Engaging Children's Minds Project
Contents
The internationally renowned instructor Dr Sylvia C. Chard, author of Engaging Children’s Minds: The Project Approach, will teach this institute along with Dr Margaret Brooks. The book is recommended reading for the institute.
Sylvia C. Chard is Emeritus Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Alberta. She has conducted workshops and institutes on the Project Approach in North America and overseas and has written two Practical Guides for Teachers published by Scholastic. Dr. Chard’s research interests include teachers’ professional development and curriculum change in elementary schools.
Margaret Brooks is a lecturer at the University of New England, New South Wales. She has many years of experience teaching in pre-schools, kindergartens and the early years in schools in Great Britain and Canada. She has conducted workshops on the Project Approach in North America. Dr Brooks research interests include children’s use of drawing in their learning and visual ethnography. You can visit her website at: http://www.une.edu.au/Drawing/main.html
About the Institute
In the Engaging Children's Minds institute educators acquire a thorough understanding of the Project Approach and learn how to incorporate it into their own teaching plans through a simulation of project work for Early Childhood and primary school children. The institutes are specially designed for early childhood teachers and directors, primary teachers, administrators and professionals in tertiary education and those involved in teacher education.
The Project Approach to early childhood education involves young children in investigations of significant events and phenomena in their own environments in ways that strengthen their intellectual dispositions and provide contexts for applying their developing social, literacy, and numeric skills. In the course of their studies, children do field work, develop personal interests in different aspects of the topic and pursue a variety of investigations. The institutes are designed to introduce participants to the three phases of the Project Approach and to demonstrate how these phases can be implemented in the classroom. The institute program includes lectures, audiovisual presentations, group discussions, and practical fieldwork, providing a complete simulation of project work, as well as other classroom activities. Optional evening lectures on related topics are also offered.
For more information about the Project Approach see the following web site:
http://www.projectapproach.org
Graduate Credit Option
Participants may earn partial unit credit through the University of New England. Please contact Dr Margaret Brooks for more information.
To earn unit credit, students must implement a project with a group of children; submit a report that includes a description of the context in which the project was done; provide the rationale for selecting the topic; write a brief description of Phase I, Phase II and Phase III activities; and conduct an evaluation of the project from the point of view of the children, others involved and the investigator. The report will be submitted to Dr. Margaret Brooks for evaluation. Those who would like to earn unit credits should indicate their interest on the registration form.
Conference Fees
The registration fee for the institute session is $750. The registration fee includes: course materials, all meals, refreshment breaks and lodging in Mary White College. Lodging is booked for the nights of the Institute. Extra nights may be arranged with enough notice. Participants are responsible for their own travel and incidental expenses. Local Participants (and those not wishing to lodge in Mary White) can register for $500. This registration fee includes everything except lodging.
Advance registration is required. Registation is not considered guaranteed until all fees are paid.
A refund, less a $50 charge, will be made for cancellations made in writing and received before 31st March 2008. After that date, no refunds will be made. Substitutions are welcome at any time.
Click here to download the registration form
Accommodation
Mary White College is located in the heart of the University of New England campus in quiet and pleasant surroundings. It offers comfort and convenience, being only a short walk to lecture theatres, banking, shopping and restaurants. The rooms are comfortable and regularly serviced. The dining hall is spacious and provides an excellent menu and a warm and friendly atmosphere.
For more information about the University of New England visit its website:
http://www.une.edu.au
Accommodation will be booked for the nights of the Institute. Extra nights may be arranged with enough notice. Please let us know if you have any special requirements or dietary considerations.
Schedule
The Institute, Engaging Children's Minds, will officially begin at 6:30pm, 18th April 2008.
There will be three full days of workshops, lectures, fieldwork, presentations and discussions, 19th, 20th, 21st April. There will also be optional evening lectures and discussions.
Contact Information
Please direct questions about conference procedures or arrangements to:
Dr Margaret Brooks,
Early Childhood Education,
Faculty of Education, Health, and Professional Studies,
University of New England,
NSW, 2351
Tel: (02) 6773 2654
Email: mbrooks3@une.edu.au
Project Approach Revisited - 22nd April 2008
For those who have participated in previous Institutes we are offering a special one day workshop to extend and build on our understanding of Project work.
The workshop will be held in the PDaL Seminar Room, UNE. The proposed program is as follows:
9.00 Introductions
9.15 Stimulating children to represent their learning
10.15 Morning Tea
10.30 Assessing children’s learning: formative and summative
12.00 Discussion of workshop participant’s documentation
12.45 Lunch
1.30 Classroom management: Use of space, time and resources
3.00 Communicating with others (parents, staff and community) about children’s learning.
4.00 Documenting children’s project work to show learning: developing portfolios.
You are invited to bring sample of children’s work to display. During the workshop there will be an opportunity to share and reflect on the experiences you have had with Project Work since attending the Summer Institute. The Seminar Room at PDaL will be available between 4 – 6pm on 21st April 2008, and between 8 – 9 am on 22nd April 2008, to mount displays. These displays will form the practical basis of discussions during the workshop.
Registration is $100 for the day.
Please register by downloading the registration form and enclosing your cheque.
Click here to download the registration form