2024-25 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
    Dec 26, 2024  
2024-25 Undergraduate Catalog

EDU 317 - Collaborative Partnerships with Parents and the Community

(3 credits; alternate years, consult department)
This course examines how successful early childhood education depends upon reciprocal and respectful partnerships with families, communities, and agencies. Candidates will understand the theories and dynamic roles within and between families, schools, and communities and how to create a community of support for children and families through interagency collaboration. Candidates will learn how to collaborate with supervisors, mentors, and colleagues to enhance professional growth within and across disciplines to inform practice and to advocate for developmentally and individually appropriate practice. Utilizing collaborative partnerships, candidates will learn how to create safe, inclusive, culturally responsive learning environments that engage learners in meaningful activities and interactions. Candidates will engage in intentional practices that value diversity and demonstrate understanding in how language, culture, and family background can impact development. In addition, candidates will learn to recognize how children are best understood in the context of family and how linguistic diversity, biological and environmental factors, and family strengths can influence development and learning at all states of life.