EDCI 3382

Pedagogy Project

Victoria Pecot

Louisiana State University

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According to Merriam-Webster, pedagogy is “the art, science, or profession of teaching;

especially: education.” There are many different components of pedagogy, including: teaching

styles, feedback, assessments, and so on. Each teacher has a different type of pedagogy, but the

high-quality professionals should focus on a pedagogy that is both developmentally appropriate

and implemented effectively. The teacher should create a pedagogy that takes care of the

students’ needs first. Teachers should run through questions like, “How are my students learning

the best?” “Do they need more individual work time?” and “Am I teaching developmentally

appropriately?” I believe a pedagogy should be student-centered in focusing the interests of

learning to the students, and what they are curious about, or are doing the best. One’s pedagogy

is shaped through what the pedagogy is focused on, and how it is implemented.

My mentor teacher works at the LSU Early Childhood Laboratory Preschool. It is in East

Baton Rouge parish, in Louisiana. The school is public, with a more private feel to it. The school

is only from infants- preschoolers, which is a relatively small school. The grade level my mentor

teaches is preschool, with about twelve students (8 boys and 4 girls). All of the children are

relatively on the same educational level, with no inclusion students. There are three students that

come from different cultural backgrounds, and can speak another language fluently. There is one

other adult in the classroom, the assistant teacher. The classroom is arranged in a

developmentally appropriate setting, with the centers evenly spaced out from the loud and quiet

areas. There are rugs underneath the centers to muffle the noise of blocks, and there are cozy

areas as well. The walkways are big enough so that people can freely walk around, and there are

three tables that are together for lunch and breakfast time. The daily schedule consists of:

Arrival- centers, free play.

Breakfast
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Morning Meeting

Centers

Outside play

Afternoon meeting

Lunch

Nap

Snack

Reading/Instruction with words

Centers

Dismissal

Incorporating small group activities is extremely important for children. It allows for

individual instruction, and social skill development. Young children are still developing their

social skills and cognitive domains, which is why small groups are so important. They learn best

in small group settings, because the teacher can really explain what to do and focus on the

children doing the task. For small group to be developmentally appropriate, it should only be a

small amount of students, such as five; this should be logically arranged (Developmentally

Appropriate Practice: Group Activity). Also, the teachers should have different props on the

table, for the children to play with or interact with that relates to the activity. One small group

experience observed in placement occurred with the mentor teacher. The mentor teacher wanted

to teach the children about patterns. To do this, she got out sheets of paper, paint, and cotton

swabs. She instructed about three children to make a pattern, and explained what this meant in

detail. They completed this activity with their own creativity and made their own pattern, and

most of them enjoyed it, and understood what they were doing. She would write down in her
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notebook what each child was doing, to enter into her TS Gold later. Overall, the

developmentally appropriate guidelines she used were: Observing, documenting, and assessing

children’s development and learning (she did this by writing down what they did to assess their

learning for further practice), teaching to enhance each child’s development and learning (she did

this by using encouragement, behavior specific feedback, and guidance), and planning and

implementing an engaging curriculum to achieve meaningful goals. The principles of child

development and learning that the mentor teacher expressed through this activity was number 8,

“Development and learning advance when children are challenged to achieve at a level just

beyond their current mastery and when they have many opportunities to reflect on and practice

newly acquired skills.” Lastly, the GLE/Common Core Louisiana Standard used which was

appropriate in this category of activity was the ‘Cognitive Development and General

Knowledge-Mathematics: Standard 2: Understand basic patterns, concepts, and operations,”

(Louisiana Birth-Five). This was expressed through the understanding of what a pattern is after

being explained to, and completing their own pattern activity with paint by dots.

Whole group activities and instructions are important because the teacher can address key

concepts and big ideas to the whole class at one time. Whole group encourages students to

participate collectively, and it creates a positive, warm including environment where children are

allowed to feel involved and curious. Developmentally appropriate whole group instruction

involves a nurturing, positive environment (Early Childhood Education: Implementing DAP)

The teacher should allow all children to feel involved. As well as, but not limited to, should

include activities or songs where the whole group can easily do together, such as a song. One

whole group experience that was observed in the placement was from the instruction of the

mentor teacher. The mentor teacher led a morning meeting every day, which involved students
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sitting around in a circle, listening to a morning song, and being instructed or talked to about a

new part of their learning unit: construction. This time, they were learning about the dumpster

truck. The teacher read them an informational book about dumpster trucks, including vocabulary

words about what each part of the truck was called and used for. Children were allowed to go

around to answer if they had ever seen a dumpster truck before, after being shown a photo. They

could participate and talk when called on. The environment was nurturing and positive. The

teacher’s strategies for teaching were effective, and she always went through the standards to

meet and the domains to target for each lesson. She would also ask open-ended questions she had

written down, to further their curiosity and engagement with the lesson. The teacher used

developmentally appropriate practice by: Creating a caring, equitable community of learners,

teaching to enhance each child’s development and learning (Taught based on actual standards of

each domain to reach, in her notebook), and planning and implementing an engaging curriculum

to achieve meaningful goals. The principles of child development and learning she used was

number 9, “Used responsibly and intentionally, technology and interactive media can be valuable

tools for supporting children’s development and learning.” This was shown by the songs about

dumpster trucks, which were informative and fun, and by the book she read about them. Lastly,

the GLE/Common Core Louisiana Standard used which was appropriate in this category of

activity was the ‘Approaches to Learning, Standard 3: Recognize, understand, and analyze a

problem and draw on knowledge or experiences to seek solutions,” (Louisiana Birth-Five). This

was shown by implementing critical thinking on their cognitive development about construction.

Learning centers are appropriate areas where children can develop different areas of

learning. They can further their art development, cognitive development, and more by being

provided the materials needed for each center. Learning centers are hands-on, and encourage
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learning through play or observation. Learning centers that are developmentally appropriate “will

support a child’s social, emotional, and cognitive skills,” (Hamand, pg. 7). For example, in

blocks center, “blocks and other construction type toys helps children with spatial relations,

abstract thinking, and critical thinking skills,” (Hamand, pg. 7). There are many other reasons

and ways centers can be developmentally appropriate, but those are just a few. Based on my

understanding of the DAP guidelines for centers, I believe my classroom in my placement is

developmentally appropriate. The design is a nice layout of the noisier areas being on side of the

room, with a rug underneath to soften the loud block noise, and the quiet areas being on the

opposite side of the room. There are many child-like furniture options, with cozy furniture such

as a child-couch where reading is. The walkways are spacious enough so people can get through,

and there are many displays of the child’s art, without crowding the classroom, throughout the

room. There are also many diversity things throughout the room, such as different cultures in

books, and in photos like our family tree. I could not find anything about the environment of the

classroom and setting in the GLE/Common Core/Louisiana Birth-5 Standards. However, from

doing the environmental assessments of the classroom, I know the classroom is developmentally

appropriate, and was scored a high score on the environment and setting.

In the placement classroom, there are no children with exceptionalities. All children are

on the same level of learning. However, if one of the children had an exceptionality, this is what

I believe should be done. (From the perspective of if a child was blind) The teacher should use

auditory instruction as much as possible, as well as including songs that are fun and playful so

the child can enjoy as well. The teacher should explain activities and instruction as much as

possible, and possibly introduce a shadow in the class to help the child with areas the teacher

cannot. The teacher should give the child more time on one-on-one activities, because the child
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will need specific instruction which will take more time than other children. A braille system

should be used around the class, with braille under the labels of toys, signs, etc.

The mentor teacher has shown sensitivity and respect for diversity throughout the

classroom in a few ways. The mentor teacher shows diversity of cultures and races through

putting different books in our library. There are books about different cultures, and skin tones.

One book, which is the only one I remember at the moment, is called “The Skin You Live In,”

which is a book about how everyone’s skin tone is special and recognized. There is also a family

tree in the corner of the room, with pictures of everyone’s family. This recognizes the student’s

different cultures, family backgrounds (two moms, one dad, no siblings, etc.). The mentor

teacher also has done an activity about race. She brought in a Crayola crayon pack specifically

for skin tones. She had everyone draw themselves in the skin tone they thought they were, and

she went through them and hung everyone’s up on the wall. The mentor teacher is also very

nurturing and respectful to each child in the class, and overall, does not treat any child

differently.

In closing, this mentor teacher’s pedagogy was shaped in a diverse, nurturing, and child-

interest specific way. The mentor teacher developed her classroom through including diversity

respect, positive relationships with her students, and teaching specific to the developmental

domains. Each child feels accounted for in my placement, and the teacher utilizes this greatly

through her many small group activities every day, and by allowing students to ask and answer

questions during whole group. Even though no child has exceptionalities, the mentor teacher still

treats everyone like everyone is diverse and special, and includes this through her cultural books

and displays of peoples’ skins and families. Furthermore, my mentor teacher fosters her

classroom in the best way I have seen, and does so appropriately.

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Reflection

When starting this project, I had no idea what a pedagogy was. Even though we have

discussed this briefly in class many times, I still did not grasp the entire idea of it. I went through

my placement daily, noticing all these things that make up a pedagogy, without realizing that this

was my mentor teacher’s pedagogy. I know now that a pedagogy is what makes up a classroom

as whole, in the environment, and through how the teacher teaches. Overall, this project showed

me how strong of a teacher my mentor teacher is, and what a pedagogy really is.

My mentor teacher’s classroom environment has always been welcoming and positive.

She really does demonstrate one of the developmentally appropriate guidelines specific to

creating a positive environment in the classroom. I always knew this, but I did not realize that

she really does carry out almost every standard and appropriate practice I have learned about. For

example, I was always blown away by her lesson plans because she showed what each activity,

question, and song related to which standard. This impressed me because I have never seen

another teacher do this as specific as she does. She makes sure to relate each lesson to develop a

specific domain for children’s development. She also teaches by choosing topics of interest to

the students, by asking them what they would want to learn about and choosing from there.

Through this project and going through every detail of my placement classroom and

mentor’s instructions, I have developed a sense of what I want my pedagogy to be like. I also

want my classroom to be more student-directed as well, with me as the teacher instructing these

interests appropriately. I want to create a very safe, and calming environment; I will do so by

using the developmentally appropriate standards for designing my classroom layout. I also want

to be as attentive as possible to each student, and observe and assess their learning constantly,

which I will do so by writing down certain things about each student, and adapting my
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curriculum to this. Overall, this pedagogy project felt very personal to my future classroom, and

the classroom I feel like I have also been nurturing this semester.
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References

Guidelines for Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Action: Using Knowledge of Child

Development and Learning in Context. NAEYC. (2015).
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/dap/guidelines.

Hamand, D. (2019). The Use of Learning Centers in the Kindergarten Classroom. Master's
Theses & Capstone Projects. https://nwcommons.nwciowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1179&context=education_masters.

Louisiana Believes. (2012). Louisiana’s Birth to Five Early Learning & Development Standards
(ELDS). Baton Rouge.

Principles of Child Development and Learning and Implications That Inform Practice. NAEYC.
(2016). https://www.naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/dap/principles.

Shipley, T. (2014). Early Childhood Education: Implementing Developmentally Appropriate

Practices into Literacy Instruction [web log].
http://www.wholechildeducation.org/blog/early-childhood-education-implementing-
developmentally-appropriate-practice.