“Why I Am Not a Painter”: Developing an Inclusive Classroom

In this paper, I connect John Dewey’s notion that growth occurs through interaction with a diverse community to contemporary discussions of inclusive education. I highlight the importance of materials that offer different access points, the chance for students to listen to one another, and the teacher\u27s openness to each child’s potential. Though I became a teacher already committed to a classroom community that celebrated a range of capacities, I wasn’t initially able to translate this belief into practice. Integrating practice and philosophy, I share my path to provide insights for other teachers seeking to create a more inclusive classroom

Conversations about Death that are Provoked by Literature

How do teachers have conversations about death with young children? In this paper, I focus specifically on how teachers might support unplanned conversations that were provoked by children’s literature. In analyzing a series of events in which such conversations occurred, I argue that to do so required going against three conventions in literacy education: close reading, staying on task, and appropriate school talk. I then speak to how teacher educators might prepare teachers for these unexpected but important digressions

Making Sense with Manipulatives: Developing Mathematical Experiences for Early Childhood Teachers

This paper is premised on the fact that math can be an important tool in helping people make sense of the world. Math offers a unique and particular lens, helping people to focus on a range of characteristics from shape and amount to the relationship between the general and the particular. To promote math as a tool for making sense, early childhood math instruction ought to teach it in a manner that helps children make sense of mathematical concepts. Specifically, I argue here that manipulatives are often brought into the early childhood classroom to promote “hands-on” learning without facilitating making sense. Taking a mixed-methods approach, I move between philosophical analysis to qualitative research to illustrate specific criteria promoting making sense in math education. Building primarily on the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, I first define what I mean by “making sense.” John Dewey’s writing about math education and experience provides a framework for making sense with manipulatives. I then focus on how preservice teachers can teach math to young children in a manner that makes sense. I also share how I changed my instruction using criteria established by early childhood math educators Angela Giglio Andrews and Paul R. Trafton. I conclude by arguing that a math education that makes sense is both a democratic right and necessity

Descriptive Inquiry in Teacher Practice : Cultivating Practical Wisdom to Create Democratic Schools

What does it mean to teach for human dignity? How does one do so? This practical book shows how the leaders at four urban public schools used a process called Descriptive Inquiry to create democratic schools that promote and protect human dignity. The authors argue that teachers must attend to who a child is and find a way to create classrooms that allow everyone to feel safe and express ideas. Responding to the perennial question of how to cultivate teachers, they offer an approach that attends to both ethical development and instructional methods. They also provide a way forward for school leaders seeking to listen to, and provide guidance for, their staff. At its core, Descriptive Inquiry in Teacher Practice champions a commitment to schools as places in which children, teachers, and leaders can learn how to live and work well together. Book Features: Illustrates how to take an inquiry stance toward the difficult issues that educators face every day; Examines how themes regularly addressed in foundations can be used to improve schools; Includes engaging portraits of progressive urban schools that showcase the qualities of the leaders that guide them; Demonstrate the power of a progressive and humanistic education for children of color and for those from lower-income backgrounds -- Provided by publisherhttps://scholarworks.umf.maine.edu/publications/1104/thumbnail.jp