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Study Innovation in Early Childhood Education

Program offerings from the partnership between Boulder Journey School and University of Colorado Denver and inspired by the schools for young children in Reggio Emilia, Italy

For 20 years, Boulder Journey School and CU Denver’s School of Education and Human Development have partnered to offer a residency teacher preparation program that leads to birth-to-age 8 licensure and an MA. Now in a new online MA, you have the same opportunity to study high quality, multi-media examples of classroom learning and teaching from Boulder Journey School and the schools for young children in Reggio Emilia, Italy, engage in collaborative examination of documentation, develop your own interpretations, and experiment with new practices to innovate the field of Early Childhood Education. You also have an opportunity to begin with a course that articulates into either program of study. All three pathways are below.

Teacher and student Boulder Journey School

Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood Education Pedagogy

Provides Reggio-inspired experiential learning in ECE pedagogy to complement students’ current competencies and experiences. Courses can articulate into CU Denver and Boulder Journey School’s MA in Innovative ECE.

Child shadow boxing

MA Licensure Program

A master's licensure program in early childhood education with birth to age 8 Colorado licensure through the Boulder Journey School teacher education program.

Child painting

Online MA in Innovative Early Childhood Education

An online MA in Early Childhood Education to study innovation in education for children birth to age 8 at Boulder Journey School and the schools for young children in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

In all offerings, you will study the philosophy, foundational ideas and the contextualized practices from the infant toddler centers and preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. While exploring the Reggio Emilia Approach, you will make extensive connections between your own context and the Reggio-inspired work at Boulder Journey School, a school for young children and teacher education developed in partnership with the School of Education & Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver.

Boulder Journey School and CU Denver faculty’s expertise has been developed over 25 years in a wide variety of contexts, including public schools, HeadStart programs, Educare programs and blended, inclusive ECE programs and in collaboration with the educators of Reggio Emilia. Locally, Boulder Journey School and University of Colorado Denver partnerships include Denver Public Schools, specifically Inspire Elementary School and The Zone for Inclusive Learning.

Choose CU Denver’s School of Education & Human Development

The School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver is a statewide and national leader for educational quality, access and equity across the education lifespan, birth through higher education Our undergraduate and graduate programs prepare and inspire education and mental health leaders to have a profound impact in fostering student opportunity, achievement and success in urban and diverse communities. We believe that all students, diverse in race, ethnicity, economic resources, language, fluency, abilities, geography, first-generation status, age, gender and sexual identities, deserve access to an excellent education. Our academic programs, our world-class faculty and our curriculum reflect this philosophy of inclusion and social justice. Through innovative research and partnerships, we strive to be passionate agents of change, inspiring upcoming generations to learn from the past and shape the future. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion works toward a more just and compassionate world.

We offer high quality Early Childhood Education in BA, BS, MA, EdD and PhD programs to prepare inclusive ECE teachers (with and without licensure), directors, leaders, researchers and policy makers. Our 20 plus year partnership with Boulder Journey School is a gem in our ECE program portfolio. We share deep interest and extensive experience with the innovative schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy and have successfully partnered in residency-based educator preparation for over two decades. Recently, we added an online MA rooted in the work of Boulder journey school and inspired by the acclaimed pedagogy known as the Reggio Emilia approach.

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