Figuring out if a preschool classroom is a welcoming and educational space for children doesn’t require special skills, say Kira Hamann, a preschool teacher at Ravenswood Elementary School in Chicago and Lisa Vahey with the Chicago-based First Five Years Fund, a nonprofit organization that supports early education.
The classroom should have a large, inviting space that allows children and the teacher to gather for group activities. Several “centers” should be set up around the room that allow small groups of children to explore activities on their own. And don’t forget quiet nooks that allow an individual child space for privacy.
And forget an explosion of store-bought materials taped to the wall. Instead of emptying out the local teacher supply store, preschool teachers should have classrooms that focus primarily on work done by the children. “It should be the students’ work that’s pushing through,” Hamman said.
When it comes to the teacher’s interaction with young children, reporters should see that the teacher is comfortable with engaging her students’ attention as well as allowing them independence to play and do projects on their own. That comes through whether the teacher is animated or more subdued in her approach to teaching, said Vahey and Hamann.
Keeping these clues in mind, time-pressed reporters visiting preschool classrooms can usually spot good teaching in just a half hour of observation, they said.
“A 30 minute view of teaching is a pretty authentic snapshot,” Vahey said.
Hamann and Vahey’s presentation included videos and pictures of effective interaction with students as well as classrooms geared toward early student learning. Reporters looking for further examples of infant and toddler interaction of adults can visit the California Department of Education Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/itfoundations.asp, for links to reports and a companion DVD set.
—Christina A. Samuels
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