The separation of young children from their families for most of their awake hours, and the specific segregation of children by discrete chronological age through classrooms and grade levels, is a relatively new phenomenon in the history of human society. Such settler colonial constructs continue to influence early learning design, policy and…

Background: Most field coursework in teacher education (TE) programmes do not incorporate extended "in situ" interaction with individual children in a classroom. Furthermore, child development theory (from coursework) is not taught in tandem with students' extended periods of practicum placement in schools. Aim: This study sought to…

Reflection is a high impact practice that develops teacher candidates' learning. Critical reflection requires teacher candidates to continually examine their own thoughts, perspectives, biases, and actions. Reflective practice facilitates the development of new knowledge, skills, and dispositions in teacher candidates by fostering critical…

Many pre-service teachers express a lack of confidence and preparedness to face the challenges of teaching reading in today's classrooms. The current study looks at whether Structured Participation Experiences (SPE) in reading increase pre-service teachers' preparedness to teach reading compared to more traditional unstructured field experiences.…

The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) at the University of California, Berkeley, is assisting the New Jersey Council for Young Children (Council) in collecting and analyzing information about the state's early learning professional preparation and development system. The project consists of two phases: a Mapping Phase and a…

These revisions arose from two major concerns: the lack of quality education evidence among many low-income, minority group children living in urban settings and the ambiguity concerning the nature and extent of relationships between teacher training efforts and a child's learning. This proposal examines the possible relationships between…

This practicum report describes the development of a systematic method whereby students would be able to select internship sites that demonstrate developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education. Students in a child development internship program were provided guidelines for selecting an appropriate field placement; students were…

Three programs using the Educational Development Center's "Exploring Childhood" curriculum package are discussed in the light of the experiences of home economics and social studies teachers field testing the materials. Designed to provide adolescents with a theoretical and practical look at early childhood, these materials integrate…

Aspects of physical education teacher education that 12 participants reported were instrumental in developing understanding of and commitment to a movement approach (constructivist and developmental approach) are described. Coursework gave students a broader context for interpreting field experiences, whereas learning through doing exemplified and…

Current theory on mentoring describes the process as a mutual learning relationship in which both the mentor and the mentee gain knowledge. Many research studies have supported the benefits of mentoring programs for at-risk elementary school children. One particularly interesting mentoring project with preschool children is Jumpstart, a national…

The SODIA program is the 1974 Distinguished Achievement Awards entry from the Elementary Education Department at Utah State University. (SODIA stands for the five levels that students progress through during their 4-year undergraduate program: Self, Others, Disciplines, Implementation, and Associate teachers.) The program is designed to prepare…

This paper describes the overall conceptual and pedagogical goals of a program ('Exploring Childhood') designed to help adolescents gain competence in working with children and an understanding of the forces that shape children's development. The paper is intended as an explanation of the assumptions and questions that guided the development of…

This guide for field advisors, which is part of the training materials used in the Child Development Associate (CDA) National Credentialing Program, outlines the 6-month CDA fieldwork portion of the 3-part credentialing program. The guide begins by describing the background, purpose, and curriculum design of the CDA Professional Preparation…

An early childhood teacher education program using developmental perspectives as an organizing framework for formulating competencies and interweaving courses and practicum experiences is described. Emphasis is placed on understanding the cognitive and behavioral development of children and their maturation patterns. Included in this document is a…

A course in child development offered at a British secondary school focused on language development. The primary objective was to sharpen college students' awareness of the language development of children they meet in their everyday lives and children they study during the course. The teacher's role is to extract linguistic theory from the…