Papers by Jeffrey Trawick-Smith
The Wiley Handbook of Early Childhood Care and Education
Early Childhood Education Journal
Teacher Education and Play Pedagogy, 2022
Young Children’s Play, 2019
Young Children’s Play, 2019
Young Children’s Play, 2019
Young Children’s Play, 2019
Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 2020
Teachers' positive relationships with families contribute to the social, emotional, and intellect... more Teachers' positive relationships with families contribute to the social, emotional, and intellectual development of children in early childhood education programs. Effectively involving, communicating, and partnering with families requires a unique set of professional abilities. Teachers must hold a deep understanding of the cultural and socioeconomic needs and characteristics of families and possess social skills and dispositions that allow them to effectively engage the adults in children's lives in sensitive and supportive ways. Are preservice teachers of young children well prepared to carry out this important role in their teacher education programs? Although 60% of teacher education programs require a course on families, few include authentic experiences in which candidates interact with families faceto-face. In the present article, the four authorsa teacher educator, a supervising teachers, and two early childhood teacher education candidatesreflect on a project which included seven elaborate experiences with families in lieu of a traditional, required course. We share our diverse perspectives on the impact of each experience, presenting excerpts from candidates' reflective journal entries and from the field notes of the teacher educator and supervising teacher. Implications of our experiences for teacher education are presented.
Young Children’s Play, 2019
Early Childhood Education Journal, 2018
Little research has been conducted on the play of children of very low English proficiency within... more Little research has been conducted on the play of children of very low English proficiency within English-speaking preschool classrooms. In the present investigation, we recorded and described the naturalistic free play of four dual language learners (DLLs) and compared their interactions to those of four English-speaking children. Units of interaction were identified, transcribed, named, and categorized. Illustrative transcriptions of individual interactions were selected and probed more deeply. The trustworthiness of the investigation was established by triangulating these qualitative findings with a quantitative measure of children's social participation in play. Findings indicate that DLLs play and talk with peers less frequently, interact in less sustained and positive ways, and are more reliant on teachers to support their play than their English speaking peers. Implications for scaffolding DLLs' play in classrooms and for future research are presented.
Early Child Development and Care, 2015
Teacher–child interactions in preschool children's play may enhance mathematics learning in s... more Teacher–child interactions in preschool children's play may enhance mathematics learning in several ways. As teachers interact with children, they may promote more complex, independent, and symbolic play. Resulting increases in play abilities, in turn, can enhance intellectual growth, including mathematical thinking. Teachers may also facilitate math learning directly by engaging children in mathematical thinking as they play. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects on math learning of interactions that enhance play, itself, and those that directly engage children in mathematical thinking. The classroom play interactions of 47 preschoolers and their teachers were video recorded and analysed. The relationship between specific teacher–child interactions – both enhancing play strategies and promoting math approaches – was examined. Pre-test and post-test scores on the Test of Early Mathematics Ability, Third Edition (TEMA-3) showed that three play interactions predicted growth in math learning: ‘good-fit’ interactions to support play, itself, and number and math communication interactions. Findings confirm that teacher interactions in children's play can have an impact on academic performance. Interactions that are a good fit with what children are currently playing and those that prompt children's thinking about number or engage them in communicating about math enhance early math performance.
Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 1990
Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 2010
The purpose of this study was to determine if levels of teacher education and experience would in... more The purpose of this study was to determine if levels of teacher education and experience would influence how teachers respond to children's play needs in a preschool classroom. The interactions of eight teachers—three of whom were categorized as high education/high experience, three as low education/high experience, and two as low education/low experience—were videotaped and analyzed over a 6-month period. Specific levels of child play need and teacher guidance were first coded. The degree to which there was a good fit between the amount of child need and teacher support was examined. Differences in these good- (and poor-)fit interactions across the three groups of teachers were studied. Four interviews with adult participants were conducted to elucidate quantitative findings. Findings show that teachers with high levels of education and experience were more likely to perform good-fit play interactions. In interviews, teachers from this group identified specific elements of teacher education that enhanced their classroom experiences and, consequently, their ability to match their interactions to children's play needs. In contrast, low/high teachers were more likely to provide poor-fit responses to play, often giving direct support when none was needed. Teachers of the low/low group were unpredictable in their responses to children's play, often failing to interact at all when opportunities arose for meaningful play intervention. Interviews with these two groups revealed reasons for these poor-fit interactions, including a lack of knowledge about play and an inability to reflect on child outcomes. Implications of these findings for teacher education are considered.
Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 1994
Journal of Child Custody, 2010
Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf ... more Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
Health Care for Women International, 2010
We thank the following reviewers for their service to Health Care for Women International over th... more We thank the following reviewers for their service to Health Care for Women International over the past year.
Early Education & Development, 2010
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 1998
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2011
The purpose of this study was to test a model of adult-child play interactions in preschool class... more The purpose of this study was to test a model of adult-child play interactions in preschool classrooms, based on the work of Vygotsky and neo-Vygotskian scholars. The model predicts that adults will tailor the play support they provide to the immediate needs of individual children, and that this will lead to subsequent independent play. Classroom interactions between eight preschool teachers and 32 students were videotaped, transcribed, and analyzed over a six-month period. Interviews were conducted with the eight adult participants to confirm and elucidate findings from observed classroom behaviors. Distinct types of play support needed by children and given by teachers were identified. These were operationally defined; definitions were used to create a coding system that was found to have high inter-rater reliability. Sequential analyses were conducted to determine goodness-of-fit between teacher responses and children's needs. Behavioral outcomes of a good fit were also examined. Findings support the model tested here. Teachers often responded to children's play with behaviors matching the level of support needed. Good-fit interactions more frequently led to autonomous subsequent play than poor-fit interactions.
Day Care & Early Education, 1984
Directing an early childhood education program is a backbreaking, stressful endeavor. The success... more Directing an early childhood education program is a backbreaking, stressful endeavor. The successful administrator learns to manage time so as to squeeze the completion of infinite tasks into a finite daily time frame. Budgeting, paper work or unexpected conflict resolution often take priority over work with the staff or the curriculum. Staff development efforts are often limited.
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Papers by Jeffrey Trawick-Smith