Graduate Education Students Present Research at Major Childhood Education Conference

Envisioning young children as active participants in their classroom experiences, two graduate students in The School of Education at St. John’s presented their work on creative teaching in the classroom at the annual state conference of a major national association dedicated to improving early childhood education.

Martha Mancini ‘12GEd and Yezebel Manaloto ‘11GEd presented in two different venues at the Annual Conference of the New York State Association for the Education of Young Children ((NYSAEYC), on Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30, in Rye Brook, NY. The association is the state affiliate of NAEYC, a major national player in early childhood education advocacy, policy, practice and standard setting.

The presentations — in a Poster and Graduate Student Panel Session — drew upon the students’ work on “inquiry projects” with three- and four-year-olds, a key assignment in an Integrated Curriculum course taught by their University sponsor, Rebekah Fassler, Ed.D., Associate Professor in The School of Education.

Martha and Yezebel are earning their Master of Science degrees in Early Childhood Education. Their inquiry projects — using “The Project Approach” — encouraged children to take initiative in examining real-world topics which they found interesting. Martha explored the Project Approach through The Pet Project and Yezebel focused her exploration on The Ball Project.

“Our students’ presentations focused on an issue of great relevance to the way our society educates young children,” said Dr. Fassler. “The Project Approach they implemented in 2009 and 2010, respectively, envisions children as active thinkers and communicators who are capable of discussing ideas, wondering, investigating, representing and reflecting on their experiences.”

Martha and Yezebel’s presentations documented these processes. A teacher, Martha implemented her project in her classroom of three- to four-year-olds. Yezebel continued use of The Project Approach during her field work in Martha’s classroom the following year. Their Poster Session traced the children’s engagement through all phases of the projects. The Panel Presentation explored qualities that made Martha’s classroom a hospitable environment for the projects.

The projects’ success reflects The School of Education’s emphasis on real-world experience. Graduate students in the Early Childhood Education program represent a mix of people who already teach and those who are new to the field. The state requires that all education students complete “field hours” in early childhood settings before a semester of student teaching.

“We in The School of Education take special pride in providing our graduate students with hospitable field sites and expanded roles as they explore and advance in the teaching profession,” said Dr. Fassler.

According to Martha, attending the conference provided “an amazing array of high-quality workshops” that allowed her to “bring back many new ideas” to her teaching at Our Lady of Fatima School in Queens, NY. A Career Change student, Yezebel said that although she has previously presented as a human resources professional, sharing her research at the conference “helped break the ice” in her newly chosen field.