OBSTACLES AND OPPORTUNITIES: CREATING EARLY CHILDHOOD PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SCHOOLS

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to highlight key findings from a study of 24 early childhood preservice teachers as they moved away from a reliance on traditional interpretations of child‐centered curricula toward one of collaborative inquiry. Participants enrolled in a 15 week undergraduate teaching methods course were assigned to teaching teams to implement collaborative projects with the same group of 3–5‐year‐old children. The study utilized both quantitative and qualitative measures to assess conceptual level, changes in reflectivity, and inquiry‐oriented teaching. Results suggest that the emergence of collaborative inquiry among preservice teachers is a dynamic and diverse process not readily assessed by static measures or discreet skills. Collaborative projects did provide a context for creating communities of learners within which time, space and opportunity to practice, reflect and use language and other tools contributed to young teachers’ development of inquiry.     

EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS: WRITING TO EXPLORE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Abstract

This study examined the perceptions and practices of certified preschool teachers and children regarding play. A sample of 102 Pre‐Kindergarten regular (Pre‐K regular) teachers and 61 Pre‐Kindergarten with disabilities (Pre‐K with disabilities) teachers in an urban school district were surveyed. A sub‐group of 46 teachers and 72 4‐year‐old children were interviewed. In contrast to teachers in a previous study who did not have teacher certification, the teachers in the present study believed that play supported children's learning and development and indicated that play was an integral part of their curriculum. Approximately 30% of the teachers who were interviewed said they did not allow children's rough and tumble play either because they thought it was dangerous or it would promote aggression. All of the Pre‐K with disabilities teachers and half of Pre‐K regular teachers said they provided support for play of children with disabilities in their classes. Their reported support focused more on cognitive aspects of play than on social interactions. Children's ideas about play were similar to those in the 1987 study.     

MINDFULNESS IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY: APPLICATIONS FOR INTERVENTION AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Although the use of mindfulness is increasing in other areas of applied psychology, school psychology has yet to embrace it in practice. This article introduces school psychologists to the burgeoning field of mindfulness psychology and to the possibilities that it offers to their discipline. A background on the Western scientific study and application of mindfulness provides a theoretical foundation to those unfamiliar with the topic. We then discuss the application of mindfulness technologies to various forms of service provision in the professional practice of school psychology. The innovative and novel avenues that mindfulness psychology offers to psychological science     

TEACHING FOR LEADERSHIP AND ADVOCACY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD: EXPLORING MESSAGES IN A COLLEGE CLASSROOM

The field of early childhood education has traditionally struggled to be viewed as a profession. Recent public attention on the importance of the early years in creating a foundation for later learning success has led to a focus on improving education for young children. One aspect of educational reform and renewal—Professional Development Schools—can provide an avenue for early childhood educators to grow and develop as teachers, thus providing children with higher quality early childhood experiences. This article describes the growth and development of teachers in two early childhood centers after they became Professional Development School partners with a Midwest university. The “blossoming” of a sense of professionalism among the teachers is documented and described.     

基于职业能力分析的项目教学法研究与实践

在现代职业教育中,项目教学法的应用已经十分普遍,它能够有效的把教学和实习工作联系起来.但目前很多高校或职业培训机构在运用项目教学过程中,并没有考虑到项目本身与教学及学生能力培养的问题,忽略了职业能力培养目标,使项目教学华而不实.本文选取"数字视频设合成"职业,对相关课程进行职业能力分析,结合项目教学法,以实际工作为基础,以质量控制为准绳,选择有效项目把教学各个方面联合起来,达到培养目标.     

MAKING THE CONNECTION THROUGH STAFFING: MECHANISMS TO INCREASE CONSISTENCY BETWEEN UNIVERSITY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION COURSES AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT LAB SCHOOL PRACTICES

Abstract

A team of early childhood teacher education faculty developed the 3‐D talent development model of teacher education, blending theory and research from many sources. These sources include research on talent development, nonuniversal development, and roles of teachers and their professional growth. The faculty integrated constructs from these sources into a program rooted in principles of social constructivism. Using the 3‐D model, the faculty team identified their task as taking students of teaching through the phases of discovery, discipline, and divergence. Assessments that we developed needed to correspond to this conceptual framework, moving us away from traditional types of student assessment. In this article we offer a synopsis of the talent development model; review five of the approaches to student assessment we use, including alternative assessment activities, “Employmee” feedback forms, electronic portfolios, state teacher evaluation frameworks, and action research projects; and articulate the linkages between our approach to assessment and the talent development model of teacher education.     

TEACHING FOR BELIEF: POWER AND PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE

The politics of pedology when teaching for belief in culturally diverse settings inevitably draws attention to the power dynamics in the encounters of teachers and students. The quest for a pedagogy that is not oppressive or coercive provides the impetus to a liberative proposal for teaching practice.     

ALIGNING PRESCHOOL AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CURRICULA THROUGH A COLLABORATIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODEL

This article investigates how a Midwestern early childhood teacher’s practice and her views of her practice are culturally constrained. The research is framed by a cultural psychology and draws on an ethnographic and interpretive biographic study of Mary, an experienced first-grade teacher. We explore Mary’s practice through four central themes: (a) raising independent decision makers, (b) developing self-motivated lifelong learners, (c) providing a basis for a successful life, and (d) building community. We explore how each theme is informed by a folk psychology that reflects Mary’s cultural beliefs and values. We conclude with implications for early childhood practice and research     

SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS’ CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PREFERENCES AND PRACTICES

This study investigated school psychologists’ continuing professional development (CPD) activities, topics, needs, motivations, financial expenditures, and opinions, as well as relationships between select demographic characteristics and certain CPD practices and preferences. A survey was mailed to 1,000 randomly selected Regular Members of the National Association of School Psychologists, resulting in the return of 510 completed surveys, a 51% response rate. Respondents expressed opinions about CPD that were positive, optimistic, and consistent with their high levels of engagement and investments of both time and financial resources. Most respondents reported engaging in 25 or more hours of CPD during the previous year. CPD topics in which they engaged most frequently were response to intervention and academic, behavioral, and social–emotional interventions, and academic screening and progress monitoring. Respondents reported a high level of need for more CPD in those same topic areas, but a low level of need for offerings in standardized assessment. Older school psychologists were less likely to have engaged in CPD relating to contemporary assessment practices and interventions and more likely to have engaged in activities related to standardized assessment. Almost half of the respondents had engaged in CPD through an online activity and reported a desire for more online opportunities. No relationship was found between age and usage of, or positive opinions about, online CPD.     

NURTURING EARLY CHILDHOOD PROFESSIONALISM: THE RHODE ISLAND EARLY CHILDHOOD SUMMER INSTITUTE

This article describes the independent study project of a student who was a graduate assistant in a child development laboratory preschool when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast area. Through her experiences with “Project Katrina” she deepens her understanding of developmentally appropriate practices as she learns firsthand about the project approach and writing an article for publication in a professional journal.     

个人实践理论与叙事研究:解释学视野中的教师专业化发展

教师专业化发展及其研究经历了一个由忽视到逐渐关注、由关注教师群体专业化转向关注教师个体专业发展的过程。当代西方解释学特别是以海德格尔和伽达默尔为代表的哲学解释学为教师专业发展提供了思维方式和理论支点。以“个人实践理论为轴心”的教师专业内在发展观,为教师的专业化发展找到了切实可行的出发点,对个人实践理论的解读与修正为教师专业化发展提供了正确的理论基础,并以叙事研究方式追索与促进教师专业化发展和个人实践理论的生成。     

PREPARING PERSONNEL FOR INTEGRATION: NEEDS AND STRENGTHS OF EARLY INTERVENTION AND EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS

Abstract

One early childhood teacher preparation program includes “Aesthetics As Learning,” a course which emphasizes that aesthetics is another way of knowing—another domain of development. The course has a reading, writing, discussion and experiential component—and all are integrated, but the experiential component (weekly arts activities) is showcased in this article.

One significant and innovative component of the experiential approach is that the students do not react to the use of the arts from a child's perspective but respond as an adult. This provides for an authentic experience with the arts. The college classroom uses a constructivist approach in which students construct their own meaning from their experiences and a feminist pedagogical approach that develops a classroom community of learners. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.     

TECHNOLOGY SUPPORTED COGNITIVE APPRENTICESHIP TRANSFORMS THE STUDENT TEACHING FIELD EXPERIENCE: IMPROVING THE STUDENT TEACHING FIELD EXPERIENCE FOR ALL TRIAD MEMBERS

Despite issues of fragmentation, isolation, and disconnection from the university associated with the student teaching field experience, the field experience plays a critical role in teacher education. In this article, the authors provide an overview of eSupervision, a technology-based innovation to improve the student teaching field experience by using cognitive apprenticeship as a framework for its design. They present findings from a pilot study that focused on the effectiveness of the cognitive apprenticeship and technology design elements. Using qualitative methods to analyze interviews of the participants, they found eSupervision functioned to support a cognitive apprenticeship through modeling, scaffolding learning, coaching, and providing opportunities for articulation and reflection within a community of learners. The authors conclude with suggestions for implementation and further research.