You are here
Early Childhood Development
Purpose
Education is a broad field that draws on a multitude of knowledge bases and methods. Depending on what one plans to teach, a student will typically concentrate on a cluster of courses: history or mathematics, for example; or a dedicated program to children with autism or special needs. Diverse topics such as the history of education, the psychology of learning, instructional methods and curriculum development are incorporated into the program. Early childhood education prepares the student for the specific profession of early child care and education.
Writing requirements in the curriculum will prepare the student to become a successful teacher or director.
The Kinds of Questions Educators Ask
Practical, theoretical and reflective – these are the kinds of concerns educators focus on. Practical concerns tend to examine classroom and curriculum issues such as student progress and implementation of new pedagogies or approaches. Theoretical questions focus on how students should be educated; or how political, intellectual or socio-economic factors influence the context of learning. Reflective questions enable teachers to discuss their roles in the educational process with an eye to improving or enhancing the environment.
The questions below could generate full discussion in papers or assignments:
- How does this school’s language arts curriculum prepare students to be information-literate?
- What are the effects of the use of standardized tests in economically stressed districts in comparison with more affluent districts?
- How does one’s own perception of her own education influence the way she approaches teaching?
The Kinds of Evidence Educators Use
Quantitative evidence includes statistics, survey results, test scores, grades while qualitative evidence includes case studies, observations, personal experience, and anecdotes. The following scenarios may offer evidence in different situations:
A research paper that compares the different approaches to social studies education may rely on quantitative evidence such as the results of standardized tests from different school districts. Higher results may be aligned with one particular approach, thus making it more desirable than other.
A paper focused on child development may combine personal observation and evidence from published case studies.
A journal of student teaching experiences may offer evidence from personal experience in the classroom and from changes in attitude and belief over time.
Creating a lesson plan will require attention to teaching objectives and explanation of how such a plan will achieve those objectives.
Writing Conventions in Education
- Educators endorse the use of personal pronouns (“I” and “we”) commonly used in reflective writing.
- Educators write research and case studies in the third person (“he, she, it, they”) and adapt a more formal, objective style and tone.
- Educators share a specialized vocabulary that undergirds their research and conversations: pedagogy (teaching principles and practices); practice, praxis (the actual classroom teaching); curriculum (lessons and plans adopted by a school or class); assessment (evaluation of teacher and/ or student success in various areas); achievement tests (tests that measure student learning); NCLB (No Child Left Behind Act); MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System).
APA STYLE for Documentation
Educators rely on the American Psychological Association guidelines for formal papers: citing sources and listing sources need to be correctly formatted.
QCC’s Alden Library provides all necessary information on research needs.
Resources
Education Index
New York: Wilson, 1929–. An author-subject database of articles in education journals, books, and yearbooks, including both research-based studies and material on classroom practice. Online versions of this index may include abstracts and full text of selected journals.
ERIC: Education Resources Information Center
Washington: Institute of Education Sciences, 1966–. Provides descriptive abstracts of over a million journal articles and ERIC documents—research reports, conference papers, curriculum guides, and other materials—that are not formally published otherwise. This database service is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and is available free online
Educator’s Reference Desk
http://www.eduref.org. A directory of resource guides and lesson plans, searchable by grade level, as well as a collection of questions and answers about a variety of education topics. The site is a project of the Information Institute of Syracuse.
National Center for Education Statistics
http://nces.ed.gov. Provides a wealth of statistical data on schools and libraries in the United States, including academic achievement; the condition of schools; comparative information on school districts, colleges, and libraries; dropout rates; enrollment trends; school safety; and more. The center is a unit of the U.S. Department of Education.
Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Education
Ed. Leslie R. Williams and Doris P. Fromberg. New York: Garland, 1992. Offers articles on historical, political, economic, sociocultural, intellectual, and educational influences on early childhood education.
Encyclopedia of Education
Ed. James W. Guthrie. 2nd ed. 8 vols. New York: Macmillan Reference, 2003. More than 850 articles cover education theory, history of education, education and social forces, and education reform efforts. Emphasis is on the U.S. experience but the work provides some international perspectives. Volume 8 includes primary sources and a thematic outline.
Encyclopedia of Educational Psychology
Ed. Neil J. Salkind. 2 vols. Los Angeles: Sage, 2008. Provides accessible overviews of research in the field, including cognitive development, gender, peers and peer influence, testing, and classroom management.
Philosophy of Education: An Encyclopedia
Ed. J. J. Chambliss. New York: Garland, 1996. Offers substantial analyses covering various philosophers and their contributions to the field of education; philosophical topics such as behaviorism, critical thinking, and epistemology; and concepts such as school and truth from a philosophical angle.
World Education Encyclopedia: A Survey of Educational Systems Worldwide
Ed. Rebecca Marlow-Ferguson. 2nd ed. 3 vols. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Provides overviews of education at all levels throughout the world and some discussion of administration and finance, research, and the state of the profession. The appendix includes comparative statistical tables and maps.
Types of Writing Assignments
Reflective essays, journals and field notes:
These assignments typically require a student to think about and reflect on one’s beliefs, assumptions, experiences and various personal interactions associated with education. A student may be asked to write a “literacy narrative” or an autobiographical description of his/ her earliest memories of school and/ or what it felt like to learn to read or socialize with other children. A student may be asked to write a description of what he believes to be the “ideal” teacher, based on what he experienced as a young child, or to relate a specific anecdote that captures a crucial moment in the early years.
Journals are usually on-going during a course; students are asked to keep a dedicated notebook, file or blog that contains daily observations or notes about a particular topic or theme.
Field notes are notes written in the “field”: in other words, as an observer or student teacher, a student will be expected to keep notes that describe her observations about interactions with children and children’s interactions with each other; class dynamics, and diversity concerns as well as student progress may be noted during specific time duration. Long-term notes may form the basis for an extended essay or serve as a source for a longer assignment that calls for direct, experiential content.
Curriculum Designs and Lesson Plans:
Courses focused on teaching methods require the student to design individual lessons or units in particular content areas. Perhaps an activity based on several children’s books to extract theme or language skills will be option. Perhaps plant germination will be the focus of a science lesson. For special education, IEPs may be required for individual students. For any course, students may be expected to incorporate technology into the curriculum design.
Reviews of Instruction Materials:
In a review, the student is expected to assess the value of a set of instructional materials for the classroom. For example, the student may look at several textbooks and explain which would be most useful in a particular classroom setting, for a particular level.
Case Studies:
Many education courses require students to conduct and write case studies. These studies may involve observation and analysis of an individual student, a teacher, a method, or classroom interactions. The goal of a case study may be to determine how the process of teaching or learning takes place or how an event can illuminate something about learning or classroom dynamics.
Research papers:
Students may be expected to focus on broader educational issues or problems that require research and a synthesis of the readings. In other words, the student is expected to survey a body of materials then formulate his own ideas about the topic. In a course about the history of education, for example, a student may opt to research the development or evolution of literacy or the growth of literacy in a particular area of the country or among a particular ethnic group. In a developmental psychology course, a student may study and report on how students in a given age group learn mathematics or music or science.
Self-evaluations:
As a future teacher, a student will be asked to evaluate her own teaching and learning. The format of the self-evaluation will vary depending on whether or not the student is assessing her skills as teacher or as learner. Sample questions to consider include the following:
- What were the strength and weaknesses of your lesson or unit?
- How did your lesson further student learning?
- What have you learned about yourself and your students from teaching this class?
- How can you improve your teaching?
Portfolios:
As a prospective teacher, a student may be expected to assemble a teaching portfolio before graduation. The purpose of the portfolio is to provide information about the student’s teaching experience and philosophy. The content may vary, but the common documents may include a statement of teaching philosophy, a statement of professional goals, a resume, evaluations from supervisory instructors and sample course materials. A portfolio will most likely be constructed as a print and an electronic document.