Research tells us that the match between the teacher and the philosophy of the place where they teach has a great impact on the teacher’s longevity and fulfilment in the career. One of our Professional Teaching Dispositions is being aware of our gifts and challenges as finding a teaching model that best fits the teacher that each of us is striving to be.
For this assignment, you will research the five major Early Childhood Teaching Models – Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Waldorf, Constructivism and High Scope. This assignment could help to shape your educational process from this point on and help you to develop a particular lens through which to see your coursework and experiences.
Each of the five teaching models has a unique focus and way of engaging with children but also has commonalities in the foundational beliefs about the needs of children. You are encouraged to research these models in any way you see fit – reading articles about them, talking to teachers who work within these models, exploring their websites for their organizations or schools that use the models or any other method that would be helpful to you. Our goal is for you to choose a model and be able to discuss the reasons why you have chosen the model with your classmates in the Week 3 Discussion.
To help you to organize the information you find on each model, you must answer the following questions for each.
• Define/describe the model. Where, when and why was it designed?
• Who is the founder and what is the social historical context in which the model was founded?
• What was the philosophy of the model and what are its goals?
• How does the model view children and how does this design help children learn?
• How do adults and children interact in this model?
• Does the model have particular materials or environments essential to it?
• How do they group children? What age children does this model serve?
• Choose three other things that you think help you to understand the essence of this model.