•Becoming a
professional in the field of early childhood education requires you to become
familiar with the various developmental theories as well as research that
studies the effectiveness of various learning approaches. Throughout the last
two weeks, you have learned about these different theories and approaches to
learning. After engaging in discussions with your classmates, you now have
ideas about which theories and approaches you would like to use in your work
with children. Using the steps below, you will sort through these theories and
approaches to shape who you are as a teacher and what you believe about how
children learn best. This assignment will also help you prepare for your final
assignment.
•Prior to beginning
work on this assignment, access the APA Template (available in the online
classroom) for assistance with the writing process, formatting, documentation,
and citations in your written work.
•Step
1: Reflect back on
your initial response in the “Aspects of Theories” discussion from Week Two and
the “Learning Approaches” discussion from this week. Using the theories and
approaches that were discussed, fill in the table below by ranking each according
to how you connected with them (“most connected” at the top and “least
connected” at the bottom. Be sure to delete the example row provided).
•
Theorists/Theories
–Most connected to leastconnectedLearning
Approaches –Most connected to least connected
•Ex:
1. Piaget – Theory of Cognitive Development
•Ex:
1. High Scope
•1.
•1.
•2.
•2.
•3.
•3.
•4.
•4.
•5.
•5.
•6.
•7.
• 8.
•
•Step
2:Using the table as a
guide, research yourtop twotheories andtop
two learning
approaches. You will create a word document or a PowerPoint presentation that
contains your responses to the points below as they are applied toeach of your top two
theories and top two learning approaches.
•Summarize the
underlying principles or ideas for each of your two theories and for each of
your top two approaches.
•Explain why your top
two theories and your top two approaches are important to understand and how
each will benefit your work with children.
•Discuss how your top
two theories and your top two approaches will help you to be an effective
teacher.
•Summarize the
similarities you see between the theory and model of those you ranked first.
For example, if Piaget’s theory of cognitive development was your top theory
and the Reggio Emilia approach was your top learning approach, share how these
two ideas support one another.
•Step
3:Submit your
assignment to your instructor as a Word document or as a PowerPoint that
contains your table from Step 1 and your responses to the questions from Step
2. Whichever option you choose, you will also need to follow APA format and
include title and reference pages. In addition, the information in your
assignment needs to be supported by the textbook and at least one additional
scholarly source. Be sure to cite your sources in the Word document or
PowerPoint and list them on the reference page/slides. If you need assistance
with making sure that your paper or references are properly formatted in APA,
please utilize the APA Guidance link that is located within the Learning
Resources tab on the left hand side of the course or visit the Ashford WritingCenter.
•Carefully review
theGrading
Rubric for the
criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
