Strategies for helping early childhood students learn appropriate teaching practices. (Teaching Strategies).

This is the final article in our series on teaching strategies to help college and university teacher educators think about and plan for linking course content and the learning process (see the Teaching Strategies columns from the Winter 1998/99 and the Summer 2001 issues of Childhood Education). In this article, we want to focus on ideas about connecting course content to teaching practice. We continue to encourage readers to examine critically their conceptual frameworks, teaching methods, strategies, and techniques, and to dialogue with colleagues to make more thoughtful decisions regarding their teaching practices.--S.G. & J.W.

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The most critical feature in any high-quality program for young children is the teacher (Lay-Dopyera & Lay-Dopyera, 1987; Stronge, 2002). We believe that educators need to model the qualities and characteristics that make their practice effective; in turn, students need to observe these teachers and supervisors in action, discuss the strategies with them, and begin to recognize the behaviors within their own repertoires. These qualifies include, but are not limited to, self-awareness, enthusiasm, compassion, naturalness, vitality, flexibility, sense of humor, physical stamina, self-confidence, and the ability to encourage children's efforts to learn and to sustain teacher-child relationships. Competent teachers are also skilled in observing children, fostering children's interactions, and using a variety of strategies for teacher-child dialogue and classroom management (Stronge, 2002). In addition, excellent teachers can identify, plan, and implement space to enhance children's learning; they also can plan for children's differences by developing specific goals and objectives (Benham, Miller, & Kontos, 1988; Bredekamp & Copple, 1997).

University teacher preparation requirements generally include both a pre-student teaching practice and a final student teaching experience or internship. Pre-student teaching experiences have been recognized for decades as a valuable component of the education process for students preparing to teach children from birth to the middle years. As stated in the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) position paper on the preparation of early childhood teachers (ACEI, 1997),

Early childhood teachers should have well-planned laboratory experiences under the supervision of experienced and qualified teachers of young children ... experiences should include observation, participation, student teaching, and seminar discussion. (p. 165)

The proliferation of field-based experiences (Erdman, 1983; Zeichner, 1978) and the discontinuity between early childhood course content and students' practicum experiences have been described by many educators (Clawson, 1999; Gilbert, 1999; Horm-Wingerd, Warford, & Penhollow, 1999; Katz, 1992). Pre-student teaching experiences are not always designed to complement academic preparation for the early childhood student, nor do they always add an important dimension to the educational process. While the academic setting emphasizes students' acquisition of knowledge and cognitive growth, the early childhood setting should emphasize the direct application of students' knowledge through supervision by competent classroom teachers.

Both of the authors are products of high-quality undergraduate early childhood programs, with many campus and community field experiences as part of our training. We credit these early experiences with helping us to develop our basic understandings about children, make sense of the theoretical content we were learning in the college classroom, and become reflective pre-professionals. Today, we share with our students our enthusiasm about learning and teaching in high-quality environments, and we teach them strategies that we think will improve their observation skills and teaching effectiveness.

In previous articles on connecting course content and the learning process, we have discussed professionalism and reflective thinking as major components of our teaching model. This article will present the third and final component, learning to use appropriate teaching practices. We want to describe some strategies that we believe are important for both the teacher educator and teacher supervisor. In our university classrooms, assignments and discussions center on the following themes: demonstrating positive personal qualities, attitudes, and behaviors (QABs); reflective practice; and planning, executing, and evaluating developmentally appropriate practices (see Figure 1). We expect teacher supervisors to give descriptive feedback, reinforce, coach, prompt and give suggestions, ask questions, and model professional behaviors. A glimpse through the sequence of pre-professional experiences will tell the reader that we begin with those experiences in which students are most likely to be successful before going on to the next level. Having learners succeed and having them see their success almost immediately is a powerful incentive for learning.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Briefly, the two courses we discuss in this article are The Developing Professional, taken by students entering the early childhood program, and Implementing the Curriculum in Early Childhood Education, taken by students at the intermediate stage of their program. Each course has:

* A co-requisite with another course and cannot be taken out of sequence

* A weekly 1-1/2 hour recitation class, with additional hours of weekly guided experiences with children at the Children's Institute, the campus child care center

* Its own content, although it shares concepts and strategies with the other course in a developmental framework.

In The Developing Professional course, students learn and practice communication skills, learn how to interpret child and adult behaviors, and learn how to build professional relationships with children, peers, and teacher supervisors, as well as how to use appropriate teaching practices. Implementing the Curriculum teaches students how to implement and evaluate curriculum for young children; how to plan safe and creative environments; how to effectively interact with peers, teachers, and parents in the Children's Institute; and how to continue their professional practices.

Although we have frequent contact with the teacher supervisors via phone, E-mail, or visits to the Children's Institute, we also meet with the entire teaching staff at least once each semester to discuss the children, the college students, their assignments, and evaluation expectations. This meeting gives us a chance to share changes that we have incorporated in our classes, and to interact with students who might need some additional attention or feedback. The teacher supervisors also discuss children's needs and provide information that we clarify in the university classroom. This two-way contact is important to the students and to the children, as well as key to the professional development of the teaching staff and ourselves.

Strategies To Help Students Learn To Observe

As former teachers of young children, we reflect on our early opportunities to enhance students' use of observation methods and techniques. We both remember learning through faculty lectures and discussions, followed by observation assignments in laboratory and community settings. For example, we realized that as we watched a child assemble a puzzle we could learn about her cognitive processes, her approach to a new task, her response to mistakes or frustration, her persistence, and her attention span. This was in addition to the more obvious information we received about the child's muscle development (and perhaps her social skills). We also learned that our interpretations of behavior were in large part subjective and must be worded as possibilities, not facts.

While these experiences seemed to bolster a developing skill in separating fact from interpretation and noting how a mature teacher handles challenging child behaviors, we still did not develop a profound understanding of the importance of using these observations until we became teachers. What we did retain was the knowledge that the ability to look carefully at children develops over time and is deepened only with extensive teaching practice. We share these early learnings with our students today.

Remembering the developmental path we moved along, we try to help students find their voices regarding their own sense of teacher, sharing those perceptions with each other, and connecting those self-observations or reflections to what they see practicing teachers do. In class, we discuss teachers they had in their early school years, those they have observed as visitors in classrooms, and any they may have worked with as aides or pre-professional interns. Over a semester (15 weeks), students become more circumspect as well as more constructively critical, of the teachers they observe, and more sensitive and aware of the difficulty and complexity of carrying out the tasks of a classroom teacher.

At the beginning level ("The Developing Professional" class), we introduce the concept of observation in the university classroom setting by asking students to look around the room for objects and furnishings that they have never seen before, look carefully at each other (each student changes an item of clothing), and look for something on the way back to their living quarters that they have never before seen. These simple activities give them the sense of how to observe without the pressure of writing anything down. The next step is to learn to record child observations while avoiding value judgments, such as "Sheneka is a sweet thing who always minds the teacher." When students learn to make this shift in thinking, they are ready for the next level of observation. As one student commented in her final self-evaluation:

Watching and recording the actions of children is invaluable. There is no better way to learn about the children around you than to watch them, carefully and with an objective eye. Writing down exact conversations ... helps to portray how children think and where they get their ideas from. It's also a good way to find out what's going on in the child's life without putting [her] on the spot by asking.

At the intermediate level (the "Implementing the Curriculum" class), students continue to record observations, selecting one child in their practicum classroom and keeping written notes while acting as an assistant teacher throughout the semester. As a written assignment in the form of a letter to the child's parents, students must translate their notes into language that parents can understand and accept. The parents do not actually receive this letter, which allows students the freedom to make mistakes without causing parents distress.

One of the foundations of developmentally appropriate practice is knowledge, gained through observation, of the individual children. Once students have an emerging understanding of how to obtain this knowledge, we move on to a discussion of other appropriate teaching practices in the classroom.

Strategies To Improve Students' Teaching Practices

We use many methods, techniques, and strategies (MTSs) to help students apply principles of child development and appropriate teaching practices.

Modeling: Teaching practices involve teachers' actions as they prepare for, go about, and evaluate their work in the classroom, and include interactions with children, parents, and colleagues. Students often come in with many experiences in early childhood settings. We begin to teach them about appropriate teaching practices on their first day in our university classrooms. As we greet them and introduce the semester's goals and objectives, we present ourselves as professionals who are interested in and have high expectations for each student. We are warm and friendly, organized and prepared. We clearly explain our expectations of them with regard to their work, as well as their behavior and dispositions. We make our policies explicit so they know what to expect of us as instructors. We hope that they emulate these practices in their classrooms.

Observing Teachers in Action: At the beginning level, students observe teacher behaviors and characteristics that reflect best practices. They record situations in their practicum classroom exactly as they see and hear them, then highlight the MTSs they saw and heard teachers use. This process helps them to focus on the ways in which teachers deal with individual children, extend children's learning, and teach problem solving and conflict resolution, among other practices. At the intermediate level, students act as teacher assistants in the classroom and are encouraged to question teachers respectfully about practices they observe. In the university classroom, the instructor might model the wording of a question that a student feels uncomfortable asking. Instead of phrasing a question in a way that could sound rude (e.g., asking "Why did you do that?"), a student might say, "I noticed that you held Tony on your lap at group time. I'm curious about why you did that."

Discussing Sample Scenarios: We discuss situations involving children and have group discussions of appropriate teacher responses. Many examples come from the students; for example, a child in one of the Children's Institute classrooms discovered that he could get a lot of attention if he simply took off all of his clothes! The student who reported this behavior provoked a lively discussion about how to deal with a child's socially unacceptable behavior. Another child thought he could fly like Superman as he repeatedly put on a cape and tried to jump off the five-foot-high loft, leading to a discussion about the importance of closely supervising children to ensure their safety. Many students work in child care centers to earn money, and so have specific situations to share.

Providing Direct Instruction: At both levels, students are given information about such things as the types and possible causes of children's aggression. They are given verbal strategies for encouraging a child to change his or her behavior. We continuously present and discuss information about the development of the typical young child from birth to age 8.

Readings: At both levels, we use Meeting the Challenge: Effective Strategies for Challenging Behaviours in Early Childhood Environments by Kaiser and Rasminsky (1999). At the beginning level, students read this text and discuss the general applicability of its information. At the intermediate level, they are asked specific questions about the content and how to apply it to the children with whom they are working. Each class also has a grammar book, and a coursepack that includes assignments, class exercises, and articles.

Writing Assignments: At the beginning level, students write papers on their favorite teachers from their past; on their assessment of child behaviors that reflect their understanding of cognitive, affective, and physical-motor development; and on teacher-child guidance situations that highlight appropriate teaching practices. Students begin to learn the rudiments of planning curriculum at the intermediate level. They, must plan two activities, carry them out with children, and evaluate them in writing. Toward the end of the semester they are responsible for planning, directing, and evaluating an entire three-hour session in their practicum classroom. They are excited to be "in charge." The students often report how challenging it is to plan for each child, have all the materials ready, manage everything that happens during the session, and take responsibility for cleaning up. They see this session as a useful assignment in preparation for student teaching.

Supervised Practice: As discussed above, our students spend a total of 72 hours in supervised pre-student teaching placements in our on-campus child care center. The staff is key to a successful experience. The six lead teachers have master's degrees, the assistant teachers have bachelor's degrees, and all have extensive experience working with young children. Since the center is under the auspices of the University Health Services, rather than the College of Education, we do not personally supervise our students there. But our relationship with the staff is congenial, collegial, and mutually supportive. Our students receive mid-term and final evaluations that assess their progress in several areas (see Figures 2 and 3).

Figure 2

BEGINNING LEVEL: QUALITIES, ATTITUDES, AND BEHAVIORS FOR CURR 215, THE DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL

I. Personal Qualities and Attitudes

A competent early childhood teacher:

* Is prompt and conscientious about attendance

* Is alert, enthusiastic, and interested

* Is responsible for carrying through directions

* Shows positive response to guidance from supervisor

II. Nurturing and Supporting Behaviors (includes the following proximity behaviors)

A competent early childhood teacher:

* Easily smiles, winks, grins

* Gets down to child's level

* Is able to embrace, pat, hold hands/arm

* Offers statements of affection, praise, and approval

III. Modeling Behaviors

A competent early childhood teacher:

* Models helping and sharing

* Models good body and verbal language

* Models independent behavior

IV. Reactive and Instructive Behaviors

A competent early childhood teacher:

* Encourages children's efforts to use social skills

* Encourages children's verbalization

* Encourages children's independence

* Gives meaningful direction

* Asks leading questions to stimulate children's thinking

Figure 3

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL: QUALITIES, ATTITUDES, AND BEHAVIORS FOR CURR 303, IMPLEMENTING THE CURRICULUM

I. Personal Qualities, Attitudes, and Behaviors

A competent early childhood teacher:

* Forms close relationships with teachers

* Is motivated to learn new techniques and strategies

* Is able to function as a member of a team

* Makes important contributions to pre/post-session discussions

II. Effectiveness With Children

A competent early childhood teacher:

* Models joy and interest in learning

* Uses appropriate verbal behaviors

* States clear behavior expectations

* Appropriately channels children's inappropriate behaviors

III. Curriculum: Planning, Preparation, Presentation

A competent early childhood teacher:

* Plans appropriate activities

* Gives meaningful verbal directions to children and staff

* Solicits ideas and information from children

* Extends children's interest in activities

The Importance of the Supervisor

The supervisory framework that we have developed is a systematic approach to helping students integrate theory with practice and learn to think seriously about children and teaching. The developmental perspectives on supervision espoused by Cahoon and Taylor (1985) and Caruso and Fawcett (1999) have guided the formulation of several supervisory principles, roles, and foci that have been designed to help students attain competencies at different levels of pre-professional development. The principles we endorse are that the supervisor should:

* Understand how adults, as well as children, learn

* Teach appropriate principles, concepts, and information

* Provide clearly articulated goals for students so they understand what is expected of them

* Model the personal attributes, dispositions, and adult behaviors expected of early childhood professionals

* Help students plan and organize their learning and encourage students to develop the intellectual skills required of an early childhood teacher.

Summary

In a world of increasing demand for early childhood programs, high-quality professional teacher preparation programs are critical. Although training occurs at many levels, baccalaureate early childhood teacher education programs remain a major source of ECE personnel. Such programs must help students to develop appropriate qualities, attitudes, and teaching behaviors for the complex and difficult tasks they will face throughout their teaching careers. We must help undergraduate students learn to apply child development principles to children's behavior and environments, and to develop the ability to explain the theoretical constructs of their programs to others.

References

Association for Childhood Education International. (1997). Preparation of early childhood teachers: A position paper. Childhood Education, 73, 164-165.

Benham, N., Miller, T., & Kontos, S. (1988). Pinpointing staff training needs in child care centers. Young Children, 43(4), 9-16.

Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (Eds.). (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs (Rev. ed.). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Cahoon, O., & Taylor, B. (1985, November). Hand in glove: Supervision and administration. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, New Orleans.

Caruso, J., & Fawcett, M. (1999). Supervision in early childhood education: A developmental perspective. New York: Teachers College Press.

Clawson, M. A. (1999). Continuity between course content and lab school practice: Outcomes of a self-study of the lab school at Syracuse University. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 20(1), 7-17.

Erdman, J. (1983). Assessing the purposes of early field experience programs. Journal of Teacher Education, 34(4), 27-31.

Gilbert, J. L. (1999). Campus early childhood laboratory schools: Partners in teacher education programs. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 20(1), 67-74.

Horm-Wingerd, D. M., Warford, S. D. G., & Penhollow, P. C. (1999). Making the connection through staffing: Mechanisms to increase consistency between university early childhood education courses and child development lab school practices. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 20(1), 29-39.

Kaiser, B., & Rasminsky, J. (1999). Meeting the challenge: Effective strategies for challenging behaviours in early childhood environments. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Child Care Federation.

Katz, L. G. (1992). Confessions of a teacher educator. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, Spring, 14-21.

Lay-Dopyera, M. L., & Lay-Dopyera, J. E. (1987). Strategies for teaching. In C. Seefeldt (Ed.), The early childhood curriculum (pp. 13-33). New York: Teachers College Press.

Stronge, J. (2002). Qualities of effective teachers. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Zeichner, K. (1978). The student teaching experience. Action in Teacher Education, 1, 58-61.