The Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner Competencies were introduced by the Early Childhood Studies Degrees Network (ECSDN) in 2018, as an addition to the ECS degree, to enable students to evidence that they could ‘ensure the skillful application of knowledge to practice and practice to knowledge’ (ECSDN, 2019) – in other words for students to be able to show that they could practice at level 6 as well as having the knowledge at level 6.
An article explaining this can be found here:
https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/features/article/what-do-early-childhood-studies-degrees-offer-today
For more details, listen to the podcast from Early Years Reviews where I discuss the Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner Competencies:
Along with colleagues Su Wall from the University of Derby and Sigrid Brogaard-Clausen from the University of Roehampton, we were sponsored by funding from the ECSDN to research stakeholders perceptions of the Graduate Practitioner Competencies, and the benefits and challenges of the roll out of this new initiative. The preliminary report is available here:
ECSDN_Report_JB_6.pdf (mcusercontent.com)
A journal article with further details is currently in publication and will follow soon.
References:
Early Childhood Studies Degree Network (ECSDN) (2020) Striving for Excellence, Early Childhood
Graduate Practitioner Competencies. ECSDN, England. (ecsdn.org) Available from: https://www.ecsdn.org/competencies/