Chapter 1
Case Study
Carol is a first-year teacher, assigned to a kindergarten classroom in a large suburban school district. During the job interview, the principal mentioned the strength of the kindergarten team of teachers and advised Carol that the team planned and worked together very well. On being hired, Carol met with the group and was encouraged by their friendliness and helpfulness.
On the first day of in-service, Carol came to school excited about her new job and full of ideas for a developmentally appropriate curriculum for her students. That afternoon, during the first team meeting, Carol became concerned that the other five team members had different ideas about teaching than she. They had many years of experience and many years of sharing ideas and materials, and were not interested in making changes in the course of study they had used for many years with their kindergarteners.
Carol listened carefully, commenting in a positive way about some of the activities that were already planned for the beginning of the school year. Carol’s enthusiasm diminished as the team brought out the stacks of worksheets that would be used during the first weeks of school.
Carol’s university professor had advised her that she might meet with some resistance as she brought her innovative ideas into an established kindergarten program. Carol made the decision that she would not “rock the boat” as she began her relationship with this established group, but that she would definitely not compromise the integrity of the instruction that she would be presenting to her young students. For the first several weeks, Carol incorporated as many activities and materials as she could while maintaining a developmentally appropriate program. When the team members gave her stacks of worksheets, she initially took the papers, working with the children in small groups to complete the worksheets in the most appropriate way possible.
After the first five or six weeks of school, Carol began to offer more suggestions for developmentally appropriate activities for the kindergarteners during the team planning meetings. She was careful to be respectful of the teams’ suggestions and always gave positive feedback when she could.
As the school year progressed, Carol felt more comfortable declining some of the worksheets presented by the team members, substituting more active, appropriate lessons for her students. By the spring of that first school year, three of the five team members had adopted a more active style of instruction for their students, following Carol’s excellent lead. The team continued to plan together each week, continuing to explore different ways to work effectively with their young students. Carol frequently offered suggestions for active engagement, based on the established themes and lessons presented by the team members.
Now in her fifth year of teaching kindergarten, Carol has been chosen as team leader by the group. While some of the team members still incorporate the use of more worksheets and “seatwork” than Carol feels to be appropriate, all six team members maintain a respect for each other and work together to provide a meaningful educational experience for their students. The kindergarten team now has a reputation for being leaders among the faculty, working together to explore new ways to make learning come alive for their students.
Think About
Put yourself in Carol’s situation. You are a new teacher, enthusiastically armed with all of the latest research on early childhood learning and development. You are anxious to begin your career and have wonderful ideas about ways to make learning exciting and meaningful for your young students. You are in a situation, much like Carol’s, in which your team members are experienced, maybe a little jaded about “new stuff,” and anxious to “help” you fit into their team. How would you handle the situation? Talk with your neighbor, developing a strategy for meeting this challenge.
Suggested Activities
1. Plan a parent presentation for Back to School Night, describing your philosophy and program. Develop some kind of visual aid—PowerPoint, brochure, handout, and so forth, to help guide the meeting. You will present this information to a small group of your classmates. Your group members will be assigned the task of questioning your methods and philosophy. You will need to be able to defend your position, using research and child development theory.
2. Have groups of students research the work that the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) is doing to advocate for teaching social studies in the public schools. Within your small group, develop an advocacy plan to advocate for your campus, citing specific examples and suggestions for improving social studies instruction on your campus.
3. Write a news release for publication in your local newspaper, describing a social studies lesson in your classroom. Take this opportunity to remind the readers of the importance of social studies education in a democracy.
4. Have each student bring in an article concerning the Civic Mission of Public Schools. In small groups, have students debrief the articles, discussing the major points of each article. As a group, students will develop a belief statement concerning the importance of social studies instruction in the early childhood program.
Divide into small groups of students and “jigsaw” the article.
Each group should become an “expert” on one section of the document, then report out to the larger group.
Using this document as a basis for discussion, determine steps to ensure that effective and adequate social studies instruction is incorporated into your classroom.
5. Many educators are concerned that American citizens are lacking in basic information concerning history, geography, and current events. What are the implications of these concerns for the early childhood educator? How can teachers of young children lay a foundation of appropriate understanding of these important aspects of American life?
For Further Reading
Books
Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. ISBN: 093598979X.
Charlesworth, R. (2004). Understanding child development (6th ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning. ISBN: 1401805027
Freeman, N., & Feeney, S. (1999). Ethics and the early childhood educator: Using the NAEYC Code. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. ISBN: 0935989935.
Robinson, A., & Stark, D. (2002). Advocates in action: Making a difference for young children. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. ISBN: 1928896014.
Winsler, A., & Berk, L.(1995). Scaffolding children’s learning: Vygotsky and early childhood education. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. ISBN: 0935989684.
Zan, B., Hildebrandt, C., Edminston, R., DeVries, R., & Sales, R. (2002). Developing constructivist early childhood curriculum: Practical principles and activities. New York: Teachers College Press. ISBN: 0807741205.
Articles
Cohen, J. (2003). Supplemental education: Six essential components. Principal, 82, 34–37. ERIC EJ664414.
Hardy, L. (2003). Information, please. American School Board Journal, 190 (7), 20–22. ERIC EJ669577.
Marshak, D. (2003). No Child Left Behind: A foolish race into the past. Phi Delta Kappan, 85 (3), 229–231. ERIC EJ677917.
Mathis, W. (2003). No Child Left Behind: Costs and benefits. Phi Delta Kappan, 84 (9), 679–686. ERIC EJ666087.
Neuman, S. (2003). From rhetoric to reality: The case for high-quality compensatory prekindergarten programs. Phi Delta Kappan, 85 (4), 286–291. ERIC EJ679451.
Web Sites
Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI)
http://www.acei.org
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
http://www.naeyc.org
National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
http://www.ncss.org
No Child Left Behind
http://www.ed.gov
Chapter 2
Case Study
Kelly is a third-year teacher, assigned to a second-grade public school classroom. Kelly, like most teachers, teaches as she was taught. Her own education involved a limited use of computers, and she did not incorporate the use of technology to a great extent in the classroom. In terms of technology, she considered herself adequate but not inspired. She used her classroom computer primarily for word processing and set up the classroom to encourage students to participate in instructional games on the computer.
In an effort to increase the use of technology in the school district, Kelly’s principal wrote a grant that would provide laptop computers for each classroom teacher who completed a training course consisting of six weekly two-hour classes. Reluctantly, Kelly enrolled in the class. The other three members of her second-grade team enrolled as well. The other three members were experienced teachers, with an average of 23 years each of classroom teaching. These teachers did not use computers in their classrooms, and had not even used the district-based e-mail.
The six-week training course, which included a $250 stipend for each participant, began in mid-July. On the first class meeting, teachers received a top-of-the-line laptop computer, which would be permanently issued to them on completion of the course. To encourage computer use, brief daily assignments were e-mailed to the participants. These assignments initially required participants to simply respond to the e-mail message, then became more complex, requiring “surfing the net” to find answers to specific questions.
As the participants became more confident with their use of technology, the instructors introduced more complex tasks. Demonstrations of PowerPoint presentations, development of classroom Web sites, grade-keeping, and a study of the potential of particular software for use with young children were explored throughout the course. These explorations led to extended conversations among the teacher-participants about ways in which computers can help teachers to organize information, to communicate with parents, and to augment instruction in the early childhood classroom.
When school began in mid-August, the second-grade team made a focused decision to incorporate the use of technology into their grade-keeping, parent communication, planning, and classroom instruction. They developed a grade-level Web site, on which they posted common plans, suggested activities for parents and their children, biographical information about each teacher, homework, and a calendar of upcoming events. The school purchased a grade-keeping program, which each second-grade team member used to record and report student grades. As a goal, the team chose to present a minimum of one introductory lesson each week with a PowerPoint presentation. Since the team shared these presentations, each teacher was required to prepare only one each month (though they chose to do more, as the school year progressed!).
The following summer, the teachers were required to attend a single training session, in order to maintain possession of their laptops. The instructor was thrilled and impressed with the team’s increased use of technology. The instructor offered more complex possibilities for use of technology in the classroom to this successful team. They are currently in their second year of increased technology usage in their classrooms. Kelly reports that she has never felt as in control of her teaching or more pleased with herself and her team as they have increased their use of technology.
Think About
1. Take stock of the ways that you use technology in your assignments.
2. How does your cooperating teacher use technology?
3. How do students use technology?
4. How can you increase your effective use of technology, in terms of record-keeping, planning, and direct instruction with students?
Suggested Activities
1. Research and develop a list of software to be used with young children in social studies instruction. Develop a lesson plan, using the software as a focus for the lesson.
2. With the permission of your cooperating teacher and principal, develop a Web site for your assigned classroom. Include suggestions for parents and their children, children’s literature selections, homework, and so forth.
3. Develop a lesson plan that involves guiding primary-age children to complete a research project using the Internet.
4. Plan and implement a social studies lesson with a small group of children that will demonstrate ways of using technology to reinforce social studies competencies. This activity needs to go beyond a game format, into research, communication, or production.
Write a formal lesson plan.
Present the lesson to young children in your class.
Write a one-page reflection on your presentation.
5. Develop a bulletin board for a unit on Community Helpers, which reflects the diversity of the students in the classroom. Discuss your choices for elements of the bulletin board with your small group.
6. Visit the early childhood special education class in your school. Take time to talk with the teacher and the classroom aides about the specific disabilities represented in that classroom. Take note of the teaching techniques and strategies used in that classroom, making a list to bring back to your university classroom. How could these techniques be incorporated into the mainstream classroom in which you are student teaching?
7. Inclusion of children with special needs in general education classes is a positive by-product of the Individuals With Disabilities Act (IDEA). Ask your cooperating teacher to identify a child who is “included” in your classroom. Observe that child for several days, making note of her interactions with the other students and her ability to participate in classroom activities. Remember to maintain confidentiality. When reporting to your university classroom about your observations, use only first names or initials to identify the child. Remember, too, that some of the educational information about that child may not be available to you at this time. The purpose of this activity is simply to encourage your observation and awareness of inclusion in your student teaching setting.
8. Develop a Venn Diagram, comparing and contrasting the attributes of the four approaches discussed in the text, for teaching about culture: Anti-bias Curriculum, Multicultural Education, Global Education, International Education. Discuss the similarities and differences with your small group.
9. Research IDEA. How has this legislation changed the face of special education in the United States?
10. Discuss the impact of students who are English language learners in the early childhood/primary classroom. What particular challenges are presented to the class-room teacher? What positive opportunities are presented to the teacher and other children who learn with these children?
11. Develop a record-keeping strategy to use with Learning Center instruction. Sketch out a traffic-flow pattern for your centers. (Will children visit every center every day, week? Will they self-select? How will you grade?) In small groups, discuss the different strategies, making suggestions, asking questions, and adjusting the plans.
For Further Reading
Books
A.B.C. Task Force, & Derman-Sparks, L. (1989). Anti-bias curriculum: Tools for empowering young children. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. ISBN: 093598920X