment makes up the difference. Students who want to take the program part time during the evening can pay as they go, with tuition costing about $250 a course. All other criteria for admission are the same as those for full- time students.

Karen Monaghan has a degree in Drama and Education from the University of Windsor and trained at the Institute for Early Development, graduating in 2000.

Monaghan looked into public college programs for her ECE training, but didn't like what she saw. "I really felt that I was going to be no more important than an ID number," she says.

Mothercraft, on the other hand, was a lot more thorough in its screening, Monaghan says. The society wanted to know "am I compatible to their program and are they compatible to me?"

Clearly, there was compatibility between her and Mothercraft. Monaghan now manages Mothercraft's Robertson House Centre for Early Development in Toronto and loves her job -- but she'll never get rich in ECE. Koven puts starting salaries at Mothercraft centres at $32,000.