Brief History of the Department

The Faculty of Education came into being in 1962 when the then Institute of Education (Founded in 1957 and the Department of Extra-Moral Studies founded in 1949) were merged together and called ‘Faculty of Education and Extra-Moral Studies’. It was based in the present Faculty of Arts until it moved to its present site in 1967. In the year of its inception in 1962, the Institute of Education started the Bachelor of Education Programme and was renamed the Department and Institute of Education that same year.

From 1974/75 session, new Departments were created from this initial set-up. These were the Departments of Physical and Health Education – now called Human Kinetics and Health Education (1975/76), Educational Management, Guidance and Counseling and Special Education, all in 1976/77 session. The former Department and Institute was then re-designated the Department of Teacher Education. Up till the year 2016, Department of Teacher Education has the following units: Science and Mathematics Education, Educational Technology, Language Education, Social Studies Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Foundations and Early Childhood Education. There are 28 lecturers in the Department with about 20 different programmes. This makes the Department the largest in the Faculty.

Besides the size of the Department, the National Universities Commission (NUC) – gave a directive to the Department to restructure the programmes in accordance to the benchmark. This directive led to the unbundling of the Department of Teacher Education into three Departments namely: Department of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education; Department of Arts and Social Sciences and Department of Early Childhood and Educational Foundations. The Department of Early Childhood and Educational Foundations takes off during the 2016/2017 academic session.   

2. Vision

The vision of Department of Early Childhood and Educational Foundations is to be a world-class research, resource and capacity building based Department, for the preparation of professional teachers that will support and promote inherent rights, education and well-being of African children through innovative initiatives that will cover children and other stakeholders.

3. Mission

The mission of the Department is to expand the frontier of knowledge through provision of excellent conditions for learning and research and to provide a solid knowledge base and African cultural practices for the education of the young ones through research, documentation and dissemination of information and ideas. 

4. Philosophy

The early years are of tremendous significance in the cognitive, social, emotional and physical growth and development of children. Therefore, the quality of care and education children receive during this period has a long term impact on their all-round development. This is why adequate attention should be given to the preparation of teachers/caregivers who will be involved in the provision of high-quality childhood education programme that can yield both short and long term benefits for participating children, their families and the society. Moreover, high quality childhood education can reduce the risk factors that can interfere with learning and achievement in school.

5. Objectives

The following are the objectives of the programme

• To prepare teachers and caregivers with adequate knowledge of child development in their physical cognitive and affective domains.
• To equip teachers and caregivers with the knowledge of developmentally and culturally appropriate practices in Early Childhood Education
• To equip teachers and caregivers with adequate knowledge of different types of learning materials and equipment that are both culturally and developmentally appropriate for young children.
• To prepare teachers and caregivers as early childhood education professionals with adequate knowledge of professional ethics in dealing with the children, their family, community/society and colleagues.
• To educate teachers and caregivers on preparation of child-friendly learning environment and
• To train teachers and caregivers to source for and use of local resources for teaching and learning.