Career Architecture & Early Childhood Education

How will you use Career Architecture as an Early Childhood Education major at SU? Here are some suggestions from our Early Childhood Education faculty:

SELF-DISCOVERY

  • Understand how children learn and develop, and provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social, and personal development
  • Develop awareness and sensitivity to issues that impact on learning in multicultural populations
  • Demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills
  • Examine significant issues in education and their impact on students, parents, and the community
  • Assess personal values and integrity through discussion, self-examination, and personal performance
  • Demonstrate the ability to work effectively as a member of the professional educational community
  • Identify and develop strategies for successfully solving interpersonal conflicts in a professional situation

CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATIONS

  • Interact with students, colleagues, supervisors, and other school-based personnel effectively
  • Provide, receive, and analyze constructive feedback
  • Practice professional behaviors appropriate for school and classroom settings
  • Identify features of curriculum at specific grade levels that acknowledge various stages of cognitive growth
  • Recognize the unique characteristics of students in a diverse classroom population
  • Use effective questioning techniques, cooperative learning strategies, and other active learning practices
  • Design lessons including essential elements for effective learning
  • Use knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom
  • Critique self and others for constructive outcomes, and practice decision-making skills based on observation and input
  • Demonstrate professional behavior in the school field experience placement
  • Plan and implement effective learning experiences for students
  • Observe classroom routines, learn children’s names, and become familiar with texts and curriculum guides
  • Carry out routines such as lining up the children, leading them in the hallways, taking lunch count and roll
  • Observe school’s social system as reflected in field experience classrooms
  • Understand and use a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills
  • Develop and present lessons during field placements
  • Analyze instruction through self-analysis checklists and peer coaching experiences
  • Participate in professional observations and critiques by supervising teachers, college supervisors and peers
  • Integrate culturally diverse resources and incorporate a multicultural approach toward instruction
  • Demonstrate an understanding that schools and classrooms are sites of ethical, social, and civic activity
  • Demonstrate an awareness o the current trends in education
  • Develop and apply a working educational vocabulary
  • Complete journaling and reflective writing assignments
  • Conference with supervising teachers
  • Complete peer coaching activity

CAREER EXPLORATION

  • Design learning centers, games, etc., for classroom use
  • Use appropriate techniques for observing and providing feedback o students and peer teacher candidates
  • Make appropriate instructional decisions based on feedback from field classroom videotaping and peer coaching
  • Understand how students differ in their approaches to learning and create instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners
  • Use an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation
  • Demonstrate effective human relation skills with professional team, children, and University peers  
  • Foster relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and well-being
  • Evaluate computer software for children in the classroom and professional educators
  • Develop a classroom management plan, implement the strategies, and reflect on its effectiveness
  • Demonstrate the ability to assess the needs of individual students; plan and implement instruction to enhance the child’s learning experience
  • Apply valid and age appropriate formative and summative assessments to measure curriculum outcomes and lesson objectives
  • Engage in careful analysis, problem solving, and reflection in all aspects of teaching

CAREER PREPARATION

  • Review your professional development plan and demonstrate significant progress towards achieving goals
  • Pass appropriate Praxis exams
  • Complete professional resume
  • Create a Portfolio-At-A-Glance
  • Complete an action research project
   
 

What is Career ArchitectureSM?

Career ArchitectureSM is a unique process that enables each Stevenson student to create a successful and rewarding career path. Starting in the freshman year, students begin working with faculty and staff to design a strategic career plan based on their personal interests, values, strengths, and abilities. Career Architecture includes four elements: Self-Discovery, Career Development Foundations, Career Exploration, and Career Preparation. Not only does the knowledge gathered during the Career Architecture process help SU students land their first jobs; it serves for the lifetime of their careers.