Iman Baez’s Profile

The EC field, par­tic­u­larly in the US, is one fraught with a his­tory of in­equity that can be ad­dressed and dis­man­tled with your aware­ness and ac­tions. Over the course of the se­mes­ter, we’ll ex­plore the lives, con­texts, and con­tri­bu­tions of EC pi­o­neers, and lessons that you can apply to your own grow­ing iden­ti­ties as EC teach­ers. Over the course of this month, I want you to un­der­stand your role as ad­vo­cates for chil­dren and fam­i­lies that don’t al­ways have a seat at the table, re­gard­less of where you sit.

The EC field, particularly in the US, is one fraught with a history of inequity that can be addressed and dismantled with your awareness and actions. Over the course of the semester, we’ll explore the lives, contexts, and contributions of EC pioneers, and lessons that you can apply to your own growing identities as EC teachers. Over the course of this month, I want you to understand your role as advocates for children and families that don’t always have a seat at the table, regardless of where you sit.

This course is an in­tro­duc­tion to the the­o­ries, meth­ods and ma­te­ri­als of cur­ricu­lum plan­ning in early child­hood ed­u­ca­tion (Preschool – Grade 2), with an em­pha­sis on pro­vid­ing de­vel­op­men­tally and cul­tur­ally ap­pro­pri­ate learn­ing en­vi­ron­ments and ex­pe­ri­ences that en­cour­age cre­ativ­ity in young chil­dren. The fol­low­ing top­ics are ex­plored in depth: the in­tel­lec­tual and emo­tional im­por­tance of fos­ter­ing cre­ativ­ity, the role of play in learn­ing, the de­sign of ef­fec­tive arts-based learn­ing en­vi­ron­ments; the role of vi­sual arts, music, move­ment and lan­guage arts/emer­gent lit­er­acy in de­vel­op­ing chil­dren?s cog­ni­tive, so­cial-emo­tional, phys­i­cal, lan­guage and self-help skills. Course work in­cludes work­shops in plan­ning and im­ple­ment­ing cre­ative arts ex­pe­ri­ences for young chil­dren.

This course is an introduction to the theories, methods and materials of curriculum planning in early childhood education (Preschool – Grade 2), with an emphasis on providing developmentally and culturally appropriate learning environments and experiences that encourage creativity in young children. The following topics are explored in depth: the intellectual and emotional importance of fostering creativity, the role of play in learning, the design of effective arts-based learning environments; the role of visual arts, music, movement and language arts/emergent literacy in developing children?s cognitive, social-emotional, physical, language and self-help skills. Course work includes workshops in planning and implementing creative arts experiences for young children.