Reference no: EM133094017

Case Study: Callie

Callie was looking forward to her first experience in preschool. She had chosen to complete 10 hours in a preschool classroom as a service learning project for her child development class. During the past summer, she had spent some time working in a preschool center. They had used a High Scope program and she felt secure in her knowledge of preschool. When she arrived at her placement, she went to the receptionist's desk and explained that she was there to complete her service-learning project. The secretary welcomed her and asked her to wait for the director.

When the director arrived, she asked Callie if she had ever been in a Montessori center. Callie replied, "No," so the director encouraged her to read the center handbook and check out materials from their center. Callie responded that she would, and then thought about how much experience she had with preschool children. Though Callie agreed to learn as much as she could, she thought the director was a bit uptight. How different could this be from what she did in her hometown? As Callie entered the room, she noticed the children working individually on small trays or carpet squares. As she watched the teacher observe and take notes, she realized that this was very different from what she experienced at home. At the end of her observation, she knew she would be up all night reading about this approach. It was so different from what she had experienced in the past, especially the children's play.

For your Consideration

What do children do in a Montessori center? Is this play? Is it similar to the play that occurs in a High Scope-influenced program? How do beginning teachers decide which approach to use in their classroom? Will you have a choice? If so, which model reflects your philosophy of how children grow and learn?