Hi Amanda,
I wonder if the teachers are concerned about this or is it something you've observed? If teachers are concerned then deep dive could be in order. As a new teacher at a Reggio Inspired center it took me a while to develop my practice of knowing how and when to jump into the play scenario, scaffold in a relevant moment, and plan for scaffolding and/or facilitated experiences. I knew that uninterrupted play is crucial to healthy brain development, but I didn't feel confident yet inserting myself into the children's world. A textbook that helped me get clear on this, and that I now use in its second edition for the Curriculum in ECE course that I teach is Learning Together with Young Children, by Curtis and Carter. Our director provided a copy to everyone, some floating teacher coverage to do some reading, and we spent professional days discussing what we read and using it to plan curriculum. This was a great fit for me at the time because I wanted to learn these skills. I also had colleagues who had not been looking to develop these skills, but because it was a community approach to learning they moved forward with us. The book explains a Curriculum Framework. There are chapters about how to choose materials, how to plan for children to use active bodies as part of the curriculum, "Bring Yourself to the Teaching and Learning Process", "Dig Deeper to Learn with Children". If your school uses a specific curriculum they even have a chapter "Adapt the Curriculum Framework for Different Settings".
Something else that might be helpful is providing some coaches for at least one team or a teacher from each room. That person would not be a supervisor or a teacher on the same team. They would meet with teachers to build a relationship and establish goals, then observe in the classroom and provide feedback according to the goals. At least four months, and ideally nine months, of coaching are necessary to develop a teaching practice in a way that feels supportive to teachers. Teachers get used to being observed, the children get used to another adult in the room and act like themselves again, and most importantly there is time for trust-building. If the supervisor has a great relationship with teachers then it is possible for them to play this role, but it is much more relaxed for teachers when it's not the supervisor. I learned that I needed to be proactively clear with the teachers I supervised when I was wearing a coach hat rather than a supervisor hat because if I didn't specify they assumed it was supervisor.
If the challenges are from your observation rather than teacher's expression then I recommend being transparent and clear about your vision for the program - not by pointing out what you think is wrong with the teaching, but by finding a pedagogical framework or local examples that are the inspiration and sharing that with the teachers. Also, consider that if they don't think it's a problem, it might not be. In that case they may need help explaining their teaching style and what/how children are learning.
I hope that's helpful!
Sincerely,
Lauren
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Lauren Stauble
Consultant/Faculty
Boston, MA
feelthinkconnect.com
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-15-2023 09:36 AM
From: Amanda Jackson
Subject: Increasing student engagement
I have teachers that are struggling with student engagement (special education preschool) - I have had individual conversations, let them observe in other classrooms, and we've done PLC groups on what student engagement should look like. It seems there is too much unstructured play time - adults are not interacting/engaging with students to the maximum extent possible - and students struggle with knowing how to play appropriately.
Any ideas on next steps? Or an approach I could present at a PLC to help teachers understand how to structure their classrooms to increase student engagement?
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Amanda Jackson
Principal
Studebaker Center
Niles MI
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