Early Childhood Studies

Course Assignment: Group Article Presentation and Extension Activities/Discussion

Students and instructors explore the latest research regarding early childhood education focused on equity, diversity and inclusion (Black Lives Matter in early childhood education, refugees, immigrants, etc.). We create a repository of this scholarship on our learning management system and use these articles across the semester to inform presentations and course reflections. Students present in groups one article from this repository or another article they select- comparing research, data, findings, conclusion, and implications for practice. Following the presentations, all students read the additional articles chosen by their peers to collectively deepen our understanding of this scholarship.

Course Assignment- Child and Development Observations

Students conduct virtual observations of diverse children -infants, toddlers and preschool aged children- to understand better the diversity of human development in the early years. To be fully prepared to meet inclusively and equitably the needs of the diversity of children in the communities they will serve and the stakeholders with whom they will work, CI students must be able to recognize, articulate and connect the learning from the course. They must be able to connect the developmental theories they will read about, analyze, and reflect across the duration of the course to their work with students and their lived-lives to find real-world application for relevant scholarship.

Course Assignment: Children's Literature Annotated Bibliography

To complete this assignment, students explore, select, and create an annotated bibliography of 10 children’s books that offer diverse perspectives, represent diverse voices, and highlight the work of diverse authors. The selections will be justified in the annotations and must be appropriate for children 3-8 years. The books must depict and/or represent diversity in terms of at least one of the following aspects: culture, gender, familial structure, socioeconomic status, or linguistic backgrounds. The annotated bibliography provides detailed citations (so fellow students can locate the books), provide a summary of the book, and explain how diversity is depicted and/or represented by the book.

Course Assignment: Diversity and STEM

CI students utilize the Handbook of Research on STEM Education specifically Chapter 3-Moving Toward an Equity-based Approach for STEM Literacy-that addresses gender, SES, and minoritized populations to engage in discussions that address the lack of pathways to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers for the populations mentioned. Handbook of Research on STEM Education represents a groundbreaking and comprehensive synthesis of research and presentation of policy within the realm of STEM education with a focus on diversity and equity. The book speaks to these issues and the students in the course read, discuss, analyze and reflect on the implications for early years education.

 

Course Assessment: Cultural Autobiography

This assessment, and its two parts, asks that students reflect on their identities to understand how they can effectively work with diverse students, families, and colleagues.Part I has students explore their identities, while Part II asks them to explore the impact of those identities on their interactions with young children, families, communities, and colleagues. To complete the assessment, students have prompts to guide their reflection: With which identities do you identify and how do they intersect to impact your lived experience? How will understanding yourself aid in your teaching relationships? Will you be more aware of certain students? Will you use a specific approach to understand your students?

 

Course Activity: Examining the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Ethical Code of Conduct

Students examine NAEYC’s Ethical Code of Conduct and gain information about specific core values that include respecting diversity in children, families and colleagues and recognize that children are best understood and supported in the context of family, culture, community and society. CI students discuss and reflect on the Code and the commitment to not participate in practices that discriminate against children by denying benefits, giving special advantages, or excluding them from programs or activities based on their sex, race, national origin, immigration status, preferred home language, religious beliefs, medical condition, disability, or the marital status/family structure, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs or other affiliations of their families.

 

Course Assignment: Case Study of a Young Child

For this assignment, CI students create a profile of a typically developing child or a child with special needs to discover strengths and offer ways to provide for instructional equity to meet the needs of this their selected child. CI Students observe the child during all school activities. The result is a case study wherein students use observations to document a child’s present skills in multiple developmental areas, with specific examples of activities the child participated in or completed. CI students then use these data to project the child’s future skill development and propose activities and instructional opportunities to support current skills/knowledge/competencies and develop new ones.

 

Course Assignment: Family Video

CI students create a 3-5-minute video to introduce their family and their family tree. The video should provide responses to this prompt: Tell us who your family is, identify the culture, ethnicity, language, religion, abilities, special needs, funds of knowledge, socioeconomic background, education, and structure. The class is then divided into groups, with each group sharing and discussing their peers’ videos. How we view families from cultures different from our own deeply affects how we work with the diversity of families. All families have had different sets of experiences. We must help students learn that family experiences are neither better nor worse than others, but simply different.

 

Course Activity: “When Concerns Arise”

Students engage in an activity called “When Concerns Arise” focused on the diversity of cultural variations in child rearing practices and the implications of those differences for classroom expectations, instructional practices, and student learning/engagement. Students learn a three-step process called “acknowledge, ask and adapt” to help them learn to understand the differences in families and simultaneously practice how to become reflective practitioners who continually seek to be more culturally aware and responsive. Students encounter different scenarios, work in small groups to practice the three-step process and co-construct the practical implications of what they have learned.

 

Course Assignment: Virtual Circle Time

CI Students will select a book for an appropriate age group – Infant/Toddler/Preschool/ Kinder-from the culturally diverse and responsive children’s books in the course-specific annotated bibliography. Upon reading and analyzing the texts, students develop a video for each book. For the video, students record the reading of the text as they would read it to dual language learners. They may read the book in a language other than English (see “How to Use Bilingual Books”) Students share the videos and collectively reflect on components they would include when working with children who are dual language learners.

 

Course Assignment: My Stories Assignment

The “My Stories” assignment in this course fosters CI students' sense of belonging, provides opportunities for them to share their funds of knowledge. These “funds” are historically/culturally developed knowledge that empower individuals to function in specific contexts, knowledge students embody that can directly connect with classroom learning. Students write a "story" about their identities utilizing a storytelling format. They focus on lived experiences, important aspects of their identities, and significant events that have influenced their development and shaped the person they are today. The My Stories assignment supports diversity, inclusion, where students are honored and valued.

 

Course Assignment: Asset Artifacts and Analysis Assignment

For this assignment, students will examine a child’s language and literacy skills from a strengths/assets-based perspective. The purpose of this assignment is to appreciate the child-as-a-teacher and understand that what students bring to the classroom are resources that we, as educators, can learn from and build to create inclusive and equitable language and literacy communities in/out of our classrooms. ECS students choose a student from their site placement (Preschool/Primary Student Teaching) and collect artifacts to analyze their child’s language and literacy assets and strengths. Students will use California state standards and course readings to support their strength assessments.

 

Course Activity: Social Justice Readings

Students have a variety of readings that pertain to frameworks and standards around social justice, dual language learners, and anti-bias/anti-racism education. These readings inform the work they do on developing, sustaining and actively protecting a CI class culture where respect is shown to everyone to facilitate and encourage the expression, testing, understanding and creation of a variety of ideas and opinions. Students work individually and collaboratively to create an atmosphere that is safe, valuing one another, and open to diverse perspectives. Students then engage in reflections about the readings, the course culture, and the combined implications for their future classrooms.