Press Release Contact: Leslie
Gleim
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 354-3995
February 28, 2005
The Carousel Center Hosts Unique
Program for Teachers
The Carousel Preschool, a component of the Scioto
County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities known
statewide for its leadership and work with young children with disabilities, is
coordinating and hosting the “Beyond Joy: Learning to See Competence without
Testing” Project, beginning March 4, 2005 at The Carousel Center, 1112 Gallia
Street in Portsmouth.
The Beyond Joy Project is a statewide
initiative that will bring together 80 educators from across the state of Ohio
in a research project designed to help teachers develop a deeper understanding
of children’s knowledge and learning so they may better align it within the
context of Ohio’s state educational standards.
Due to the unique and innovative nature of
this project, The Carousel Preschool has been awarded two grants. One is from
the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation and the other is from the Ohio Department
of Education Early Childhood Study Group Project. Together they will fund the
project entirely.
For the Beyond Joy Project, The Carousel
Preschool is honored and pleased to be collaborating with Videatives Inc. and
its experts in early childhood education and communication technology. Videatives Inc. is an avant-garde
professional development company that provides accessible continuing education
products and courses for early childhood educators. Videatives is the only company in the country that integrates
early childhood theory with classroom practice in an engaging, highly
accessible form for pre-service and in-service educators.
Dr. George Forman, Professor Emeritus from
the University of Massachusetts and Chief Executive Officer of Videatives Inc.
will be the lead facilitator and presenter for the Beyond Joy Project. Dr.
Forman has over 33 years of experience in university teaching, cognitive
research, multimedia design, and educational consulting in the area of early
childhood learning and development. He has authored seven books, three
videotapes and many research articles on how children think and how teachers
can help children reflect on their work through drawing, video feedback, and
play with objects. In the 1970's, he founded The School for Constructive Play,
an experimental program for young children based on the learning theory of Jean
Piaget. He has designed museum participatory exhibits, educational puzzles, and
instructional games. He is past president of the Jean Piaget Society, serves on
numerous editorial boards, and was recently advisory faculty in residence at
the Hong Kong Institute of Education. His speaking engagements have taken him
all over the world including Asia, Australia, Europe, and Scandinavia
addressing mainly constructivist education, particularly as inspired by the
preprimary schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Dr. Forman holds a Ph.D. in
developmental psychology from the University of Alabama.
Another facilitator for this project will
be Jamie Broadhead, M. Ed. As a member of the Videatives team, she provides
video analysis and formats video content. Ms. Broadhead, an early childhood
teacher, is currently working on her doctorate through the University of
Massachusetts.
Along with Dr. Forman and Jamie Broadhead
will be Leslie Gleim M. Ed., a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) from
Wheelersburg, Ohio. Mrs. Gleim is an Early Childhood Special Needs teacher and
Lead Teacher at The Carousel Preschool, as well as the Beyond Joy Project
Coordinator. She brings to this project her experience of 27 years in early
childhood special education. A National
Board Certified Teacher, she has presented in numerous conferences, most
recently this past November at the annual National Association for the
Education of Young Children (NAEYC) national conference in Anaheim, California
and at the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Early Childhood Conference in
Columbus. Leslie has been accepted into a doctorial program through Walden
University and will begin this work in May.
The Beyond Joy Project will offer a much
needed change from traditional professional development experiences by using
what research suggests is best practice for adult learning: continuing dialogue
and follow-through in implementation.
In the traditional approach for
professional development, educators attend workshops or conferences that end
without continuing support to implement new knowledge in the classroom, without
mutually respectful dialogue, and without a way to keep the experiences of the
workshop or conference alive. Therefore the new knowledge is not nurtured long
enough to become a part of the educator’s repertoire of teaching skills and put
into practice.
The Project will create a seamless one and
a half months of professional development for educators. It will focus on how to improve the
educational experience by skillfully weaving together teacher observation,
knowledge and documentation of the children’s everyday work in the
classroom. These observations can then
be matched with state of Ohio education standards and achievement indicators,
as well as, connected to goals outlined in the Individual Education Plan, a
required document for children with special needs.
Participants will experience using digital
video analysis as a tool for discussion and understanding. The use of video also provides a means for
making the work of both the teacher and child visible and allows re-visiting it
in order to deepen the knowledge and learning for both the teacher and child.
The “Beyond Joy: Learning to See Competence
without Testing” Project will utilize three interconnecting components: an
opening conference, an on-line course, and an Internet facilitated workshop. The opening conference will be March 4, 2005
at The Carousel Center in Portsmouth. With Dr. Forman presenting, this all-day
opening conference will set the stage for participants work together throughout
the project.
After the opening conference day, rather
than going back their classrooms and closing the door, participants will
instead log on to the Internet and remain connected with the project
facilitators through the Beyond Joy eCourse. This will allow participants and
facilitators to engage in a continuous dialogue of inquiry/action research.
Participants will learn to use video footage to match theory and state
educational standards to ordinary classroom moments.
Project participants will come together
again April 1 for an eWorkshop to be held at Ohio University in Chillicothe,
Ohio. Dr. Forman will again share his expertise, but rather than being on-site
for this event, he will utilize a live web-cam link to interact with conference
attendees. Dr. Forman will be logging
on and off throughout the day from Amherst, Massachusetts as he facilitates the
participants’ work at Ohio University.
These three interconnecting project
components are designed to provide educators with the extended time needed in
inquiry/action research in children’s learning to see how the state standards
and IEP goals can link within children’s ordinary classroom experiences. The
project design provides each participant with support from peers and project
facilitators both during and after the typical school day while he/she acquires
and implements the new skills and knowledge gained through this project.
For inquiries about the project or to
request a registration form, please contact Leslie Gleim at The Carousel Center
(740) 354-3995 or email her at beyondjoyproject@scmrdd.k12.oh.us.
The Scioto County Board of MR/DD is a
tax-funded social service agency that provides a range of services to people of
all ages in Scioto County who have mental retardation or other forms of
eligible developmental disabilities. This includes children ages three to five
at The Carousel Preschool, students ages five through 21 at the Vern Riffe
School and young adults through senior citizens at the STAR Adult Workshop. For
information about the MR/DD Board’s services, contact case management at 353-4677.
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