The Department of Preschool Education started its activities in the academic year 1987-88 under the name “Department of Kindergarten Teachers”.
It was founded according to Law 1268/1982, article 46, paragraph 1. According to the Presidential Decree 320/1988, article 1, paragraph 2. In 2001 the Department was renamed to Department of Preschool Education “without any alteration in its field of study” (Presidential Decree 318/2001, article 1).
In 1995 the Department of Preschool Education and the Department of School Education formed the Faculty of Education. As regards to the first 20-year operation of the Department of Preschool Education, here is a related article..
The Undergraduate Studies Program
The Department of Preschool Education has been operating its Undergraduate Program for 30 years. To date, more than 4.700 undergraduate students have enrolled in the Department, and more than 2.400 Bachelor’s Degrees have been conferred.
Before the beginning of the academic year 2016-17, a number of approximately 1.100 undergraduates have been enrolled in the Department.
The academic staff of the Department numbers 32 people, 28 of whom belong to the Teaching and Research Personel, 1 person belongs to the Special Teaching Personel, and 3 belong to the Special Laboratory Personel. In addition, a person belonging to the SpecialTechnical and Laboratory Personel works for the Department.
The Graduate Studies Program
Since the academic year 1994-95, a Graduate Studies Program in Education has been established, which, depending upon the specialization offered each time, leads to a relevant Master of Arts Degree (M.A.).
This Program has been reformed to “Theory and Practice in Preschool Education” since 2014-15. The Program requires no tuition fees.
Since the academic year 2016-17, a new Graduate Program has been in effect entitled “Qualitative Research Methodologies based on Play, Art, and Body, and Alternative Experiential Psychopedagogic Approaches of Learning and Development Processes”. The Program requires no tuition fees.
Since the academic year 2016-17 two self-supporting Graduate Programs have been established:
- A self-supporting Graduate Program in Education, which is comprised of three directions divided in 7 specializations.
- A self-supporting Interdepartmental Graduate Program in “Special Education”. The collaborating Departments, all from the University of Crete, are the Department of Preschool Education, the Department of Primary School Education, and the Department of Psychology.
73 students working on a M.A. are currently enrolled in the Graduate Programs of the Department, and 18 students are Ph.D. candidates.
Up to date, 90 graduate students have been conferred an M.A. degree, while 9 graduate students have been conferred a Ph.D.
