Launch a rewarding and in-demand career, with VU's one-year Graduate Diploma of Early Childhood Education.

Our graduate diploma allows graduates of degree programs to become early-childhood teachers.

You'll engage with units focused on children from birth to five years, learning how teaching practice can include children and families as capable participants in education.

If you're a domestic student(external link) you can study this course online.

You'll also gain hands-on work experience in a range of settings, graduating with expertise in early-childhood learning built on a strong sense of social justice.

Gain insight into the early years by studying these fascinating areas:

• child development
• teaching practice that includes Aboriginal perspectives
• education and curriculum studies focused on childhood and relationships
• family and community contexts
• advocacy and activism in early-childhood settings
• history and philosophy of early childhood
• ethical early-childhood professional practice.

Childcare job openings are expecting massive growth, with the number of qualified early-childhood teachers required at long-day-care centres to double in 2020 (ACECQA(external link)).

Thanks to the essential experience you’ll get from teaching early-childhood settings during your placement, you’ll be work-ready when you graduate.

With an ACECQA approved early-childhood teacher qualification, our graduates can find employment in:

• public or private kindergartens (pre-school)
• long-day-care centres
• early-childhood centres in the state of Victoria, Australia.

Interstate applicants should check with their state’s relevant teaching registration board or authority to see if their state requires early-childhood teacher registration and accepts this qualification.

Salaries

Early-childhood teachers earn an average of $77,376