Welcome to my page! :)

               My name is Jennifer Reilly and I am a senior at the University of South Carolina, majoring in Early Childhood Education.  I am currently enrolled in EDPY401, a course concerning “Learners and Diversity.”  Our teacher, Chris Craft assigned us to do an Inquiry Project, focusing on a video specializing in an area of education.  I chose to do a video that I saw in one of my other education classes because I liked it so much.

             This video is of Dr. Mary Earick, my EDEC342 teacher here at the University of South Carolina.  The video shows an unrehearsed clip of her teaching strategies in a kindergarten classroom.  It takes place in 1997 in New Haven, CT.  The clip is from a 58 minute video, called "Starting Small."  According to their website, the Starting Small project "Is dedicated to providing teachers, caregivers, parents, and all others interested in the education of young children with tools and ideas for building awareness and tolerance in children."

             The four topics I saw within this video include 1) The emphasis of a “natural” teaching style, one that is unstructured, and based on student initiated instruction. 2) Her methods to a successful inclusion of a person with disabilities. 3) The importance of providing opportunities for personal experience, which enables the students to make connections, therefore leading to a better understanding of the material. 4) Her emphasis on motivation.  The students created a goal and gained a sense of accomplishment once they achieved this goal.

             Dr. Earick has a rather different teaching style, which some may find unorganized and unstructured.  I believe that in this situation, the unstructured instruction is what enabled it to be so successful.  Dr. Earick asked the students what they think they should do in order to prepare the guest who had a disability that required them to use a wheelchair.  The students themselves created a solution to the problem.  I truly believe this teaching method promoted the students creativity and enabled them to explore possibilities as they strategized together.

             The woman visiting the class was a friend of Dr. Earick’s.  Dr. Earick made a conscious effort to explain to her students about her friend’s disability and the things she would need in order to visit the class.  Her strategy of working towards inclusion was presented in a positive way, one that informed the class of what to expect.  Our textbook on Developmental Psychology defines inclusion as the “Practice of educating all students, including those with severe and multiple disabilities, in neighborhood schools and in general education classrooms” (Ormrod 151).  Dr. Earick begins demonstrating her friend’s disability by using a small doll and wheelchair to show the class what it is like for her friend.  She then goes on to both ask the class questions, as well as answer any questions they may have.  She provides an opportunity for the class to tell how what they just learned made them feel.  The students in Dr. Earick’s class appear to be in Piagaet’s stage of Concrete Operations, as they do not show signs of egocentric speech.  Our textbook defines egocentric speech as the “Act of speaking without taking the perspective and knowledge of the listener into account” (Ormrod 27).  The students are capable of seeing the visitor’s perspective of what it would be like to be in a wheelchair, and they work together to find a solution to how she can actually get into the classroom.

             Dr. Earick demonstrates her beliefs in the theories of Vygotsky throughout this video.  She assists the students with tasks that they themselves cannot physically perform.  The students came up with the idea to make a ramp for the visitor, and Dr. Earick did not direct them in any way, but she simply assisted the students when they were unable to do something.  Our textbook describes a theory of Vygotsky as it says “Children can perform more challenging tasks when assisted by more advanced and competent individuals” (Ormrod 36).  I absolutely loved how Dr. Earick rented the wheelchairs, which provided the students with the opportunity to see what it was like for their upcoming visitor.  The students gained an understanding through the personal experiences they had by pushing themselves in the wheelchair.

             The students were clearly motivated and had positive feelings towards what was presented to them.  They were eager to find a solution to how the visitor could enter the school as well as their classroom.  Through teamwork, the students were able to accomplish the goal of having the visitor come inside their class.  Through peer interaction, the students gained a better understanding of the material.  Our textbook says “By discussing various perspectives on a situation or problem, children can often construct a more complete understanding of a topic” (Ormrod 42).  Dr. Earick was careful to make sure each student had an opportunity to explain their perspective on the situation.        

             I found this video to be very beneficial as it provided an example of what a truly influential teacher is like within the classroom.  She treated the students with respect, and in return, she was given respect by them.  Her enthusiasm and drive is simply captivating.  In the video, you will see how engaged the students are and how they feel comfortable actively contributing their thoughts and emotions regarding the situation they are placed in.

Ormrod, J. E. (2006). Educational Psychology: Developing Learners. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. 

http://www.startingsmallproject.org/ 

http://www.tolerance.org/teach/resources/starting_small.jsp