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The Department of Early Childhood Education ("ECE") at The Education University of Hong Kong ("EdUHK") traced its origins to 1981, when Grantham Training College launched a Two-Year Part-Time Course of Training for Kindergarten Teachers. This initiative was established in response to recommendations made in the 1980 Green Paper on Pre-School Services and Primary Education. It was a day-release programme designed for teachers already working in pre-school education—a sector that had previously received little attention in local educational planning. This course marked the beginning of formal kindergarten teacher training in Hong Kong and laid the foundation for the development of early childhood education in the region.

In 1994, Grantham College of Education merged with four other Colleges of Education to form the autonomous Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd"), the predecessor of The EdUHK. With this merger, the Early Childhood Education Division was entrusted with the kindergarten teacher training programmes previously offered by Grantham College. The following year, in the 1995/1996 academic year, the Division of Early Childhood Education was formally established and launched its first Certificate in Kindergarten Education (CD(KG)) Programme, marking a new phase of structured professional training.

During the 1997/1998 academic year, the Division of Early Childhood Education was renamed the Division of Pre-Primary Education, and the Department of Early Childhood Studies was established to further academic specialisation.

Between 1994 and 1998, the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) operated a matrix academic structure consisting of ‘programmes’ and ‘departments’, and they ran in parallel with one another to enable inputs from various departments to the same programme. On the ‘programmes’ side of the matrix, there were three Divisions responsible for the operation and monitoring of academic programmes; whereas the ‘departments’ provide the focal point for the development of subject expertise, research and other scholarly activities.

The three Divisions were the Division of Primary Education, the Division of Early Childhood Education (renamed the Division of Pre-primary Education in the 1997/98 academic year), and the Division of Secondary, Technical and Special Education). For the Division of Primary Education, it was responsible for organising initial primary education and further primary education programmes.

In order to match HKIEd’s development to a tertiary level institution, the matrix was replaced by a new academic structure of four Schools and within which the departments and centres were housed, in the 1998/99 academic year.

The English Department was one of the two Departments at the Institute of Language in Education ("ILE"). It was part of ILE's organisational structure since its establishment in 1982, for the ILE was set up to improve the teaching and learning of Chinese and English as subjects, and the use of these languages across the curriculum. The English Department was responsible for running courses in English, both as a subject and as a medium of instruction for teachers of content subjects. There was an approximate ratio of 1 expatriate native-speaker to 1 local member of staff within the English Department. While ILE ceased to exist as an independent body from 1 September 1994 following its amalgamation with the Colleges of Education and the Hong Kong Technical Teachers' College, the work of the English Department had been taken over and continued in the Department of English at the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

Having successfully achieved self-accrediting university status in 2004, the Hong Kong Institute of Education phased in a new academic structure in September 2005 by merging four existing Schools into two Faculties: the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences ("FLAS"), and the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education ("FPECE"). FLAS comprised of the Departments of Creative Arts and Physical Education; Chinese; English; and Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology; whereas FPECE was composed of the Departments of Curriculum and Instruction; Early Childhood Education; Educational Policy and Administration; and Educational Psychology, Counseling and Learning Needs.

The Institute took further actions in enhancing its academic and research capacities following the submission of the Development Blueprint in 2007. Apart from creating the new position of Vice President (Research and Development) and implementing strategic recruitment and appointment exercises, a new academic structure which reorganized the two Faculties into a three-Faculty structure was launched on 25 August 2008. The five academic departments initially under FPECE came under the Faculty of Education Studies; whereas the newly created Faculty of Languages took over both the Department of Chinese and Department of English, and the restructured Faculty of Arts and Sciences housing the Department of Creative Arts and Physical Education as well as the Department of Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology. And from 1 September 2009, the two Departments under the Faculty of Arts and Sciences were reorganised into the Departments of Cultural and Creative Arts; Health and Physical Education; Mathematics and Information Technology; Science and Environmental Studies; and Social Sciences.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences was renamed the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences with effect from 1 September 2012, to reflect the strategic growth in research capacity and teaching expertise in liberal arts and social sciences in relation to the Institute's re-submission for the re-titling exercise.

The Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences ("FLAS") was one of the two Faculties created to replace the four Schools in September 2005, after the Hong Kong Institute of Education successfully achieved the self-accrediting university status in the year before. FLAS aimed at preparing its students to become professionals with strong disciplinary and educational knowledge to facilitate effective learning; and offered a total of 19 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in primary and secondary education, 11 in-service teacher education programmes supported by government funds, language immersion programmes, exchange programmes and study tours. FLAS was composed of five Departments and a Centre: the Department of Chinese, the Department of Creative Arts and Physical Education, the Department of English, the Department of Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology, and the Centre for Citizenship Education.

The Institute took further actions in enhancing its academic and research capacities following the submission of the Development Blueprint in 2007. Apart from creating the new position of Vice President (Research and Development) and implementing strategic recruitment and appointment exercises, FLAS and the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education were reorganized into a three-Faculty structure on 25 August 2008. The five academic departments initially under FPECE came under the Faculty of Education Studies; whereas the newly created Faculty of Languages took over both the Department of Chinese and Department of English, and the restructured Faculty of Arts and Sciences housing the Department of Creative Arts and Physical Education as well as the Department of Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology.

Having successfully achieved self-accrediting university status in 2004, the Hong Kong Institute of Education phased in a new academic structure in September 2005 by merging four existing Schools into two Faculties: the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences ("FLAS"), and the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education ("FPECE"). FLAS comprised of the Departments of Creative Arts and Physical Education; Chinese; English; and Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology; whereas FPECE was composed of the Departments of Curriculum and Instruction; Early Childhood Education; Educational Policy and Administration; and Educational Psychology, Counseling and Learning Needs.

The Institute took further actions in enhancing its academic and research capacities following the submission of the Development Blueprint in 2007. Apart from creating the new position of Vice President (Research and Development) and implementing strategic recruitment and appointment exercises, a new academic structure which reorganized the two Faculties into a three-Faculty structure was launched on 25 August 2008. The five academic departments initially under FPECE came under the Faculty of Education Studies; whereas the newly created Faculty of Languages took over both the Department of Chinese and Department of English, and the restructured Faculty of Arts and Sciences housing the Department of Creative Arts and Physical Education as well as the Department of Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and Technology. And from 1 September 2009, the two Departments under the Faculty of Arts and Sciences were reorganised into the Departments of Cultural and Creative Arts; Health and Physical Education; Mathematics and Information Technology; Science and Environmental Studies; and Social Sciences.

To reflect the strategic growth in research capacity and teaching expertise in liberal arts and social sciences in relation to the Institute's re-submission for the re-titling exercise, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences was renamed the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences with effect from 1 September 2012. The Faculty is currently housing four Departments: the Department of Health and Physical Education, the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology, the Department of Science and Environmental Studies, and the Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies.

From 2005, the School of Early Childhood Education was renamed the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education ("FPECE"). This change followed Hong Kong Institute of Education ("HKIEd")’s achievement of self-accrediting university status in 2004 and the implementation of a new academic structure in September 2005, which consolidated four existing Schools into two Faculties: the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences ("FLAS"), and the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education ("FPECE").

The newly formed FPECE comprised one academic office and four academic departments, including
(1) Programme Office: Early Childhood and Special Education Programmes,
(2) Department of Curriculum and Instruction,
(3) Department of Early Childhood Education,
(4) Department of Educational Policy and Administration, and
(5) Department of Educational Psychology, Counselling and Learning Needs

The Grantham Training College was founded in September 1951 to focus on the training of primary school teachers. The College operated in the King’s College campus at Bonham Road for one year, and then moved to the Gascoigne Road premises. At that time, only 61 places were available. After completing the one-year full-time program, students could obtain a Teacher Certificate.

In 1953, the College's enrollment increased to 150 students, including 25 boarding students from the Rural Training College (a sister institution that later merged with the Grantham Training College).

In 1960, to cope with the ever-increasing needs for teacher training, the Government further established a third college in the site of the Lo Fu Ngam Primary School as an extension of Grantham. One year later, the new college became independent and was renamed Sir Robert Black Training College.

The Grantham Training College was renamed Grantham College of Education in 1967. By 1982, Grantham obtained an annexe – a commercial building in Mongkok. Following the recommendation by the Education Commission in its Report No. 5 (1992) and the passage of the Hong Kong Institute of Education Ordinance through the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in March 1994, five pre-existing teacher education institutions including Grantham College of Education were merged to form the Hong Kong Institute of Education on 25 April 1994. The College’s two campuses at Gascoigne Road and Argyle Centre, known as Grantham Campus I and Grantham Campus II, remained in use until the Institute moved to its new Tai Po Campus in October 1997. However, the former Grantham Campus I in Gascoigne Road was the only building retained for use as the Institute’s Town Centre, where courses for part-time students and practising teachers were operated due to its convenient location.