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Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education Conceptual Framework

The Relationship of the Preparation Programs in Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education to the Conceptual Framework of the University of Georgia College of Education

According to the conceptual framework of the professional education unit of the University of Georgia, “the College of Education prepares exemplary, reflective professionals to serve a diverse global community; it achieves that end through teaching, scholarship, outreach, and partnership at the local, national, and international levels.” The evidence in the four program reports submitted to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission shows that the initial and advanced preparation programs in early childhood education and elementary education embody the conceptual framework by preparing the kind of professionals that the unit values. 

Three of the four reports present evidence on initial preparation programs in early childhood education (the B.S.Ed. partnership program, the B.S.Ed. prekindergarten to grade 2 emphasis, and the M.Ed. early childhood certification option [ECCO]); the fourth report is on the advanced early childhood education master’s and specialist programs and the advanced early childhood and elementary education doctoral programs

Exemplary professionals have both a deep knowledge of the subject matter they are expected to teach and the pedagogical knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are required to make subject matter developmentally accessible, meaningful, and useful for students. Standardized measures; course grades; evaluations from mentor teachers, employers, and the candidates themselves; exhibitions; portfolios; exit examinations; and other measures make clear that initial and advanced candidates in early childhood and elementary education display these characteristics of exemplary professionals.

Undergraduates enter the programs with as strong a background in subject matter as any candidates to teach prekindergarten to grade 5 in the country, as reflected in their SAT and ACT scores and performance in the core curriculum. The content knowledge of ECCO candidates is assessed at program entry, and candidates are expected to complete additional arts and sciences coursework as necessary. The continuing study of subject matter by initial program candidates in their methods courses (which are all subject-matter based) and in the mathematics concentration (required for all undergraduates, taken by ECCO candidates if required as a result of the transcript analysis) enhance that knowledge, while the professional sequence of coursework and field experiences in diverse placements helps them develop the pedagogical content knowledge and other professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are required for exemplary teaching.

The advanced programs continue the development of the candidates as exemplary professionals.  The master’s program is intended to extend and blend content knowledge and the theoretical and practical understanding of advanced candidates. They are encouraged to become more familiar with research and to develop their skills as action researchers. Candidates may choose from either the specialist or the doctoral programs for their terminal work, though candidates with a specialist degree sometimes go on to complete a doctorate. The specialist program is most often selected by individuals who focus their careers on teaching and curriculum leadership at the pre-collegiate level; the doctoral program, by those who aspire to teach and conduct research at the university level. Classroom teachers may, however, select a doctoral program with the intention of staying in or returning to the classroom after completing the degree. In the doctoral programs, candidates are expected to develop research and teaching skills, engage in intensive study of educational issues, and conduct and disseminate original research. Doctoral candidates also work as graduate assistants, which gives them opportunities to further develop their skills as teacher educators and researchers. In addition to becoming university faculty, graduates of the program sometimes take leadership positions in school districts, government agencies, or other educational organizations.

Reflective professionals think and act in ways that demonstrate their commitment to their own learning and to the learning of their students. They develop habits of mind that compel them to assess the effects of their actions on student learning and to reconstruct their work on the basis of such evidence. Initial and advanced candidates in early childhood and elementary education develop these characteristics of reflective professionals.

Mentor teachers and employers, in their ratings of initial candidates in the partnership program and the P2 emphasis in the areas of planning, providing instruction, dispositions, and effect on student learning, confirm that these candidates have developed the characteristics of reflective professionals who learn in order to enhance the learning of their own students. The self-ratings of the candidates also demonstrate their ability to reflect on their own teaching and identify areas where they need to focus their learning and that of their students.

Reflection is one of the four themes that connect ECCO courses and experiences. ECCO candidates develop and demonstrate their skills in reflection in their initial portfolios constructed in the launching course, in their exhibitions of readiness for student teaching, in their certification portfolios, and in the exit letters they write at the conclusion of the induction experience following student teaching and certification. The comprehensive assessment process confirms that ECCO candidates develop the characteristics of reflective professionals who learn in order to enhance the learning of their own students.

Candidates in the advanced programs enhance their skills and dispositions as reflective professionals in the context of their work as teachers and researchers. They learn to clearly identify problems that are worthy of study, and they systematically address those problems in action research projects, in dissertation studies, and in other research efforts guided by faculty. 

The unit's conceptual framework also emphasizes the importance of candidates' being prepared to work in diverse communities, which means candidates must be disposed to act in ways that demonstrate the belief that all students can learn, even those students who have historically not been served well in schools. The early childhood and elementary education programs have had an explicit commitment to diversity since at least February 1993, when the Interdisciplinary Multicultural Education Committee was established in the former Department of Elementary Education. That committee’s work influenced activities related to diversity within the College of Education and across the University of Georgia.

Initial preparation candidates in the partnership program and P2 emphasis are placed, for their field experiences, at partner schools with diverse populations. As important, they are supported by mentor teachers and university facilitators to respond appropriately to the unique needs of individual children.

Appreciation of diversity is another of the four ECCO themes introduced in the launching course and carried through the induction experience, a unique element of ECCO that follows certification. In the student teaching experience prior to certification, candidates are placed at schools with diverse children and are supported by mentor teachers and university facilitators to respond appropriately to the many aspects of diversity that they encounter.

Initial preparation candidates therefore develop the belief that all students can learn, as indicated by the ratings of candidates’ dispositions by mentor teachers and employers, as well as their own ratings, because they are placed in situations where they see such learning occur, where they see that they themselves can have a positive effect on the learning of children with a variety of backgrounds and characteristics.

Advanced candidates continue to develop their appreciation of diversity through a diversity requirement and through field experiences with diverse populations. All candidates who enroll in graduate programs must satisfy a diversity requirement of the College of Education. Master’s degree candidates in early childhood education must include in their program of study at least one course in which there is a substantial emphasis on diversity issues. Such issues include but are not limited to race, ethnicity, age, gender, educational and socioeconomic status, language, religion, national origin, disability status, and sexual orientation (College of Education Diversity Requirement, 1998). Candidates in specialist and doctoral programs may, instead of taking a course to satisfy the diversity requirement, complete an alternative experience related to diversity. Examples include community service programs or related projects; supported learning experiences in off-campus settings (including service-learning projects, study abroad, internships, etc.); participation in campus or community lectures or workshops; and attendance at multicultural events sponsored by the College of Education or the university at large. Candidates who choose this option must submit a proposal for the experience to be formally approved by the advisor. An accompanying product that illustrates critical reflection on the experience is also required.

The early childhood and elementary education initial and advanced preparation programs, therefore, support the conceptual framework of the professional education unit by preparing exemplary and reflective professionals who appreciate the diversity of children and teachers and who have the knowledge, the skills, and the moral and political strength to support the learning of all their students.