Emergent Teaching inspires teachers to teach with more spontaneity and creativity within an educational environment that is highly constrained. It demonstrates, through descriptive stories, creative strategies and provides an intellectual foundation for emergent teaching. The authors show how teachers can relate subject matter to students’ lives and experience. They illustrate rituals and processes that help establish a caring learning community. Finally, the book applies the theories of complexity and chaos while reaffirming the natural wisdom that teachers possess within themselves. The authors have chosen a narrative format that “models” rather than “tells,” and encourages readers to connect to their own stories and experiences. The book is consistent with the theoretical understandings and research in the complexity sciences but takes a narrative approach, giving examples and illustrations of ideas through stories, myths, and parables that act as metaphors and illustrations. Key topics and practices embedded in these stories include teaching the whole person strategies for creative teaching new understandings of process meaning-centered learning building community in the classroom strengthening the student/teacher relationship project-based learning using art and nature in teaching embodied learning incorporating story and narrative in teaching rites of passage embracing the unpredictable, uncharted spaces in teaching

"Learn how to enact curricular, pedagogical, and policy shifts that nourish students' linguistic repertoires. Drawing on their experience working with educators and students in grades 7-12, the authors challenge readers to transform their approach to languaging, agency, and authority in the classroom. Strategies come alive through classroom vignettes and examples of student work"--

How is a compelling, exemplary curriculum created in schools in spite of the pressures to implement a standardized one? In this book, teachers and principals share their experiences with emergent curriculum, and with the creative practices they’ve developed in urban classrooms kindergarten to 3rd grade. We learn what they were trying to do, how they began the process, the challenges they faced, the decisions they made, and what happened to the children. All chapters are written by teachers who have found ways of interpreting the Reggio approach to enrich their teaching within the confines of traditional schools. This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand emergent curriculum and for all who hope to nurture an enlivening, energizing way to learn in classrooms. The inspiring stories presented here illustrate: Ways that early childhood values and practices have been sustained and promoted in elementary schools. Exemplary teaching practice, where children want to learn and teachers want to teach. How the influence of the Reggio Emilia approach is reaching into urban public school environments with diverse populations. Democratic participatory teaching that offers visions of responsible citizenship for children. “This book is a treasure trove of useful frameworks, wonderful teacher stories, and memorable insights. It demonstrates the remarkable potential of children and teachers, and it clarifies how North American elementary school educators can take hold of ideas from Reggio Emilia and integrate them with their own ideals and standards.” —Carolyn Pope Edwards, University of Nebraska–Lincoln “Carol Anne Wien demonstrates again that she can illustrate complex ideas—this time the theories underlying the Reggio Emilia approach—in innovative ways for a broad audience.” —Celia Genishi, Teachers College, Columbia University “A must read for educators seeking an antidote to prescriptive curricular practice that respects neither children nor teachers.” —Curt Dudley-Marling, Lynch School of Education, Boston College “This book provides long overdue and compelling pathways for extending Reggio Emilia principles into the primary grades. It will encourage readers to feel their way into the spirit and substance of emergent curricula and come away rejuvenated.” —Daniel Scheinfeld, Erikson Institute, Chicago, Illinois

The most pressing challenge in early childhood education today is to find a way to meet the standards within a developmentally appropriate approach. In this book, two active early childhood educators provide teachers with resources to bring content alive and document it in every-day, action-based pre–K and Kindergarten classrooms. The book includes lists of key content ideas—coordinated with learning standards in science, mathematics, social studies, and the communication arts—to guide teacher observations of, and interactions with, young children. Chapters focus on ways to extend children’s emerging use of content in the block, manipulative, sand and water, drama, expressive arts, and literacy centers, as well as link to the development of themes. Book features include: Lists of key ideas in the content areas. Examples of conversations that nurture children’s emerging content understandings. Vignettes from the field illustrating teachers’ experiences of embedding content into center activities, along with photographs. Sample forms for documenting children’s learning as they meet the standards in a variety of contexts. Sydney L. Schwartzis a Professor Emerita of Queens College of the City University of New York.Sherry M. Copelandis an experienced early childhood teacher, teacher trainer, advocate, and director of early childhood programs.

This book explores the complexities of interacting with digital technologies in the everyday flow of practices in schools, museums, and the home. In particular, the authors pay attention to the material conditions of such practices via the exploration of media discourses on information and communication technologies in the classroom; the ongoing digitization of the school; the use of video chat for language learning; the instantiation of CrossActionSpaces in an urban science classrooms; the development of symbolic technologies such as the Carbon Footprint Calculator; the design of apps and virtual museums for learning science; the use of text message tools for collaborative learning in teacher education and the design, implementation, and evaluation of Augmented Reality apps in outdoor learning. The book is grounded in case studies presented by scholars at the workshop, “Changing Teaching and Learning Practices in Schools with Tablet-Mediated Collaborative Learning: Nordic, European and International Views” and the workshop “Emergent Practices and Material Conditions in Tablet-mediated Collaborative Learning and Teaching” both of which have been held at the Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning conference (CSCL). This volume brings together inspirational and high-quality chapters that raise a range of important ideas and showcase the importance of looking beyond technology-enhanced learning. Taken together, this volume unpacks a variety of everyday situations by engaging with what is really happening with digital technologies rather than what is expected to happen with them in educational settings. The take-away message is a call for research on learning, teaching, and digital technologies that enables engagement with the materiality of educational practices and, in particular, their constitutive relationships that configure the contemporary educational practices of the digital age.

Recent educational reform initiatives such as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) largely fail to address the needs--or tap into the unique resources--of students who are developing literacy skills in both English and a home language. This book discusses ways to meet the challenges that current standards pose for teaching emergent bilingual students in grades K-8. Leading experts describe effective, standards-aligned instructional approaches and programs expressly developed to promote bilingual learners' academic vocabulary, comprehension, speaking, writing, and content learning. Innovative policy recommendations and professional development approaches are also presented.

Helps providers implement proven child-centered curricular practices while meeting early learning standards.