EDUT 781
Frameworks
for Unified Transformative Early Care and Education
Developing a Unified Perspective
Course Syllabus
Spring 2001
Eva K. Thorp, Ed.D. Sylvia Y. Sanchez, Ed.D.
(703)993-2035 (703)993-2041
email:
ethorp@wpgate.gmu.edu ssanche2@gmu.edu
Course Purpose and
Relationship to Program:
This course is offered as an
advanced master’s course in the UTEEM Early Childhood Teacher Training program
that prepares teachers to work with culturally, linguistically, and ability
diverse young children and their families in a variety of inclusive school and
community settings. This course is
offered in conjunction with the seminar related to public policy and its
effects on diverse young learners. Both
courses are also linked to a full-time advanced internship. Students participating in this course are
enrolled full time in the UTEEM program.
Course Description and
Format:
This course is a capstone
experience in the UTEEM program. It
provides students with the opportunity to analyze foundational texts that
provide a framework for a unified perspective for work with culturally,
linguistically, and ability diverse young learners, birth to age eight, and
their families. Students will examine
foundational work from the separate fields of early childhood education, early
childhood special education, multicultural education, second language
acquisition/bilingual education, and critical pedagogy. They will analyze these foundational works
to develop a formal position statement of guiding principles for their work
with children and families. This paper,
incorporating theory, research, and practice examples serves as one of the
program’s culminating assignments, completed in lieu of a comprehensive
exam. In addition, students will
compile a professional portfolio documenting their learning process in the
program. The portfolio will be
presented to program faculty.
The course is structured as a
seminar. In small groups, students will
take seminar leadership roles. In their
role as seminar leaders, students will provide learning experiences for their
peer that will contribute to their understanding of key theoretical readings
and their applicability to practice.
Relationship to State and
National Standards:
UTEEM courses are designed to
meet licensure standards of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the areas of Early
Childhood Special Education (birth to age five), Early Childhood Education
(Pre-K to Three), and English as a Second Language (Pre-K to Twelve). In addition they meet the accreditation
standards for programs preparing teachers that have been established by the
National Associate for the Education of Young Children, the Council for Exceptional
Children, and the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional
Children.
Specific standards addressed
by this course:
Virginia Standards:
Objectives:
This course enables students
to:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of key foundational theory and research
related to working with culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse young
learners birth through age eight and their families.
2. Demonstrate the ability to analyze these works from a
socio-cultural and political perspective, from the perspectives of the separate
disciplines of early childhood education, early childhood special education,
bilingual education, and multicultural education, as well as from a unified
perspective.
3. Demonstrate the ability to link theory, research, and application
to common dilemmas that occur in providing services to diverse young learners
and their families.
4. Demonstrate the ability to lead an integrative seminar discussion
using theoretical and research readings.
5. Demonstrate the ability to assess student prior knowledge and to
utilize adult learning principles in seminar leadership.
6. Demonstrate the ability to articulate in a written paper guiding
principles for a unified perspective and its implications for teaching
practices - bringing together research, theory, and current applications.
7. Complete a professional portfolio that documents personal
understandings and key milestones in development as future teachers of diverse
young children.
Required Texts:
Cummins, J. Empowering language minority students
(selected readings).
Dahlberg, G. and Moss,
P. (Current) Beyond quality in Early Childhood Education. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 075 0707 690 (selected readings).
Delpit, L. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York:
The New Press.
Dewey, J. (Current
edition). Experience and education.
Freire, P. (1996).
Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Kincheloe, J.L. and Steinberg,
S.R. (1998). Unauthorized methods:
Strategies for critical teaching.
New York: Routledge.
Shor, I. (1992).
Empowering education:
Critical teaching for social change. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Skrtic, T.M. (1992). The special education paradox: Equity as the way to excellence. In T. Hehr and T. Lattus (Eds.), Special
education at the century’s end (pp. 203-272). Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Education Review.
Recommended Texts:
This course requires the
development of a unified statement of understanding. Thus, it is recommended that students make use of all of the
texts that have been used in their prior three semesters of coursework. In addition, the following texts might serve
as useful resources.
Garcia, E.E., McLaughlin, B.,
Spodek, B. & Saracho, O., Eds.
(1995). Meeting the challenge
of linguistic and cultural diversity in early childhood education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Mallory, B.L. & New, R.S.
(Eds.). (1994). Diversity and developmentally appropriate
practice. New York: Teachers
College Press.
Course Requirements:
As a student in this class,
you will be expected to:
1. Attend all class sessions.
Please notify instructors if you are unable to attend.
2. Complete written application assignments and submit them on the
dates required.
3. Maintain a reflective journal.
Submit regular electronic entries for dialogue with course instructors
and your peers.
4. Complete all projects.
Your research and theory-based statement of guiding principles will also
serve as one portion of the comprehensive exam for the Graduate School of
Education master’s degree requirement.
5. Plan for and lead one seminar session as a part of a small group.
6. Compile work samples and reflections from your program
experiences into a professional portfolio.
Course Grading:
1. Reading
reflections and application dilemmas 20%
2. Seminar
leadership 30%
(Group planning process,
agenda/handout, seminar activities and flow - 25%; individual leadership role –
5%)
3. Statement of Guiding Principles for Work with Diverse Young
Learners and Their Families 30%
(Include link to research,
link to theory, link to four disciplines, link to three age groups,
examples from practice)
4. Participation 10%
(Attendance, active
participation in large group, active participation in small group, supports
leadership and participation of peers)
5. Portfolio presentation 10%
Topics:
January 19: First Steps in a Unified
Approach. Issues of identity in diverse
communities. Witnessing injustice
and dilemmas in early care and education - advocacy and coalition building.
Guest
Presenters: GMU Multicultural Resource Center/National Coalition Building
Institute. (Dr. Dennis Webster, Barbara
Davis)
January 25: Overview
of Course Syllabus. Reflections on NCBI
exerience. Review of integrated themes guiding UTEEM. Seminar group assignments.
February 1: Overview
of the portfolio process and expectations for portfolio presentation. Guest presenter: Dr. Rebecca Fox.
February 8: Foundations in progressive
education: Dewey, Experience and
Education.
Assignment
Due: Read Dewey; complete first writing reflection/application assignment.
First Seminar Group Leadership:
Respondent:
February 15: Group work. Team planning with instructors. No formal class meeting.
February 22: Socio-political contexts of
education: Freire, Pedagogy of the
Oppressed.
Assignment
Due:
Read Freire; complete second writing reflection/application assignment.
Second
seminar group leadership:
Respondent:
March 1: Cultural contexts of education: Delpit, Other People’s Children.
Assignment
Due: Read Delpit; complete third writing reflection/application assignment.
Third seminar group leadership:
Respondent:
March 8: GMU spring break. No classes.
March 15-29: Group
meetings, session planning with instructors, individual research for statement
of understanding, individual work on portfolios, electronic dialogue. No formal class sessions.
April 5: Frameworks
for language minority children; Cummins.
Assignment
Due: Read Cummins; complete fourth reaction/application.
Fourth
Seminar Group Leadership:
Respondent:
April 12: Reconsidering
Special Education and Early Childhood Education: Dahlberg & Moss, Skrtic.
Assignment
Due: Read Dahlberg & Moss and Skrtic
articles; complete fifth writing reflection/application assignment.
Fifth
Seminar Group Leadership:
Respondent:
April 19: Strategies for Critical
Teaching: Kincheloe & Steinberg, Unauthorized
Methods.
Assignment
Due: Read Kincheloe and Steinberg;
complete sixth writing reflection/application assignment.log assignment.
Sixth
Seminar Group Leadership:
Respondent:
April 26: Teaching for Change: Shor, Empowering Education.
Assignment
Due: Read Shor; turn in statement
of guiding principles.
Seventh
Seminar Group Leadership:
Respondent:
May 3: Presentation of
Guiding Principles and Portfolios to UTEEM faculty
Assignment
Due: Bring completed portfolio. Prepare a brief personal reflection on your
program experience and learnings.
Note: Today’s
class will meet from 9:00 to 4:00.
Please notify your cooperating site/employers that you will be taking
leave. From 9:00 to 12:00 you will be
presenting your portfolios. From 1:00
to 4:00, we will be doing end of program evaluations and your reflections.
Description of
Assignments:
1. Professional
Portfolio
This assignment
asks you to develop a portfolio that will represent your best work and will
demonstrate your perspective on work with culturally, linguistically, and
ability diverse young children and their families. We will have an in-class discussion to provide guidance for
compiling and presenting your portfolio.
This product will be reviewed by your peers and UTEEM faculty. Your final product will be formally
presented May 3.
2. Reading
Reflections/applications
This ongoing assignment asks you to link your readings of
foundational works to your field experiences, as well as to your prior
readings. For each of the seminar
sessions for which you are doing a reading you are to prepare the following (NOTE:
please use headers to clearly identify which section you are addressing):
a. Reaction to the book to be read for this week. You are to demonstrate your understanding of
the text by reacting to the content, linking the content to other readings you
have done, and tying it to the unified perspective you have been learning. Points you make must be supported with page
citations from texts. This should be
brief and have four sections: 1. brief synthesis of what you consider to be
the key points of this text; 2. brief
reaction from your own personal perspective; and 3. description of an experience/dilemma you have had which might be
addressed by this text; 4. a question
you have that you hope might be addressed in the session. (Each section should be a paragraph. Brevity is desirable!) This portion should be submitted
electronically to the course instructors and the presenters by the Monday prior
to the course session in which the text will be discussed.
b. Quick write. Immediately
after the in-class presentations, write a response that discusses how the class
session contributed to your understanding of the writing. Use specific examples of comments made by
your classmates or of learning tied to activities. Your response is to be specific and should make it clear to us
what new understandings you have acquired.
(Should be no more than one page)
This portion should be submitted electronically to the course
instructors and the presenters by the Friday (next day) after the presentation.
Please keep a hard copy of this entire set of assignments and submit them as an appendix to your final statement of guiding principles.
3. Seminar
Leadership
In small groups, each of you will be responsible for
leading a two-hour seminar session on one of the class texts. Your job is to scaffold and support what
your classmates have already learned and to provide an opportunity for in-depth
discussion of the text in order to extend learning. You are to meet with course instructors
before your session to go over your plan. You should also prepare your
classmates with any additional assignments or roles you expect them to
take. You should come to class with a handout
which must include an agenda, any relevant handouts to support class
activities, and at least three additional articles that extend or elaborate on
the content of the readings and that would assist your classmates in
integrating these readings.
In class, each of you is
responsible for assuming a leadership role equally. As a group, it is your job to ensure that each of you take equal
leadership and that all class members have participation opportunities. You should have planned small and large
group activities. It is expected that
the reading be the focus of the day and that all class members should have the
opportunity to demonstrate their understandings of the reading.
After your two-hour session,
a respondent will react to the reading and share some of their teaching
experiences that may apply to this reading.
After the respondent has presented, you are to provide your classmates
with a form to assist you in evaluating your session.
This assignment constitutes
30% of your overall grade. Grading will
be based on: preparation, quality of handout, appropriateness of supplemental
readings, quality of in-class discussion and activities, and each person’s
leadership role. Twenty five of the
thirty points will be assigned to all group members equally; five points will
be assigned as individual grades.
Leadership will be demonstrated by your ability to function as an expert
with reference to the readings and on your ability to support, monitor, and
evaluate student learning. No later
than one week after your presentation, you are to submit to the instructors a
packet which includes: 1. a one-page (no more) group analysis of their
presentation which incorporates peer feedback;
2. individual (also no more than one page) analyses of the process and
individual roles; and 3. the peer evaluation forms as an appendix.
4. Statement
of Guiding Principles for Teaching and Learning
This is a culminating activity in the UTEEM program and
partially meets the requirements of a comprehensive exam. Each of you is to write a scholarly paper
(about 10 pages) that demonstrates your guiding principles for work with
culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse young children and their
families. You must address the four
disciplines, the three ages, and the relationship among strands as it all
relates to early education of culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse
young children and work with their families.
You are to provide citations from all appropriate readings to date as
well as at least five additional readings.
Provide examples from your experiences that give personal meaning to the
guiding principles.You must use APA format.
It is expected that all references provided will have been reviewed by
you and will be analyzed using your own words. Provide linkages to models in early childhood education, as well.
This
will be due April 26. You will be asked to share your understandings both when
you present your portfolio and in the final reflections with your peers. The reflection may done as a song, poem,
performance, role play etc. Be
creative. You do not need to restate
what is in the written product you will be turning in.