Explore your Pathways: Camille's lesson plan into a career in the classroom

Meet Camille

While Camille, a graduate of Mohawk College’s Early Childhood Education program, always knew she was passionate about working with children, she wasn’t always planning on pursuing it as a career. Before she decided to change her career path and try something new, Camille was an engineering student at university.

“With my first experience at university, going straight from high school to university, I felt really unprepared,” Camille says. “It was a really big shock and change, and I realized that university didn’t fit my learning style.”

After leaving university and rethinking her career goals, Camille began researching different schools and programs in Early Childhood Education. While becoming a teacher was something she had in mind, Camille still wanted to keep her options open before heading back to university.

“I chose Mohawk College for my program because there was an option to do a Pathways transfer to Brock University to get my Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education,” Camille says. “This gave me the most options career-wise.”

Mohawk College to Brock University Early Childhood Education (ECE) Pathway

In the Mohawk College ECE to Brock University ECE Pathway transfer opportunity, students complete a two-year ECE diploma at Mohawk College before applying to the Bachelor of ECE program at Brock University. Once they have been accepted into the Bachelor program at Brock, they will start in the third year of the four-year program instead of the first.

The Pathways transfer opportunity gives students the chance to kickstart their university education while gaining all the benefits of experiential learning that Mohawk College offers. For Camille, the Mohawk to Brock ECE Pathways transfer program was exactly what she needed to succeed in her educational and career goals.

“I feel like one of the main reasons I’ve been successful in university is because I had my first two years at Mohawk College,” Camille states.

Experiential learning and ECE

The hands-on learning approach of Mohawk College’s Early Childhood Education program provides invaluable knowledge, skills and experiences to students wishing to pursue a career in working with children, whether as an ECE or teacher.

The classrooms where ECEs and teachers work require them to think quickly and problem-solve for everything to run smoothly. Mohawk College’s ECE program gives students an opportunity to become accustomed to environments like this first-hand through simulated classrooms, community projects and three different practicum placements.

“Having hands-on experience lets you practice what you're going to do, helps you become more confident in what you’re going to be planning and gives you a good idea of what it’s like to work with children in a stress-free environment,” Camille says.

Not only does this extensive hands-on experience prepare students for their future careers, but it also allows for them to become familiar with many of the concepts discussed in university on a personal level.

“All of my examples for my assignments come from my placements,” Camille comments. “You can see what we’re talking about in university because you had that experience first-hand.”

Supportive faculty and special opportunities

Camille’s time at Mohawk College also saw her form meaningful professional connections with her professors that continued even after her graduation from Mohawk.

When Camille had to complete a placement for her Bachelor’s program, she reached out to one of her previous Mohawk professors to see if she could do her placement with them.

“I was able to come into the ECE classroom and pretend to be a teacher and implement some lessons with the Mohawk College professor,” Camille remarks. “That gave me a really great understanding of what it would be like to be a teacher.”

Continuing beyond Mohawk

Currently, Camille is in the last year of her program at Brock University and is working on an undergraduate thesis on why teaching Indigenous perspectives and history should be a mandatory part of any ECE program’s curriculum. The idea for the thesis came from the time she spent taking the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Perspectives class as an elective while at Mohawk.

She says “If we want to be an inclusive and welcoming society, all ECEs should know how to make that environment welcoming for Indigenous children and their families.”

For anyone planning to pursue a career in ECE or looking to eventually become a teacher, Camille recommends Mohawk College and the Mohawk to Brock ECE Pathways transfer program.

“What I liked about Mohawk College so much was that it gave me the confidence I needed to take my career into my own hands,” Camille says. “I felt really confident as an ECE, whether that be to pursue further education and do something else.”

 Posted 10/4/2024