1.5: NAEYC Standards of Early Childhood Professional Preparation
As mentioned early, the beginning of each chapter includes a list of the professional standards that the chapter will be addressing. At College of the Desert, we strive to uphold the standards for NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) Higher Education Accreditation. What that means, is that we need to use the standards to frame what we teach you and why. You can think of them as competencies that help to inform what early educators need to know to become professionals. They include:
- Standard 1 : Having knowledge of how children grow and develop and using that to create respectful learning environments.
- Standard 2 : Engaging with families to respect their diversity and involve them in their children’s school life promotes more satisfactory school experiences for both the child and the family.
- Standard 3 : Using observation and assessment to guide what we do in the classroom is critical in supporting young children and their families.
- Standard 4 : The use of positive relationships coupled with strategies that are geared toward the development of the child, allows us to connect with children and families.
- Standard 5 : Understanding how to build meaningful curriculum comes from your understanding of how children grow and develop, what is meaningful to them, and what is appropriate for them to explore. Increasing skills of inquiry, specifically, acknowledgment of children’s curiosity, guides how we plan and implement our curriculum and environment.
- Standard 6 : Engaging in continuous learning, reflective practice, advocacy for children and their families, upholding ethical and professional standards is our professional responsibility.
- Standard 7 : Engaging in field experience enhances our connection with high quality programs that follow the previous standards, applying the knowledge learned in your course of study, affords you opportunities to develop your beliefs (philosophy) of how children grow and develop and your role as a future teacher.