Early Childhood Education Center

A philosophy of learning where learners come first

lblouin — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 12:23:10 +0000

A philosophy of learning where learners come first lblouin Wed, 10/13/2021 - 08:23

Smiling young children walk the halls of the Early Childhood Education Center

Those who know ��-Dearborn Professor Seong Hong as one of our veteran education faculty and former director of the Early Childhood Education Center might be surprised to learn she was originally trained as a chemist. Her interest in education came into focus after her undergraduate years when she, her husband and young family traveled to the United States for his graduate work. A fellow chemist, he had been accepted at MIT, but Hong says they couldn’t afford the tuition. So he opted for a full ride at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he began his studies, and she began contemplating her next adventure.

Though fortuitous, their choice to settle in Amherst would end up having a huge influence on her life and career. Inspired by the learning and development of her own young children, she enrolled first in a single education course and then a master’s program at ��ass, where she encountered education faculty who were specialists in a philosophy that was experiencing a surge of interest in the 1980s. Constructivism, a scientific theory of learning rooted in the work of the influential Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and what came to be called genetic epistemology, looked at learning in a fundamentally different way. Constructivists argued that learning isn’t simply an activity where facts and information are transferred from one person to another through showing and telling. Rather, much of our working knowledge and understanding about the world has to be constructed, individually, through our experiences. Based on those experiences and discoveries, we develop our own individual theories about how the world works. As we have more experiences, especially those that don’t fit our prior theories, our ideas are prompted to change and evolve, leading to perpetually deeper understandings of things. Learning, Hong says, is sort of an iterative process of “theory repair.”

A headshot of Education Professor Seong Hong

Importantly, not all knowledge is constructed. Cultural conventions, like how to use a calendar, for example, can be shown more directly, as can many facts. But particularly with early learners, who are just starting their journeys in the world and are going through vital stages of cognitive development, constructed knowledge plays a substantial role. Hong says it’s important to remember that constructivism is fundamentally a theory about knowledge and learning, not teaching, but it has obvious implications for educational practice. If understanding can’t simply be delivered to another person by a transference of knowledge, then a good education has to prioritize more than memorization of facts, or other kinds of information that can be shown or told. Fundamentally, education serves its deepest purpose when it concerns itself with facilitating the very individualized constructed learning processes of students. If it does, it can actually help learners develop the indispensable and inexhaustible skill of learning how to be great at learning.

Take, for example, a subject that has almost universal appeal among children: animals. In a more traditional classroom setting, students might look at pictures, learn the names of different animals, maybe what countries they come from, and other interesting facts. In a constructivist classroom, the educator would lead the children along a different path. “Let’s take bugs, for example — kids love bugs,” Hong says with a smile on her face. “So we might ask the children, so why is it that a fly makes noise when it’s flying, or how can some bugs walk upside down, or how does a spider make its web?” The question challenges students to come up with — i.e. construct — a theory about that, which they then share with their teacher and fellow students. The teacher listens and tries to understand the logic behind the child’s theory, posing questions that may reveal its shortcomings, which provokes the student to amend their idea, and so on. The goal is that the child eventually arrives at an understanding of how the spider does indeed build its web, but the child has learned to reason through that on their own through this process of theory revision. More importantly, they’ve not only learned something about spiders; they’ve actually experienced how learning works.

Moreover, a constructivist educator would have a plan for how, say, an inquiry into spiders’ web making skills, could lead to further inquiries prompted by that initial curiosity. The spiderweb’s intricate geometry, for example, might be a natural segue into learning about shapes; or the way spiders are able to traverse their webs might spark questions about movement and how they’re able to be so acrobatic. Education thus becomes a structured journey through connected curiosities rather than a more random tour of facts contained in various academically defined subjects. Constructivist educators, Hong says, “treat children like researchers.”

If this all sounds like an exciting way to approach education, and also one that’s quite different from most American schools, Hong can empathize. Hong, who now serves as president of the Association for Constructivist Teaching, says the constructivist approach has mainly found a footing in private schools and some progressive public school settings, though its footprint has grown steadily over the past 40 years. The politics and traditions of today’s educational ecosystem, which emphasize accountability and achievement standards — features of what educators sometimes refer to as “the factory model of education” — are formidable forces indeed. And for her students who fall in love with this approach, Hong says it can be “disheartening” to find oneself in a public school setting where it feels like the priority is delivery of a mostly uniform and scripted curriculum.

But as someone who has dedicated much of her life and career to this subject, Hong remains inspired by the many educational oases where constructivism has taken hold. ��-Dearborn’s Early Childhood Education Center, for example, has provided a Reggio Emilia inspired constructivist education to young learners for three decades — and given many ��-Dearborn teachers in training a direct opportunity to see the theory in practice. Through her personal networks with constructivist schools and educators across the country, she’s also helped many students find placements fitting of their passions. Some of her students have gone on to start their own schools.

And even if a teacher ends up in a more traditional educational setting, Hong says she’s hopeful they’ll find ways to integrate constructivist pedagogies into their classrooms. An environment where learners come first can take many forms. And, for her, whatever the scope, finding ways to respect the natural curiosities of students is always an effort worth making.

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Story by Lou Blouin. If you’re a member of the media and would like to interview Professor of Early Childhood Education Seong Hong about this topic, drop us a line at ��Dearborn-News@umich.edu and we’ll put you in touch.

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College of Education, Health, and Human Services

Early Childhood Education Center

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Wed, 10/13/2021 - 12:21

��-Dearborn professor and educational reformer Seong Hong has dedicated her career to constructivism, a dynamic theory of learning that’s long been the antidote to the “factory” model of PreK-12 education.

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‘Preparing our youngest learners for success in the future’

stuxbury — Sun, 15 Aug 2021 15:13:17 +0000

‘Preparing our youngest learners for success in the future’ stuxbury Sun, 08/15/2021 - 11:13

Photo Early Childhood Education Center student learning about space travel

During the past 50 years, ��-Dearborn’s Early Childhood Education Center has educated nearly 10,000 children — and thousands of teachers.

“It’s incredible to think about the impact that the ECEC has had on the community and beyond in these 50 years,” said Catie Stone, 2005 ��-Dearborn early education alumna. “And it’s not just on the children who were taught here or the teachers who came from the program. It’s the kids who indirectly benefited because they had a great teacher inspired by this really special place.”

Stone would know. Not only did she attend the education lab school as a child in the 1980s, she also did her teaching practicum at the ECEC as a ��-Dearborn student in the early 2000s. And later, after earning her Master’s degree, Stone landed a position as an ECEC lead teacher.

Now teaching at the school for more than a decade, Stone said she enjoys watching her former students return to the center and participate in activities like coming in as guests to read to the younger children or writing letters to share how much the center meant to them.

“The center gave me a strong sense of community at an early age; I kept in touch with my teachers. And now some of my students continue to keep in touch with me. Time has passed, but connections made here remain strong. We are a family.”

The adage says that it takes a village to raise a child. And research shows that the people in our early education systems play an important role in helping raise a child to become a successful adult. Not only does early education increase high school graduation rates by double digits, it also improves the likelihood of having a higher-earning job, owning a home and earning a post-high school education.

“It’s preparing our youngest learners for success in the future. And that’s about more than academics — it’s social and critical thinking skills too,” said ECEC Academic Director Sarah Davey. “Much at the ECEC has changed over the past 50 years. We’ve grown. We’ve changed buildings. But what hasn’t changed is our commitment to educating children through creating lesson plans around their interests and having our highly trained teachers guide a new generation of teachers. We are a family of educators who do this enthusiastically because we know the value of early education.”

And it’s this principle of community and engaged learning that the ECEC was founded on. Started as a childcare and educational co-op in 1971, faculty, staff and students would bring their children to the Henry Ford Estate — which is on the southwest side of campus — and the kids would spend the day at and around Ford’s historic mansion.

Professor Rosalyn Saltz, right, is pictured in this early 1990s photo at the campus’ Henry Ford Estate cottages, the location of the center from the late 1970s until 2008.

Education Professor Emerita Rosalyn Saltz, who taught at ��-Dearborn from 1970 until her retirement in 1996, founded the program after seven returning students asked for her assistance in proposing the idea of on-campus childcare to campus’ leadership.

“The 1970s saw a surge in the number of young mothers who wished to pursue a college education. For many of these women, fulfilling this ambition at ��-Dearborn would have been almost impossible if there were not the opportunity for convenient, quality child care while they were attending classes,” Saltz wrote in a 2009 reflection document. “In addition to providing childcare for students pursuing an education, I saw a child care center on our campus as an opportunity to plant the seeds of a future child study laboratory and teacher training facility.”

At first, the group met in the back of the Henry Ford Estate’s kitchen. However, the space wasn’t ideal for children ages 12 months through five. The following year, in 1972, the group moved to one of the three cottages on the campus, which Henry Ford originally had built as servant’s quarters. At the time, those were used as professor family housing. Several years later, as the center’s enrollment grew, the other two cottages were permitted for use to augment the physical facilities as faculty members moved out. Playground equipment was put in. In 1991, a kindergarten class module building was added.

Saltz noted that by the early 1990s, the center enrolled an average of 140 children per year. And more than 90 practicum students in campus courses earned course credits at the Center each term.

With the continually growing enrollment, age of buildings, and need for a space that resembled a modern classroom for practicum teachers, the Center moved to its current Rotunda Drive location in 2009.

Education Professor Emeritus Mary Trepanier-Street, who worked with Saltz since the 1970s and served as ECEC director from 1995 through her retirement in 2011, said the new building was an important step in ECEC history. It could accommodate more pre-service teachers and up to 300 families (note: this is pre-COVID number). It also gave an opportunity for children with developmental challenges to be integrated into the center’s educational programming because of the partnership made with Oakwood Hospital, now Beaumont, to house their pediatric occupational, speech and physical therapy services — the Center for Exceptional Families — in the same building. “The idea was for children who needed added care to be able to leave their classroom for therapy or a rehabilitation service, and then return to the class or receive therapy in their own classroom.. We wanted to create an inclusive environment.”

Photo of Mary Trepanier-Street at promoting ECEC opportunities at an Education Fair at the Henry Ford Estate in 1978.

Concerned about education access, Trepanier-Street — who understood that not all families could afford the center’s tuition rates — also sought Michigan Department of Education funding to start two Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) classrooms for economically disadvantaged families.

“Quality education is expensive. And to have low teacher-to-child ratios and highly qualified teachers, it has to be,” Trepanier-Street said. “That’s why it was important for us to find avenues for access. Children who are in low-income families deserve quality education too.”

Early education advocates for decades, Trepanier-Street and her colleagues were ahead of their time. She’s glad that the federal government is now paying attention to its importance with the recent passage of a $3.5 trillion spending blueprint for social programs — like universal preschool for all Americans — in the U.S. Senate.

Although there are more federal hurdles to overcome before this plan can become a reality, College of Education, Health, and Human Services Dean Ann Lampkin-Williams said she’s hopeful. But no matter what is decided at the federal level, the school will continue to contribute to the community through Reggio-Emilia-inspired teaching — that’s a preschool student-centered pedagogy where lessons emerge around child interests — and preparing teachers.

“It is a blessing to have the talent that we have here — and a huge responsibility,” Lampkin-Williams said. “We know the impact our practicum students will have on young lives in the future. So our university professors and ECEC teachers give them the experience needed to learn, grow and excel. Have an idea for a lesson plan? Bounce it off your teacher. Want to lead a class? You will do that too. Our job is two-fold. Help our youngest learners build the foundation they need for success; and pass along our expertise, research and experience so our future teachers are career-ready and positioned to help early childhood students. We’re great at what we do because of the dedication of our talented and professional ECEC team.”

Davey, who is a CEHHS faculty member in addition to her ECEC director role, agrees. She sees this as a supervisor — and as a parent. Her youngest daughter attended the center last year.

“They know how important education is to families. We were open during the majority of the pandemic. We welcomed children into classrooms safely and worked to give them the best experience they could have,” Davey said. “Even when everything else seemed uncertain, we were a constant. Our teachers and staff went above and beyond because they believe in what they do.”

Back in the classroom, Catie Stone is getting ready for a new academic year. To her, it’s another year to welcome both new and familiar faces and leave a positive impression.

But in the history books, it’s a major milestone. For five decades, ��-Dearborn early childhood educators like her have done their part to teach and inspire the generations to come.

Article by Sarah Tuxbury. If you are a member of the media and would like to talk with Director Sarah Davey about the Early Childhood Education Center or the topic of early childhood, please reach out to ��DearbornNews@umich.edu.

Student Success

University History

College of Education, Health, and Human Services

Early Childhood Education Center

Off

Sun, 08/15/2021 - 15:11

��-Dearborn early childhood educators have been inspiring minds for 50 years. And no matter how much the Early Childhood Education Center grows, it continues to stay close to the child-centric mission that it was founded on in the 1970s.

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Educational exhibit explores the ‘Wonder of Learning’

nlerma — Mon, 19 Jun 2017 14:55:07 +0000

Educational exhibit explores the ‘Wonder of Learning’ nlerma Mon, 06/19/2017 - 10:55

The Wonder of Learning

People love seeing children smile and hearing them laugh.

But what about listening to what they have to say?

The international exhibit The Wonder of Learning: The Hundred Languages of Children explores what happens when people—like educators and parents—really listen to, and not just hear, children.

The 7,500 square foot exhibit, a tri-campus effort brought to ��-Ann Arbor for the campus’ bicentennial, was created to inform the world about the work of the children and teachers of Reggio Emilia.

Reggio Emilia is the teaching method that ��-Dearborn’s Early Childhood Education Center (ECEC) was founded on and it is also used at U-M Ann Arbor’s North Campus Children’s Center and U-M Flint Early Child Development Center. Reggio Emilia, which began in Italy, is an approach that believes children are endowed with "a hundred languages"—like painting, sculpting, drama and more—through which they can express their ideas.

The exhibit has traveled to 31 countries, including 40 cities in the United States. In each location, the exhibit has the goal to increase understanding of the transformative power of early childhood education.

Education Professor Seong Hong said she remembers the impact the exhibit had on her when she saw it more than 25 years ago.

“It celebrates children’s innate curiosity and their potential. They have so much more potential than society gives them credit for. In a way, this exhibit instills a change in the image of the child,” said Hong, faculty director of the ECEC and project lead for the exhibit. “When I first saw it, I thought, ‘I want to bring this to where I work one day.’”

The Wonder of Learning is on display now through August 26 at North Campus’ James and Anne Duderstadt Center and Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design. The hours are noon to 5 p.m., Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and noon to 7 p.m., Thursday.

Hong said the exhibit provides valuable evidence about the difference a rich, child-centered early learning environment can make in the lives of children.

In addition to seeing multimedia—from video to photos to interactive displays of the exhibit—there is also a hands-on section, which is especially appealing to families.

Two accompanying ateliers, or studios, provide a creative space for youth—both the young and young at heart—to interact with concepts highlighted in the exhibit. The Ray of Light atelier will offer children and adults opportunities to explore the many dimensions of light and shadow, utilizing such elements as projectors, mirrors, light tables and more. The Natural Materials atelier lets adults and children explore and manipulate a variety of elements from nature.

“This exhibit will make an impression on you; it will impact the community. That’s what we want to do—to start a dialogue about what makes a quality education,” said Hong, who has actively worked on bringing it to campus for three years. “I was looking for the right time and I knew the bicentennial was it. We are celebrating 200 years of higher education, so let’s take the time to learn more about where the journey begins.”

The Wonder of Learning: The Hundred Languages of Children exhibit is cosponsored by the University of Michigan Children's Centers and the University of Michigan-Dearborn Early Childhood Education Center in partnership with the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design and the James and Anne Duderstadt Center. In addition to Hong, U-M’s Work-Life Programs Senior Director Jennie McAlpine was a project lead.

For more information and to register for paid events or schedule a group tour, go to wonderoflearning.umich.edu.

The Wonder of Learning special events

• The Wonder of Learning Exhibit group tours
June 20 to August 22
Private viewings of the exhibit can be scheduled for school groups every Tuesday. Free.

• The Voices of the Children Documentary Project: Screening and Conversation with John Nimmo
10 a.m. to noon June 29
View the short documentary film, “The Voices of the Children,” and engage in discussion with one of the film's creators, John Nimmo. $25. University of Michigan North Campus Research Center Complex, Building 18. 2800 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor

• Intimate Encounters with the Exhibit
6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. June 29
Enjoy a private viewing of the Wonder of Learning Exhibit and engage in facilitated, deep dialogue on the exhibit's connections to social justice and children's rights. $25. Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, 2000 Bonisteel Blvd. in Ann Arbor

• Wonder of Learning Family Day
1 p.m. to 4 p.m. July 8
A unique opportunity for families to engage with the exhibit and ateliers. Free. James and Anne Duderstadt Center Gallery and Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, 2281 and 2000 Bonisteel Blvd. in Ann Arbor

• Activities at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn
Noon to 6 p.m. Aug. 5
��-Flint Pop Up School will provide play activities at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn. Free. 13624 Michigan Ave. in Dearborn

• Connecting Social Justice and Environmental Stewardship: Impacts and Implications for Young Children
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 26
Hear two presentations from leaders in the field on their work relating to social justice, children's rights and its connection to environmental stewardship. $50.
University of Michigan North Campus Research Center Complex Research Auditorium, Building 10, 2800 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor

Events

College of Education, Health, and Human Services

Early Childhood Education Center

Off

Mon, 06/19/2017 - 14:50

��-Dearborn has brought the international exhibit The Wonder of Learning: The Hundred Languages of Children to ��-Ann Arbor as part of the university’s bicentennial. The exhibit runs through August 26.

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