Early Childhood Practicum II: Pedagogy for Young Children

This capstone fieldwork course is designed to (1) reflect a strength-based stance toward children and families and affirm the identities and cultural and linguistic diversity of all learners, (2) develop practical and evidence-based knowledge for supporting language and literacy development, and (3) enable students to demonstrate their competencies teaching young children. It requires supervised participation in an early childhood education setting (preschool to second grade) and participation in a weekly seminar. Students will explore principles, methods, and materials, informed by current research, for supporting young children’s language and literacy development. Students will utilize practical classroom experiences to make connections between theory and practice, develop professional behaviors around working with children and families, and build a comprehensive understanding of the role of language and literacy in an integrated curriculum. Students will design, implement, and evaluate learning experiences that integrate language and literacy learning for young children with diverse learning styles and needs, with strong emphasis on child centered, play-oriented approaches to teaching, learning and assessment, as well as knowledge of curriculum content areas. Students spend a minimum of 90 hours in the field.

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