Foundations in Early Childhood Education

Understand what it means to be in the teaching profession and how teacher preparation has changed over the years.

Engage in a reflective discussion about how teachers can foster students’ growth mindsets and help students develop their EQ while meeting the needs of learners with exceptionalities.

Apply how unconscious bias influences life in the classroom and how deficit, expectation, and cultural difference theories explain dissimilar academic performance among various racial, ethnic, and cultural groups.

Critically consider how the history of education (including the Colonial period, Common School movement, and the education of underrepresented groups) contextualized the way education in America was formed and then how the educational system evolved as a result of reform efforts, federal programs, and influential educators.

Engage in information discovery and analysis regarding some of the major philosophies of education in the United States today and identify some of the psychological and cultural factors influencing education.

Compare the parameters of educational equity and educational adequacy and understand how school boards and superintendents manage schools within confines of budgets and broader community constraints.

Create an outline for how school reform options have impacted public schools and for the role of teachers, community members, and students within those efforts.

Identify the formal and hidden curriculum taught in schools today and the cultural and political implications resulting from current reform efforts like the Common Core State standards and how technology is being integrated.

Demonstrate how teachers navigate their classrooms, set a stage for learning, and support effective instruction in a multitude of ways using different models of instruction.