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The Good Preschool Teacher “All teachers who enter: Be prepared to tell your story.” (p. vii) “If teachers are to continue to grow, they must at some point begin to study themselves.” (pp. vii-viii)

Ayers’ assumptions Teachers are a rich and worthy source of knowledge about teaching—about the details of everyday practice. Because teachers are chief instruments of their own practice, self-awareness is valuable, perhaps indespensable Teachers draw on training, skills, experience, habit, personal values, art, science, and native wit to do their work.

Darlene “These kids have a hole in their trust. That hole needs to be repaired. Some of them, on the street, will just go off with anyone. That’s not trusting, that’s passive and inappropriate. We play a lot of peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek, those kind of things. We kind of go back to the beginning.” (p. 103)

Jean Piaget ( ) originally a zoologist working in Binet’s lab in Paris, Piaget fascinated by kids’ incorrect answers began writing by 1920’s, becomes popular in the US beginning in 1960’s becomes the “patron saint” of ECE –his theory seen as supporting core ECE belief that young children think etc differently from older children and adults –his view of young children’s cognitive and other limitations supports dominant ECE view of early schooling

dominant Piagetian theory in US: middle Piaget Piaget himself in the 1970’s (late Piaget) rejected much of middle Piaget American Piagetians ignore late Piaget Piaget refused to make explicit educational recommendations, thus allowing many “translators” to emerge meticulous observer of young children liberated developmentalism in US from behaviorism and psycho-dynamic theory

Piagetian theory complex—few people who claim to be Piagetians actually read him warm, appealing, handsome person— grandfatherly Piagetian tasks amazingly stable –if you give a child a Piagetian task, she will perform exactly the way the Piaget predicted

Donaldson (20 years after Children’s Minds) Piaget chooses to ignore our ordinary, rich “lived experience.” He does not take this to be any part of his concern as a psychologist, and sometimes he treats with scorn the very idea of studying it.... The question is whether Piaget's epistemic subject is so shorn of the essentials of human functioning—even of human cognitive functioning—that the theory is quite inadequate. I have come to believe that this is so. (1996, p. 326)

Go Tell Aunt Rhody go tell aunt rhody (3X) The old grey goose is dead The one she’s been saving (3x) To make a feather bed She died in the mill pond (3X) Standing on her head Silly goose (3x)

This Land is Your Land This land is your land, this land is my land From california to the new york island From the redwood forests to the gulf stream waters This land was made for you and me As I was walking, that ribbon of a highway I saw above me that endless highway I saw below, that golden valley This land was made for you and me

Gagoong Gagoong wen the little green frog one day Gagoong went the little green frog Gagoong went the little green frog one day And the frog went ga ga goong But we all know frogs go La de da de da, la de da de da We all know frogs go la de da de da They don’t go ga ga goong