Descriptor Details

  • Practicum in Early Childhood Education
  • Not Identified
  • 210
  • Not Identified
  • Not Identified
  • 3.0
  • Not Identified
  • Uploaded: 6/15/2022 04:22:07 AM PDT

Demonstration of developmentally appropriate early childhood program planning and teaching competencies under the supervision of ECE/CD faculty and other qualified early education professionals. Students will utilize practical classroom experiences to make connections between theory and practice, develop professional behaviors, and build a comprehensive understanding of children and families. Reflective practice will be emphasized as student teachers design, implement, and evaluate approaches, strategies, and techniques that promote development and learning. Includes exploration of career pathways, professional development, and teacher responsibilities.

12 units of Early Childhood Education or Child Development coursework.

None

None

  1. Course Content: Theory to Practice
    1. Developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate practices
    2. Current research related to children’s development and learning
    3. State and national standards
  2. Professionalism and Ethics
    1. The role and responsibilities of the student-teacher
      1. Typical teaching and non-teaching activities in early childhood settings
      2. Self-reflection and self-assessment
      3. Ethical practices
      4. Appropriate communication and interactions with supervising teacher, peers, children, and families
      5. Positive dispositions of caring, support, acceptance, and fairness
  3. Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences
    1. The ongoing curriculum development cycle
      1. Observation
        1. Strategies
        2. Goals
      2. Planning
        1. Based on observation
        2. Elements of a lesson plan
        3. In collaboration with others
      3. Implementation
        1. Developmentally appropriate practices
        2. Variety of strategies
          1. Intentional teaching
          2. Teachable moments
          3. Child-initiated and teacher-directed interactions
          4. Focused conversations
          5. Flexibility
      4. Reflection and evaluation
        1. Reflection on the experience
        2. Adaptations for multiple reasons
        3. Incorporated into future planning
      5. Documentation
        1. Purpose
        2. Types
    2. Teaching in the content areas
      1. The use of teachers’ discipline-based knowledge in the content areas
      2. Supporting children’s content learning and developing skills
      3. Key content appropriate for young children as contained in the California Infant/ Toddler and Preschool Foundations and Curriculum Frameworks
        1. Social and Emotional Development
        2. Language and Literacy
        3. English Language Development
        4. Mathematics
        5. Visual and Performing Arts
        6. Physical Development
        7. Health
        8. History-Social Sciences
        9. Science
      4. Integration of content areas across the curriculum
  4. Environments for Teaching and Learning
    1. Use of space and floor plans indoors and out
    2. Equipment and material selection
    3. Instructional technology
    4. Routine and schedule
    5. Effects of floor plans and routines on children’s behavior
  5. Classroom Management
    1. Guidance
      1. Developmentally appropriate expectations
      2. Proactive/preemptive guidance strategies
      3. Interactions and positive interventions
      4. Cultural perspectives on guidance
      5. Challenging behaviors
      6. Conflict resolution
    2. Staffing and scheduling
    3. Effects of outside factors
  6. Family Engagement
    1. Home school relationships
    2. Respectful communication
    3. Supporting home language
    4. Partnering with parents to support children’s learning
    5. Preparing for parent conferences
  7. Developing as a Professional Educator
    1. Professional portfolio
    2. Qualifications and standards for teachers in California
      1. Title 22
      2. Title V
      3. Commission on Teacher Credentialing Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs)
    3. Career Ladder
    4. Professional development
    5. Advocacy for children and best practices
    6. Professional responsibilities for the learning outcomes of all children
    7. Skills for working with other adults
      1. Co-plan and co-teach with others
      2. Supervision of others in the classroom such as aides and parents
      3. Constructive performance feedback to adults

  1. Perform typical teaching and non-teaching activities.
  2. Observe children as a basis for planning.
  3. Plan and implement curriculum and learning experiences for key content and skill areas across the curriculum based on observation and assessment.
  4. Use the environment such as physical space, routines, materials, equipment to promote children’s development and learning.
  5. Implement learning experiences to meet children’s individual needs including first and/or second language acquisition.
  6. Demonstrate a variety of teaching strategies.
  7. Contribute as a member of the teaching team.
  8. Use reflection to adjust personal teaching approaches, plans, and the environment.
  9. Set developmentally-appropriate expectations for young children’s behavior.
  10. Document learning and developmental outcomes.
  11. Demonstrate ethical and professional practice.

At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

  1. Apply current research and theories on learning and development to plan experiences for young children.
  2. Demonstrate developmentally appropriate, professional, and ethical practices in supervised early childhood classrooms.
  3. Plan, implement, and evaluate curriculum based on the needs and interests of young children.
  4. Incorporate principles of Universal Design for Learning into a variety of curriculum experiences
  5. Demonstrate how to provide a supportive learning environment for children’s first- and dual-language acquisition, development and learning.
  6. Use documentation and assessment to monitor children’s progress and to adjust learning experiences.
  7. Analyze the impact of the classroom environment and daily routines on children’s behavior as a basis for planning.
  8. Demonstrate how to adjust curriculum, environments, routines, and teaching strategies to meet the individualized needs of infants, toddlers and preschool children.
  9. Identify and implement strategies to prevent and/or address young children’s challenging behaviors and to help children learn to resolve conflicts.
  10. Practice strategies for communication and collaboration with families and other adults in the classroom to support young children’s development and learning.
  11. Reflect on student teaching experiences to guide future teaching, collaborative practices and ongoing professional development.
  12. Describe the ability to provide guidance and constructive performance feedback to other adults in the ECE setting.

  1. Evaluation by master/mentor teacher of student’s activities and products
  2. Self-evaluation using the same method used by mentor/master teacher which demonstrates the student's ability to apply essential teaching skills and to utilize self-evaluation techniques to enhance teaching ability.
  3. Instructor observations during teaching assignment to assess the student teaching competencies
  4. Quizzes, final exams and/or skills demonstrations
  5. Reflective journal and/or professional portfolio

Your Early Childhood Practicum and Student Teaching Experience: Guidelines for Success, Tyminski, current edition, Allyn Bacon

To Teach Well: An Early Childhood Practicum Guide, Browne & Gordon, current edition, Pearson Higher Ed

Student Teaching: Early Childhood Practicum Guide, 5t Ed. Machado & Meyer Botnarescue, current edition, Thompson Delmar Learning 

California State Preschool Learning Foundations, Available at: http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/documents/preschoollf.pdf

California State Infant/Toddler Learning & Development Program Guidelines, Available at: http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/documents/itguidelines.pdf

Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs, Bredekamp & Copple, current edition, NAEYC Publications

Early Childhood Rating Scale, current edition, Harms, Clifford & Cryer, Teachers College Press 

Desired Results Developmental Profile, California State Department of Education, Available at: http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/desiredresults.asp 

  • No
  • Not Identified

  • Not Identified

  • Based on course outlines adopted by the Early Childhood Curriculum Alignment Project (CAP) in 2007 for use by all California Community Colleges and endorsed by the California Community College Early Childhood Educators (CCCECE).

  • [1] The wording “co-requisite” was removed to more accurately reflect that all four courses are required prerequisites 11/19/2013.

  • child, childhood, development, practicum, education,