Early Childhood Education

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Program Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes detail the knowledge, skills and abilities that you as a student will demonstrate upon successful completion of your program. Our program learning outcomes are adapted from the National Association for the Education of Young Children

Definitions

Culturally responsive

Being able to understand and interact with cultures other than your own. When one is culturally responsive, they acknowledge that all arrive with bias based on their culture, upbringing, and some that have been arrived along life’s journey. I believe that culturally responsiveness leads to being able to come together and work for our children and families in early childhood education environments as well as environments for the adult learner. 

Inclusion

Not only having an ECE space which accommodates the child/children but an environment which respects and acknowledges that which each child brings to the community. 

Bias

Thinking and actions that are unreasonable based on one’s own fund of knowledge and what is believed to be true. Actions, communications, and ways of being leave no room for others. 

Interrupt

To interject, to disrupt ways of being which dishonor social justice and love. 

Power

Someone or something which can affect change.

Privilege

Believing and acting in such a continuous manner because of who you are and all that which has been constructed to allow one invisible but visible power.

Current Program Outcomes

  1. Identify and apply developmentally, culturally, and linguistically responsive practices to support children’s development.
    1. Intentionally recognize and practice how to support children’s development (age 0-8) from their cultural, social, & economic context.
    2. Practice providing culturally and linguistically responsive support, recognizing the primary importance of interactions of family, community, and culture on children’s development.
    3. Identify and interrupt our own biases so they do not influence our decisions about children’s development.
    4. Create intentional, holistic, inclusive, responsive, and engaging environments for young children.
  2. Cultivate strength and relationship-based collaborations with family and community partners.
    1. Describe diverse family and community characteristics and factors impacting children’s development.
    2. Demonstrate ability to actively listen and learn from diverse family perspectives and values, reflect on personal and collective biases, and apply anti-bias education (ABE) goals. 
    3. Develop authentic and reciprocal relationships with families to co-create meaningful goals and provide culturally and linguistically responsive support.
    4. Identify and develop tailored partnerships with community resources and programs that match families’ strengths, needs, goals, and funds of knowledge.
  3. Gather, reflect, and use anti-racist and anti-bias observations and assessments to support young children and families in culturally and linguistically responsive ways.
    1. Describe the goals, benefits, limitations, and best practices for making and using observations and assessments in culturally, linguistically, and developmentally responsive ways.
    2. Explain how bias may show up or be present in our observation, documentation, and assessment process.
    3. Use comprehensive observation, documentation, assessment tools to partner with families, colleagues, and community partners to identify strengths and co-create next step goals. 
    4. Apply NAEYC Code of Ethics, Advancing Equity Statement, and Civil Rights Principles for Early Care and Education documents when making assessments and actively reflect on and interrupt and change biases in our own and others’ practices to promote responsive support for each child.
  4. Reflect, integrate, and apply responsive practices that honors and encompasses the diversity of human development within and across cultures.
    1. Know that nurturing relationships and supportive interactions serve as the foundation for working with young children.
    2. Know and use broad and current research related to teaching, learning strategies, and approaches to inform your practice.
    3. Understand and consider how racism, trauma, and biases impact a child’s development in order to provide responsive care and support.
    4. Intentionally reflect and modify practices to promote ABE goals and support each child to reach their own potential.
  5. Integrate and apply knowledge learned to build culturally relevant and responsive curriculum.
    1. Integrate and be aware of content knowledge, research, and resources to support learning across domains.
    2. Create curriculum and tailor instruction to engage the process of inquiry in children.
    3. Design and implement culturally relevant, responsive, inclusive curriculum.
    4. Be familiar with state and national early learning standards and guidelines.
    5. Reflect and consider the biases in early learning standards and guidelines to create curriculum that advocates for each child. 
    6. Create, evaluate, and modify curriculum using an anti-bias and anti-racist lens.
  6. Become an anti-bias and anti-racist advocate, leader, and purveyor of social & language justice.
    1. Become involved with the early childhood field through professional and peer organizations.
    2. Articulate and uphold ethical standards and other early childhood professional guidelines.
    3. Engage in continuous, collaborative learning, and reflection to inform practice. 
    4. Integrate relevant, diverse, ethical, and critical perspectives on early education to inform practice.
    5. Advocate for young children, families, and ECE community.
    6. Attain skills, knowledge, and efficacy to teach and lead from an anti-bias and anti-racist skills, knowledge.
    7. Identify intentional strategies to implement an anti-bias and anti-racist approach.