Spreading the Word about Intentional Teaching

On BAM Radio last week, host Rae Pica focused on two teaching strategies for young children that are too often represented as polar opposites: child-guided versus teacher-directed teaching.

<p class="MsoNormal">The guests for <a href="http://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=category&amp;layout=blog&amp;id=35&amp;Itemid=65">the show</a> (I was fortunate to be among them) made the point that this shouldn’t be an either-or scenario. <span style="">&nbsp;</span>Both Jerlean Daniel, executive director of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and Ann Epstein, senior director of curriculum development at the HighScope Educational Research Foundation, talked about erasing the “versus.”</p>  <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Epstein has <a href="http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=279">written widely</a> on the need for an “intentional” teaching approach, one in which adults have a purposeful role in child-guided experiences, taking advantage of both planned and unexpected learning opportunities, and in which children are encouraged to be active, curious learners when experiences are guided by adults. <span style="">&nbsp;</span><span style="">&nbsp;</span></p>    <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>My contribution was to encourage intentional teachers to make their work known – to showcase for policymakers and the public what learning looks like in a classroom in which adults are taking children to new levels of insight and skill while children are engaged in projects they’ve initiated.</p>    <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>For the full podcast and more, see <a href="http://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=category&amp;layout=blog&amp;id=35&amp;Itemid=65">the Educator’s Channel</a> on the <a href="http://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=category&amp;layout=blog&amp;id=35&amp;Itemid=65">BAM Radio Network</a>.</p><br>