SPCL 7900 Theories of Human Development: SESSION 7 - Module 4: The Preschool Years

Please complete the following PRIOR to our Zoom session on October 20:

1. Readings

READ the assigned readings (DT 10 & Practice Article).

3:40 Section: Sarah & Olivia B. - Perez (2015). Why I Teach My 2-Year-Old About Race. Washington Post.

Discussion Questions for 3:40 Class: 

• Why do you think teaching children as young as two years old about race is beneficial?
• Based on what we learned about toddler’s working mental representations about their world, how would you respond if a toddler asked you about someone’s skin color? What about a student making an assumption about another student based on a cultural stereotype learned?
• What kind of discussions about race could be discussed? How can this be done in an age appropriate way?

6:30 Section: Aleksandra & Stephanie - Anderson, M. D. (2015). Why Are So Many Preschoolers Getting Suspended? The Atlantic.

Discussion Questions for 6:30 Class:

• Do you agree or disagree with suspension being a form of punishment for preschoolers? If not, what form of punishment would you recommend for preschoolers instead?
• As school psychologists, how can we influence the racial disparity in preschoolers, particularly African American children being expelled twice as often as Latino and white youngsters and over five times as often as Asian-American children? 
• The article mentions that out-of-school punishment contributes to the school-to-prison pipeline. In what other ways may out-of-school punishment negatively impact a child? 

2. Videos

VIEW the videos on external speech, egocentrism, and conservation.

3. Prepare for Blackboard Quiz (RAT#6)

The 5-question multiple-choice quiz will be on the DT10 reading and videos. This RAT will be made available to you at your designated quiz time (3:40 pm or 6:30 p.m.). Our Zoom session will commence right after the quiz at 4:10 or 7:00 pm, depending on your course section.

DUE Friday, October 23: Midterm Class Participation Assessment and Midterm Peer Evaluation (Google forms - get links on Blackboard)

Piaget called external speech “egocentric speech,” representing its non-communicative nature and lack of perspective-taking. In contrast, Vygotsky considered external speech to serve a self-regulatory role.

Can you identify this latter function in the video?

In this session we explore cognitive development. Students will analyze children's symbolic play skills using the Westby Play Scale. We will then discuss an anti-racism practice article.