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Full-Text Articles in Education
Balancing Free Play And Structured Learning Opportunities In Early Childhood Education Classrooms: Contrasting Perceptions Of Teachers And Researchers, Logan Mentzer
University Honors Theses
This study explored how early childhood education classrooms can provide a balance of learning opportunities that are both initiated by the child and facilitated by the teacher. Three transitional/preschool teachers were interviewed along with two researchers who study preschool/kindergarten classrooms. The results of this study found four strategies that are used in early childhood education classes that allow both child exploration and adult facilitation: 1) creating close teacher-child relationships; 2) creating close lead-assistant teacher relationships; 3) using both mental and physical planning; 4) using guided questions to teach. There were interesting differences in contrasting perspectives of early childhood education teachers …
Focusing On Grace And Courtesy In The Hopes Of Achieving A More Peaceful Classroom Community, Marshetta Davis
Focusing On Grace And Courtesy In The Hopes Of Achieving A More Peaceful Classroom Community, Marshetta Davis
Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers
Children are at risk of becoming adults who are unable to live, work and thrive together within communities across the United States of America due to lack of respect for themselves, other humans and things in the world which goes along with social courtesies. The researcher was an early childhood education teacher who holds a Montessori certification. For six weeks, the participants in the study were able to focus on Grace and Courtesy lessons in which they participated by observing the teacher modeling care of self, care of others, and care of things with careful attention with, mindful movement, and …
Creative Common Worlding With Research Creation In Early Childhood Education, Sarah M. Hennessy
Creative Common Worlding With Research Creation In Early Childhood Education, Sarah M. Hennessy
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Creative Common worlding with research-creation in early childhood education engages with provocations that disrupt dominant understandings of children and their relations with more-than-human and human others. Reconceptualizing alternatives through art, this dissertation contemplates the potent possibilities beyond human stewardship, underscores the influence of an uncommoning lens, and emphasizes the difficulties with humancentric notions of research. If, by disrupting how we understand ourselves and our role in place, we modify our actions and change our habits, then perhaps we can live differently and contribute differently to the planet. Through a common worlds framework together with research-creation, this dissertation considers climate education …
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, How Should We Read: Applying Principles Of Literacy Development To Shared Book-Reading Experiences, Kalika Melody Burnett Bridwell
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, How Should We Read: Applying Principles Of Literacy Development To Shared Book-Reading Experiences, Kalika Melody Burnett Bridwell
Senior Theses
Literacy has long been recognized as critical to success in and out of the classroom (Duchouquette, 2014; Hernandez, 2011; National Center for Family Literacy, 2008), having significant impact on students’ ability to achieve positive outcomes in academic, professional, social, and personal domains. Research suggests that this correlation is established at an early age (Cunningham & Zibulsky, 2011, Storch & Whitehurst, 2002, National Center for Family Literacy, 2008), giving urgency to the provision of high-quality early literacy education and to the identification of best practices in this area. Outside of explicit teaching, one of the most popular of these practices is …
Teacher Perception Of A Brief Mindfulness-Based Curriculum And Its Impact On The Development Of Social Skills And Self-Regulation On A Preschool Classroom, Allison Poggendorf
Teacher Perception Of A Brief Mindfulness-Based Curriculum And Its Impact On The Development Of Social Skills And Self-Regulation On A Preschool Classroom, Allison Poggendorf
Educational Specialist, 2020-current
Recent studies on mindfulness and its impact on children have found promising results, especially with social-emotional skill development. A majority of the research on mindfulness applied in educational setting tends to focus on elementary and high school students, and there is limited, but growing research that examines the impact of mindfulness among early childhood students. This current study explored the impact of a brief mindfulness-based curriculum on an intact preschool classroom. Specifically, this study examined if preschool teachers perceive mindfulness practices in the classroom to impact their students’ self-regulation skills and social skills and how likely they were to continue …
A Pedagogy Of Play: How Pre- And In-Service Early Childhood Teachers’ Perceptions Of Play Are Influenced As A Result Of Practicum Experience In A Play-Based Environment, E. B. Nygard
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones
There is a growing body of research behind the play-based movement in education today – a topic that is somewhat controversial (Nicolopoulou et al., 2010; Overstreet, 2018). While some are steeped in a more classical approach to early education, advocating learning should be painful (Adler & Van Doren, 1988), others are paving the way for a more progressive approach, suggesting play to be the premier window into a child’s development (Paley, 1979-2014; Wohlwend & Peppler, 2015). The purpose of this study was to look at how the perceptions of pre- and in-service teachers changed regarding play and storytelling after participating …
The Effect Of Antiracist Children’S Literature On Developing Racial Awareness In Early Childhood, Brittany L.M. Ladd
The Effect Of Antiracist Children’S Literature On Developing Racial Awareness In Early Childhood, Brittany L.M. Ladd
Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers
In this study, I asked the question, “What effect will antiracist children’s literature have on a white, homeschooled, 5-year-old child’s developing awareness of race and racial issues?” Over the course of four weeks, my child and I read and discussed antiracist children’s literature, and then I recorded my child’s signs of developing racial awareness using qualitative and quantitative data tools. In analysis of this data, I discovered that my child’s developing awareness focused more heavily on race and the understanding of skin tones than on racial issues such as a sense of equality. This finding aligns with early child developmental …
Weaving Child-Plastic Relations In The Ecuadorian Andes, Alexandra M. Berry
Weaving Child-Plastic Relations In The Ecuadorian Andes, Alexandra M. Berry
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
In the small Andean town of Racar, Ecuador, plastics are deeply woven into land and culture. Within postqualitative framings, this dissertation puts into conversation research-creation and curriculum-making to invent pedagogical responses to plastics with children and early childhood educators at a local school named Santana. This pedagogical project interferes with prevailing Euro-western visions of the human in education that separate children in the Ecuadorian Andes from their relations with place and plastics. Together we think with material/conceptual contradictions and possibilities proposed through Andean weaving techniques as minor, but important, entry points to figuring the child within increasingly synthetic worlds in …
Embracing The Reggio Emilia Approach To Early Childhood Education, Tarabeth Brumfield Heineman
Embracing The Reggio Emilia Approach To Early Childhood Education, Tarabeth Brumfield Heineman
Theses, Dissertations and Capstones
Each year, hundreds of early childhood educators from the many parts of the world travel to a small town in the northern part of Italy to study the arts-based, project focused, a child-initiated method known as the Reggio Emilia approach. This unique approach focuses on infant-toddler through preschool and primary education. While teachers are engaged in professional learning and growth, it is hard to determine how many early childhood programs and classrooms are truly influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach. The purpose of this study was to explore and examine the experiences of five teachers from West Virginia who have …
Outdoor Early Intervention Services: Current Practices And Future Directions, Tiffany Lee
Outdoor Early Intervention Services: Current Practices And Future Directions, Tiffany Lee
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Outdoor play is a crucial in supporting child development, resiliency, social skills, creative thinking, adaptability, family growth, and family engagement. Unfortunately, children are spending less time outside because of technology, parent fears, and other factors. Parents who have a child with a disability have even more challenges when it comes to playing outside. Thus, children with disabilities are spending even less time in outdoor environments. Early Intervention (EI) is a program that is designed for infants and toddlers between the ages of zero to three that have developmental delays and/or disabilities. EI uses a family-center approach in natural environments to …
Developing Self-Efficacy In Mathematics Through Visual Art: An Observational Research Report On A Preschool Child With Exceptionalities, Ever Daw-Powers
Developing Self-Efficacy In Mathematics Through Visual Art: An Observational Research Report On A Preschool Child With Exceptionalities, Ever Daw-Powers
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
Self-efficacy is a skill that can inspire problem solving, high confidence, and critical thinking skills. As educators seek to create an enriching, inclusive, and engaging academic environment for students with disabilities, it is important to incorporate strategies for building self-efficacy throughout learning. I pose a potential solution to integrate self-efficacy building into mathematical concepts through visual art. The participant in this study is a four-year-old child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), sensory input issues, and a developmental delay. Over a four-week period, I performed a pre-assessment, four lesson plans, and a post-assessment. I created the assessment to measure …