Apprenticeship - Field Placement | School of Early Childhood Education | Seneca Students

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There are six courses that have a field placement requirement. When taking these courses students will be required to complete a designated number of hours at an appropriate field site. When possible, students can fulfill their field placement requirements at their worksite. At other times, students may complete their placement in community child care programs. Students will be responsible for finding their own placement site with the approval of their sponsor and the curriculum course professor.

Field Placement Subjects

Each field placement subject is taken concurrently with its connected co-requisite learning environments subject. Field placements last as long as the learning environment subject to which they are attached.  This arrangement encourages the intertwining of theory and practice.  In your field placement you will implement ideas that you learned in class.  During classes you will talk about experiences from field placement.  You will be asked to reflect on how theory and your experiences fit together.  Your assignments for both field placement and the learning environment class will include material from class and field placement.  Since learning environments and field subjects are closely linked, you must pass both in order to receive a passing grade for either.

When you enroll in a learning environment subject about a particular developmental level (e.g. preschoolers) your field placement will be with groups of children in the same developmental range. While most placement requirements in the Child Development Practitioner Apprenticeship When possible, students can fulfill their field placement requirements at their worksite. At other times, students may complete their placement in community child care programs. Students will be responsible for finding their own placement site with the approval of their sponsor and the curriculum course professor.

Placement Hours

Professional Conduct

When you are in field placement settings, you will be representing Seneca College.  You are asked to always act in ways which reflect positively on the College.  If your field placement is not your worksite, you are expected to wear identification while attending field placement.

During your field placements, you must always be aware of the health and safety needs of the children.  Alert staff to risky situations and offer to help.  If at any time you jeopardize the emotional well-being, health or safety of a child through your actions or behaviours and your supervising professor determines that you are not capable of the required level of independent functioning, you may be withdrawn from placement and may fail the course.  You may also be asked to leave the program.

Examples include are not limited to:

Leaving children unattended; breaking confidentiality; forging signatures on field documents; attending field under the influence of alcohol or drugs that hinder judgment; striking a child, inappropriate touching of a child; belittling, berating or demeaning a child.

While in your field placement, you must abide by the requirements of CCEYA and The Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Non-compliance will be reviewed on an individual basis and may result in your failing field placement or withdrawal from the CDP program.

Attendance at Field Placement

You need to:

• give ample notice of upcoming field assignments and evaluation due dates
• communicate openly and positively on a daily basis seeking support when necessary
• consult with faculty regarding placement experience
• be punctual
• be present at placement as scheduled
• dress in an appropriate manner, following the dress code of the field placement
• keep an accurate up-to-date record of attendance on the provided form.
• wear your identification
• actively participate in all aspects of the program
• demonstrate the skills that have been acquired in the classroom and that are stipulated in the course outline, as well as other duties that all teachers in the field placement perform (e.g. housekeeping)

Communication

You need to:

• show your field placement subject outline to the supervising teacher(s) in your field placement
• inform the supervising teacher(s) in your field placement of all assignments pertaining to the placement
• arrange with the supervising teacher appropriate times to carry out the assignments and receive feedback
• inform your professor about any serious concerns pertaining to the field placement’s program and/or your ability to meet subject requirements.  These may include observations of abuse or violations of the DNA and require a specific reporting procedure that will be covered in your first semester.

Liaison’s Visit

Your liaison will visit you at least once during the semesters you are at a field placement. This may be conducted virtually. During the visit, she/he may:

• Discuss your progress with the supervisor and/or mentor of your placement
• Discuss with you if any support/resources are needed
• Review your goals and discuss whether or not you are meeting them

Evaluation

Your final grade in the field placement is based on the liaison’s evaluation of the field placement documents complied on the MyCPL app (all components of your Self-Directed Learning Plans) and the result of the liaison’s visit(s).

Your mentor at your placement or worksite will provide the feedback necessary to complete the field placement documents. (The supervisors do not complete any documents for CDP students. 

Field Placement Documents

Please make a copy of your completed forms and keep them in your file of documents.

Before you can receive a passing grade in a field placement subject, you need to submit all of the completed documents required for that subject.

These documents are:

• Your timesheet, goals, activities and reflections downloaded as a PDF format from the MyCpl app.

Please note that your PDF should include at least 2 goals, 4 Professional learning activities (2 per goal), and 1 reflection per each activity, experience, and encounter.

Your reflections are evidence of your learning. Therefore, you need to clearly explain how you have met your goals as they relate to the Learning Outcomes of your CDF course.