Packing Slip 
item |
The Power of Communities through Early Childhood |
contact |
Diana Abel (Glendale Community College) diana.abel@gcmail.maricopa.edu |
college(s) |
Glendale Community College |
discipline(s) |
Early Childhood Education |
summary |
My project goal was to explore culture in the lives of children across four countries. |
details |
My project goal was to explore the issues of culture in the lives of children, as compared across multiple countries. Culture plays a complex and ubiquitous role in shaping children's earliest learning opportunities and experiences in the home. Parent's beliefs about when and how children learn preschool-related skills, their daily interactions with their children, and the social rules that guide these interactions combine in intricate ways to create what Luis Moll has termed "funds of knowledge" that are based in culture (Moll, Amanti, Neff, and Gonzalez, 1992). The four cultures explored: Ireland, Japan, Italy and Australia share strong commonalities with respect to the dignity of the young child. All four cultures share common themes: 1) fostering of diversity in curriculum; 2) teacher knowledge about how children learn best is a valued and sought behavior; 3) the value of the family in support of the young child is crucial. Set against the backdrop that America does not yet embrace a national policy in the involvement of the federal government in the lives of young children, the individual governments of Japan, Italy, Ireland and Australia have embraced or having an emerging concept of the need for a unified national policy that defines the role of best practices with young children and a need for education of their teachers and caregivers. The duration of my project lasted three weeks and included Internet-based research conducted from my home. ------------------------------------------------------------ Outcomes: In a paragraph or two describe what worked well. Did you accomplish your objective(s)? Were you able to complete your summer project as written? If not, what did you modify and why? What did not go as well as expected, if anything? Were there any surprises? Note: Use the questions as guides for your outcomes. Do not include detailed list of workshops attended, speakers who presented, or a list of items you have seen, heard, or read. ------------------------------------------------------------ I feel that I accomplished my goals within the spirit of the original proposal. The research portion of the project allowed me to spend time focused on elements in the lives of young children across four cultures that I have not previously studied. The goal of creating storyboards proved a bit more challenging than I expected. In hindsight I feel that I should have enrolled in a graphic/digital workshop or course so that I could have had better resources to draw upon in the area of storyboarding/graphic displays. This is an area that I would like to know more about and develop better skills. I have identified three new goals that I would like pursue in the future: to explore the elements of storytelling, to explore the interplay of graphics and pictures in a story, and to explore the sequencing of digital storytelling. I had hoped to develop a level of comfort with the concept of storyboarding so that I could begin to tell “stories” about my research. However, I learned that “learning” to develop storyboards is a skill that needs more than self-directed learning – I know realize that I will need a more formal/structured approach to learning this skill. To accomplish newly formulated goals, I feel that I should explore district resources and enroll in digital storytelling workshops or similar courses. ------------------------------------------------------------ Professional Growth: Your own professional growth is a large part of your project. Your professional growth is important to you, your students, your college, and possibly other colleagues. How did project affect you professionally? What skills did you learn? What environments were you working in and how might your summer project influence your teaching or other responsibilities? Did you gain a different perspective? Was it professionally valuable for you? ------------------------------------------------------------ Researching the concept of culture across four countries solidified my belief that exposing students to issues of global diversity within the early childhood field is a valid practice. This project authenticated my philosophy that an awareness of global diversity is important in the selection of texts, assignments and curriculum development. Additionally, the challenge I faced in attempting to independently learn storyboarding reminds me that appropriate supports in the classroom are necessary to scaffold learning. ------------------------------------------------------------ Dissemination: How will you share this information with your colleagues, department, students, or college? ------------------------------------------------------------ I want to create learning modules based upon my research. These learning modules will be used in the classroom and used in cross-cultural parenting classes, diversity in early childhood education classes and global child development. I want to continue to explore how to develop storyboards so that I can utilize this strategy as a component of classroom assessment methods. Note! As a professional courtesy to the owner of this package, if you use some aspect of this package or have some thoughts about it, please share your feedback via the comments form below. |
web links |
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/fpg/ |
comments |
Most recent comment about this package:
On Mon Nov 14, 2005 at 1:27AM S.kuraliniyan India <eniyan_k@yahoo.co.in> said: |
shareback |
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extra |
Last modified: Sep-20-2005 Date created: Sep-20-2005 Visitor count: 3973 Dublin Core Metadata record  This package is included in the Faculty Professional Growth Summer Project Reports special collection. |
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