ENTHUSIASTIC AND ENGAGED OR DISCOURAGED AND DOWNHEARTED MAKING THE DIFFERENCE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN AND

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ENTHUSIASTIC AND ENGAGEDORDISCOURAGED AND
DOWNHEARTED?MAKING THE DIFFERENCE FOR YOUNG
CHILDREN (AND FOR OURSELVES)

• Marilou Hyson, Ph.D.
• NYC AEYC Annual Conference
• October 24, 2009

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TOGETHER, WELL . . .

• Pinpoint the WHAT, WHY, and HOW of young
  childrens positive approaches to learning
• Prepare to take action to make sure ALL children
  become enthusiastic and engaged learners

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APPROACHES TO LEARNING THE HOW OF LEARNING,
NOT JUST THE WHAT
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APPROACHES TO LEARNING HAVE TWO DIMENSIONS

• 1. FEELINGS
• ENTHUSIASM FOR LEARNING
• Interest
• Joy
• Motivation to
• Learn

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• 2. ACTIONS
• ENGAGEMENT IN LEARNING
• Attention
• Persistence
• Flexibility
• Self-regulation

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ENTHUSIASTIC AND ENGAGED CHILDREN DO BETTER

• In recent studies . . .
• Children who were more attentive and persistent
  also had better peer play skills
• Children who started kindergarten more
  enthusiastic and persistent had better academic
  outcomes in first grade
• Children who were more able to plan ahead
  developed more advanced cognitive skills

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. . . AND BETTER

• Children who were more engaged and persistent
  when doing classroom activities were also more
  competent and achieved at a higher level.
• Children who showed more mastery motivation in
  preschool had higher achievement the next year in
  areas like language, number concepts, and letter
  knowledge

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BUT CHILDREN ARENT JUST BORN WITH THESE
CHARACTERISTICS

• Childrens experiences at home and in early
  childhood programs
• can strengthen OR undermine their enthusiasm and
  engagement

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HOW TO PROMOTE CHILDRENS ENTHUSIASM AND
ENGAGEMENT WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY
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1. Relationships

• We need to . . . .
• Find everyday ways to strengthen
• personal connections with children
• Create a sense of community for children

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2. Curriculum

• We need to . . .
• Analyze curriculum models for their
  approaches-to-learning emphasis
• Strengthen the
• approaches-to-learning
• focus of an existing
• curriculum

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3. Teaching Practices

• We need to . . .
• Create classroom environments that promote
  enthusiasm and engagement
• Intentionally use teaching practices that are
  known to support positive approaches to learning

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4. Assessment

• We need to . . .
• Use familiar assessments to also assess
  approaches to learning
• Find and use more specialized assessments
• Use assessment results
• to strengthen Childrens
• enthusiasm and
• engagement.

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5. Families

• We need to . . . .
• Address families concerns
• Share practical ideas to
• help families support
• their childrens
• enthusiasm and
• engagement.

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OURSELVES

• But we also need to . . .
• Keep alive the
• sparks of our own enthusiasm and
• engagement

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WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS
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Education is not the filling of a bucket, but
the lighting of a fire. William Butler
Yeats