LEARNING TO WALK THE WALK AND TALK THE TALK: PEER COACHING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER EDUCATION

Early childhood teacher education programs have drastically increased the number of field experiences in the past two decades. As a result, problems have emerged often resulting in negative benefits to pre‐service teachers. Among these problems are: inadequate supervision, ample and model placements and the linkage of theory to practice. This paper describes how one program has implemented peer coaching throughout its entire early childhood teacher education program in an attempt to help alleviate some of the known problems. Student satisfaction and enthusiasm, cooperating teacher support and the benefits of the university have further encouraged and strengthened the use of this strategy. Preliminary research findings also indicate preservice teachers develop a more thorough understanding of the teaching and learning process.     

IMPLEMENTING COLLEGE AND CAREER STANDARDS IN MATH METHODS COURSE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD AND ELEMENTARY EDUCATION TEACHER CANDIDATES

This study is purposed to measure the efficacy of implementing College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) math standards into math methods courses for early childhood and elementary education teacher candidates at an urban university located in the Dallas and Fort Worth metroplex area. A total of 161 college seniors (teacher candidates) enrolled in the mathematics methods courses for early childhood and elementary education participated in this study. The results showed that incorporating CCRS into the math methods courses was successful as shown by the significant findings between pre- and post-assessments in both skills- and knowledge-associated items. Although only two items were found to be significant between pre- and post-assessments on disposition, teacher candidates showed higher scores in pre-assessments on disposition compared to skills- and knowledge-associated items.     

INFUSING TECHNOLOGY: TRANSFORMING EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER EDUCATION

Beginning teachers of young children often express concern that their professional preparation has not adequately prepared them to work effectively with families. This remains the case in spite of literature documenting the importance of involving parents in their children's early education. This article describes a service learning project designed to give students early in their professional preparation an authentic opportunity be a resource for the families of the children with whom they have worked. Service learning is a particularly appropriate pedagogical approach to enhance students' confidence and competence working with families because it provides authentic and hands-on opportunities to apply course content. This project effectively provided students an opportunity to assume a professional voice when working with families. It enhanced our program's success ensuring that our students take the requisite skills and dispositions to their work with families, while building their confidence and honing their communication skills.     

少儿英语教学中学生自主学习能力的培养

随着小学英语教学在全国的逐步推广,针对少儿英语教学的研究也越来越受到重视。少儿英语教学效果受到多方面因素的影响和制约,其中学生的自主学习能力的培养,对提高少儿英语的教学效果有着非常重要的作用。     

USING CHILDREN'S WORK TO REFLECT ON TEACHING: ONE EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDENT TEACHER'S REFLECTIONS

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the engagement of preservice teachers in the kind of authentic experiences that provided the modeling needed to make high‐quality instruction in mathematics a reality for young children. Inasmuch as these preservice teachers had not yet received any formal methods classes in mathematics, the authors theorized that classroom teachers whose practices and dispositions were congruent with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards and the State of South Carolina Mathematics Standards could model effective teaching instruction for young children using the project approach. These same teachers could then provide mentoring and encouragement to preservice teachers as they became involved in this high‐quality program for 4‐year olds, deepening the knowledge base of the preservice teachers regarding developmentally appropriate ways to teach numeracy to 4‐year olds. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.     

COLLABORATIONS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND PROMISE

Abstract

This article describes the reflective process used by a group of early childhood faculty members to study national standards in order to improve their teacher education program. The standards studied included those from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC), National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC/ECE). The reflective process and study resulted in changes in field experiences, course requirements and activities and assisted in state and national accreditation.     

THE COLLABORATIVE COURSE: INNOVATIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Advances in information technology provide an opportunity for academic librarians and professors to offer innovative collaborative courses. The purpose of collaboration between a faculty member and a professional librarian is to integrate instruction in the course subject matter with bibliographic instruction. This integration promotes learning information acquisition skills and critical thinking, as well as the use of library resources. Research skills that students need in order to use contemporary information technology are included. The integration of those skills with the subject material of the course is described.

Two applications of freshman/sophomore level courses are discussed in the paper. Course rationale, topics, and course assignments are illustrated. It is argued that students must learn modern methods of acquiring information in order to make informed independent judgments and in order to achieve understanding in any particular discipline. Providing students with the skills required to achieve access to the ever‐widening body of available information is an essential requirement of contemporary liberal education. These skills are transferable to subsequent course work and will provide the basis for life‐long learning habits. The paper presents the argument that students' achievement of “library literacy” can be promoted by effective course collaboration between faculty members and professional librarians. Benefits and problems of such collaborative courses are also discussed.     

PREDICTING SUCCESS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of standardized tests (ACT, Preprofessional Skills Test) as predictors of student success in early childhood studies. Success was measured as grade point average at the time of graduation. The sample consisted of students enrolled at a four‐year public institution in the United States (N = 129). Data analysis indicated the standardized measures, including ACT and the Preprofessional Skills Test, were significantly related to success in early childhood studies. In addition, both tests, along with high school rank and student age, were useful in the prediction of grade point average at graduation, but did little to predict success during the student teaching experience.     

LEARNING ABOUT LEARNING: EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDENTS EXPLORE REGGIO

One of the greatest challenges we face as an early childhood professional community is providing short-term, affordable professional development that results in depth of understanding and change of practice. The University of Wyoming Early Childhood Summer Institute is a model for professional development that fosters reflection, inquiry, and change in beliefs and practice for early childhood practitioners. The 3-day Institute has an innovative structure and constructivist quality that allows for intense, authentic learning among participants. The research reported in this article supports this claim and clarifies key components of the model critical to the transfer of knowledge gained through the Institute to application in the workplace. In a 6-month follow-up study after the Institute, participants, Institute facilitators, and keynote speakers describe how the Institute has continued to influence their beliefs and practice over time.

Exploring a Plum

I had to do an observation of a child for a class that was part of the Institute, so I chose my grandson who was about 13 months at the time. I had planned on giving him some really cool blocks and things. Instead (it was right after I went to the Institute), I was sitting there eating a plum trying to figure out how to set things up and I looked up and he was watching me so intently that I decided to do my observation on that. I introduced him to his first plum and sat back and watched him explore and discover it. I watched him, I took pictures of him and put the story and pictures together. I could really see what they were talking about at the Institute … just stepping back and watching. (T. D. Participant 6).     

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.     

TEACHING LEARNING AND DISCIPLESHIP: EDUCATION BEYOND KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

An attempt is made to identify what some have felt to be absent from recent official views as to how curricula and the transfer of knowledge are most performatively to be managed. To this end, particular conceptions of teaching and learning are proposed, and use is made of recent work by George Steiner in elaborating a third variant of the relationship between teacher, learner and what is to be learned, namely that of discipleship. While noting that Steiner is concerned with a small number of exceptional teachers, the possibility is considered that the concept may have some more general educational application, attention nevertheless being drawn to the possible dangers and drawbacks this may present.     

在数学教学中如何加强数学语言教育

本文从数学语言与数学符号、数学符号与数学概念的关系出发，就如何加强数学语言教育提出几点建议。     

SIGNIFICANCE AND DIALOGUE IN LEARNING AND TEACHING

A bstract .  In this essay Andrew Metcalfe and Ann Game argue that although the term "dialogue" is commonly used in educational theory, its full significance is diluted if it is seen as a matter of exchange or negotiation of prior positions and identities. As a meeting point, they argue, dialogue suspends the senses of time, space, and ontology on which identities are based. It is therefore not simply metaphorical to say that dialogue changes lives and opens minds. Using empirical material from interviews with Australian students and teachers, Metcalfe and Game draw out the relational qualities of genuine dialogue and the significance they have for how we understand everyday classroom life.