Pickens Technical College Early Childhood Education Pathway: A Ladder Up

The Pickens Technical College Early Childhood Education pathway gives you the chance to not only realize your dream of working with kids and participating in much-needed local childcare networks, but you’ll also have a chance to leverage your experience working with and caring for children into upward career moves.

Getting a start in Early Childhood Education is a great way to start a career in education, psychology, social work, or even medicine. Pickens’ ECE program is set up to make its college credits easily transferrable, so you can take the training you earned at Pickens and use it to further your career in a similar field.

Communicating with and caring for children is an extremely marketable skill that many professionals in fields other than ECE use to do their jobs. There are many professions and specialties in the public and private sectors that are welcoming to those with ECE backgrounds. What are some of these outside-the-box opportunities?

Medicine

Pediatric medicine is an obvious choice for those with ECE backgrounds breaking into the medical field. Of course, becoming a full-fledged pediatrician takes years of additional schooling and training in the extremely complex world of health and modern medicine. But having experience working with kids is extremely helpful when trying to break into any type of medical job or field. Doctors, physicians, specialists, nurses, technicians, and assistants all need to have some experience communicating with children. At some point, they’ll have to relate complicated information to children in ways they’ll understand and in ways, their parents will understand and approve of. As the healthcare industry expands, the need for people who can relate to children will only increase.

Social Work

Local organizations and governments in Colorado are constantly looking for people to help at-risk children and youth in a variety of ways. There are also hundreds of non-profits around the state working to end things like child hunger and homelessness. The fact is, there is a devastating number of needy children looking for help in this state alone. Getting a background in Early Childhood Education is an obvious bridge to the education sector, but social workers, child protection agents, social services providers, family services professionals, and even child protection lawyers and advocates could always use a background in ECE to advance their careers.

Politics and Community Outreach

Social service professionals can use their experience working with children can use their ECE background to help develop policy and community outreach programs. Plenty of politicians came from humble beginnings and were often formed by the things they saw during the first phase of their careers. With a background in ECE, you could find yourself in a position to make a difference in the lives of young people who need your help the most. By working in the government or community arenas, you could build the support you need to make a big difference in child protection and care policies.

Pickens’ ECE program is just the start. You can use this degree and training as a springboard to more opportunities.