Early Childhood Education
Early Childhood Education
Early Childhood Mission Statement
Introduction
Image of the Child
Theory of Learning
Role of Teachers
The mission of the Lesley University master’s level early childhood education program is to train knowledgeable, skilled, dedicated, and caring teachers and educators. We foster the spirit of inquiry, promoting collaboration and innovation while celebrating each individual’s learning and development. We believe that reflective, capable and engaged professionals are essential in educating all children and families to participate in pluralistic, democratic societies. In order to launch and sustain successful careers, students in the early childhood program will develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions in four core areas: An image of the child based on an awareness of young children’s cultural contexts, competencies, development, and emotional milestones; a theory of learning, focused on fostering relationships, understandings and skills; the role of teachers in engaging all children in learning processes; and the realities and possibilities of classrooms and schools – what they are, can, and should be in diverse, democratic societies.
Image of the Child
Fundamental to good teaching is a deep understanding of children. Teachers know that from birth, children are capable of making social connections, expressing emotions, and building mental models of how the world works. Young children operate as poets, philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, artists, and actors -- questioning, investigating, exploring, and making sense of their world. As active participants in their learning, children bring their unique perspectives and backgrounds to bear on educational experiences.
The first eight years of life is a time of tremendous growth, with important cognitive, linguistic, physical, social, and emotional milestones influencing how children should be taught. Three-year-olds often have similar ways of relating to peers, parents, and materials. Certain materials, songs, games and subject matter capture the interest of many five-year-olds. There are typical seven-year-old approaches to academic challenges. At the same time, each child is unique--with gender, culture, family constellation, and personality influencing their approaches to learning.
While there are universal aspects of development, human development is also a culture process. Cultural contexts play important roles in determining how children play, interact with adults and peers, use materials, and approach learning. These contexts also influence how children form opinions about others based on gender, social class, religious affiliation, and skin color. Teachers help children create healthy opinions about differences.
Children possess the innate desire to make sense of their world and communicate their understandings to others. They can do so using multiple strategies or “languages,” such as facial expressions, words, acting, dancing, drawing, singing, storytelling, and writing. Children also learn a great deal from observing. Teachers are champions of these endeavours, extending and enhancing the learning of each student and their entire group.
Learning is a complex process that unfolds rapidly, and in many domains, during early childhood. Based on experiences and explorations, children construct understandings and build skills. There is not one pathway in which learning unfolds; what is engaging and what supports are needed vary with each individual. However, there are patterns and principles that explain how young children learn.
Because of the nature of young children, explorations are often tactile and involve the physical manipulation of their environment. Play is a critical mode of children’s discovery, through which they build social, emotional, and linguistic understandings and develop their problem solving abilities.
A process of inquiry – asking questions, formulating hypotheses, and testing suppositions – informs learning and sets the stage for a lifetime of curiosity and critical thinking. Recognizing that learning is most powerful when it is meaningful, teachers strive to engage children in authentic, ongoing experiences.
Children’s explorations and inquiry often have a social component. Guided by adults and interacting with peers, children experience different perspectives and cognitive conflict that propels learning. Teaching others helps consolidate social and academic skills and understandings.
Metacognition, the understanding of the learning process, develops during early childhood. By reflecting on their experiences, children come to understand how they learn (through interactions in groups, by listening to others, through practice), which helps advance thinking.
Children’s intellectual development advances generally and within specific domains (e.g., math, science, social studies, language, music and visual arts). Familiarity with these domains and curriculum materials allows teachers to create powerful learning experiences and integrate domains to create powerful leering experiences.
Teachers’ understanding of learning is aided by examining data from classroom practice (observational notes, student work, photographs, video and audio tape and transcripts), and referring to theoretical frameworks and approaches to education (e.g., Piaget, Vygotsky, Dewey, Vivian Paley and Project Zero). The Municipal Infant-Toddler Centers and Preschools of Reggio Emilia are particularly instructive in this regard. Reflective teaching encourages constant assessment of one’s beliefs and adapting ideas to new contexts.
Role of Teachers
Teachers have multiple roles and responsibilities in early childhood classrooms. They support children’s efforts to make meaning, foster connections to classmates and content, help individuals develop their potential, and see learning possibilities in ordinary moments.
Teachers help form democratic learning communities where inquiry, tolerance for different ideas and perspectives, and caring for others are basic cultural norms. These norms of are co-constructed and adopted to sustain a safe classroom and a positive learning environment. As part of this process, teachers cultivate the physical space of classrooms and schools that make the environment accessible, comfortable, and joyful places of learning for young children.
Based on careful observation and assessment of their students, along with knowledge of child development and content, teachers organize curricula (creative and prescribed) that engage children in ongoing investigations. Teachers embody the memory of the group in their acts and the artifacts they encourage the group to create, helping students learn about learning.
Teachers work to ensure equity for all learners, from English Language Learners to students from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds to children with special rights. Teacher utilize their understanding of culture in planning instruction, providing authentic representations of diversity in order to create an equitable environment where diversity is expressed and nurtured. In these endeavours, teachers form partnerships with families to provide for children’s social, emotional and intellectual development.
Reflection and self-reflection are central to the teacher’s role. Teachers systematically collect data to reflect on and improve their practice. Teachers also reflect on their own experiences as learners and members of cultural groups to increase their sensitivity to the issues of power and privilege.
Teachers also have responsibilities that extend beyond the classroom. They are ongoing learners, individually and as part of professional communities. Through their work in schools, they demonstrate that they are members of organizations that, despite pressures, will advocate for what is best for children. Teachers are familiar with guidelines/standards of government and professional organizations, and use these ideas to help engage their students in meaningful curricula.
Classrooms and Schools
Schools are wonderful and difficult places to work. All too often, children come to school lacking adequate nutrition, health care and bearing the burden of families stressed by poverty and surrounded by violence. Additionally, well-intentioned public policies can mitigate against teaching practices that are in the best interests of children.
It is essential that new teachers know the realities of schools, and techniques and systems that allow them to be effective practitioners in various contexts. At the same time, in order to best serve children, teachers must be agents of change, working towards a vision where:
- Classrooms and schools place children at the core, promoting respect for inquiry as a tool for greater equity and understanding.
- Listening and learning are visible as educators cultivate skills that promote strong, sustainable connections among children.
- Families and the larger community are integral parts of the learning process.
- Classrooms and schools are laboratories for active citizenship – places to discuss, argue, compare ideas and learn about differences. Here, children learn to appreciate differences as a healthy and exciting part of their world. In the process, democratic communities are created and sustained.
