Interviewing Professionals in Early Childhood- Blog Assignment 1

       Upon interviewing two professionals in the early childhood field I feel reassured that developmentally appropriate practice is an important issue for me to advocate for.  I was completely disappointed to hear that neither of the teachers I interviewed knew what it meant to advocate for educational issues, and one did not understand what developmentally appropriate practice meant.  This made me realize just how important of an issue it is to advocate for.

 

       Since the school the two teachers I interviewed have a staff member that directly advocates on behalf of the school (i.e. going to rally's and advocacy events at the capitol) neither teacher had really thought about advocating for topics directly related to early childhood.  I took it upon myself to interview a third source in order to get some better insight into the issues of education from someone I know who is involved more in advocacy efforts.  I had originally chosen two teachers who were working in an early childhood setting, but this educator does have an elementary degree except she teaches sixth grade (In Michigan teachers have an Elementary Education degree and it goes K-5, and then they can get endorsements to teach S.E. K-12, ECE for prek-K, and 6-8 self contained).  She felt that common core was going to help ensure developmentally appropriate practice because teachers will be forced to make sure their students are teaching specific age appropriate material.  The previous state standards did not keep teachers accountable for teaching specific material, but were rather vague in what materials needed covered and what standards had to be met.  Instead, teachers were focused more on teaching to a test instead of actually making sure their students were learning the appropriate material.  So, when they would come into her class they were all at different levels depending on what the teacher the previous year focused on the most. 

 

       None of the teachers I interviewed knew of any advocacy efforts that were currently underway in their area, but they did comment on some efforts they were interested in advocating for.  One teacher felt that the school year was becoming too long for children.  She commented that the state keeps tacking on more and more days to the school year, and the children are quickly becoming burnt out.  After spring break she feels like the students are mentally worn and have checked out.  I asked how she felt about going year round and having more breaks during the school year and she was not in agreement with this practice.  I am not sure that I agree with her, but her view was that teachers need the summer break not only mentally but some financially need to work a summer job.  I do not feel that her argument is in the best interest of the children and their educational success.

      

        I strongly feel like advocating for developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood (preschool through third grade) is important for me to do especially in my area.  The subtopics I would like to focus on include teaching materials, common core standards, and integrating subjects.  For teaching materials I would like to discuss what materials are appropriate for using with young children and which are not vs. what teachers are most commonly using in this area.  When talking about common core standards I would like to discuss what implications this will have on what teachers are teaching at which age level and the appropriateness of the topics/standards vs. what teachers think the children should know at that age level.  Finally, when integrating subjects I want to focus on crossing curriculums in order to enhance children's learning and to fit in everything that is required for teachers to teach the students. 

 

 

 

 

       So, now for some questions I have for everyone...

 

 

        1) What other issues can you think of for me to incorporate into my topic of developmentally appropriate practice?

        

 

        2) Can you think of any highlights I should focus on for my three subtopics that I haven't mentioned?

 

       

        3) How well do you think teachers in your district or teachers you have observed adhere to DAP in their classrooms?  In which ways do they use and not use DAP? 

 

 

        4) What areas have you observed in your field work for improvement in using DAP due to lack of knowledge of what DAP means on the teacher's part? 

 

 

        5) Have you seen moments when the teacher could use DAP when they weren't?  Why do you think they were avoiding it (e.g. lack of knowledge, cutting corners due to time constraints)?