Culturally Resp Prac EChild

Catalog description

The course explores culturally relevant pedagogy in early childhood education and practices that optimize student learning and engagement based on the latest cognitive science. Theories on the processes of socio-emotional, cognitive, linguistic, physical, and aesthetic development, as well as the relationship between culture and developmental growth will provide insights into identity development in young children, birth through age 8. The course will help candidates make connections between children's experiences in homes, the neighborhood, school, nature, and in and through multimedia and how they shape learning as well as implications for practice. Particular focus will be on urban teaching contexts, recent immigrant populations, multilingual families, and issues related to poverty. Considerations of global contexts for early childhood education will also be introduced.