Small group collaboration on written paper and presentation: 30% of course grade Conceptual Framework: Social Justice, Diversity, Critical Self-reflection
New York City schools encompass a vast diversity of students from many cultures. Each classroom reflects a microcosm of this cultural wealth. In this assessment, you will collaborate with a small group of your peers in class. Together, you will research, write about, and present your work on Early Childhood Education in a country other than the United States.
Linking your new knowledge from a global perspective to working with parents and families and teaching in your classroom (NAEYC: 4b, 4d)
● Indicate how and why you chose this particular country and cultural group. Perhaps, your choice is in response to the current ethnic/racial/cultural group of children in your early childhood classroom or a recent increase in children from a country you haven’t taught in the past. Another and/or additional reason may be to better understand your own family’s background. Or you may want to study more in-depth a teaching method that appeals to you. For example, some countries may lend themselves to focus on a single, specific teaching approach (i.e., Reggio Emilia or Montessori in Italy). These are only some possible reasons; there are likely additional reasons and/or multiple reasons for your choice. * You may have each group member write these individually to include in paper, or you may have a group discussion about these, which you then write up and submit as one piece within paper.
● Describe the country’s prevailing attitudes’ towards and beliefs about children’s development and learning, including children with special needs, their parents and families, and family involvement in schools. What comparisons can you make to the country’s prevailing attitudes and beliefs to their understanding of children and families with those in the U.S. today?
● Describe the country’s guiding philosophy and theory, views about the different content areas, teaching approach and methodology, including approaches to teach children with special needs, as well as expectations of the teacher’s role. Also include a brief history of Early Childhood Education in your chosen country. Please be sure to note how social, political, and natural events have shaped their educational approaches. For example, how does current Serbian ECE differ from Yugoslavian ECE of 2 decades ago, or, how does ECE in a Socialist country differ from a Capitalist Country? Or, is there a separation of church and state, or are public schools governed by religious beliefs? These are guidelines; your research should lead you to more/other important questions…
● Link your new knowledge about the country’s views about children and parents as well as their teaching philosophy and approaches to how you would interact with and set up your classroom to encourage parent involvement. Describe how this new knowledge will inform how you design (or redesign), teach, and evaluate curriculum and work with all children in your classroom, and their families. Discuss how this project informed your understanding of culturally relevant pedagogy.
● Effective collaboration as a research and presentation team is a critical element in the success of this project. Write a reflection of your collaboration process. Describe from your perspective how roles, differing views of findings about the country were shared/discussed in your group as well as how you felt prior to, during and after the completion of this collaboration process. Describe your role in this collaboration process.
You will need to refer to a variety of sources (6-8 sources) in your research. As this is a graduate level course, at least one of these sources must be a primary source, not a distillation or another writer’s interpretation of a theorist’s ideas. This source may be a publication from that country’s governmental office on education, or the direct writings of an educational theorist, philosopher, developmental psychologist, etc. Be sure that any online resources are reputable; online resources should NOT be your only source of research. Be sure to document any and all quotes and paraphrasing.
Note: While this is a collaborative project in regards to planning, research, and presentation, each paper is to be individually written and will reflect your individual perception and viewpoint. Remember to acknowledge all sources for information, paraphrasing, and quotation within your text. This paper should be from 7-10 pages long, plus bibliography page.