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Putting Training Into Practice IMPLEMENTING HIGHSCOPE

Setting Up the Preschool Classroom HighScope Around the World Reflections on Problem Solving

Letter from the President

Dear Readers, HighScope’s seminal idea is that young children are learning the most important skills of their lives — not only the foundations of literacy, mathematics, and the other tools and branches of knowledge, but also how to take initiative and responsibility and persist in tasks, regulate their own behavior, and get along with other people. The HighScope Curriculum offers early childhood teachers a framework for helping young children develop these skills. HighScope’s longitudinal research provides the evidence of the lifelong value of this vision of the purpose of early childhood education. One of the biggest challenges in education is making an educational vision such as this one a reality in the places in which educators want to use it. Some educational leaders try to achieve their vision by making passionate speeches that exhort teachers to change, clearly an inadequate strategy. Others try to achieve their vision by writing books that describe their vision — better, but still an inadequate strategy. As a research and development organization for over half a century, HighScope has committed to working closely with teachers to realize its educational vision. HighScope’s experience over the decades has generated our cautiousness in assum-

ing that an educational idea has been successfully communicated. As Paul Simon observed in his song “The Boxer,” people “hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest,” so it is sometimes difficult to get an educational idea across. Our motto could be “Measure twice, cut once.” So we are persistent in writing publications and materials that facilitate effective implementation, and we are equally persistent in our professional development efforts, training teachers by observing them and providing feedback and coaching. Teachers often face a moment of truth when they first start implementing HighScope after training. During training, they learn how a new teaching practice ought to work, but they must continually draw on their own experience and their knowledge of their own children and programs to know what works best for them. In this issue of ReSource, we explore ways of getting started when the realities of making changes in your classroom seem insurmountable. In one article, “Putting Training Into Practice: The First Steps in HighScope Implementation,” HighScope trainer and teacher Patricia Murphy suggests that teachers use the principles and strategies of plan-do-review (a cornerstone of the HighScope Curriculum) to meet these challenges. Another article, “Arranging the Active Learning Environment,” excerpted and adapted from Nancy Vogel’s book Setting Up the Pre-

school Classroom (HighScope Press), is a guide to arranging the physical space and materials of the classroom in a way that fosters children’s initiative, independence, and learning. Keeping the focus on first steps, our new demonstration preschool teacher, Becky James, wrote this issue’s Teacher’s Corner, based on journal entries she made to record some of her initial experiences in the HighScope classroom as she went through training. Finally, in “HighScope Around the World,” we travel to other parts of the globe, where some programs have overcome significant resistance and obstacles in order to implement the HighScope Curriculum. In this article, editor Joanne Tangorra and consultant Corey Shouse Tourino look at new HighScope international institutes in Portugal and Chile, as well as programs in Colombia and Mexico, where HighScope’s presence continues to grow. With a commitment to HighScope’s active participatory learning model, HighScope implementation continues to take place all over the world — proof that taking the critical steps after training can be taken anywhere, in any language or culture. Sincerely,

Larry Schweinhart

Highscope Board of Directors Sue Bredekamp Cheverly, MD Ben Emdin Retired Director, Great Start Collaborative, Heart of West Michigan United Way, Grand Rapids, MI Cynthia L. Gardner Senior Vice President, Regional Manager, PNC Bank, Ann Arbor, MI Amy Goerl Early Childhood Education/Special Education Consultant, Highlands, NJ Ed Greene EM GREENE Associates, Int’l, Princeton, NJ James Hawkins Retired Superintendent, Ypsilanti Public Schools, Ypsilanti, MI

Naomi Karp Director, Early Childhood Professional Development United Way of Tucson/Southern Arizona, Tucson, AZ Henry M. Levin Professor, Columbia University Teacher’s College, New York, NY Michael L. López Executive Director, National Center for Latino Child and Family Research, Latonsville, MD Kristen McDonald Senior Program Office for Education, Skillman Foundation, Detroit, MI Deborah J. Stipek Dean, School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, CA Marianne Udow-Phillips Director, Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation, Ann Arbor, MI

THE HIGHSCOPE FOUNDATION is an independent, nonprofit organization founded by the late David Weikart in Ypsilanti, Michigan. HighScope’s mission is to lift lives through education by engaging in curriculum development, research, training, and publishing and communication. 2

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HIGHSCOPE

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Putting Training Into Practice IMPLEMENTING HIGHSCOPE

Setting Up the Preschool Classroom HighScope Around the World Reflections on Problem Solving

Contents Volume 31, No. 1/Spring 2012

highscope resource

ISSN 0897-2007

Features Putting Training Into Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The principles and strategies of plan-do-review, a core component of the HighScope Curriculum, can guide your team through the first steps of HighScope implementation after training. Patricia Murphy

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Arranging the Active Learning Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A well-designed learning environment that is full of interesting materials, inviting, and set up to accommodate a range of activities and play, encourages young children’s exploration and active learning. Nancy Vogel

HighScope Around the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Educators in Latin America and Portugal are successfully implementing active participatory learning in centers that serve students in grade levels ranging from preschool to high school. Corey Shouse Tourino and Joanne Tangorra

Departments

2 From Dr. Larry Schweinhart, HighScope President What’s New @ HighScope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 News on the foundation’s latest products and projects. Teacher’s Corner: Reflections on Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Training @ HighScope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Director of Publications Nancy Altman Brickman [email protected] Editors Joanne Tangorra (Magazine Editor), Jennifer Burd, Marcella Weiner Assistant Editor/Assistant Web Specialist Katie Bruckner Director of Marketing and Communications Kathleen Woodard Marketing Specialist Kacey Beach Tania Leiter Product Services Specialist

Letter from the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A teacher new to the HighScope Curriculum reflects on lessons she has learned about problem-solving with young children. Becky James

ReSource is a guide to the activities, products, and services of the HighScope Foundation. It is published two times each year by HighScope Press, a division of the foundation. HighScope is a registered trademark and service mark of the HighScope Foundation.

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Design Wagner Design Graphic Artist Kazuko Sacks, Profit Makers LLC Order Fulfillment Sherry Barker HighScope Press HighScope Educational Research Foundation 600 North River Street Ypsilanti, MI 48198-2898 734.485.2000, Fax 734.485.0704 Website: highscope.org © 2012 HighScope Foundation. Permission to reprint ReSource articles must be obtained from the publisher. To download individual articles, go to News & Information on our website.

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What’s New

News on the foundation’s latest projects and products

@HighScope?

New! Planning Around the Preschool COR This new book from HighScope Press helps teachers put their child observations to work when planning strategies, experiences, and activities to support children’s development. Teaching ideas are matched to specific categories and items of the Preschool Child Observation Record (COR), enabling you to choose learning experiences that best meet the needs of each child. For more information, see catalog, page 2.

HighScope Names New Director of Research HighScope is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Tomoko Wakabayashi to the position of the foundation’s Director of Research. Dr. Wakabayashi is an experienced educational researcher with expertise in assessment and program evaluation. Her postdoctoral research experience includes work at the Center for Infant Studies at Stanford University. She has extensive experience in higher education teaching, and has served as the lead evaluator for a federally funded five-year Responsible Fatherhood project. Prior to joining HighScope, Dr. Wakabayashi served as research manager for Parents as Teachers and was a lecturer in the Child and Adolescent Development Department of San Jose State University. She also served as a Postdoctoral Research Coordinator in the Center for Infant Studies in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University. 4

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According to HighScope President Larry Schweinhart, PhD, Dr. Wakabayashi’s background is a good match for the foundation’s goals and interests. “We are very pleased to have Dr. Tomoko Wakabayashi as HighScope’s new Director of Research,” noted Dr. Schweinhart. “Her problem-solving orientation, research interests, experience, and educational background fit well with HighScope’s character and culture,” he added.

New on the Web Two new blogs have debuted on HighScope’s website, giving visitors to the site interactive access to information and ideas about enriching children’s lives through movement, and using HighScope in elementary classrooms. Visitors to our new Education Through Movement blog at educationthroughmovement.highscope.org will find articles written by HighScope staff and field consultants on the value of movement and music in early education, information on upcoming training events, video clips, and sample activities that you can use with your students. Readers have the opportunity to comment and dialogue on current topics in this field. For K–3 educators interested in joining a conversation about using HighScope in

the early elementary grades, our new blog at elementary.highscope.org addresses how current best practices in elementary education can effectively mesh with the HighScope framework. Teachers in the field who are familiar with the HighScope approach can share their thoughts and experiences related to using HighScope with elementary learners.

New Numbers Plus Study The HighScope Foundation has received a four-year grant from the Institute of Education Sciences to study the efficacy of the research-based Numbers Plus Preschool Mathematics Curriculum that is possible when teachers are given appropriate professional development support. The sample for the project is drawn from five early childhood programs in Michigan, Maine, and Ohio. Researchers will investigate whether teacher professional development support activities have an impact on teacher’s knowledge and confidence in teaching mathematics, and the strategies teachers use in the classroom. The Numbers Plus curriculum includes a set of 120 small- and largegroup activities, with ideas for expanding mathematics learning throughout the program day. Aligned with the standards and focal points of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the activities address five content areas: number and operations, geometry, measurement, algebra, and data analysis. For more information about Numbers Plus, see catalog page 11.

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HighScope Implementation

Putting Training Into Practice Taking the first steps in HighScope Implementation by Patricia Murphy

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lthough people leave HighScope training excited about implementing active learning in their classrooms, facing the reality of making changes can lead to resistance and barriers. The following statements, from administrators and teachers, respectively, are a sampling of the excuses people give for not being able to implement the HighScope Curriculum after training: * “How do I convince my teachers that they are teaching in this curriculum without daily lessons and worksheets?” * “My teachers will not want to give up control of the classroom.” * “How am I going to get both teachers and parents to buy into this curriculum?” * “I can’t meet the district’s curriculum standards and do HighScope at the same time.” * “Parents are expecting us to teach their children letters and numbers.” *

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Teamwork is a key component of the HighScope Curriculum. An effective team works together to set goals in a positive climate of mutual sharing and trust.

“My children won’t sit still long enough for everyone to plan.” * “I don’t have time to _____________ (fill in the blank).” HighScope training sessions are spread out over weeks or months — we call it “distributive learning” — and participants benefit from having time to try out what they have learned. They then bring results and questions back to the whole group, a process that includes discussion and analysis while the trainer scaffolds the learning — that is, validates participants’ current understanding and helps build on it — by asking pertinent questions. However, the training eventually comes to an end. So, how can partici-

pants maintain the energy and commitment to implementing HighScope that was inspired by the regular support and encouragement from workshop coparticipants and the HighScope trainer? And what do you do when you encounter additional challenges — days when colleagues are sick, it’s pouring rain outside, or the children are overexcited? At times like these, classroom adults may find themselves giving directions to children, pouring the juice for them, or canceling large-group time, even though they know that doing otherwise would provide wonderful active learning opportunities for both the children and adults. So why do we sometimes explain our tendency to turn to a directive or laissez-faire approach with the words, “Well, we didn’t do HighScope today because it was raining…”? The answer to the dilemmas just described is plan-do-review — a key component of the HighScope Curriculum. Together with the members of your teaching team, you can apply the principles and strategies of plan-do-review to the HighScope Wheel of Learning — ReSource Spring 2012

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specifically, active learning, key developmental indicators (KDIs), teamwork, adult-child interaction, and observation and assessment — as a tool for “getting over the hump” of those days when you feel stuck.

Use Teamwork Just as preschoolers often experience discomfort when making the transition from one activity to another or leaving the care of a trusted adult to be cared for by another, less familiar person, early childhood educators may sometimes experience confusion and distress when implementing a new curriculum. Sometimes it just seems easier to do what’s familiar because change takes time and energy. Although some team members will want to forge ahead, others may remain skeptical, with the pre-HighScope ways of doing things providing a safe haven from the natural

feelings of uncertainty that come with a challenge to one’s skill set. It’s at times like these that a key component of the HighScope Curriculum — teamwork — comes into play. And just as we plan ahead — then implement and evaluate — strategies to help children through changes and transitions, so, too, can the plan-doreview process help us work as a team to address concerns about change. You will find the following in an effective teaching team: a positive climate of mutual sharing and trust; staff working together to set goals; clear expectations; decisions made and carried out by consensus; a view of conflicts as normal and use of appropriate conflict resolution strategies; and regular evaluations of staff work and achievement of team goals (Epstein, 2007, p. 91).

Using HighScope's plan-do-review process, children plan (below), carry out, and then reflect on their work-time activities. These strategies can serve as a model for teachers implementing HighScope for the first time, as they plan active learning opportunities for children, implement these ideas, and evaluate what did or did not work.

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In a supportive environment where these principles are in place, practitioners can share anxieties (“I’m really nervous about small-group time — I’m afraid the children will just run off if I don’t tell them what to do with the materials”); they can explore solutions (“Can someone help me to plan my activity, please?”); and they can take risks (“I’m still nervous, but I know that the children love to use the unit blocks, so I’m going to work on getting them started immediately by giving an openended introduction and following their leads”). In this type of supportive atmosphere, open discussion, problem solving, and encouragement flourish, allowing implementation of HighScope’s active learning curriculum to move forward.

Observe and Innovate (Plan) Just as teachers can scaffold children’s learning, they can also scaffold adults’ adjustment to the new curriculum. Reflective teachers who are aware of their own and their coteachers’ challenges can make plans to provide additional support to one another at different times of the day. For example, largegroup-time music and movement activities can be a challenge for some adults who are shy about engaging in exuberant movement. A supportive colleague might agree to mentor a coteacher by taking the lead role and freeing the other adult to be a participant who can observe and imitate the children who generally have lots of ideas about ways to move to music! Or, to give another example, a teacher who’s been used to directing group discussion at greeting time may struggle with waiting and listening for children’s ideas and experiences to emerge. A supportive colleague might take the facilitator role so that the coteacher can focus on listening carefully to children and processing the content of their conversation. This open approach to challenges can have the same empowering effect as that experienced by children when adults acknowledge and affirm the need to keep elements of the familiar when building in the new. Members of effective teams also plan together at a consistent time, ideally highscope.org

every day but at least once a week. Using plan-do-review strategies to plan can have particular relevance for teams in the early stages of HighScope implementation. These include evaluating what did and did not work in the previous day’s plan; discussing and resolving any group or individual problems; and taking advantage of each team member’s strengths while making a new plan to implement the next day (Epstein, 2007, pp. 93–94). This process may help practitioners talk about differing views or ambivalence regarding curriculum implementation. For example, there may be differences of opinion about how to support a child’s need to pour large quantities of paint when budgets are tight and staff are worried about waste. One team member may advocate that the active learning opportunities in the manipulation of the paint and the child thought and language fostered by it are paramount. Another might argue that the problem-solving process of explaining to the child the reasons why it’s important to save some paint for everyone else and negotiating an agreement is just as important. This could be a time when the “old way” of adults’ filling the paint pots every day and supplying extra paint from the high shelf by request from children might seem very comforting. But it’s also an opportunity for practitioners to apply what they’ve learned about HighScope to real situations in the classroom. When practitioners know that the daily or weekly routine of team planning will provide them space for airing such issues and problems as well as contributing to a solution, they are likely to feel more comfortable taking small risks — such as making paint available for children to pour themselves in smaller containers so that paint pumping will have a natural limit.

Foster Active Learning (Do) If you have moments of wondering where to begin when first implementing HighScope in your classroom, thinking about how to support active learning is a good place to start because there is highscope.org

always something you can easily do to promote this central component of the curriculum. You can start by playing as a partner with children — and what fun it is to be free to mix, smell, construct, count, manipulate, hop, run, sing, pretend, analyze, discuss, conclude, and laugh! Adults who share the joy of learning nurture children’s positive attitude toward education, which can continue throughout life. This opportunity is a gift and a challenge, and it begins with active learning. Using the 58 key development indicators (KDIs) — the building blocks of children’s thinking and reasoning at each stage of development — to note children’s development as active learners can help guide you in all the work you do with children. (For more on the KDIs, see the HighScope website at highscope.org.)

Implementation moves forward in a supportive environment where practitioners can share anxieties, take risks, and problem-solve together. When you and the other members of your teaching team recommit to active learning, the four elements of the HighScope Wheel of Learning that revolve around it — a consistent daily routine; a thoughtfully planned and accessible learning environment; authentic assessment; and supportive adult-child interactions — make sense and follow naturally as part of an implementation plan. For example, when you create a consistent daily routine that contains a variety of opportunity and activity, children feel safe and in control and are more likely to build on their play. And as children come to realize they will have work time each day and that they can save their work for the next day with a work-inprogress sign, they may be more likely to engage in complex play and even invite the classroom adults to join in. While playing as a partner with chil-

dren, you can scaffold their learning — that is, support them at their current level and help them expand their skills. For example, if you are helping Eva and Tim to build a sand castle, and they are looking for ways to “decorate their tower,” you might mention that there are materials in the art area they could bring over. Similarly, once you have created a classroom environment for active learning, you can observe children’s interests and needs and, over time, add materials to the classroom that will offer new opportunities for children to explore their interests and develop their knowledge and skills. For example, if you observe a child playing at the sand-andwater table each day, you might add materials to the area that would allow the child to have new experiences such as scooping or pouring the sand or water, or floating, sinking, or burying objects. Adult-child interaction is perhaps one of the most difficult principles of active learning to put into practice, especially because the children themselves bring so much to the equation. A useful way to decide how to facilitate activities and interact with children is to view the challenges as opportunities to build a classroom in which adults and children share control of the learning environment. Adults do this by taking turns with children, following and leading, talking and listening, and teaching and listening; focusing on what children can do and supporting their motivation to develop new skills and acquire new learning; making meaningful comments about children’s work and asking questions sparingly; taking genuine interest in children’s play and trusting that it is the child’s forum for learning; and adopting a problem-solving approach to conflict — that is, understanding that conflicts are a natural occurrence during play and an opportunity to problemsolve (Epstein, 2007, pp. 30–34). So, with these things in mind, let’s return to one of the dilemmas described earlier: the wet day. When adults and children share control, naturally occur-

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HighScope Implementation Using Visuals to Support Basic HighScope Implementation In the early days and weeks after training, it’s a good idea to keep things simple and try to ensure that everyone is working to maintain the basics outlined by the HighScope Wheel of Learning. Visual aids — such as posters, signs, and photos — are an effective way to remember these basics and the core strategies for implementing them in the classroom. .

Active Learning Make a chart that names the five ingredients of active learning and describes how each ingredient is provided in the classroom: Materials: A plentiful variety of materials that appeal to all the senses are in the block, house, art, sand and water, and toy areas and can be used in many ways. Manipulation: Children mix and change materials and even ideas; they discover and construct knowledge as they work. Choice: Children make choices about what they want to play with, who they will play with, and how they will play. Child language and thought: Children use their own words to describe their actions and opinions about what they are experiencing and discovering. Adult scaffolding: Adults support children’s actions and plans and try to help them to develop Adults in HighScope settings use the daily message board to communicate important information to children, such as a teacher’s absence or special events that may affect the daily routine.

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their thinking and reasoning by asking pertinent, genuine questions and by participating in their play. Illustrate the chart with photos of children and adults from the setting in active learning situations. Then post the chart where parents and practitioners can see it while working with children and can talk to each other about how adults try to provide active learning opportunities for children throughout the daily routine.

Key Developmental Indicators (KDIs) Similarly, post a chart of the KDIs where parents and teachers can see them and talk to each other about what they mean and help foster children’s engagement with them throughout the daily routine. For example, a glance at the KDI chart can help remind adults to encourage child choice and initiative during smallgroup time. Although small-group is an adultplanned and adult-initiated part of the daily routine, it is still possible to allow children to make and express choices and decisions, which is a KDI in the initiative and social relations curriculum content area.

Learning Environment An organized environment, with clear and simple area signs and labeled materials, helps children feel in control of their own learning (see related article, p. 11). As you work with

children, carefully observe their interests and developmental levels so you can add, change, or rotate areas and materials as needed to help the children pursue their ideas and build on their play. In daily team planning meetings, talk to your coteachers about what you see children doing.

Daily Routine Using a picture or symbol that children can understand, make a chart that illustrates each part of the routine. Reviewing the chart with children will help both children and teachers learn the new schedule while also building children’s language skills and creating opportunities for supportive adult-child interactions. To further these opportunities, make a message board and use it every day to communicate information such as a child’s absence, the availability of new materials in the classroom, or special events that may affect the daily routine. A helpful message at the start of the school year (or when starting to implement HighScope) uses children’s and teachers’ names and letter-links to indicate who is in each small group of 8–10 children and one teacher (Gainsley, p. 36). As you read the message board with children, identify each message by number; identify pictures, symbols, letters, and words; ask “What do you see?” and “How do you know?” and acknowledge all answers (pp. 36–39).

Adult-Child Interaction With your teaching team, review the interaction strategies that encourage active learning: sharing control, focusing on children’s strengths, forming authentic relationships with children, supporting children’s play, and adopting a problem-solving approach to conflicts. Make charts that name these strategies and illustrate them with pictures or symbols so adults can refer to them throughout the daily routine and practice these strategies during their interactions with children. Write captions to describe what is happening in each picture — for example, “Beth [a child] and Trish [an adult] choose materials for Beth’s holiday picture.” Encourage team members to give one another feedback on their interactions with children.

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ring dilemmas pose wonderful opportunities for joint problem solving. Children can surprise adults with their ideas and ability to suggest alternatives. Here are some solutions generated by children to deal with the wet day issue: “Make a camp in the block area and pretend we’re outside”; “Wear dressup clothes and take them off when they’re wet”; “Stay in”; “Wear coats and boots and go outside”; “Run really fast”; “Make mud.” Somehow the weather doesn’t seem like much of a dilemma when you have such enthusiastic young learners willing to participate in the problemsolving process!

Reflect and Assess (Review) Children engaged in active learning demonstrate and articulate all kinds of knowledge and ideas. Keep notepads and writing tools handy throughout the room and/or in a pocket so that as you watch and listen to children, you can use the HighScope KDIs to write down how children are engaging with materials and ideas. You can later use these to guide the questions you pose and the discussions you have with children and to plan future interactions and activities with children and team colleagues. You can also use these anecdotes to complete and score the Child Observation Record (COR; HighScope Educational Research Foundation, 2003a), which monitors children’s development and supports dialogue with children’s family members and coteachers about providing developmentally appropriate, active learning experiences for the children. At the same time, you can reflect on your own learning as your understanding of HighScope deepens with experience and you share with your other teaching team members what is working well and what can be improved upon. Keeping a journal is a helpful way to track your own growth as you implement HighScope in your program. Later on, you can use the Program Quality Assessment (PQA; HighScope Educational Research Foundation, 2003b) to evaluate your use of the

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One way adults share control of the learning environment with children is by taking turns with them, following and leading, and talking and listening.

HighScope Curriculum in your program. Together with members of your teaching team, you can then discuss what needs to happen in order to make further progress and devise action plans to implement ideas.

A daily routine provides consistency and predictability, helping children to feel safe and in control. As a result, they are more likely to take initiative and engage in more complex play. So, on those days after training when you have that “What now?” feeling, remember how easy it is for members of the team to use plan-do-review and the HighScope Wheel of Learning to keep active learning alive — and to understand why it’s so important.

References

Epstein, A. S. (2007). Essentials of active learning in preschool: Getting to know the HighScope Curriculum. Ypsilanti, MI: HighScope Press. Gainsley, S. (2008). From message to meaning: Using a daily message board in the preschool classroom. Ypsilanti, MI: HighScope Press. HighScope Educational Research Foundation. (2003a). Preschool Child Observation Record (COR) (2nd ed.). Ypsilanti, MI: HighScope Press. HighScope Educational Research Foundation. (2003b). Preschool Program Quality Assessment (PQA) (2nd ed.). Ypsilanti, MI: HighScope Press. Hohmann, M., Weikart, D. P., and Epstein, A. S. (2008). Educating young children: Active learning practices for preschool and childcare programs (3rd ed.). Ypsilanti, MI: HighScope Press. This article was adapted from “You’ve Finished HighScope Training — Now What?” Extensions (January/February 2009).

Patricia Murphy is a social worker and HighScope Certified Trainer in West Dublin, Ireland. ReSource Spring 2012

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Teacher’s Corner Reflections on Problem Solving by Becky James

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joined the HighScope Demonstration Preschool at the end of March 2011 after a year of teaching in South America. With the exception of some basic information discussed in my early childhood graduate courses, HighScope was new to me. In April, I started HighScope training in the Preschool Curriculum Course (PCC). During the Social-Emotional KDIs overview, we explored the problemsolving approach to conflict — a key element of adult-child interaction (see the HighScope Wheel of Learning). In some ways, I was quite comfortable with the way that HighScope handles problem solving from the very beginning. Approaching calmly and acknowledging feelings were both important steps in strategies I had applied in the past. It felt natural for me to discuss a problem with children, isolating an object in question if necessary, and arriving at a possible solution together. However, in my experience, there have been three key elements of this process that I have, at times, overlooked. The first relates to sharing my ideas with children. Although I try to allow the children to generate possible solutions without my expressed input, I have learned it can be helpful to share my thoughts to get them started. My coteachers have modeled the following language: “Would you like to hear my idea?” Simply asking the children if

The Six Problem-Solving Steps: Approach calmly, stopping any hurtful actions; acknowledge children’s feelings; gather information; restate the problem; ask for ideas for solutions and choose one together; give follow-up support as needed.

they would like to hear my thoughts keeps the focus on supporting the children through their ideas and working together. The second key element in the problem-solving process for me has been remembering to follow up and re-acknowledge feelings when needed. Sometimes the six steps (see caption) need to be repeated, and going back to acknowledging feelings seems so basic that I have overlooked this component of the process. Finally, staying with the children until the problem is resolved (really resolved) was something that I didn’t fully understand those first weeks in the classroom. I remember when the idea of staying with the children until the very end really struck me. My coteacher, Shannon,

Steps in Resolving Conflicts, Small-Size Poster, English-Spanish Hang these laminated posters in your classroom and/or your parent area to help adults remember the six steps to resolving conflicts as they interact with children. Set of two 8 ½" x 11" posters with English version on one side and Spanish on the other. SC-P1365 $11.95 10

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was greeting parents at the door and I was reading books to children on the carpet. Kumar had been reading a new book, a photo album of our field trip to Domino’s Pizza. Although he was finished with the book, holding it in his lap and reading a different one altogether, he would not give the book to Wesley, a child who had asked to see it. I approach­ ed Kumar, acknowledged that he was excited about the new book, but also rephrased what Wesley had said — he wanted to use the book too. After restating the problem, I asked the boys for ideas. Wesley thought that they could both look at the book together, but Kumar didn’t want to do that. So I stated my idea — perhaps, if Kumar didn’t want to read it together with Wesley, when Kumar was finished he could give it to Wesley for a turn.

Stay with the children until the problem is really resolved. I remember struggling to work with Kumar, trying out what I could, but then turning my attention back to another child who also needed me. I didn’t stick with the problem. Shannon came over and went back through the six steps with Kumar and Wesley, as well as another child who now also wanted a turn with the book. This particular situation made a light bulb go off in my head. Stay until solved. This does not mean that the same problem won’t occur again, but at least the children involved will have an understanding that the problem was resolved together, their voices were heard, and their feelings and opinions matter. Sometimes children will come up with their own ideas, try a solution offered by one of their peers, use ideas that have (or have not) been successful in the past, or refuse to problem-solve and move on to something else, but eventually we will come to a solution. Becky James is a teacher in the HighScope Demonstration Preschool. highscope.org

HighScope Implementation

Arranging the Active Learning Environment Setting up the Preschool Classroom by Nancy Vogel

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well-designed and well-organized learning environment that is inviting to children, full of interesting materials, and set up to accommodate a range of activities and play, supports children’s growth in all areas of development. Any developmentally appropriate program — whether it’s a half-day program located in an elementary school setting, a full-day program in a child care setting, a small space located in a church basement, or a newly built, state-of-the-art center with spacious and well-equipped rooms — can follow some basic guidelines to arrange a learning space for young children that will encourage their exploration, creativity, and active learning.

Setting Up Interest Areas Children who participate in developmentally based preschool programs naturally engage in a variety of types of play and learning. They enjoy building, pretending, creating, reading, moving, writing, drawing, and making music. In order to encourage the various types of highscope.org

A well-equipped learning space supports children's exploration and active learning.

play and learning that naturally occur, interest areas should be designed to support children’s interests and activities. For example, a sand and water area encourages sensory exploration, a spacious block area encourages children’s desires to build and construct things, or a reading and writing area supports preschoolers’ discoveries of books and their early writing development. It’s important to choose names for the interest areas that make sense to children and are easy for them to identify. For example, choose to name the area of the classroom with small manipulative materials and toys the toy area, rather than the manipulative area — likewise, house area, instead of dramatic play

area. Use large area signs to label each area, and refer to areas by name when talking with children. The interest areas should also be clearly defined by equipment, such as low shelving units or dividers. In addition, the equipment that serves as the actual focal point of the interest area, such as a water table in the sand and water area, or a workbench in the woodworking area, can also clearly define a space. Other visual boundaries include area rugs or a change in the surface of the floor, boxes or crates used for storing materials, large hollow blocks, easels, or tables. In home preschools or day care settings, interest areas may be located in separate rooms, for example, the art area and sand area in the home’s kitchen or the toy and reading and writing areas in the family room. In developing a floor plan for your learning environment, consider the fixed elements of the physical setting (such as sinks, toilets, floor surfaces, doors, natural and artificial lighting, and electrical outlets), as well as the traffic flow within and between the ReSource Spring 2012

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interest areas. Adults should consider the activities that occur in each area and the physical features needed for those activities. For example, locate the art area near a sink or other water source and on a tile floor, or a reading and writing area near a window in order to take advantage of the natural sunlight. Consider also how children’s activities in one area may affect those in nearby areas. For example, house area play often spills into the block area, so locate these areas next to each other. Similarly, locate areas for louder play, such as the woodworking, music and movement, and block areas, within close proximity of one another and away from areas where quieter activities occur, such as the reading and writing area.

To nurture children’s independence, adults can identify materials with labels children can “read” on their own. Although there is no set rule for the number of interest areas, there are at certain basic interest areas that all classrooms should have; these include art, block, house, reading and writing, and toy areas. If space allows, additional interest areas might include computer, music and movement, sand and water, and woodworking areas. As a general rule, it is better to have a few spacious, well-stocked interest areas than to have many small areas stocked with a few materials. It is also possible to locate some interest areas, such as the sand and water area, outdoors. In order to make good choices about where to go and what to do in the classroom, children should be able to see all areas of the room easily, without large pieces of furniture or equipment blocking their views. This arrangement also allows adults to see and monitor what is happening in all areas of the room at all times.

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Making the Space Inviting to Children We want children to feel comfortable, safe, and free to explore, discover, and learn when they enter into their learning environment. In order to create an inviting space for children there are several factors to consider. Add softness. First, try to incorporate softness into your space. Items such as carpeting, area rugs, curtains, beanbag chairs, pillows, sleeping bags, stuffed animals, wall hangings, or quilts will create a sense of warmth and safety in your environment. Additionally, these soft items will help to absorb the loud sounds that come from different areas and activities in the room, such as hammers pounding or blocks falling down. Choose colors and textures carefully. If possible, choose simple and subdued or neutral colors for walls, floor coverings (including large-group-time rugs), and equipment. It is best to start the program year with fewer colors, patterns, textures, and other visually stimulating items, adding more as the program year progresses, depending on the individual needs and personalities in your class. Too many colors or patterns can be overwhelming, and can be distracting to children who easily become overstimulated and excited. Use natural building materials and natural light sources. Whenever budget allows, choose shelving units, cubbies, tables, and outdoor climbing structures that are made from wood, rather than from plastic and other artificial materials. If you do have natural light sources available (for example, windows and skylights), take advantage of them, rather than only relying on artificial light. If possible, turn off overhead florescent lights. The flickering nature of the lights and the humming sound are thought to adversely affect some children. Secured floor lamps or table lamps offer a lighting alternative and provide a warmer feel to the room. Provide for coziness. Finally, even very active children need a little time to retreat and rest or snuggle up with a familiar adult and a favorite book. Cozy

In developing a floor plan, consider the physical features needed for activities. For example, locate the art area near a sink or other water source.

places indoors can include lofts, canopies, or netting that’s been hung from the ceiling, reading areas, and window seats, while outdoor cozy places can be found in tree houses, playhouses, or by positioning a bench under a shady tree or near a flower garden.

Accommodating Storage Needs Aside from the essential materials that remain available to children all the time (such as unit blocks in the block area or baby dolls in the house area), some materials will not always be in use (e.g., props for dramatic play, large balls that are occasionally taken outside) and should be stored in another location, such as a storage closet, or on shelves that are not within reach or the immediate view of children. Too many visible materials can become overwhelming for children, making it difficult for them to make plans or to focus on their activities. Space to store children’s personal belongings is also essential. Individual storage areas for children should be easy for them to reach: cubbies, lockers, tubs, baskets, or boxes, and low hooks or shelves. Items that can be stored in those spaces include outerwear (jackets, mittens, etc.); notes to parents and classroom newsletters; children’s artwork, writing, and other creations they want to take home; and other personal belongings, such as clothing that gets wet at the water table and needs to be sent home. These personal storage areas should be highscope.org

clearly labeled with a nametag and a letter-linked picture of the child who uses that space. [HighScope’s letter links name-learning system pairs a child’s printed name with a letter-linked picture of an object that starts with the same letter and sound. More information about letter links and detailed examples of nametags can be found in the book Letter Links: Alphabet Learning With Children’s Names, available through www.highscope.org. Also available through HighScope is Letter Links Online, a Web-based program that allows teachers to create and print out links quickly and automatically on their computers.] To nurture children’s independence, adults can identify materials with labels children can “read” on their own — for instance, pieces of the material itself, tracings, drawings, catalog pictures, box tops, photographs, photocopies, or any of these types of labels with the word for the item accompanying it. This supports children’s efforts to find materials and return them to their storage space when they have finished using them. Children can also be involved in deciding where to put materials and in making their own labels.

Storage containers should be easy to see into and easy for children to handle. Containers of various sizes can be used many different storage needs: kitchensized garbage cans can hold dowel rods in the woodworking area; egg cartons with lids removed can hold small beads in the art area. Keeping the lids off of containers make materials visible and easily accessible to children. (It may be necessary to keep certain small objects, which could pose a choking risk for some children, stored in a container with a lid attached.)

Choosing Appropriate Equipment and Materials The materials placed in a developmentally based early childhood program should be chosen carefully by adults who understand and want to support young children’s interests, cultural backgrounds, and their developmental stages and abilities. Materials should be open-ended, meaning they should be materials that can be used in a variety of different ways. The examples of openended materials that can be added to a classroom are as limitless as the ways in which they can be used! Some examples include clay, paint, blocks, baby dolls,

It is better to have a few spacious, well-stocked interest areas rather than many small areas with a few materials.

dishes, beads, puppets, scarves, paper and markers, and musical instruments. Other types of open-ended materials include those that are found and recycled: buttons, pieces of scrap wood, empty plastic containers or food cartons, or large appliance boxes. Finally, natural materials, such as seashells, rocks, nuts, seed pods, sand, water, leaves and twigs, or living plants, offer opportunities for open-ended play and discovery, and offer a nice contrast to the many plastic materials that are available and present in preschools today. It is also important for adults to choose materials that reflect the children’s interests. For example, for children who are fascinated by the road construction that’s occurring in front of the school building, adults will place books about construction equipment in the reading and writing area; bulldozers, excavators, cement mixers, and road graders in the block area; and smaller construction equipment in the sand table. Or, to support an increasing interest in restaurant play after a visit to a local pizza place, adults might add props such as menus, empty pizza boxes, play dough, pizza cutters, pads of paper, and pencils to the house area. Great care should also be taken to ensure that the materials you place in your learning environment reflect the family backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities of the children in your program. In addition, materials and equipment should be nonbiased and nondiscriminatory. For example, include books that portray children with disabilities or older adults in positive ways; photographs of all kinds of families; dolls with appropriate skin color, hair textures and styles, and facial features; and food containers that are labeled in children’s languages.

Considerations for Supporting Children With Special Needs Safety and accessibility is a concern in any early childhood setting. However, when adults are working with children who have special needs, safety and accessibility become an even greater concern. Adults who have children with special needs in their classrooms may highscope.org

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have to take into consideration the safety of children who tend to put objects in their mouths or children who frequently wander away from the group. Adults will need to take extra precautions for children who are unsteady on their feet or use assistive devices such as wheelchairs or walkers, for example, protecting or covering corners on furniture and making sure all floor coverings are securely fastened to the floor. In addition, the arrangement of the learning space may need to be modified to make it easier for children with physical disabilities to move from one area to the next. For example, some adults who work with children who have special mobility needs find it necessary to design the interest areas of their classrooms with more than one way in and out to prevent traffic jams.

The arrangement of the learning space may need to be modified so that children with physical disabilities can move around more easily. A physical learning space that is inviting to children is perhaps even more essential for children who have unique and special needs. For example, children who become nervous and agitated in environments with excess noise or visual stimulation will benefit greatly from a classroom that provides natural or soft lighting and a place to safely retreat with a cozy blanket or an item of security. Most children with special needs will function well in a classroom that is well designed and well organized. However, if it appears that some children have difficulty coping with the wide array of materials, adults may choose to limit the amount of materials on display, especially at the beginning of the program year. For example, the toy area in a typical 14

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classroom might overwhelm some children. Instead of having multiple collections of small manipulative materials out on shelves, adults may want to begin the program year with a small variety of interesting and appropriate materials and gradually add to those materials as children become more familiar with the daily routine, the learning environment, and the process of find-use-return; and as they progress from exploring by dumping materials onto the floor to more purposeful play. In terms of hanging materials on the walls, it may be appropriate to stick with the essentials: interest-area signs, daily routine signs, children’s symbols, and children’s artwork, all hung at the children’s level. This practice benefits all children, and will be especially helpful for children who become over stimulated easily. Many of the modifications adults make for the children they serve are based on their knowledge of fundamental child development principles, as well as on their understanding of how active learning and appropriate materials support children in all developmental stages. For example, children with visual impairments or children who are in the sensory-motor stage of development might find materials that offer tactile, visual, or auditory stimulation more interesting to explore than their peers with normal vision or higher cognitive

levels. A toy area in a typical preschool program might offer manipulative materials to take apart and fit together, items for pretending and role play, or small collections to count and sort. In a program with children who are functioning at lower cognitive levels, teachers might instead provide sensory toys, which are covered in brightly colored fabrics and textures and have jingling bells, soft crinkles, or rattling beads inside. They might also offer switch or pop-up toys, which give children experiences with cause and effect, and which prove to be more interesting and stimulating for their stage of development. For programs where children with special needs are working alongside their normally developing peers, adults will want to provide a variety of materials appropriate and interesting to children functioning at all developmental levels. Start with the recommended practices for all children, and make modifications as needed. In making any adaptations, keep in mind the principle of “best practices first,” and create and environment in which all children can experience meaningful learning. Nancy Vogel has been a HighScope trainer and consultant. This article is excerpted from her book Setting Up the Preschool Classroom, in the HighScope Essentials book series.

Even very active children need time to rest or read a favorite book in a cozy setting.

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Highscope International

HighScope Around the World Traveling Around the Wheel of Learning in Latin America and Portugal by Corey Shouse Tourino and Joanne Tangorra

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ighScope’s International Institutes and Teacher Education Centers have a common goal: to bring HighScope’s active participatory learning model to educational settings around the world. Currently, there are institutes and centers in Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Korea, Canada, and, most recently, Colombia, Portugal, and Chile. Together, they share the common goals of advancing learning environments through HighScope practices that support and strengthen open, democratic societies; optimize the potential and development of all children and youth no matter what their national, economic, ethnic, racial, religious, or other differences; promote global understanding and cooperation by collaborating and networking with other members of the HighScope International Registry; and work cooperatively to enhance the use of available HighScope staff and resources. Implementing HighScope in traditional and conservative countries such as those in Latin America and Portugal, where parents and teachers are often resistant to exploring alternatives to traditional education, can pose challenges for educators dedicated to the philosophy and practices of active participatory learning. However, this resistance has been overcome by dedicated teachers and administrators in these schools, which have successfully implemented key components of the HighScope Curriculum and Wheel of Learning for students at grade levels from preschool through high school. At a recent conference at HighScope headquarters in Ypsilanti, Michigan, representatives from institutes in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Portugal came together to discuss implementation of the HighScope Curriculum in their respective centers, addressing their successes

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and challenges. Here’s a look at how each has circled HighScope’s Wheel of Learning to meet the goals of active participatory learning in their communities.

Proponents of an active learning educational model often meet resistance from teachers and parents in traditional and educationally conservative countries. Chile Colegio Santa Cruz de Chicureo

Since it was established in 1997, the Colegio Santa Cruz de Chicureo school in Santiago, Chile, has used the HighScope model to guide active learning experiences for children from preschool through high school. According to founder Trinidad Ried, who is also the director of the HighScope Institute in Chile (officially recognized in 2009), the program embodies the ideals of the legendary characters in Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, including the questing spirit of the title character, a

romantic hero who “never gives up,” and Quixote’s squire Sancho Panza, the voice of reason in the face of Quixote’s fantasies. As Ried explains, “You have to have someone to finance, build, and support — someone who lives in the material world.” Finally, Cervantes’ character, Dulcinea, the peasant woman who is capable of seeing the good in everyone, represents the school’s ideal of “finding the value and beauty in each student and teacher,” says Ried. Ried’s own dream when she started the Colegio Santa Cruz was, like Don Quixote’s, “to swim against the current and provide a new way to live reality.” The center of the school’s work is to develop “whole” people through education, giving all students the opportunity to learn and develop their own life projects. All students must feel included and involved. “There are no outsiders, and no one is excluded,” says Ried, who was partly motivated to establish the Colegio because she has a child with special needs and wanted an inclusive learning environment. She also wanted to establish a school that would promote faith and values in a way that “would engage, not scare,” she explains. “This is a Catholic school that treats Catholicism as an entire way to live, not as an isolated component in one’s life.”

At the Colegio Santa Cruz de Chicureo, the focus is on developing “whole” people through education, giving all students the opportunity to learn and develop their own life projects.

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Trinidad Ried and Carola Ortiz, HighScope Chile

A central element of the school’s mission is to help form conscientious people “who become agents of change and social development and who learn to think in an active manner,” says Ried. The school instills in its students an openness to “the richness of diversity,” a sense of ecological responsibility, and an understanding and appreciation of Chilean culture. Competency in communication (English and Spanish), technology, humanism, science, and art is supported by the use of computer technology and high-tech learning tools.

The 2010 earthquake in Chile proved to be the most “dramatic workshop” for HighScope ideas at the Colegio Santa Cruz, as the school and community were united in a common purpose. With social integration as a pedagogical objective, the Colegio works to find a way to support and include each child by using the HighScope active participatory learning model “to find and help others find their gifts and beauty,” says Ried. Teachers take a similar approach to integrating “gifted” children by supporting different developmental levels within an integrated and integrating social environment. The school first began implementing elements of the HighScope Wheel of Learning, including plan-do-review, at 16

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the preschool level with outside support from HighScope trainers and evaluators. The second step came at the “parent level.” “This was initially a bit of a crisis,” says Ried. “Many parents had attended notable international high schools and had very rigid and traditional expectations about education.” The third step was meeting the challenge of national standardized tests — bad scores would keep students out of university and would negatively affect enrollment. “If the scores don’t measure up or parents don’t buy in,” says Ried, “all fails.” Fortunately the first crop of students got good results in the national SIMCE exams (the acronym stands for Sistema de Medición de Calidad de la Educació, or System for Measuring the Quality of Education), and parents gave their full support to the school by choosing to stay with HighScope through the seniorhigh level. The next step in implementation was dealing with new challenges related to the introduction of additional subjects as the students aged and approached graduation. Ried and other school leaders made trips to Michigan, Colombia,

and Mexico for training and to look at models for the future. Again, students scores on the SIMCE exam earned formal recognition and validation from the Ministry of Education. The fifth step, according to Ried, was clarifying the school’s central goals and concepts. This came from experience over time and the ongoing contact with HighScope and the HighScope Institute in Colombia. Finally, the last stage in implementation came with the colegio’s conscientious support of Chile. The graduation of the school’s first senior class coincided with the devastating 2010 earthquake, proving to be the most “dramatic workshop” for HighScope ideas, according to Ried, as the school and local community came together in a common purpose. “Everything we had dreamed about in 1997 was realized.” In 2011, HighScope Chile was officially established as a nonprofit organization.

Mexico Colegio Ypsilanti

According to Maru Serrano, director of the Colegio Ypsilanti in Puebla, Mexico, which has 360 students in preschool, primary, and high school grades, it was difficult initially to convince traditional Puebla parents that “play” and strategies such as plan-do-review constitute learning. However, she adds, “Over time, parents slowly began to understand how and why rooms had ‘different’ materials, why work was linked to activities at home, and why plan-do-review was done in English.” Classrooms at the

Mónica Iñesta and Maria Eugenia Serrano, HighScope Mexico

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HighScope Mexico

Since August 2012, 22 teachers of Colegio Interamericano de Saltillo have been participating in HighScope training with HighScope Mexico director Juanita Gonzàlez (top left, center). The school is the first in the northern part of Mexico (close to the United States border) to decide to implement HighScope. It serves toddlers and children in preschool through fourth grade.

HighScope Mexico director Juanita Gonzàlez is pictured here (below, center) with a group of teachers who completed HighScope training. Between June and October of 2012, 93 teachers in several cities of Mexico went through training with certified HighScope trainers Mónica Iñesta and Graciela Borja (Mexico City); Juanita González (Colegio Alemán de Guadalajara); Pilar Farrés (Sinaloa): and Elsa Portilla (Veracruz and Tabasco).

A group of children at the Colegio Niños en Acción (Children in Action) participate in a small-group time activity with their teacher. The school, founded by Juanita González, is home to the HighScope Institute in Mexico (see sidebar, p. 22).

Children attending the Colegio Niños en Acción had the idea to visit Teotihuacán, one of the largest cities of Mesoamérica. The children made a plan with their teachers and, with the support and involvement of parents, they all climbed the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon (Pirámide del Sol y Pirámide de la Luna).

The House Area, Colegio Niños en Acción

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Colegio Ypsilanti are “totally bilingual” spaces, with instruction half in English and half in Spanish, and small-group activities and plan-do-review are targeted components of English instruction.

At the Colegio Ypsilanti, small-group activities and plan-do-review are targeted components of English instruction. In extending the HighScope approach to the Colegio’s primary and secondary school levels, Serrano has used aspects of the HighScope Preschool Curriculum as well as HighScope’s educational camp for adolescents (the Institute for IDEAS) established by David Wiekart in the 1960s (and which Serrano’s son attended). The camp’s “workshops” are a major part of the instructional day for the primary and secondary levels, with students working on formal academic subjects (in accord with the goals and objectives of Mexico’s Secretary of Primary Education) “in designated areas with stations for subjects,” says Serrano. “This is treated as a continuation of what HighScope does in preschool. Choice is key.” The Colegio has also adapted the IDEAS’ camp “work projects” approach as a key component of its secondarylevel curriculum, which Serrano says is “an excellent continuation of plan-doreview.” All of the school’s projects (e.g., paper recycling program, school newspaper, book-making) and classes (e.g., cooking) are “treated as HighScope learning processes and taught through the plan-do-review model,” she says. Recruiting and training teachers to implement an active learning curriculum is often challenging in countries where traditional pedagogical methods prevail. According to Serrano, who has been a HighScope-certified teacher since 1990 (she has attended every annual HighScope International Conference since), and a certified trainer since 2007, the educational conservatism of Mexico is as prevalent among teachers as it is 18

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among parents, and this situation has posed a great challenge for the school in terms of recruitment and training. Says Serrano, “We work in a labor market filled with teachers trained in a very traditional manner — and we often meet open resistance to ‘retooling’ or using an alternative educational model such as HighScope. When Serrano recived her HighScope trainer certification in 2007, Serrano began training teachers herself. Collegio Ypsilanti now runs extended training seminars over the summer as well as shorter support sessions during the school year. Colegio David P. Weikart

Challenging traditional methods of teaching and learning is also paramount for Elsa Portilla, founder of the Colegio David P. Weikart in Veracruz, who started a preschool using HighScope in 1993 and then a primary school in 1995 when her first preschool graduates wanted to continue with the HighScope active learning approach. After visiting Maru Serrano’s school in Puebla, which she used as a model for her own primary school, Portilla says she was guided by four questions as she developed the school’s curriculum: “1) What program would give us the support to develop our target student profile: independent, self-starting, and resolute kids; 2) How can we use active learning to challenge an educational culture of mechanized memorization?; 3) How can we involve teachers in the process of educational change?; and 4) How do we get parents Elsa Portilla, Colegio David P. Weikart, Mexico

Graciela Borja, Colegio Mournier, Mexico

in such a traditional place to buy into this methodology?” To reach these goals, Portilla sought to implement elements of the HighScope Wheel of Learning with some modifications. In terms of room arrangement, for example, classrooms are structured with areas for math, social science, Spanish, and natural science. The daily schedule has been developed to allow each class to be taught in small groups. The central component of the schedule is a two-hour workshop, and each day is organized with one main academic focus. Plan-doreview is chiefly implemented through projects in which students research a topic and present their project to their group. Portilla sees curriculum content as the “axle” of the HighScope Wheel, determining how the room is organized, how students and adults interact, and how the whole process is evaluated. The commitment to active learning is at the heart of the school’s approach, with a focus on student initiative and choice, supportive adult-child interactions, and a room arrangement that provides an abundance of materials that students can explore and manipulate. Says Portilla, “Everything in the school is viewed as resource for learning and teaching.” Colegio Mournier

In Culiacan, Sinaloa, a conservative, coastal, and agricultural area of Mexico, the Colegio Mournier also uses HighScope to shape its curriculum, in combination with the principles of French philosopher Emmanual Mounier (a progressive Catholic intellectual who that believed that it is the responsibility of every human being to play an active role in history). In this very conservative area, “the school has to be run, staffed, and populated with people and students who want to be there,” says highscope.org

Borja. “People who participate have to have questioned their own education and past; otherwise the buy-in to HighScope is difficult for parents and teachers alike.” The school’s 58 preschool through fourth-grade students, including 25 children with special needs, follow a daily routine centered around smalland large-group activities, and plan-doreview. Some days are dedicated to special projects, which are often led by special adult facilitators (usually parents or family). Most important to the school’s success, Borja says is developing positive and supportive adult-child relationships, and to this end, the school has organized workshops for parents and students to encourage stronger home learning. Borja has also worked with community educators to do outreach to teachers in rural areas. According to director Graciela Borja, the school’s ethical mission in this area dominated by drug trafficking interests is to educate students and “to show them that there is another way to live and relate to the world.”

Colombia Colegio Hacienda los Alcaparros

At the Colegio Hacienda los Alcaparros (CHLA), in Bogotá, Colombia, which was founded in 1992, “HighScope is the only way for us,” says director Rosita Caro. According to Caro, the CHLA engages HighScope as an extension of the school’s primary objective: human development and excellence through education. With four schools under one roof (preschool through high school), the HighScope Wheel of Learning is at the center of the school experience, with an emphasis on “physical spaces and schedule components that give each student a shared control over the experience and space, with a balance betweens student and teacher initiative,” explains Caro. The plan-do-review process is key to structuring both group and individual work, she says, with a project-based focus similar to the one described by Caro’s Mexican colleague, Elsa Portilla. At the CHLA, the teacher presents a concept, which students

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Rosita Caro, Colegio Hacienda los Alcaparros, Colombia

explore and discuss. The resulting projects — developed as spokes from the central topic — are determined by students know and what they want to know. For example, a group of third graders explored the question “What is air?” They then built a web around the issue to design tasks, select materials, and shape smaller collaborative projects. The review phase comes chiefly through presentations to students and parents or through student-centered documentation and reflection, such as the publication of a school newspaper. Like her peers, Caro spoke of a series of challenges to implementing HighScope in Bogotá, including keeping teachers up to date through training, and “selling” HighScope to parents — though now that the school has graduated nine classes, it has gained parents’ trust, Caro says.

Portugal Escola Raiz

One of the latest additions to the roster of international HighScope-based early childhood programs is the Escola Raiz in Lisbon, Portugal. The school was established in 1998 by Luís and

Margarida Silveira Rodrigues with a preschool class of 13 students, It has since grown into a network of five schools with 100 students each, including a day care center, an elementary school (for children ages 6–12), and a teen space for graduates who go to public school

Colombia’s CHLA engages HighScope as an extension of the school’s primary objective: human development and excellence through education. and come by for afternoon classes for “active learning.” Initially linked to the education program at Braga University, the school adopted HighScope in 2008, after Margarida completed HighScope training and became certified as a teacher and trainer. Like several of its Latin American counterparts, the Escola Raiz uses the HighScope Curriculum in combination with project learning. The school conducts two group project activities each year with the goal of facilitating a shared learning experience and sense of ownership among its students. For example, students in the sixth grade researched the lives of people who have helped to change the world (e.g., Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King), and continued on page 22

Online Courses From HighScope! Participate in HighScope Training when and where you want by signing up for a wide variety of online courses. See page 20 or visit highscope.org to learn more about course availability, additional information, and how to register.

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HighScope Professional Development

Professional Development Workshops — Learn more about the HighScope educational approach by attending workshops, customized training, HighScope Regional Conferences, or the HighScope International Conference. Topics include all the major elements of the HighScope approach — active learning, adult-child interaction, the daily routine, HighScope key developmental indicators, and assessment using the Child Observation Record (COR).

@HighScope

Designed for more in-depth curriculum training, courses range from one week to seven weeks in length. They include curriculum training designed for teachers and administrators and adult training courses designed to prepare participants to be HighScope trainers for their programs.

Advanced Courses — Recommended for those who have taken the HighScope Curriculum and/or Training of Trainers (TOT) courses. These courses offer in-depth, sophisticated work with content areas, such as literacy, mathematics, science, visual arts, movement and music, the Preschool Child Observation Record (COR), and the Preschool Program Quality Assessment (PQA). They also cover a wide range of processes, such as mentoring, evaluation, and working with children and adults in fullday programs and multiage, bilingual, and intergenerational settings. For more information on HighScope’s Teacher, Trainer, and Program Certifications, please visit our website at highscope.org

Customized Workshops by HighScope Because classrooms and child care programs are unique, we offer unique training solutions. HighScope staff are available to visit programs and provide classroom observation, feedback, and mentoring. One HighScope staff member can visit and provide support for two to three classrooms per day. Strengths and opportunities identified in these sessions help drive curriculum and professional development plans for teachers and supervisors. With input from teaching staff, parents, and others, HighScope can design a course agenda to deliver to 15 workshop participants. Fees for customized services are $1,200/day plus travel expenses.

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HighScope offers the following workshops and courses in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Introduction to the HighScope Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers This week-long workshop is designed to provide teachers with an overview of the successful HighScope Infant-Toddler Curriculum. This is a perfect opportunity for anyone working with infants and toddlers, including Early Head Start teachers, Head Start teachers, program administrators, and parents. June 18–22 or August 20–24, 2012 • $500/person

Courses —

Spotlight on Training from HighScope

WORKSHOPS

Introduction to the HighScope Curriculum for Preschool Teachers: Basic Principles and Strategies This workshop provides teachers with a one-week overview of the components of the HighScope Preschool Curriculum. Discussion will focus on curriculum content areas, valid and reliable assessment, the HighScope daily routine, team building, effective adultchild interaction strategies, and more. June 25–29 or July 23–27, 2012 • $500/person

Online Courses Preschool or Infant-Toddler Child Observation Record (COR) $240/person Using COR Data to Inform Instruction $120/person Assessing Program Quality Assessment (PQA) $120/person Large-Group Time $120/person Small-Group Time $120/person Lesson Planning $65/person Work Time $65/person Planning and Recall Times $120/person Numbers Plus Preschool Mathematics Curriculum $215/person Infant-Toddler Conflict Resolution $215/person Supporting Attachment in Infants and Toddlers $120/person Infant-Toddler Treasure Baskets: Materials to Support Heuristic Play $65/person Physical Development: Gross and Fine Motor $125/person For course schedules, go to highscope.org > Training & Conferences > Training Schedule.

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HighScope Professional Development

Education Through Movement Summer Training This one-week course promotes a basic understanding of the Education Through Movement (ETM) program. Key areas include HighScope movement and music key developmental indicators, fundamentals of motor development, an effective teaching model (Separate, Simplify, Facilitate) and successful methods for integrating movement and music into other curriculum areas. This training will be held at the DaySpring Episcopal Conference Center in Parrish, Florida. For more information, please visit highscope.org or call Karen Sawyers at 734.485.2000, ext. 224. Early Registration: $995 if paid in full by March 31, 2012; after March 31 the Registration Fee is $1,095, (includes training fee, 6 nights’ lodging, and 18 meals). July 15–21, 2012 • $995/person (includes tuition, lodging, and meals)

Preschool Curriculum Course (PCC) (Conducted over two summers) The four-week Preschool Curriculum Course is designed to prepare teachers and caregivers to implement the HighScope Curriculum in their early childhood programs. $3,135/person Week 1 – Fundamentals in the HighScope Preschool Curriculum July 30–August 3, 2012 Week 2 – Children in the HighScope Preschool Environment August 6–10, 2012 Weeks 3–4 Summer 2013

Training of Trainers (TOT) (Conducted over two summers) Prerequisite is the Preschool Curriculum Course or equivalent. The threeweek Training of Trainers course is designed for those who have already completed extensive training in the HighScope Curriculum and wish to extend their skills to training adults in the educational approach. The course is held over two summers at HighScope’s headquarters in Ypsilanti, Michigan — two weeks the first summer and one week the second. Those successfully completing the course earn certification

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as HighScope Trainers with an endorsement in the HighScope Preschool Curriculum. $3,960/person Week 1 – Developing and Presenting Workshops July 16–20, 2012 Week 2 – Observation/Feedback July 23–27, 2012 Week 3 Summer 2013

New Courses! Working With Children With Challenging Behavior Some children arrive in pre-K with a history of trauma and challenges — physical abuse, neglect, psychological problems, autism, and Down syndrome. Conflict arises in the classroom because these children have particular needs. In this workshop, we’ll address specific strategies to reach all children, defuse behavior problems and bullying when they occur, and promote harmony among children through encouragement and by providing choices. July 9–12 or Aug 13–16, 2012 • $400/person

Promoting Academic Content in Pre-K Classrooms In constructivist programs, children are provided with opportunities to have input into the learning process by making choices during all parts of the day. During group times, teachers often introduce concepts in mathematics, language arts, science, and social studies. In this workshop, we’ll address how to plan small-group time using HighScope’s key developmental indicators, common resources available in the classroom, and more. July 16–19 or Aug 6–9, 2012 • $400/person

HighScope and Early Head Start — A Perfect Match The HighScope approach for infants and toddlers is utilized in Early Head Start and other early childhood programs throughout the United States and abroad. In this workshop, we’ll discuss meeting our youngest students’ basic needs and when it is appropriate (and how) to

begin to prepare them for pre-K. Topics discussed include establishing and maintaining a consistent caregiving routine, team building with other adults, and transitioning students to pre-K. June 4–7 or June 25–28, 2012 • $400/person

Promoting Language Development for English Language Learners Research indicates that pre-K–aged children whose native language is other than English can become proficient in English in two years or less. Speaking to children in their native language and English is only one of many strategies for promoting development of language skills. In this workshop, we’ll discuss what research says about language development and strategies HighScope implements to promote growth in children’s native language and English. June 18–21 or July 30–Aug 2, 2012 • $400/person

Assessment “Boot Camp” Collecting authentic data and using it to drive instruction is critical to the success of teachers who serve children ages 0–5 in an early childhood program. In this workshop, we’ll examine the HighScope Child Observation Record (COR), a research-validated instrument that measures student growth and aids teachers in making plans based on data collected through the COR. We’ll also look at the HighScope Program Quality Assessment (PQA), a research-validated instrument that allows program managers to evaluate specific components of their educational program for effectiveness, and the Early Literacy Skills Assessment, a research-validated assessment for early reading. July 9–12 or July 30–Aug 2, 2012 • $400/person For more information on HighScope’s professional development options, customized on-site training, or certification, please contact Gavin Haque at 734.485.2000, Ext. 218, via e-mail at [email protected]; or visit our website at highscope.org. To register for training, call 734.485.2000, Ext. 234, fax 734.485.4467, or register online at highscope.org.

ReSource Spring 2012

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Highscope International Children in Action

continued from page 19 created a bilingual blog (in Portugese and English) to share with others. Students also work on individual projects as teachers facilitate activities with plan-do-review, both at the preschool and primary levels. Classrooms at both levels are set up according to interest areas, and the daily routine includes message board and other group times. The school works closely with parents, bringing them into the classroom “as much as possible,” says Rodrigues. Activities are based on children’s interests, though older students decide “within the limits of structured routine,” what they are going to do, with adult Margarida and Luís Silveira Rodrigues, Escola Raiz, Portugal

Escola Raiz works closely with parents, bringing them into the classroom “as much as possible.” involvement in their work. “A history lesson, for instance, might involve research and dramatization,” explains Rodrigues, “with students deciding the subject of their research and then putting on skits based on what they’ve learned.” Joanne Tangorra is the managing editor of ReSource. Corey Shouse Tourino is a HighScope consultant.

Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly described the future site of the Escola Raiz as a building located outside of Lisbon and under construction by Camarim Arquitectos. The building described in the article is the future site of a school unrelated to the Escola Raiz. The Escola Raiz, located in Lisbon, is a certified HighScope Center and the licensed HighScope® International Institute in Portugal.

HighScope International Conference There’s a lot to like about my HighScope. And it all comes together at the 2012 HighScope International Conference. May 2–4, 2012 Early Bird Registration: $375.00/person (before March 25th) Visit highscope.org for details and to register! 22

ReSource Spring 2012

In 2000, after almost 20 years as a HighScope educator and certified trainer in public and private schools in Puebla, Mexico, Juanita González decided to open a school of her own. Called the Colegio Niños en Acción (Children in Action School), the center is now not only a school attended by children from 18 months to five years old, it is also a HighScope demonstration and training center, and the home to the HighScope Institute Mexico, of which González is director. Niños en Acción is a small school whose teachers are fully trained in the HighScope approach to early learning. There is also a training program specifically for parents, “who play a very important role in the school’s life,” according to González. “The sole purpose of the training is to let parents know what the HighScope Curriculum is all about and to help them understand the importance of their participation in their child`s education if a real difference is to be made,” González explains. “Our goal is for children to become happy, thinking, problem-solving children who will able to face challenges at different stages of their lives,” she adds, “and parental involvement can help to make that happen.”

González sees evidence of this difference in the graduates of Niños en Acción, who meet every year in December for an alumni reunion where they share life experiences, memories, photographs, and academic achievements. The most recent gathering in 2011 was attended by former students ranging in age from 7 to 21. Says González, “The alumni are children, young adults, and adults at all different grade levels. Some even already have graduate degrees from schools in Mexico and abroad. We have been able to witness how they have become happy, productive, and successful people whose lives have been enhanced by HighScope.”

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