What educators know about teaching young children — but policymakers ignore
Matt Damon’s mom, also known as Dr. Nancy Carlsson-Paige, is an early childhood scholar who knows what she’s talking about when it comes to education. Yes, Matt–her son–is an awesome actor with a lot to say about education, but let’s face it, he’s just another celebrity with an opinion. If you’re looking for expert analysis concerning public education policy then “Mom Knows Best.” Especially Matt Damon’s mom! Photo from BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk - http://bustedpencils.com/
A new survey of early childhood educators found that they are highly concerned about how corporate school reform mandates are hurting children, especially those from low-income families, and how their own voices have been ignored about what young kids really need to learn.
The survey (see below) was done by a nonprofit called Defending the Early Years, which commissions research about early childhood education and advocates for sane policies for young children. It includes responses from teachers in several states about how they are trying to deal with the disconnect between reform policies and what they know to be healthy for children. The responses include:
What’s the research? How can the same teaching benchmarks for every child be appropriate when you have children in the same kindergarten classroom who are 12 months apart, who have such different needs, who vary so enormously in the experiences they’ve had?
Here’s a piece on the survey and the problems it exposes, written by Nancy Carlsson-Paige, an early childhood development expert who has been at the forefront of the debate on how best to educate — and not educate — the youngest students.
Carlsson-Paige is a professor emerita of education at Lesley University in Cambridge, Ma., where she taught teachers for more than 30 years and was a founder of the university’s Center for Peaceable Schools. She is also a founding member of a nonprofit called Defending the Early Years, which commissions research about early childhood education and advocates for sane policies for young children.
She is also the author of “Taking Back Childhood.” The mother of two artist sons, Matt and Kyle Damon, she is also the recipient of numerous awards, including the Legacy Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps for work over several decades on behalf of children and families.
By Nancy Carlsson-Paige
There may be uncertainty about what early childhood education will look like under the leadership of new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, but early education professionals have great clarity about what matters most when it comes to the education of young children.
A recent survey of more than 1,000 of the nation’s educators of young children found that 80 percent of the respondents said that early childhood educators had not been included in the decision-making processes and policies that affect their work. This explains why in recent years policies affecting early childhood education have become disconnected from what is known about young children and how they learn.
Results of the survey, conducted by the Defending the Early Years, were just presented at the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s Public Policy Forum, and should be used to guide policies and programs in early childhood education from this point forward.
For years now, starting with former President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law and continuing with former President Obama’s Race to the Top program, policy makers have What educators know about teaching young children — but policymakers ignore - The Washington Post: