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The Bridgewater State University (BSU) major in Early Education and Care in the Elementary and Early Childhood Department prepares you for certification through the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) as Lead Teacher, Infant-Toddler Teacher and Director I.  You will have career opportunities with young children from infancy through age six in the mixed delivery system outside the public schools.

Welcome to your field placement components of the Early Education and Care major at BSU.   This book supports both field placement courses, ECPK 481 and ECPK 492.  Part 1 is used during the 100-hour ECPK 481 experience and Part 2 is used during the 200-hour ECPK 492 experience.

ECPK 481 and ECPK 492 are the capstones or culminating experiences of the Early Education and Care program at Bridgewater State University (BSU) where the student performs the functions of a teacher with appropriate responsibilities and supervision.  The student is guided through experiences by a site-based supervisor who is EEC Lead Teacher or Director Certified.  The site-based supervisor regularly observes the student’s in the early childhood classroom, as well as, coaches and mentors the student to allow them to apply knowledge and skills gained through BSU coursework.

Our program philosophy is to create innovative rebels, using the word of Jim Greenman [1]:

The Simple Model of Child Care:

  • Good People +
  • Lots of Toys and Materials +
  • Adequate Space = Happy Kids

A More Realistic Model of Child Care:

  • Qualified, Educated, Observant Staff +
  • Loose Parts, Non-Determinant Parts, Natural Materials +
  • Ample Space, Sensory Exploration, Places for Safety/Risk = Quality Early Care and Education”

Here are some differences between ECPK 481 and ECPK 492.

How many… 481 492 
Hours do I need to document? 100 200
Times will my BSU Supervisor observe? 3 5
Meetings at BSU during the semester? 3  3

 

Question  481 492 
What is the purpose of the practicum? For students to:

  • Demonstrate ability to support children’s learning.
  • Routinely participate in and contribute to the instructional process in both teacher-led and child-initiated contexts; but are not required to design activities.
  • Practice observing and documenting children’s abilities and interests
  • Become familiar with the classroom’s assessment system and contribute to it.
 For students to :

  • Demonstrate competency in planning and implementing activities that promote growth and development for a diverse group of children in all domains, as reflected in
  • Document children’s learning
  • Teach with intention using best practices as defined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
  • Focus on learnable moments
  • Take over primary responsibility for running the classroom for 10 days (at least 20 hours of the 200-hour experience).
  • Design and implement a thematic unit
What does my site supervisor do?
  • Is in regular face-to-face, phone or e-mail contact with the student and BSU supervisor.
  • Participates and collaborates in a three-way discussion of the ratings on the Summative Field Evaluation Form.
  • Participates, if able, in discussion of BSU supervisor’s observation.
  • Is in regular face-to-face, phone or e-mail contact with the student and BSU supervisor.
  • Participates and collaborates in a three-way discussion of the ratings on the Summative Field Evaluation Form and the CEAS Professional Dispositions ratings form.
  • Participates, if able, in discussion of BSU supervisor’s observation
What is the focus of the portfolio? The student will examine how the program addresses the physical environment, issues of health, safety, nutrition, administration, and relationships with families in the policies and procedures. (Areas 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, & 10 of the EEC Program Standards).

Portfolio is completed in the course ECPK 480 which is taken concurrently.

 The student will examine their teaching practices and the reasons for their behavior in terms of how their methods and techniques facilitate growth and development in the children.

 

  1. Greenman, J. (2017). Caring spaces, learning places children's environments that work! (M. Lindstrom, Ed.). Lincoln Nebraska: Exchange Press. ↵

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Early Education and Care Field Placement Supervision Handbook Copyright © 2018 by Susan Eliason is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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