New Books
Kagan, S.L., K. Kauerz, & K. Tarrant. 2007/8. The Early Care and Education Teaching Workforce at the Fulcrum: An Agenda for Reform. New York: Teachers College Press. 192 pp. ISBN 9780807748275. $31.95.
The authors review the current status of those who work with children birth through age five and offer a blueprint for improving their work lives and the quality and effectiveness of the services they provide. An overview of the existing knowledge base on the early childhood workforce includes descriptions of who teachers are (personal characteristics, education levels, and so on), their work environments, and teacher quality and effectiveness as well as the systemic challenges facing the early childhood workforce.
A discussion of the early childhood education market system demonstrates how the tug-of-war between compensation for teachers, program and service quality, and affordability for families affects efforts to build a high-quality workforce. Another section addresses key initiatives at the federal, state, and local levels to improve teaching and early childhood education, such as raising teacher requirements, increasing access to professional development, and compensation systems to increase wages in the field but also points out the weak public and political commitment to the funding required for systemic change. The authors conclude with specific recommendations for strengthening the knowledge base on the workforce, building political and public commitment, and improving the day-to-day experiences and effectiveness of early childhood teachers.
Seplocha, H., J. Jablon, & J. Strasser. 2007. The Essential Literacy Workshop Book: 10 Complete Early Childhood Training Modules. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House. ISBN 9780876590591. $39.95.
This book offers a good introduction to emergent literacy of young children for preschool and kindergarten teachers, paraprofessionals, and college students. The training modules cover topics including language development, phonology and phonemic awareness, English-language learners, emergent writing, literacy across the curriculum, diversity and inclusion, literacy environments, and literacy centers in kindergarten. Each workshop description contains all the information and materials needed to carry out a successful training session, such as handouts, creative activities to engage participants in the topic, slides in CD and PowerPoint formats that highlight key points, and photos of print-rich settings.
A detailed trainer’s guide will help even the novice literacy trainer keep workshops moving smoothly, providing resources such as language to use when introducing a particular topic or activity, strategies for prompting participant reflection and discussion, and agendas that note when to introduce overheads and PowerPoint slides. For teachers implementing the literacy strategies in their classrooms, the authors include resources like Web site lists and practical suggestions, such as supporting a child learning English by incorporating a few key words in the child’s primary language into a curriculum theme or learning words in different languages.
Curtis, D., & M. Carter. 2007. Learning Together with Young Children: A Curriculum Framework for Reflective Teachers. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf. 288 pp. ISBN 9781929610976. $44.95.
This is not the kind of curriculum book that lists prescribed schedules and activities. The authors discuss principles of teaching and learning and illustrate them with a wealth of exciting curriculum practices that emotionally and intellectually engage both children and teachers.
The core of the curriculum lies in creating a vibrant classroom culture focused on relationships, inquiry, and the physical environment: all come together to ensure that real learning takes place in daily moments as well as in long-term projects. The classroom vignettes help teachers rethink the way they organize their time with children and how rules, space, and schedules shape the kind of teaching that is possible. Photographs illustrate the section on selecting materials and presenting them in orderly, beautiful arrangements that highlight their aesthetic qualities and offer many possibilities for learning.
In the third curriculum component, the authors invite teachers to examine their own automatic “teacher scripts” when interacting with children and become aware of how their past experiences and assumptions impact their teaching. Teachers will learn how to slow down and see what is unfolding in the learning experience and how they can make their values about teaching and learning come alive in the space, materials, and curricular activities they provide.
The last two components include teaching techniques to help children learn strategies for taking responsibility for their own learning and ideas to aid them in exploring their thinking in depth.
Hamilton, B. 2007. IT’s Elementary! Integrating Technology in the Primary Grades. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education. 186 pp. ISBN 9781564842282. $37.95.
One challenge for elementary schools is preparing children to live in a world that goes beyond teachers’ imaginations. In the fast evolving world of technology, schools must move away from the belief that students need to learn cutting-edge skills and focus instead on teaching the core skills that will enable children to adapt as technology changes. The author describes the collaboration between teachers, computer specialists, the school librarian, and administrative and support teaching staff to infuse technology throughout the curriculum at their K–5 school. She also discusses how to accomplish a technology makeover on a limited budget, with a focus on technology as a tool for children’s learning and as a medium for expressing it.
The book features topics like acquiring cost-effective hardware and software; organizing the computer lab, classroom workstations, and computer desktops; and providing training for teachers with varying levels of computer skills. The curricular redesign is illustrated with sample activities and projects and creative strategies for teachers to use with children, like innovative ways to use word processing, desktop publishing, and presentation software to create visuals. The author includes suggestions for using technology to support teachers, such as all the teachers in a school accessing and contributing to one online listing of favorite educational Web sites.
Titles are selected from the many new books received by NAEYC. Educator Gail Perry writes the brief annotations. The books are available from the publishers listed, your local bookstore, or online retailers.
Copyright © 2007 by the National Association for the Education
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