CULTURALLY SITUATED EXPLORATIONS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT: A HOME VISIT PROJECT FOR PROSPECTIVE EARL Y CHILDHOOD TEACHERS |
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| Authors: | Patricia Corson Judith K Bernhard Janet Gonzalez‐Mena |
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| Institution: | Ryerson Polytechnic University, Napa Valley College |
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| Abstract: | As part of a child development course in an undergradute early childhood teacher preparation program, students completed a home visit project with a family of a culture other than their own. This report examines the assignment's effectiveness in helping students become aware of the cultural nature of human development and the role of the family in the child's growth and development. Student responses obtained through focus groups, papers, field notes, and course evaluations included 1) reflections on the nature of the experience; 2) reactions to the role of researcher in the home of relative strangers and 3) evaluation of the learning. Although students seem to have achieved some understanding of the role of family and culture, the further step of recognizing culture as fundamental to development was generally not an outcome of the present intervention. |
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