Overview

For this Performance Task, you will use a take the role of a lead  teacher who has developed a workshop presentation on Creativity and  Child-Centered Learning. You have decided before you give the  presentation you will work through the activities yourself by completing  the Creativity and Child-Centered Learning Template.

 Instructions

Before submitting your Assessment, carefully review the rubric. This  is the same rubric the assessor will use to evaluate your submission and  it provides detailed criteria describing how to achieve or master the  Competency. Many students find that understanding the requirements of  the Assessment and the rubric criteria help them direct their focus and  use their time most productively.

Assessment:

Scenario:

Based on your years of working first as an assistant teacher and then  as a lead teacher in an early childhood classroom, you are well aware  that it is thrilling to be involved in child-centered learning—whether  observing, guiding, or at key times, taking a bit of a lead. In fact, it  is what has kept you in the field so long. Now, you are very excited  that your area Association for the Education of Young Children (AEYC)  has asked you to present a workshop on Creativity and Child-Centered  Learning. You are hopeful that—along with sharing what you have  learned—you can help other early childhood professionals consider what  children and adults gain by leaving teacher-directed and thematic units  behind, in order to engage children in active inquiry and creative  thinking. One of your colleagues has reviewed the outline you wrote for  your presentation, given it a “thumbs up,” and suggested you try the  activities your participants will be involved in before you present  them. You agree.

Workshop Outline: Creativity and Child-Centered Learning Scenario Given to Workshop Participants

Imagine that you have been tasked with explaining to other early  childhood professionals how child-centered learning (emergent  curriculum, investigations, and project-based learning) and creative  teaching fosters children’s creative thinking, creative skills, and  creative arts/expression.

This assessment has two-parts.  Click each of the items below to complete this assessment.

Part I: How Child-Centered Learning Fosters Creativity

First: Review The Dog Project resource. (This project offers an excellent example of young children engaged in child-centered learning through the project approach.)

Next: Consider what you have learned about:

• Child-centered learning (emergent curriculum, investigations, and  project-based work) and its relationship to fostering creativity in  young children
• Research-based information about creativity, included in the following resources:
• How music, creative movement, creative dramatics, and/or the visual  arts can be integrated to enhance opportunities for creative expression

Analyze how child-centered learning in the Dog  Project fosters children’s creative thinking, creative skills, and  creative arts/expression. Substantiate your analysis with at least five  (5) examples from the project. (3 paragraphs)

Part II: How Creative Teaching Fosters Creative Learning

First: View the following video Thinking Big Extending Emergent Curriculum Projects.  (Hilltop Educator Institute. (n.d.). Thinking Big Extending Emergent  Curriculum Projects [Video file]. Used with permission of Hilltop  Educator Institute.).

Note: This child-centered learning experience offers  an excellent example of young children engaged in child-centered  learning through emergent curriculum and creative teaching.

Next: Review the following resources on creative teaching:

Summarize your definition of a creative teacher,  including an analysis of why being a creative teacher is essential to  fostering children’s creative thinking, creative skills, and creative  arts/expression. (2–3 paragraphs)

Analyze how the teachers, in the Thinking Big Extending Emergent Curriculum Projects video, exemplify creative teaching. Substantiate your thinking with at least five (5) examples from the video. (3 paragraphs)