Article 8: Teacher’s making contributions – EDEC 6099
Many people are familiar with Patty Hill who was the key founder for NAEYC. Patty was a teacher and enjoyed working with younger students. She believed that there was a need for research related to ECE and the development of prominent teacher education programs. Hill made it clear that there were certain threads that needed to be met in order to have qualified teachers, these threads included: linking research/practice, the importance of DAP, teacher efficacy, high standards for teacher education. Patty believed that when teachers work with students it shouldn’t be 100% structured teaching, but she stressed the importance of students creativity as well as the value that play has in ECE. She also created the Patty Hill Blocks which are important with play, students can build, enter, and play with these blocks. In order for students to be successful in their learning process and make use of their creativity, independence, and overall play it all starts with the teachers and making teachers qualified enough to assist students into being the best version of themselves.
Reference:
Crawford, Patricia. (2017). Back to the Future With Patty Smith Hill. Childhood Education. 93. 213-217. 10.1080/00094056.2017.1325238.
Hyperlink: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317053299_Back_to_the_Future_With_Patty_Smith_Hill