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University of Florida

Early Childhood Teacher Education


UF Faculty: Tara Mathien
Department: School of Special Education, School Psychology, and Early Childhood Studies
College: College of Education

Partner Faculty: Prof. Maria Claudia Tobar Cordovez
Department: Social Sciences and Humanities
Partner Institution: Universidad San Francisco de Quito
Title: Early Childhood Teacher Education
Project Description:

The first communication method will occur via Zoom. This will occur after the asynchronous Padlet icebreaker. Then students will complete a group project composed of students from both universities. The stages of the project will be:

  1. Research: Gather specific information about the assigned program
  2. Development: Analyze and design a program that could have potential impact for K-12 educators regarding mental health.
  3. Presentation: Design a graphic presentation that demonstrates your knowledge of mental health and has a creative aspect added to promote mental health.

Students will reflect on not only what they learned about the Early Childhood Education field in relation to their research, but also how they can make common connections to their own countries. Further, students will be asked to reflect on their own understanding of differing ideas as they relate to their own professional dispositions.
Learning Outcomes:
  1. Understand the importance of mental health.
  2. Communicate the needs around mental health for educators.
  3. Identify good practices for improving working conditions for educators.
  4. Students will assess their own growth and considerations related to cultural considerations learned in relation to their professional dispositions.
  5. Students will analyze approaches to learning in each country and connect to ideas of theory and practice in the field.
Participating Countries: Ecuador
Number of Participants: 12 UF students and 11 students from the partner institution
Discipline: Education
UF Course Code & Name: EEC3941 - Practicum in Early Childhood Education
Project Duration: 6 weeks
Activity Type(s):
  • Student-to-Student Dialogue
  • Student-to-Student Project
Technology Tools:
  • Zoom
  • Whatsapp
  • Google Docs
  • Flipgrid
Sequence of Activities:
  1. Padlet introduction and pre-work via country research
  2. Synchronous Zoom meeting for project presentatin and icebreaker
  3. Small groups of 3-4 connect with peer groups of 3-4 to engage in exploratory work
  4. Synchronous Zoom meeting to check in and share findings so far
  5. Synchronous Zoom meeting to present projects